Even as the health care crisis continues, and the Federal Reserve and the Congress and Administration are throwing everything they can to stop the bleeding, I want to stop and reflect on the bigger picture. On Monday, Al Mohler had a discussion on the difference between natural and moral evil, classifying the Coronavirus as a natural evil, something that comes as a result of our sin and the fact that we live in a fallen world. While this is true, I think we need to go deeper to find the good that God intends to come out of this natural evil.

Many Christians debate whether God causes the evil or allows it; we’ve seen some of that debate here on this blog even in the past few weeks. Yet I think this misses the point, and many Christians that try to get God “off the hook” for the bad results that happen in a fallen world are trying to do what God himself does not try to do. The clearest expression of this is found in Amos 3:6:

If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?

God reveals himself in Scripture as the sovereign God who orchestrates everything that happens on this earth. And while He allows human agency, such that we are accountable for the evil deeds that we do, He is actively working to accomplish His purposes in all things according to the counsel of His own will. Likewise in the New Testament, we see the focus of blame or accountability as missing the point, as Jesus explains in Luke 13:

Now on the same occasion there were some present who reported to Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ² And Jesus said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? ³ I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. ⁴ Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? ⁵ I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Surely Pilate was to blame for his wickedness. And surely the eighteen killed in Siloam were as innocent as Jesus’ listeners, or more appropriately, that the 18 were just as guilty as His listeners. But that is beside the point–the greatest issue that anyone should be concerned about is not protection from moral evil (Pilate) or natural evil (the tower falling), but rather the need for eternal salvation. It is this overarching reality that we must keep in mind when evaluating anything that God causes or allows (depending on your perspective). God is working through it, and ensuring that even evil bends the knee to God’s sovereign purposes.

In our world today we have massive rebellion against a Holy God, with the “you be you” generation pursuing their own autonomous view of what is right. There is, of course, nothing new under the sun, as we today are simply following the pattern of Judges, where “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” And in this context, where billions of people are on the path to eternal separation from God, for all eternity, is it not good for God to send/allow the coronavirus? Is this virus not calling out the hubris of people in a fallen world that think that they can have safety and peace apart from a Holy God? Is this not a wake up call to those that thought they could find safety in the stock market, in the political process, in modern science and medicine? We so blindly pursue our own path, thinking of how to make this world (usually concentrating on our own little piece of this world) a better place? All the while ignoring the eternity that will be here in just a moment? If even one sinner is confronted with their mortality and repents, is this not a blessing from God?

We of course never wish for this evil; rather we pray for God’s mercy, and look hopefully for God’s common grace to mitigate this viral terror. Indeed our call is to make this world a better place. Yet God is working toward something better than this world. He is working toward a new world–a new heavens and a new earth. And if God is using natural evils as a way to foreshadow the eschatological terror that awaits those that refuse to repent, we should simply say “Thy will be done,” while praying that God would give the gift of repentance. I remember churches being filled the Sunday after 9-11; tragedy can lead people to look for something transcendent. May this coronavirus lead many to likewise come face to face with the reality that there is something more important than what’s streaming on Netflix.

Edit Update 27 Mar: Yesterday’s WSJ had a great article questioning whether the Coronavirus would lead to revival, and I thought I would quote the last few paragraphs here, to add to the point of this post:

“Sheer grimness of suffering brings men sometimes into a profounder understanding of human destiny,” Butterfield wrote. Sometimes “it is only by a cataclysm,” he continued, “that man can make his escape from the net which he has taken so much trouble to weave around himself.”

For societies founded on the biblical tradition, cataclysms need not mark the end. They are a call for repentance and revival. As the coronavirus pandemic subjects U.S. hospitals to a fearsome test, Americans can find solace in the same place that Butterfield did. Great struggle can produce great clarity.

“The ancient Hebrews, by virtue of inner resources and unparalleled leadership, turned their tragedy, turned their very helplessness, into one of the half-dozen creative moments in world history,” Butterfield wrote. “It would seem that one of the clearest and most concrete of the facts of history is the fact that men of spiritual resources may not only redeem catastrophe, but turn it into a grand creative moment.”

Could a rogue virus lead to a grand creative moment in America’s history? Will Americans, shaken by the reality of a risky universe, rediscover the God who proclaimed himself sovereign over every catastrophe?