Deut. 8:11-20, The 2020 Coronavirus Plague (1)

In my reading recently I have been drawn to two passages, one OT and one NT, that have encouraged me with respect to our current life situation.  The first eleven chapters of Deuteronomy are powerfully applicable for Christians.  It records Moses’ words to Israel before they crossed the Jordan.  What Moses did was to give the law to Israel a second time, only in the context of being in the land rather than wandering in the wilderness.  But in the process, he clarified the founding principles on which the nation was to live day by day.  He does this in Deut. 1-11 before going into some specifics that are especially directed to Israel.  You may remember that Jesus, when tempted by the devil in Matt. 4, quoted three passages in resisting Satan.  All three of those came from these early chapters of Deuteronomy. 

In Deut. 8:1-10 Moses tells the people not to forget God when they enter the land.  They were humbled by God in the wilderness so they would know that man shall not live by bread alone, but … by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD (8:3).  Then in 8:11-14 he warns them, beware that you do not forget the LORD your God … lest – when you have eaten and are full and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them, and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied, when your heart is lifted up and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. 

How would they forget God?  By saying in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth’ (8:17).  In this they failed to remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth (8:18). 

Let us be careful to understand.  God said these words because He wanted to establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers (8:18).  That is true for Israel, the Jewish people.  It is not true of the United States.  We are not His chosen people. 

Thus, does this apply to us?  Clearly, it does.  It applies on the basis that God is the Creator of all things.  He made this world and put us here so that we could love and worship Him.  As Paul said to the people of Lystra, God did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness (Ac. 18:17).  He told the Athenians that God is not to be worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath and all things (Ac. 17:25).  Jesus made the same point in the Sermon on the Mount: He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Mt. 5:45).  One responsibility cuts across all of humanity.  We must glorify the Creator as God and give Him thanks for His bountiful provision (Rom. 1:21).

How has this been working out in the USA?  For three and a half years our President has been boasting that we have the greatest economy ever and it is the result of his policies.  For the exact same amount of time, his adversaries have been denying that the economy is good and that if it is good it is because of the previous president.  It seems like those are the only two opinions available.  Even Bible-believing Christians are seeing our full plates and beautiful houses and multiplied flocks and herds and masses of silver and gold as the result of the government and not as from the hand of God.

You may want to tell me that your side is right because it is closer to some principles or judgments in Scripture.  But where is the person who is simply saying, “God is to be glorified as God and thanked for all the goodness we are experiencing.”  What dominates your conversations: government or God?

God told Israel that His care for them in the trials of the wilderness wanderings were a test that would humble them and be good for them in the end (Deut. 8:16).  This is true of every trial we ever face.  Trials bring us to our knees, and the issue will always be: will we turn to God to help us?  Every trial!  Thus, that includes the coronavirus pandemic.  It is an opportunity for my own good.  That good will be achieved if, and only if, I come out of this acknowledging the Creator as God and giving Him thanks.
How do we do that?  He has told us in the Bible.  There is only one way to give Him thanks.  That one way is to receive His Son as your Savior from sin (John 1:12), and to confess Him as your Lord (Rom. 10:9-10).  It is only through Jesus that you can come to God (John 14:6), and if you don’t come to Him you cannot give Him thanks and you are denying that He is your God.