It is no accident that the greater church of God has experienced a taste of the curses described in Deuteronomy 28 and Leviticus 26, not yet to the extent where one-third of the population will die (Ezekiel 5), but enough to send shockwaves through modern physical Israel as well as the Israel of God. God creates calamity (Isaiah 45:47) to punish His own people for their disobedience. Sadly, it is easier to focus on the scourge (including God providing the basest, most incompetent, and evil of leaders) rather than the cause. This nation rejects the thought that God creates calamity, including pestilence and scattering. We must be careful not to assign the calamity to the wrong source. In the middle of a dreadful affliction, one finds comfort in Daniel's prayer for his people (Daniel 9:1-19). Daniel included himself with the nation (even though he may not have directly disobeyed God). In this present calamity, God's people have endured with the Covid outbreak. It could be that God may be trying to get our attention, suggesting that we are not so innocent as we had supposed (Luke 13:1-5). When Aachen committed sin (Joshua 7:1), thirty-six innocent people lost their lives. Sin has a ripple effect, running through the family, the community, and the nation. Two grave sins that have always brought a curse on physical Israel and the Israel of God are Sabbath breaking and idolatry. The Sabbath is not a minor concern of God, but the principal sign (Exodus 20:12) binding His people to Him. Affliction may not be a punishment for sin, but it may be God's means of perfecting, humbling, or building character in us. The pandemic in some ways served as an amplified Day of Atonement. God's people must be diligent about not forsaking assembly, but conversely be diligent at observing God's Law of quarantine (Leviticus 14).