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Does God Cause Pandemics?

'Prophecy Watch' by David C. Grabbe

In the unfolding of events like the recent pandemic, a clear cause-and-effect principle emerges. God claims responsibility for sending pestilence, plagues, fevers, inflammation, and weakness as consequences when His people reject Him and His commands. As seen in Leviticus 26:16 and 26:25, He promises wasting disease, fever, and pestilence among those gathered in cities, indicating that proximity exacerbates the spread of such curses. These descriptions align with experiences of COVID-19, though mercifully not in their fullest severity, as they represent a type of the curses God forewarns. The origin of a plague—whether from natural sources, accidents, or intentional acts—matters less than the divine intent behind it. God's declarations in Scripture emphasize that such calamities are His response to national disobedience, regardless of the human mechanisms involved. Disbelief in His warnings itself contributes to the conditions that bring about these curses. Historical accounts, such as in Jeremiah's warnings to Judah, reinforce this principle, showing pestilence as part of God's reaction to national immorality. Similarly, God's use of wicked nations or leaders, like Hazael of Syria or the Chaldeans in Habakkuk, to chasten His people illustrates that He employs various means to execute His will. The root cause remains the rebellion and disobedience of His people, rather than the instruments of punishment themselves. This principle extends to modern contexts where focusing on the source of calamity, as with COVID-19, often overshadows the underlying moral state of the nation. God's role in creating calamity, as affirmed in Amos 3:6 and Isaiah 45:7, underscores that such events are not random but purposeful, intended to prompt reflection and repentance among His people.

Biblical Principles of Justice (Part Two)

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

The principle of cause and effect states that sinful actions, including crimes, have inherent consequences. If you sin, it will bring negative outcomes upon you, and these outcomes will occur unless God intervenes to stop them. For example, adultery automatically results in a penalty of distrust, which takes a long time to rebuild.

The Vicissitudes of Old Age

Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

The principle of cause and effect is active in God's creation and cannot be entirely avoided. Often, toward the end of life, the consequences of past actions must be faced. Those who live by the sword will die by the sword, illustrating that the past can return to affect us. Solomon advises using wisdom to mitigate the potential negative impacts of past actions.

A House Built on Sand

CGG Weekly

Harvard postgraduates, Yale Law School professors, and countless others support policies that to the average citizen seem an affront to common sense.

Sowing and Reaping

'Ready Answer' by David C. Grabbe

A basic agricultural principle, what is sown will be reaped, also applies to human behavior. Sin brings death, while following God's Word produces life.

Natural Law

CGG Weekly by David C. Grabbe

Gravity is but one of the many natural laws. These cause-and-effect principles operate continuously in our lives. We either comply, or we suffer the consequences.

Bugs and Beasts

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Through Amos, God shows us that He uses natural disasters to show His displeasure. If we believe that God is Creator, we should ask ourselves why things occur.

Is Education the Answer? (Part 4)

Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Because the secular progressives control the media, entertainment, and education, Americans have no inkling about how sin destroys the quality of life.

Vision of America's Future?

CGG Weekly by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

If a person behaves responsibly, good results will follow, but if he behaves irresponsibly, he can expect grief. This principle always applies.

Spiritual Blindness: Choosing a Curse

Sermonette by David C. Grabbe

God proclaims a cause-effect relationship between sin and madness, blindness, and confusion of heart. Sin causes blindness, and blindness begets more sin.

Fast-Forwarding the Tape

'Ready Answer' by David F. Maas

Some of us fast-forward to catch a glimpse of the ending of a story. This curiosity is similar to God's showing us how life's experiences can turn out.

The Overcoming Skill

Sermonette by Bill Onisick

With God's Spirit, we can develop the overcoming skill, using self-control to make firm commitments to our small, yet progressively significant choices.

A Bed Too Short (Part 1)

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Charles Whitaker

Our society is too connected with the present, too enamored of technology, too surfeited on abundance to pay attention to basic laws of cause and effect.

The Commandments (Part Twelve)

Sermon/Bible Study by John W. Ritenbaugh

Parents need to teach their children to consider the long-range consequences of current behaviors, chastening and disciplining them while there is hope.

The Second Commandment: Idolatry

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

The natural mind craves something physical to remind us of God, but the Second Commandment prohibits this. Any representation will fall short of the reality.

Amos (Part Five)

Sermon/Bible Study by John W. Ritenbaugh

Modern Israel cannot see the connection between its own faithlessness to the covenant and the violence of society that mirrors her spiritual condition.

Spiritual Blindness (Part Three): Choosing a Curse

'Prophecy Watch' by David C. Grabbe

People choose the curse of spiritual blindness through habitually practicing the evils God commands us to avoid. We all have areas of spiritual blindness.

Little Things Count!

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

No act is insignificant because of two natural principles: the tendency toward increase and reaping what we sow. They play major roles in our lives.

Moses' Sin at Kadesh

'Prophecy Watch' by Mike Ford

We wish God would tell us what to do but fail to realize that He has instructed us through His Word. Yet, like Moses at Kadesh, we fail to do what He tells us!

Lamentations (Part Two)

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

The Lamentations show poignant before-and-after vignettes of formerly happy times contrasted with the horror of the present as God punishes Judah.

Liberalism and the English Riots

Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Liberal judges tend to place the blame on genetics, environment, or society, but never on the one who commits the crime.

Foolishness and Cleansing

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Human nature has a perverse drive to take risks, pushing the envelope, taking unwise chances, foolishly gambling away the future. Foolishness is sin.

Doing Righteousness

Sermon by Kim Myers

God's church, because it co-exists with the unrighteousness of the world, is in danger of becoming corrupted or leavened by the world's example.

Lamentations (Part Three)

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Personified Jerusalem, whom God depicts as a grieving widow, blames others for her troubles while overlooking her own sins as the real cause of her sorrow.

What Sin Does

Article by John W. Ritenbaugh

Sin is driven by the attitudes of Satan, the Adversary of God and man, and it is the cause of the misery and destruction we witness everywhere.

The Second Commandment

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

Most people consider the second commandment to deal with making or falling down before a pagan idol, but it covers all aspects of the way we worship.

The Appointed Weeks of Pentecost

Sermon by David C. Grabbe

Each day in the count is a reminder to consider what we are sowing and what we are cultivating because it will assuredly come to fruition and then evaluation.

A Government To Fear (Part Two)

Commentary by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

The 'religious' communities of America are so biblically ignorant that they have learned to tolerate immorality, accepting lying in governmental leaders.

A Bed Too Short (Part 2)

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Charles Whitaker (1944-2021)

Americans, living well on credit and enamored with technology, have deceived themselves that they have advanced beyond the consequences of God's Law.

Every Action Has a Reaction

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Every action has a corresponding reaction; even the little things we do matter. Sin produces increase (the leavening effect) just as righteousness does.

Hope to the End (Part Two)

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

We need these horrific times and conditions to learn the consequences of foolish decisions in order to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again.

Knowing God

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

To fulfill one's purpose, one must be singularly focused on what one wants to accomplish. Divided minds result in no productivity or even devastation.

Maintaining Good Health (Part 11)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Human nature takes chances, assuming the day of reckoning will come later, not sooner. We cannot ignore truth or God's laws without paying a horrific price.