It was not uncommon in ancient times for nations and kings to seek to understand the cause, prophetic meaning and future implications of significant events. This spiritual-prophetic thinking was embraced, embedded and entrenched in ancient civilizations, both in Jewish and Gentile cultures. Sometimes God would send prophets like Jeremiah or Ezekiel to the Jews, with some form of dramatization of divine communication, knowing that the people would naturally seek to understand the prophetic meaning behind the drama.

Ezek. 24:15 The word of the Lord came to me: 16 “Son of man, with one blow I am about to take away from you the delight of your eyes. Yet do not lament or weep or shed any tears. 17 Groan quietly; do not mourn for the dead. Keep your turban fastened and your sandals on your feet; do not cover the lower part of your face or eat the customary food [of mourners].” 18 So I spoke to the people in the morning, and in the evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I had been commanded. 19 Then the people asked me, “Won’t you tell us what these things have to do with us?” NIV

When the prophet Ezekiel did not mourn the death of his wife, people knew that beyond the prophet’s personal situation of grief, there was a message for them. The amazing thing in this story and others, is that even when the Jews or any other ancient nation found themselves in a state of disconnection from God, they had an eye to see God through events around them. In the context of church, we talk of “signs, wonders and miracles”. The word “sign” means an indication. As a verb, it means to indicate or point out something. The word defines a miracle with a spiritual end and purpose. It speaks of a miracle that leads to something out of and beyond itself. The word “wonder” is closely associated with the word sign. It speaks of that which is startling, and that which leaves a permanent mark in the memory of man. And the word “miracle” speaks of acts of divine power – a disruption of rational and scientific norms.

Heb 2:4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. NIV

The purpose of “signs, wonders and miracles” is to lift human awareness, perception and consciousness to higher and often moral realities of life. That is, a sign or a wonder is designed to disrupt the conversation of humans and secure their attention to something they were previously not aware of. For those of us who go to church gatherings, we may be used to signs, wonders and miracles mostly in the context of personal healing etc. But actually, a sign or wonder is not only related to God’s acts of personal redemption, but it also refers to macro, global and cosmic actions of God. As an example, Jesus referred to His death on the Cross as a sign given to man (Matt. 16:1-4). In Acts 2, the birthing of the church and the release of the Holy Spirit to mankind would come with “wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below” (Acts 2:19-20). The Scripture here is clearly referring to both astronomical and environmental, climatic occurrences. This means that we must broaden our understanding of signs to realities bigger than Sunday morning gatherings. Again, this idea was so entrenched in ancient civilizations that the magi or the wise men from the east understood the appearance of a star (an astronomical and even scientific occurrence) to represent something divine – the birthing of the Christ (Matt. 2:1-3). The wise men asked, “where is the One who has been born king of the Jews? We saw His star and have come to worship Him”. Not only so, but even Herod was not dismissive of the magi’s account – he called special conferences, instituted new policies and put his region under some form of state of emergency (obviously for evil reasons), on the account of what the wise men said to him.

If we go a little further back in history, we see kings like Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar calling conferences to process dreams and political issues that troubled their minds.

Dan 2:2 When they came in and stood before the king, 3 he (Nebuchadnezzar) said to them, “I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.” NIV

The word “troubled” means to tap regularly; to agitate. The word also means to stir into action. King Nebuchadnezzar gives another account in Daniel 4…

Dan 4:4 I, Nebuchadnezzar, was at home in my palace, contented and prosperous. 5 I had a dream that made me afraid. As I was lying in my bed, the images and visions that passed through my mind terrified me. NIV

In the scripture above, the king refers to “thoughts (images) on my bed” and “the visions of my head” (NKJV). The word “thought” means mental conception. In its root meaning, it defines a situation of being pregnant with child. In the context of the scripture above, this word (thought) therefore refers to the process of formation of new mental burdens and agenda in relation to the process of governing a nation. The word “vision” means sight, to gaze upon, and to contemplate. Furthermore, the king uses the phrase, “I was terrified”, to describe the outcome of his feelings. The word “terrified” is an Aramaic word that means to be disturbed and to be in a hurry. This means that God also speaks to us or to humans through divine disturbances of the mind. We must note the context in which the dream found the king – he was at home feeling content and prosperous. He had a feeling of peace, safety and prosperity that was perhaps based on his own sense of success in what he had built. The king’s response to this inner feeling again shows us how prophetically inclined ancient civilizations were. The king commanded that all the wise men of Babylon be brought before him to interpret the thoughts of his mind (Dan. 4:6).

 

What is clear as we consider ancient civilizations is that, 1) they understood the intimate relationship between spirit and matter, and that earthly occurrences had spiritual origins, spiritual meaning and spiritual outcomes, powerful enough to impact on the affairs of man; 2) they had no problem fusing and blending science and spiritual-prophetic insight – they did not see science as an enemy of spiritual-prophetic knowledge. The advent of the European Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment changed this reality, as humans sought to create distance and hostility between science and reason on the one hand, and faith and spirituality on the other hand. Fast forward to modern day life, spirituality has been reduced to a devotional experience, often on a particular day of the week and in a building that is often removed from life. The point here is not to speak against the idea of public gatherings for the purpose of worship, but where this is not integrated with life, then our order of church is against the order of Creation, where the administration of life, romance, family and spirituality were all one coherent reality (Gen. 2). The idea of spirituality as the foundation of morality, reason and insight has been lost. The Bible for instance, is not simply a personal-devotional book, it’s also a book of wisdom or philosophy, history, science etc. – in the main, the Bible is a book that deals with the enterprise of human life. It is a book from which humans, families, politicians, business people etc. can learn about life and their various sectors.

Heb 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. NIV

The problem with this “enlightenment” type thinking is that present day nations understand faith to only be a personal devotion phenomenon, and not something that can help us develop a worldview to understand macro, socio-political and cosmic events of life. In the process, we’ve lost the God of Nations! The problem with this is that there are realities – social, economic and political – that we will continue to misunderstand due to our limited human wisdom.

When we consider all these issues, we must realize that just like ancient kings “jumped out of their comfort” when they were confronted by a sign or a wonder, to discuss and understand occurrences of their day, so must the present-day political authorities and nation-states consider (1) the possible cause of the current pandemic, (2) the context and conditions that have resulted in the incapacity of nations to deal with the pandemic, (3) and the nature of life after the pandemic. In considering these three fundamental questions, like Nebuchadnezzar, political authorities must “hurry up” to see how they can mitigate the damages caused both by the current and future “pandemics”. In other words, this is not only a time for medical interventions and humanitarian efforts, it’s also a time to see the future (to have insight and foresight) and to consider new structural reforms that can produce new systemic realities.

 

The magnitude of the pandemic

Looking at the magnitude, the scale, the speed and the global impact of this pandemic, the ancient kings, prophets, philosophers and ancient societies would have concluded that something other-worldly was happening! Clearly, at least according to the news and the statistics coming through, something is indeed moving across the nations of the earth. And if God is on the other side of the line of whatever is happening, catching up with it together with us, and trying to stop it, then He isn’t as powerful as He declares Himself to be. And since we know God the Creator of the earth, Jehovah the self-sufficient One, that He is no spectator to life events, and that nothing happens to His creation at least without it earning His divine oversight and attention, because His eyes scan the entire earth (2 Chron. 16:9, Ps. 15:3, Heb. 4:13). And that this same God is so detailed that He has numbered the very hairs of our heads (Luke 12:7), that He never sleeps nor slumbers (Ps. 121:3-5), and that He knows the future beforehand, then we have to say that (1) either this pandemic is the direct hand of God or (2) He has knowingly allowed whatever is moving in the earth, to produce the level of impact that we’re seeing on our television screens. And this further raises doctrinal and prophetic questions as we seek to calibrate the lens through which we see this Creator. That is, at the core of this conversation, is the theology of the Nature of God. It is good for us to ask questions because they take us out of our comfort zones and lead us back to God. When we consider the theological principle, that nothing happens in life outside of the scope of God’s eyes – then at the very least, this pandemic must leave us confronting and engaging God in one way or another. After all, it is the glory of God to conceal the matter, and it is the glory of kings to search it out (Prov. 25:2).

 

The Character of the Pandemic

The one other thing that we see in Biblical-Prophetic language is usage of illustrations like animals to describe signs, wonders and supernatural movements. This is very common but not limited to the Books of Daniel and Revelation. King Pharaoh saw an image of animals (cows) and plants or vegetation that spoke to the seven-year cycle of his economy. Prophet Zechariah also saw a lot of images that characterized life in his days. So this happened to kings and prophets, Jews and Gentiles, and to believers and non-believers alike. The issue is not to be obsessed with images or visions; the issue is to find words and language to understand, capture and analyze occurrences at play before us.

What are some of the characteristics of this pandemic? And what are their implications to the nations of the world?

 

This pandemic has speed

It was in December 2019 that we started hearing about “this disease” that affects the respiratory system of the human body. This was happening in Wuhan, China at the time. As we stepped into the months of February and March 2020, we started to see global infections taking place at a high speed. Presidents and Prime Ministers would have delivered their state of the nation speeches around February, and this would not have necessarily featured in their plans and concerns (perhaps it was a boardroom conversation at the time). We are now in April and are faced with having to re-prioritize our budgets around this pandemic. There is no doubt that governments and public healthcare systems around the world have been ambushed by this pandemic. There has not been enough time to do proper preparation and allocation of resources. Health care workers across the nations of the world (rich and poor) are in need of protective gear. The world has been overtaken by the pandemic and is now having to catch up!

 

Implication: governments must always be ready when it comes to policies, resources and protocols of saving human life. Our first rule of government and of economics must be in preserving the breath of life in human bodies. Government sectors and industries that are involved in the business of human life are paramount.

 

This pandemic has global reach

This pandemic is unlike a tsunami or war taking place in some region – it has come to the doorsteps of continents, nations and households around the world. Those who have not yet seen a significant rise in their regions and nations still have to live with a degree of uncertainty. This is not a regional problem! This is a global problem that has been facilitated by global transportation systems – the virus has been moving through the human agency. Although China has had the advantage of being ground zero, meaning that they had a specific region to lockdown to contain this virus, the rest of the nations could not apply the same strategy because they were the recipients of the disease. This means that as people traveled back to their countries of origin, they landed in different parts of their countries causing widespread infections, leading to national lockdown measures. The global nature of the pandemic shows us that we live in the environment and age of global intimacy. Physical distance and time zones are increasingly becoming non-factors in the proximity of nations.

Implication: governments and nation-states are entities that exist within an interconnected global system. There are no distant conditions anymore. Increasingly, citizens must elect political leaders who don’t only understand the global implications of their local actions, but who also have foresight to see the local implications of global developments. Politics truly cannot be left to politicians and political parties.

 

This pandemic is non-discriminatory

We have seen the rich being infected alongside the poor; those in positions of power alongside ordinary citizens. We’ve seen infections across race-groups, ethnic groups, gender and age groups. Wealth and access to security resources mean absolutely nothing when you are confronted by a microbiological enemy that you cannot see with your naked eyes.

Implication: the world is used to class-oriented socio-political problems. As we move deeper into new territories of climate and biological challenges, we must realize that we are dealing with a “new normal” in which conventional means of security will increasingly have no effect.

 

This pandemic has global coordination with shifting epicenters

Not only is this pandemic global, it’s also moving with a sense of global coordination. All nations and systems of the world are paralyzed and in quarantine at the same time. Even those not yet affected are tracking the situation closely and some have already taken precautionary measures of lockdown to protect lives. There also has been a continental shift in epicenters. In December 2019 and January 2020, all eyes were upon China (Asia). Then we moved to Italy (Europe) and now the eyes of the world are upon the USA (North America). Governments of nations in the remaining continents must use the time they have wisely as they prepare themselves in case of outbreaks in their regions.

Implication: living in a globalized world means that we are dealing with social conditions at a bigger scale than our national borders. Not only does this require a new age of cooperation between nations, but it also requires nations to develop policies, protocols and resources that are pre-configured to dock especially in a time of crisis.

 

This pandemic has systemic and dimensional reach

Not only does this pandemic have a global reach, it also has systemic reach. There is not a single system of life that has not been affected – from political, economic to social systems. The politics of opposition has been suspended as governments and political parties make effort to be united under the priority to save human life. Businesses have had to shut down to allow citizens to be home to observe containment laws and measures. Cultural systems have also been affected as humans re-orientate themselves on new measures of social distancing. On the one hand, humans in general have a deep need for social life – self-isolation measures bring some deep psychological implications. On the other hand, cultures that are deeply communal and intimate are going through some form of culture shock.

Implication: political, economic and social systems of nation-states have no value outside the sanctity of human life. Nation-states must revisit the ideal of promoting the wellbeing of the human.

 

The pandemic has put the family-household system under the spotlight

Although the family-household system fits within the broader social system of nations, it’s important for us to specifically acknowledge the level of pressure upon families at this moment. This pandemic has resulted in containment measures as nations put in place lockdowns. But here is the reality – a national lockdown is not possible without families and households. When a government tells people not to move around, then those measures must take place upon the shoulders of the household system. As a result of this, we are now seeing reports of increased levels of gender-based violence. The reality is that a fragile family cannot withstand the pressure of an extended lockdown.

Implication: the family is the core unit of society upon which all systems of nations depend. It is in the interest of governments and nation-states to promote the sanctity of family, and to drive laws that produce stable families.

 

This pandemic is characterized by both softness and brutality

This pandemic is both soft and brutal. There are people that emerge out of it asymptomatic when others end up in Intensive Care Units or even dying. The medical system has not figured out the pathogenesis of the virus – that is, the origination, development or pathological process of the disease has not yet been comprehended. In other words, science is not currently able to help us understand the prognosis or the medical outcome based on the nature of the virus on the one hand, and on the health profiles of people on the other hand. Currently, science is not able to help us fully make sense of what is going on. Two people can be in the same health profile but can emerge with different medical outcomes out of this virus. This makes us think about the plague of the first born in Egypt (Ex. 12).

 

Ex 12:29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. NIV

On the one hand, the pandemic of the exodus affected Egyptian families only, and across the social class of the Egyptian society. On the other hand, the first born of the Jews were not affected. You could have had two males of the same age, one Jewish and the other Egyptian, and only find that only the Egyptian male was affected by whatever disease that was unleashed that evening. There are certain theological streams we can follow in this story. But for the purpose of this article, the point in view is that in the history of mankind, we’ve had a situation of a pandemic whose pathogenesis we didn’t understand. And that in the context of the story, this was understood to be a sign and a wonder of some kind.

Implication: science is useful to mankind as it helps us do a whole lot of things. In creating life, God has in fact given us the blessing of scientific ability to understand a whole range of issues, including His very nature (Rom. 1:20, Acts 17:26-28, Ps. 19:1). That is, God and science are not enemies, for if the creation of God requires scientific ability to comprehend, and if God has left scientific trails and evidence for us to understand Him, then God must be the very Source of scientific knowledge. But science can sometimes fail to help us process realities at play before us, or put differently, God has chosen other media of knowledge and understanding, other than science. There are therefore human experiences that require us to tap into non-material realities of hope and faith, to seek to understand what it is that God is doing in our lives and times. And that in this age of “rationality”, we must re-embrace spirituality not only as a devotional experience, but also as a source of knowledge and wisdom in the process of administration of human life. This is what ancient kings did very well!

 

This pandemic has immobilized the economic system

This generation has in the main lived in the era of the supremacy of economics. We think in economic terms. We make value judgment through the lens of economics. Capitalism is not simply some academic theory or ideology for economists and politicians, it is the very lens through which human beings engage with life. Watching this pandemic unfolding, it’s been clear that governments have had to make judgments to put in place containment measures against the drive for economic productivity and expansion. Now, economics is important for the livelihood of people, neighborhoods and nations. But economics takes place upon the foundation of sanctity of human life. Simply put, we cannot do economic activity with sickly or even a dying society. What we are seeing in this pandemic is that not only does economics produce human wellbeing, but human wellbeing is in fact the foundation of economic activity. Perhaps in some economic schools of thought, the view is that it is through economics that nations secure human wellbeing – not so true, at least according to the dynamics of this pandemic.

And so this pandemic has forced nations to put containment measures. Here is the reality, to save lives you need to lock down the nation. To lock down the nation is to keep human beings at home, and to keep humans at home is to immobilize the entire economic system. Perhaps what this allows us to rethink is the very objective of economic activity – if economic activity is geared towards human wellbeing and not towards the greed of the few, then this produces a philosophical framework that allows us to navigate difficult moments like the current pandemic.

Jer. 29:4 This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. NIV

To “plant gardens and eat what they produce” means that the purpose of economics is human wellbeing – this is the economics of human wellbeing.

Mal 3:8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. “But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse — the whole nation of you — because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty. NIV

This scripture in Malachi is often used in church in the context of tithes and offerings. Beyond that, the scripture perhaps helps us to see into the mind and nature of God in terms of how we must engage economics and systemic life in society. In Biblical thinking, a house is understood to be a family – a human community living together with a sense of common identity and livelihood.  The New Testament uses the word “oikos” which means “a dwelling and a family”. The word oikos is related to the word “oikonomeo” which is the word “economy”. This word means distribution of resource, the administration of a household, the arrangement of an administration. Theories, ideologies and schools of thought are not simply academic concepts , they are mechanisms by which we arrange and administer the flow of human life. God’s preferred theory, ideology and arrangement is one in which we engage economic activity (in the fields) to bring back food to the house (house here referring to the community that we are a part of). The objective of economic activity is the wellbeing of the household – the wellbeing of the collective. God says that when we engage in the field and fail to bring back the returns to the house, we are like thieves – we are stealing from the rest of society.

Implication: although in pure capitalistic thinking, life is on a standstill currently, but according to the economics of human wellbeing, life is in fact being preserved and sustained for the future. This is not a time of lack of productivity. This is the time to preserve the futures of humanity, so that we can go back to the fields again, at a later stage, when it is safe to do so. The economic worldview of humans as simply a production machine for those who own capital is certainly being challenged. But the economic worldview of economic productivity as a means for human wellbeing is being established, in the sense that within this view, your cardinal reference point is the wellbeing of society, and not the profiteering of the capitalist.

 

This pandemic brings the Social Contract between governments and citizens under a new spotlight

The concept of Social Contract speaks of the agreement that exists between a government and the people it’s governing over, the idea that citizens can give the government the right to govern their lives, provided that the outcome of the process of government will establish human rights and human wellbeing. At the centre of the social contract is the law (constitution) and policies of the government. The natural tension implied in the social contract conversation is one of the rights of the State to govern over the individual human.

For the sake of this article, we will stretch this principle further back, beyond the Age of Enlightenment and Greco-Roman civilization, right back to Creation.

Gen 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” 18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.” NIV

Before there was any ideological and academic conversation on the issue of the social contract, there was God creating human beings and instructing them on how to be human. The very first command that ever came to our ancestor Adam when he came to consciousness, brought definition and framework on human life. It gave details on what to do and what not to do. The Fall is in fact the result of the tension and attitude that existed in human heart towards the government of God.

Gen 3:6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. NIV

One day, Adam and Eve gave in to what they perceived to be their individual right over God’s government. In the process, not only did they bring chaos to their lives and immediate environment, but also to the rest of mankind. Jesus, on the other hand redeems and restores the social contract that exists between God and man. When Jesus is confronted by the need to obey the command of God in the midst of hostility, shame and pain, he clearly defers and gives up His individual right by upholding the responsibility to obey.

Luke 22:41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”  43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. NIV

Jesus understood the severity of the moment and the shame that would come with the crucifixion, but He made a conscious choice to obey the command of God and fulfill the mission.

Now it is important that we understand that the social contract tension between God and man is one of the major themes of the Scriptures. On the one hand, God declares, “I am God, beside me there is no other… and you shall have no other god beside me”. Such a statement leaves us with no other option but to embrace Him who is the Creator of life and obey His commands. But, on the other hand, we humans are constantly choosing to follow our own evil human desires. Jesus settles this tension both through His own example of how He relates with the authority of God, and by reconciling the idea of love with the idea of ruler-ship.

John 14:15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. NIV

However, if there is this disequilibrium in the social contract between God and man, then certainly that would naturally play out in the social contract between the State (which is sometimes imperfect) and the citizen.

The tension that exists in the social contract conversation is born out of the following realities: a) governments can and have abused their rights and powers, b) citizens do not understand that according to God, the Creator and Architect of human life, the purpose of government is not to give privileges to a few politicians, but it is to promote and establish human wellbeing – issues of peace, prosperity and justice. Frankly, outside of this framework and divine mandate to governments, citizens have no obligation to submit to the authority of the State. In fact, in cases of abuse of State powers, God is often on the side of the revolution – this was certainly the case during the oppressive Pharaoh who provoked prince Moses into a liberator.

The mandate and framework of the government is clearly outlined in Romans 13:

Rom 13:1 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. NIV

Several issues are outlined for us here:

• The ruler (or the government) is the servant of God and of the people (Rom. 13:4). The word “servant” means an attendant, one who waits at the table, a deacon of the people.
• The mandate of the ruler is to do good to the citizens – to borrow the words of 1 Timothy 2 verse 2, the ruler must establish “peace in the land”.
• The ruler is equally an agent of wrath or an agent of justice. Another bible translation says that “the ruler is the avenger who executes wrath” (NKJV). The word “avenger” means one who carries out justice.

The objective of the State and therefore of a government is clearly to establish peace, prosperity and justice. The scriptures highlighted above, clearly indicate to us that God has established the principle of government in human creation – that whenever and wherever there is a human community, there must be political authority to establish order, peace, prosperity and justice.

However, as governments put containment measures in place, to lockdown movement of citizens, and to even prohibit activities of faith and worship, the social contract conversation has once again resurfaced. There is a silent conversation taking place behind locked households concerning the right of a government to prohibit human movement, public gatherings etc. Partly, this conversation stems from the fact that the modern-day citizen, a) does not understand citizenship as a political reality within the machinery of the State, b) governments have not established citizenship education, to help citizens understand the very principle of social contract. If the scriptures we’ve highlighted are anything to go by, then actually, governments must put measures in place to save their citizens against this ravaging microbiological enemy called novel coronavirus. However, citizens, as well as human rights institutions, must remain vigilant to ensure that a) governments do not engage in unwarranted solutions, b) that there is no abuse of power, c) and that governments are not unduly infringing on the privacy of their citizens.

Implication: there is a great need for citizenship education for the modern-day citizen, to establish the proper understanding of the relationship between the State and the citizen. Such education will go a long way in 1) helping the process of government especially in times like the current pandemic, 2) in securing cooperation between governments and citizens, 3) and in safeguarding against abuse.

 

In summary, we can say the following:

• There is something happening in the world, and it is indeed other-worldly.
• There is no way that God is pushed to the corner and left trying to come back for another round to prove Himself amidst this pandemic.
• This pandemic has a character that the nations of the world must investigate and understand, to prepare for the future.
• This pandemic has exposed the true conditions of the systems of human life. The words of Dr Anthony Fauci (the Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the USA) are applicable here, “…sometimes when you’re in the middle of a crisis, like we are now with the coronavirus, it really does ultimately shine a very bright light on some of the real weaknesses and foibles in our society”. The question is, to what extent is this statement applicable to other systems and sectors of life, other than public healthcare systems (political, governmental, socio-economic, family and including church)?
• Governments have an obligation from God to put measures in place to protect and promote human wellbeing.
• Citizens, on the other hand, have a moral obligation to cooperate with governments in the process of administrating human wellbeing.
• The nations of the world must prepare to step into a new era of humanity post this pandemic.

 

Note:

Below are the topics and links of other articles on the current pandemic:

 

1. Restating the foundations of the new covenant.
2. Drivers for effective life in the current season of the pandemic.
3. Doing church in the crisis of coronavirus.

 

Robert Ntuli

Pastor – LivingStones Agency

Visionary Leader – Kingdom Humanity Fellowship