Sermon: Preparing For the End

Lessons From the Black Death
#1750A
Ryan McClure
Given 02-Mar-24; 34 minutes 2024-03-02

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I do not like being sick. I am pretty sure that none of us like being sick.

The last quarter of 2023, so really the last three months of last year, I felt like my family was catching all kinds of sickness. We were sick so many times in those couple of months that it seemed like we would never get better. I have a weekly one-on-one with my boss and it got to the point that I was embarrassed to tell him once again that my family was sick. It was so bad and so often that this past Friday (not yesterday, but the Friday before), when I received an email from him (my boss), he said, "Hey, I hope the family is feeling better." Well, we have been feeling fine for the last couple of weeks, so I guess he has gotten used to us being sick too!

Now, being sick or having any type of ailment is not something that we would consider fun at all. Anything less than feeling 100% affects our body, our mood, even the people around us, especially if we are still contagious. Colds, flus, viruses, have been around for thousands of years. And most recently, something we all experienced in some form or fashion was the COVID-19 pandemic. That was the first global incident that I believe I have ever lived through. Gen X and the Millennials, along with Gen Z, have not experienced many, if any, global events. We were not alive for World War One or Two, Vietnam and the Korean Wars.

These wars have had impacts to the ones who fought in them, their families and those who worked in the factories and various fields that supported the war machine. Women and kids worked in factories that built planes and guns and other supplies that were needed to keep the troops advancing. Children and teens these days do not know what it is like to face those type of living conditions. How many 16 or 17 year olds do we see trying to lie about their age so they can enlist in one of the armed forces? How many know what it is like to enter the workforce at a young age to support the rest of the family?

I recently saw an article about this girl in her late teens or early twenties. She was on TikTok and she had just completed, I think, the first day of the first job that she had ever had. And she was crying, she could not believe how difficult that day was. Now, that is just one person. What about all the other kids that do not want jobs or if they do, they give maybe 50% effort into actually doing the job. I see kids working in stores and restaurants, half scrolling on their phones, half working. It is so bad that I have told my kids, "All you have to do is show up and do a good job and you'll be the one that gets promoted, you'll be successful." That is how God has directed us to work.

Now from history and across the various generations we have today, it is easy to see that those who have gone through adversity are better prepared for future challenges. Perhaps you have heard the saying, "Hard times create strong men, strong men create good times. Good times create weak men, and weak men create hard times." And I think we have seen good times creating weakness for quite a while setting up for the hard times for the unforeseeable future. (All that inflation that Richard was talking about.)

Edmund Burke stated those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it. This statement has biblical implications as we head towards Passover. How many times did God admonish Israel to remember they were once slaves in Egypt and for us to remember that we too were once slaves to sin. The problem is that we humans have a hard time in remembering.

I do not think that COVID was the last pandemic that we will face. Jesus tells us in Matthew 24,

Matthew 24:7-8 "And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."

Now, if these things are simply the beginning of sorrows, that means it is going to get a lot worse. Just to say it, it has already been bad. There are some of us old enough to remember when polio broke out in 1948 through 1955. That scared quite many people. And many of us have learned about smallpox from our history books. Disease and pestilence are not new. Neither are the various struggles of life, at least for some.

I know and have known some very strong people who have lived during certain periods of time that have been really inspiring to me. Strong men and women who have lived through war, pestilence, and plain old trials. As we read in God's Word and as we see the things happening in this world around us, we know that more of those times are ahead of us. Being prepared by living life according to what God has called us to is not only part of our calling, but will also prepare us to face the trials and the tribulations ahead later on.

In Matthew 24, when Jesus told them of all the signs they would see regarding the end, He says in verses 32 through 35,

Matthew 24:32-35 "Now learn this parable from the fig tree. When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near. So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors! Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away."

Jenny and I are blessed to have a rather large fig tree there in our backyard. The previous owner told me that they had brought it up from Georgia as a small plant and planted it there in the backyard. That is special to me because my beautiful wife is from Georgia as well. And it is really cool and wonderful to see the small buds that seemingly explode into leaves as summer approaches.

Well, Jesus was telling them that things will happen that will show us the tribulation is imminent, as is His return. Now, our job, of course, is to repent and grow in His image so that we are prepared for His return or even death, because honestly, one of them will come first. We are to be ready.

I must say that the genesis of this message was centered primarily on a really depressing topic. But as an output of the study, I hope there is something that we can all learn from or at least think on and meditate on.

Now, I am sure that most of us either watch or read the news. Some of us probably more than others. I remember I used to diligently watch NBC at 6 p.m. almost every night prior to 2020. Post 2020 I have turned off all news except for select few outlets. And I have gotten to the point where I will not always read an article. We often say that the news has gotten so bad these days, but I would submit that even the titles of the articles or the blurbs that describe what the article is about are absolutely horrible. They are disgusting and they are revolting. It is amazing to see what is going on in this world.

Recall what God said in Genesis 6, verse 5.

Genesis 6:5 Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

How about Sodom and Gomorrah?

Genesis 18:20-21 And the Lord said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know."

Let us turn to Revelation 18 because I do want to take us through this one. I think we know it.

Revelation 18:4-8 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow. For she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow. Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her."

Notice how bad it is at the end. Babylon's sins reach up to heaven similar to that of Sodom and Gomorrah in the time right before the Flood. In similar fashion, God shows that plagues will come in one day, showing immediacy and finality via death, mourning, and famine. The descriptions we read in these verses sound a lot like the sinful world that we live in, a lot like those news headlines that we see every day. Are we able to see the tender leaves on the fig trees getting ready to spring forth? Is summer just ahead?

Once again, this topic was presented to me as a result of my homeschool kiddos. I think that it was history class when I came down in between meetings and got the proverbial, "Hey dad, did you know about" this or that question. And it turns out that they were studying about the Black Death or bubonic plague. Now, of course, I wondered if there was any spiritual lessons we could learn from that part of history. And then it seemed like a couple of days later, all of the news was the World Economic Forum, with millionaires all around the world descending on Davos, Switzerland to determine the fate of mankind. And what comes up but Disease X and how the world needs to prepare for the next pandemic.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, we as Christians should be preparing daily for the return of our Savior. I personally think it is good to be prepared for certain emergencies. From California, where we had a lot of earthquakes, the government and others suggested that you always have at least two weeks worth of supplies on hand because you never know how long the power is going to be out, the water is going to be off, what have you. And so I think it is good to be prepared, but that is me. And when I have these conversations with friends, I always like to mention Matthew 10:23 that says, "When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes."

I am not saying that you should cancel the installation of your new backyard bunker, but you should definitely be ready to leave it. Joking aside, we should be prepared and part of the preparation is the willingness to flee if needed. Now, the fact that the WEF mentioned preparing for Disease X makes me think that pandemics are going to be part of our collective future, as man in his "infinite" wisdom attempts to play the role of Eternal God.

I started out with the lamentation that sickness is by no means fun. Let us go ahead and take a look at one of the worst pandemics in human history to see if we can glean any physical or spiritual applications for us.

The Black Death was a type of bubonic plague that spread throughout Europe from 1346 through 1353. It is dubbed as one of the most fatal pandemics in human history with a death toll estimated around 50 million people and that would have been around 50% or half of Europe's 14th century population. That is a big number! Some estimated that it could have even been as high as 60%. But 50 million people is a lot.

Bubonic plagues are one of three types of plagues that are caused by bacteria. This one is transmitted by fleas. While the specific origin of the plague is disputed, kind of like the coronavirus, China seems to be part of the general consensus. And in fact, britannica.com outright indicates that it did originate in China. The Black Death was reportedly the result of the plague, basically infectious fever caused by bacteria as a result of a bite from an infected flea.

Now, there are different types of plague, ranging from bubonic to pneumonic to septicemic, that all result in, you guessed it, fever, problems with lungs, and enlarged lymph nodes, really large lymph nodes. Interestingly, the start of the plague, having originated in China and Inner Asia, the Black Death decimated the army of Kipchak Khan Janiberg while he was besieging the Genoese trading port of Kaffa (now Feodosiya) in Crimea in 1347, and the spread began. With his forces disintegrating, Janiberg used trebuchets to catapult plague-infested corpses into the town in an effort to infect his enemies. The plague was so deadly that Janiberg was catapulting corpses into Kaffa in order to overthrow the city. That is how infectious this thing was.

During that time, they did not know how the disease was spread so many cities would not allow ships and their respective crews to disembark. Little did they know that the rats carrying the infectious fleas were scurrying down the lines that were holding the ships to the shore and heading into the cities to infect thousands more.

From Kaffa, Genoese ships carried the epidemic westward to Mediterranean ports when it spread inland, affecting Sicily in 1347, North Africa, mainland Italy, Spain, and France in 1348, and Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany, and the low countries in 1349, and so on and so forth.

The men on the 12 ships that sailed to Sicily in 1347 were found either dead or full of black boils. There is one story where a person observed a pig sniffing the clothes of someone who had died. Within a minute or two, the pig began spinning in circles and acting crazy, and eventually died. Due to the pandemic's longevity, four to five years, there were horrific stories of those who went through it. I am going to quote an article from Wikipedia. This one is kind of tough. Italian chronicler, Agnolo Di Tura, recorded his experience from Sienna where the plague arrived in May, 1348.

Father abandoned child, wife, husband, one brother another. For this illness seemed to strike through the breath and sight. And so they died and none could be found to bury the dead for money or friendship. Members of the household brought their dead to a ditch as best they could without priest, without divine offices. Great pits were dug and piled deep with the multitude of the dead. And they died by the hundreds, both day and night. And as soon as those ditches were filled, more were dug. And I, Agnolo Di Tura, buried my five children with my own hands. And there were also those who were so sparsely covered with earth that the dogs dragged them forth and devoured many bodies throughout the city. And there was no one who wept for any death for all awaited death and so many died that all believed it was the end of the world.

Tura's account of this plague is horrifying detail. I have read elsewhere regarding his statement that "no one wept for death for all awaited death" that this plague was so bad that the family member or friend that you ate breakfast with, that was most likely the last meal that you would have with him because one of you would was going to die that day. Death was so common to people they just accepted it. Death for those who remained alive became a certainty no matter their age, race, or religion.

Now, many of us know the famous nursery rhyme, "Ring Around the Roses," which is attributed to the times of the Black Death and of course, some of the research I did disputes this. But there are records that people would put flowers in their pockets so that they could breathe clean air. And some of the plague doctors began wearing those funny birdlike masks with a beak on it. It was like leather and it had the beak and then it had the goggles, right? And then they would go in and help the people that had the plague. Well, they would put dried flowers and aromatics in the beak. It is kind of like a gas mask so that they could breathe or counter the bad air.

Additionally, as Tura mentioned dogs dragging bodies out and devouring them, there are records of wolves and dogs infiltrating cities reminiscent of Jeremiah 15:3.

It is interesting that people viewed the pandemic in different ways. I actually found an article that largely depicted how Christians and Muslims handled it and it talked about their view of the plague and then their response to it. So bear with me as I kind of take us quickly through this. I am quoting from world history.org. This is the Christian view, this is how Christians viewed it.

The plague was a punishment from God for humanity's sins but could also be caused by bad air [I am going to say that a lot.], witchcraft and sorcery and individual life choices, including one's piety or lack of it. Christians, especially in the early early period of the outbreak, could leave a plague-stricken region for one which better air was not infected. The plague was contagious and could be passed between people but one could protect oneself through prayer, penitence, charms, and amulets.

That is the Christian view. Now to the Muslims view.

The plague was a merciful gift from God which provided martyrdom for the faithful whose souls were instantly transported to paradise. [Interesting, the Christians thought it was a punishment for sin. The Muslims think it is basically a merciful gift from God.] Muslims should not enter nor should they flee from a plague-stricken area so just stay where you are. And the plague was not contagious because of course, it came directly from God to specific individuals according to God's will.

So how did the Christians respond to all this? They had a penitential processions. They attended mass; fasting, prayer amulets, and charms. Then you had the flagellant movement. That is where they would all get together, go to the cities, and whip themselves for some reason. Now its supposed cures and fumigation of bad air, again, and they fled from the infected areas and they persecuted or marginalized communities, especially the Jews. Very interesting.

Now, the Muslim response: (it is similar) prayer and supplication at mosques, processions, mass funerals, orations, and fasting. They had increased (this is different) belief in supernatural visions, signs, and wonders, magic amulets and charms were used as a cure. They actually fled from infected areas. They did not stay like they had originally thought, and they did not persecute or marginalize communities. They had respect for the Jewish physicians. Very interesting there too.

I included this because I think that it is interesting that we all, and not just from a religious perspective, view things differently. Now, remember the people who went through this thought this was it, this was the end of the age. And so how they approached it is certainly interesting.

Let us go over to Zechariah for our next scripture.

Zechariah 1:7-11 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo the prophet. I saw by night, and behold, a man riding on a red horse, and it stood among the myrtle trees in the hollow; and behind him were horses, red, sorrel, and white. Then I said, "My Lord, what are these?" So the angel who talked with me said to me, "I will show you what they are." And the man who stood among the myrtle trees answered and said, "These are the ones whom the Lord has sent to walk to and fro throughout the earth." So they answered the Angel of the Lord who stood among the myrtle trees, and said, "We have walked to and fro throughout the earth, and behold, all the earth is resting quietly."

We more than likely remember the horsemen of Revelation and understand that their ride and ultimate fulfillment will happen as each seal is opened. But Zechariah seems to indicate that these horsemen are even now walking to and fro through the earth. And I think we can all agree that false religions, war, famine, pestilence, and death are happening all around us. There is certainly a culmination as we see in Revelation as these seals are opened. But again, it would appear that these horsemen are going to and fro through the earth.

We also know that God is executing judgment on the earth. I mentioned Sodom and Gomorrah earlier. God, similar to how He will deal with Babylon, executed judgment at that time. Was God executing judgment on earth with the Black Plague? The short answer is, I do not know. But there are some interesting details to consider. And consider is a big word. I recognize this is kind of an aside but relevant to the the message.

Now, first of all, we will consider the timing. The Black Death (plague) happened initially from the years 1346 to 1353. It did come back in various years after that but between those years is when the largest death toll occurred. Now, if we look at the records for the seven-year Shmita cycles, 1349 is a Shmita and 1350 would have been a Jubilee year.

Almost smack dab in the middle of the plague was a Shmita year and a Jubilee. Why is that interesting? Well, a pandemic of this size has consequences similar to what we have seen with COVID-19, but obviously to a far greater extent. First, we will look at society. With such a high mortality rate, people of all ranks in society were dying, whether you were a serf or a rich landowner or elite, the plague did not discriminate. Society as a whole was upended.

Now, the people that needed to work the land and bring in the crops were in short supply. So as a result, those who actually made it through the plague and were strong suddenly they got a pay increase and suddenly it paid to be a worker. The large gap between workers and the rich actually began to shrink. Now, I tried to find it again but there are stories of peasant workers whose employers died and left the house, the whole estate, the land, to them because there was no other family members. And so they in one day went from rags to riches during the pandemic.

And the one story I could not find was interesting because it actually happened to a woman. Back in the 14th century it was uncommon for women to own land. So it was interesting that she not only received the land, but she actually became a prominent person in society.

I do not know about you, but I thought about debts being released in the Year of Jubilee. So let us go to Leviticus 25. We are just going to take a look at this. Again, it is just curious to me that is all.

Leviticus 25:8-14 'And you shall count seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years; and the time of the seven sabbaths of years shall be to you forty-nine years. Then you shall cause the trumpet of the Jubilee to sound on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the Day of Atonement you shall make the trumpet to sound throughout all your land. And you shall consecrate the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a Jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his possession. Each of you shall return to his family. The fiftieth year shall be a Jubilee to you; in it you shall neither sow nor reap what grows of its own accord, nor gather the grapes of your untended vine. For it is the Jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat its produce from the field. In this Year of Jubilee, each of you shall return to his possession. And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor's hand, you shall not oppress one another.'

And then the rest of the scriptures kind of go through what the pricing structure is.

God is serious about how He should be worshipped and in what fashion. If He tells us that the land needs to rest, it needs to rest. Did the Black Death cause the land to rest entirely? I cannot say for sure because this event was obviously centralized in Europe and Asia and Africa, so we do not know about the Americas and Australia and all the other countries. It is interesting, though, that many commentaries state that the land grew on its own because there was no one to plant or harvest. In addition, there were many indentured servants that ended up becoming very wealthy, as I just said, so debts were certainly released.

Now, at least to me, this is very interesting if the timing does in fact line up, right? But let us get back to my point for today. One of the last things that I wanted to highlight with the Black Death is its cycle time or mortality time. There were people who showed symptoms and died anywhere from 3 to 10 days post symptoms, but still there are others that showed symptoms one day and they died that day. So it was rather quick.

Pandemics do not seem to be something that is new. They are probably new to the generation that they impact but not new to the world. History has shown that they have and do occur. And from what we can see, there will be more in the future. As we head rapidly toward the end times, types of plagues will only increase, which means we must run our race even more deliberately and with intense focus. An easy life with no challenges is not what we signed up for. As Jesus told us, we must take up our cross and follow Him. That is a tall order!

However, we can take some solace in Psalms 91. So let us turn there because I want to have at least one uplifting scripture and this one is pretty good.

Psalm 91:1-11 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust." Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge; His truth shall be your shield and buckler. You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by the day, nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you. Only with your eyes shall you look, and see the reward of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; for He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.

Backyard bunkers will not save us. And I am also pretty sure that there is no magical herbs that we can take or mask that we can wear in order to avoid the judgment that God is bringing on this earth.

As we see here in Psalm 91 we are to take refuge in God and trust in Him. Our responsibility is to be overcoming the world and coming out of Babylon. Now, knowing that the world is certainly planning for Disease X should prompt us to be ready both spiritually and physically, as much as possible. Remember Matthew 10:23. We will most likely need to be moving from city to city. And those five gallon buckets of rice are very heavy, trust me.

I refer all of us to Hebrews 11 where the author writes, "By faith Abraham," "By faith Isaac," "By faith Jacob," and so on. By faith each one obtained the promise and we know they all lived through some very troublesome times.

I do not like being sick. In fact, I hate being sick. I hate not being able to do all the things that we enjoy when we are healthy. But I should also say for the record and maybe I should have said it sooner, that we all understand that just because you get sick, you catch something, you come down with something, it does not always mean that God is punishing us. We are human, we have immune systems, and oftentimes we get tired and worn down.

What I am saying is that we know that God is judging His people even now and He will reach out and correct those who inhabit the earth. That correction can come in the form of plagues and pestilence. We saw this with the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah. We had water and we had fire. Those people were not part of His church, but they should have known better. We, as God's called-out, should be working to grow and overcome in all things along with striving to keep the commands that He has set forth in His written Word.

Please turn with me for a final scripture to Deuteronomy 28. As I read this, I was shaking in my boot, so to speak. It is a very, very intense set of scriptures.

Deuteronomy 28:58-63 "If you do not carefully observe all the words of this law that are written in this book, that you may fear this glorious and awesome name, THE LORD YOUR GOD, then the Lord will bring upon you and your descendants extraordinary plagues—great and prolonged plagues—and serious and prolonged sicknesses. Moreover He will bring back on you all the diseases of Egypt, of which you were afraid, and they shall cling to you. Also every sickness and every plague which is not written in this Book of the Law will the Lord bring upon you until you are destroyed. You shall be left few in numbers, whereas you were as the stars of heaven in multitude, because you would not obey the voice of the Lord your God. And it shall be, that just as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and multiply you, so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you and bring you to nothing; and you shall be plucked from off the land which you go to possess."

Now, these are frightening words. Even if we are not in the final year or years of God's plan, the horsemen are riding and judgment is being handed down. I Peter 4:17 tells us, "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?"

God has shown Himself strong on many occasions, disciplining His people and the earth when and where needed, and He has also protected those who obey Him. We know that in the end, false prophets, war, rumors of war, pestilence, famine, and death will come and it is just the beginning. We must be ready now, overcoming, putting off the world, growing in His image. Resolving to change or grow later simply will not work.

God's judgment will come upon us all swiftly and we need to be doing the right things right now. Storms are coming. We can see the seasons changing. It is time to make ready so that we, through faith in our Great God, can weather the storm.

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