Here we are in the midst of the High Holy Days of the Judeo-Christian calendar. We commemorate and celebrate Passover and Easter at this time of the year. There is a natural connection between those holidays and the topic of the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, there are so many threads tying these topics together I scarely know where to begin.
As I cook, clean and try to stay occupied with good goals during this COVID-19 lockdown I think about the meaning of it all. How did the virus start? How do you get it, transmit it and what are some of the effects of the disease? What are some of the best treatment options? What are the best ways to survive it? Could it really be so bad that it is necessary to shut down the entire world? Is there a mass hysteria overtaking our planet? What aren't they telling us? Finally, biblically speaking, do these events hold special prophetic significance? (Hint: if reading Confessions of a Westchester Christian Housewife has thought you anything, it is that all the questions matter.)
The story of the Passover in Exodus, takes place during a bleak time in the history of the Jewish people. They were enslaved in the land of Egypt. The promise that God had made to His chosen people, to make them a nation and a blessing to all mankind was about to begin. Moses was to tell the pharaoh of Egypt to release the Jewish people from the bonds of slavery and to allow them to leave the country.
In denying this request, the Pharaoh was thwarting the plans of God Almighty and this has and always will bring consequences. Judgement and punishment of wrong doing would begin with natural disasters befalling the land of Egypt. It is maddening as you read the story of Pharaohs' hardened heart. His pride would not allow him to stem the tide of devastation by accepting defeat and following God's decree to let His people go! Is there a lesson in that for us?
The devastation befalling Egypt took the form of natural disasters. The word used to describe this in Exodus is plague. We are seeing a lot of the same natural disasters written of in the story of Passover happening again today. Besides the virus that began in China which is currently plaguing the entire world, there is a huge plague unfolding in Africa right now. It is the plague of locusts. Those locusts will lead to crop failures. Death and destruction are breaking out as it did during the first Passover, and we have to ask ourselves, what are the lessons? What are the takeaways? What can we do spiritually?
The answer lies in Easter Sunday, in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. We all need to be saved, and we all need to be saved by the blood of the lamb. That blood first saved every Jew as they hunkered down in their homes over three thousand years ago. Families huddled together knowing that a terrible devastation, that was worst than anything else that had happened, would arise. Without the blood of the lamb over the door of their household the Angel of Death would visit their home.
Never has this part of the story seemed so alive to me, as I now huddle in my own home, with Bible verses such as Exodus 12:13 scrawled on my dining room chalk board. (The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt -Exodus 12:13).
A question is asked at the traditional Passover dinner: why is this night different than all other nights? My question this year is: why is this night similar to that first Passover? We pray for deliverance from the events occuring all around us whether they be locusts, COVID-19 or financial ruin. We pray to be with the Lord should something befall us. We have a choice to make just like back then, do we follow God or Pharaoh? Exodus 15:26 illuminates an important point, that is of obedience and allegiance to God. Exodus 15:26 states, if you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord who heals you.
As Jesus gathered His disciples on Holy Thursday, it would be the day that marked His last Passover meal. That night he commerated the first Passover but, this time, he made himself the lamb whose blood was shed. Events unfolding that night and in the days and weeks to follow would confirm that.
There are many challenges currently on all of our plates. Challenges personally, for our families, nation and the world. We are not in control of the vast majority of these events. What we can control, is the decision to choose Jesus and following God in whatever way that we are able to in our sphere of influence. That includes not acquiescing to changes which will undermind our basic freedoms. Those freedoms include freedom of assembly, speech, freedom to make our own medical decisions, run our families and being free to worship God.
Stay close to God. Happy Passover, and Easter.
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