Do you believe this?

‘I am the resurrection and the life.

If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live,

and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.

Do you believe this?’

John 11:25 - 26

Since the advent of national health, antibiotics, hip and knee replacements and many other extraordinary developments in medicine and health care, the expectation is that we would see out our biblical three score and ten (translated in 2019 to 80.4 years for males and 84.6 for females, compared to 47.2 and 50.8 years, respectively, in 1881–1890). Many of our parents and grandparents came from large families, due in measure because disease and misadventure deprived so many families of their children. In my father's case he was one of eleven. Two of his elder brothers were killed in action barely having reached their twenties. Another elder brother drowned as a young child. A sister died of pneumonia aged 16, and another of pneumonia aged 34.

This was not untypical. The promise of eternal life was not a panacea for grief, but for many it put a context to lives cut short. God knew us before we were born (Jeremiah 1:5) and our names are inscribed on the palm of his hand' (Isaiah 49:16). One only need to watch the videos of the intensive care units in Lombardy to see the devastating effect of the COVAD-19 virus. Bodies are cremated without mourners, families locked down in their homes. We must remain confident, that even in the midst of this tragedy, God knows my name.

There are challenges as time moves on. As if poking their fingers at the virus, bathers on the beaches of Sydney last weekend totally disregarded social distancing warnings. Then at odds with this were those who assailed our supermarkets, placing their hope in full cupboards. Is this about control or loss of control over our own lives?

In the end, it is not about who's in control nor about the length of our lives, but how full we live our lives. At the centre of our relationship with Jesus is faith - and hand in hand with that faith walks hope and love. Our forebears knew they had to live life fully, for at any time they could lose a loved one to (what today may be considered) the most innocuous of illnesses. Their faith carried them forward, their neighbours gave them support.

If love for others, hope in eternal life and faith in Christ were manifest in our lives, might not our response to the virus be very different? Jesus (Matthew 6:19 - 21) advises:

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also

We need to be prepared for an uncertain future, but preparation based on strong foundations. The long view and the short view is that God loves us and offers each and every one us the opportunity of eternal life with him. Do you believe this? If so, let us act accordingly.

Peter Douglas

Moses and the virus

21 March 2020

by Gerald McDermott

My friend Pesach Wolicki is an Orthodox rabbi in Israel.  This week he published an article in the Jerusalem Post that addresses the question many  Jews and Christians are asking, Is God trying to tell us something through this pandemic?  I find his answer to be compelling.

It has to do with repentance and humility, two things that Christians are admonished to search in Lent.  Perhaps Rabbi Wolicki’s reflection will help us Christians ponder the irony that this crisis has arisen in our Lenten season.

“We live in uncertain times. The coronavirus pandemic is spreading rapidly. At great cost to their economies, governments are enacting state of emergency measures to bring the contagion under control. The numbers of sick and dying are rising sharply daily.

“When the world experiences unprecedented crises, people seek answers. For people of faith, this search for answers often expresses itself in attempts to determine the reasons that God is doing what He is doing. And herein lies a grave danger.

“Over the past few weeks, I have seen articles in Jewish and Christian mass media that have made a wide range of claims about coronavirus. One writer quoted a rabbi stating that coronavirus is God’s way of punishing the evil Chinese, as well as the Iranians. A video being circulated quotes rabbinic leaders saying, without equivocation, that no God-fearing, Torah observant Jews would be infected. Yet another published “news” item claimed that since “corona” means “crown”, the pandemic is a clear sign of the imminent arrival of the Messiah.

“For people of biblical faith, the restoration of Israel after two millennia of exile is a clear sign that God is still faithful to His promises. We are living in times that were yearned for by Jews before us for nearly 2,000 years. But this perspective must not mutate into conjecture about what God will do next or what the reasons are for the spread of a deadly disease.

“’So it shall be, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by. Then I will take away My hand, and you shall see My back; but My face shall not be seen.’” – Exodus 33:22-23

“This verse does not mean, merely, that God knows things that He has not told us yet. This verse tells us to be humble. To be very careful before declaring that we have God all figured out. One of the fundamental stances of faith is humble submission to the fact that we do not know what God is doing until the dust settles.

“After the sin of the Golden Calf (Ex. 33), Moses asked of God, “Show me Your Glory.” In other words, Moses asked to understand how God is known in the world. God responded that humans are incapable of seeing God, of understanding Him, as living beings. God went on to offer Moses a glimpse of Him.

“While God is acting, while He is passing by, our eyes are covered. We are blind. It is only after events have occurred, after God’s next move in history is completed, that we have any vision at all. We only see God’s back. The Hebrew word for back, AHOR, is not the Hebrew word for the physical part of the body called the back, GAV. Rather, AHOR connotes what is behind; what has happened in the past.

“The message is powerful. While events are taking place in our world, we are blind. We have no way of knowing what God is doing and why He is doing it. Our understanding of God begins after the event has passed. We see only God’s back.

“To claim knowledge of what exactly God is doing is arrogance, not faith. I should note that in none of the articles or videos that I have seen that claim to know divine reasons for coronavirus did I see the words, “perhaps” or “maybe”. This unqualified certainty about God is nothing short of heresy. Faith does not demand, or even encourage, trying to figure God out. To declare that we know God’s thoughts is not faith. It’s blasphemy.

“Jewish tradition teaches us that when tragedies befall the community, we are required to look into ourselves and seek ways to improve our behavior. Uncertain times call for humility and introspection. The assumption is that we do not know why tragedies happen and therefore must use unsettling circumstances as an impetus towards greater piety. Declarations that tragedies befalling the community are the result of someone else’s sins, that we the faithful are doing just fine, represent the polar opposite of this sentiment. Faith-based eschatological conspiracy theories are expressions of arrogance, not faith.

“This same arrogance had led to many in the Torah observant community to be lax in carrying out the directives of the Health Ministry and the prime minister. Confident that God will protect them, they continue, as of this writing, to gather in larger than legal numbers and instruct their schools to continue operation. Jewish tradition teaches that, “We do not rely on miracles”. Yet, these reckless spokesmen for God do not care.

“Rather than setting the highest example of the concern for human life and society, irresponsible religious leaders are confidently declaring that God will protect us. Where is the humility?

“As people of faith, our primary concern at this time should be for the victims of the virus, and for the safety of everyone in society. Arrogant public statements about which enemies God is punishing and how wonderful and protected we are because we know what God is thinking, reveal the unfortunate dark side of faith.

“It’s time for all who have faith in God to show compassion and humility rather than blasphemous arrogance.”

Rabbi Pesach Wolicki is a writer, speaker, and consultant in the field of Jewish-Christian relations. He lives in Bet Shemesh.