Census 2020 vs COVID-19
I Chronicles 21:1-2, 14-15 (Message)
1-2 Now Satan entered the scene and seduced David into taking a census of Israel. David gave orders to Joab and the army officers under him, “Canvass all the tribes of Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, and get a count of the population. I want to know the number….
14-15 So God unleashed an epidemic in Israel—seventy thousand Israelites died. God then sent the angel to Jerusalem but when he saw the destruction about to begin, he compassionately changed his mind and ordered the death angel, “Enough is enough! Pull back!”
Novel Coronavirus - COVID-19
I believe history repeats itself over and over again to develop clarity in our lives and to improve the next generation. History is another way of saying His-Story meaning how God deals with His Creation. We who are His Creation can only see from our perspective instead of God’s viewpoint. Although, we are striving in this digital age; however, I tend to question our dependences on technology. We are experiencing a revolution in technology superiority than any previous generations. Oftentimes, we find ourselves comfortable with constant changes that influence our supply and demands while technology creates new demands for our desires. We can even grasp instant knowledge about our health care from a Google search, or the best do-it-yourself direction for hanging a ceiling fan. So, this outbreak of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused me to rethink about life in general.
I have noticed a synchronization with COVID-19 and our 10-year Census in the U.S. comparable to Scriptures. This synchronization leads me to question my dependence on this digital age. Remember, we dwell in a global economy, so a simple virus that started in Wuhan, China, has infected over 700,000 people, and killed over 30,000 across six continents of which the death total is constantly rising. Putting these numbers in perspective to His-Story or history, one can easily parallel this episode with the action and attitude of David after successfully expanding Israel kingdom under his leadership. This expansion was so great that King David wanted to gloat in counting his population. This attitude of “look at me and what I have accomplished” deflated his dependence God. Therefore, God caused a massive death of civilians from an epidemic that took the lives of 70K individuals just to get David’s attention. Remember an epidemic is confined to a specific region compared to a pandemic which expands to a much larger segment of territories. As the death total of COVID-19 reaches a similar quota as counted in the Old Testament, this digital age allows me to witness a pandemic of an enormous magnitude covering nearly the entire globe. Therefore, I, like David must analyze my dependence with the aid of advanced technology in this global economy compared to my dependence on God to sustain life. I must comprehend God’s sovereignty to shut down our global economy with a tiny virus that originated in an unknown place. Just think, 99% of the world population cannot find Wuhan on a map. Basically, I need to shift my dependency toward God instead behaving as an independent creature while thinking that I can control my destiny. So I must view COVID-19 like the way David surrendered to God during the epidemic of his day by pleading, “Please! I’m the one who sinned; I’m the one at fault.” (I Chronicles 21:17).
By viewing COVID-19 from His-story, allow me to conduct an economy self-examination. Now as I practice self-quarantining for preventive measures, I too must reflect on my dependency. In other words, I find myself praying and meditating while conducting an in-depth self-examination to remove any signs of an independent attitude. Then, I know if I really surrender to my Lord then He too will remove any anticipated COVID-19 death just like He did for David