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A worldwide pandemic came upon us, as if out of nowhere, and suddenly everything changed. The world, as we knew it, would never again be the same.
From the onset of the rapidly spreading Coronavirus to the shut down of all non-essential businesses and government mandated curfews and orders to stay at home to the recent re-opening of many states, what we’ve experienced in our various forms of seclusion closely correlates to several biblical episodes involving forty days and forty nights.
Before examining the comparisons, lets first look at corona-related recent history.
If we had watched the B roll or read the articles and news briefs hidden beneath the headlines we might have had a clue. After all, one of our nation’s top newspapers (USA TODAY) began reporting on the virus back in January 2020. At that time, the virus, which originated in the central city of Wuhan, had spread to surrounding regions in China and South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
The first U.S. case, a Washington state man in his 30s, was diagnosed on Tuesday January 21, 2020. A second case, a woman in her 60s, was reported a few days later in Chicago. Three more cases were confirmed the following weekend in California.
By February, word of the disease was starting to spread but Americans, for the most part, felt relatively safe and still had not yet made the connection between what was happening in other countries was soon coming closer to home.
In late February USA TODAY published the following report:
“On a recent Friday afternoon in western Iowa, a man was waiting in line to buy toilet paper at a local Dollar General store when another customer started giving the man grief about it, according to local police. At issue was the amount of toilet paper being purchased. After feeling threatened by the other customer’s aggressive behavior, the toilet paper buyer displayed a gun in self-defense. “It escalated almost to the point of a physical confrontation,” Atlantic Iowa police Lt. Devin Hogue told USA TODAY. In the end, neither person was injured, but the initial aggressor was charged with disorderly conduct.”
Around the country, police blotters over toilet tissue kept growing. In Florida, sheriff’s deputies arrested a man for allegedly stealing 66 toilet paper rolls from a Marriott hotel. In California, a Beverly Hills cops reportedly found 192 rolls of toilet paper in a stolen SUV. Meanwhile, the toilet paper shortage was just the beginning . . .
Even when the shelves were stocked, most items were priced so high shoppers had to learn quickly how to pick and choose and how to focus on essentials.ByEven when supplies were plenty, prices
By Spring Break in mid-March nearly every school district in the country had officially decided to shut down classes for the rest of the year. According to Statistica.com 500 U.S. school districts had made the announcement and many others would soon follow suit. That same week, the Washington Post reported the number of K-12 students in the United States whose schools have closed or were scheduled to shut because of the spread of the coronavirus had surpassed 3.5 million — and more closings were expected.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization reported that 29 countries had shut down schools and universities. Here in Georgia, the state university system (where I serve as a Communication faculty member) initially announced that Spring Break would be extended for two full weeks, rater than one. A couple of days later, it was announced that all classes would go online for the rest of the Spring 2020 semester. That was, and is, a challenge. But a bigger challenge would be facing this pandemic without a job, without a home, without healthcare, without hope.
On March 13, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp began daily Coronavirus reports and suggested all gatherings of more than 10 people should be cancelled. It wasn’t long before that suggestion became a mandate to even include church and worship services. By April 6, 2020 all but eight states in the United States had issued mandatory shelter-in-place orders and nearly every city and town had enforced a new curfew (most of them starting at 6:00 or 8:00 p.m.) for all but “essential” workers.
The first state to issue a shelter-in-place order was California. In a matter of weeks, the number of states that issued orders nearly quadrupled, affecting more than 300 million Americans. Although Georgia and Florida were slow to come on board with the mandatory shelter at home orders, they soon followed suit.
Most of the orders allowed citizens to leave their homes for “essential” reasons like grocery shopping, pharmacy pick-ups or trips to restaurants for takeout only. They also permitted people to assist others in obtaining supplies, as well as to walk their dogs and to walk or jog in their immediate community — as long as they kept six feet between themselves and others. Even so activities that people typically embraced as ways to relax and unwind were taboo — not accepted and not allowed. No fishing, no swimming, no walks on the beach, no communing with nature and no gathering for worship with family and friends.
On Monday March 13, 2020 authorities arrested a Florida pastor who held church services over the weekend as officials across the country cracked down on people violating restrictions on gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.
Meanwhile, Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said Rodney Howard-Browne, pastor at The River at Tampa Bay Church, was arrested for “intentionally and repeatedly” disregarding state health orders. According to the spokesperson for the Sheriff Department, the church gatherings put the congregation and the community in danger. The next day, Browne was released from jail on $500 bond.
The impact of the coronavirus was quickly becoming surreal and traumatic, frightening and vivid, bizarre, freakish and dream-like and yet, just as the Bible has predicted. On the one hand it has been like something out of a sci-fi flick and we’re all in it as if virtual reality has come to life. On the other hand, have we read the Book of Revelations? Do we not know what time it is?
Now let’s look for just a moment at biblical history . . .
The official lockdown of COVID-19 started March 23 and states began to phase in stages of reopening on May 1, 2020. That is EXACTLY 40 days. The Latin root of the word “quarantine” is “forty.”
So what does the Bible say about 40 days?
The flood in the Book of Genesis lasted 40 days. Moses wandered in the desert with his people for 40 years after fleeing from Egypt. Moses also stayed on Mount Sinai for 40 days in order to receive the Ten Commandments. It generally takes 40 days for a woman to rest after giving birth, and the optimum number of weeks for human gestation is 40. A group of theologians believe the number 40 represents “change.”
It is the time of preparing a person, or people to make a fundamental change.
Jesus fasted for 40 days. He went out into the desert and there He was challenged, tempted, vetted and tried. From that experience, He emerged ready for ministry. He came out prepared for the high calling — equipped for destiny. If anything, the quarantine has made us all rethink what matters most. As Christians we have rediscovered something we always said we knew but seldom, if ever, really thought about deeply and that comes in knowing “We are the Church” and the “Tabernacle resides within us.”
During this “quarantine,” waterways are cleaning up, the air is becoming cleaner because of less pollution, even the grass is greener. According to state and national statistics, there is less theft. violent crime and murder. Around the globe, healing is happening, and most importantly, people are turning to Christ.
The earth and all it’s people are at rest for the first time in many years. We are dwelling in serenity and learning how to be at peace. Hearts are healing and transformation is happening. This is what 40 days and 40 nights can do.
Some say the world was spinning out of control but I say so were the people. What we desperately needed but never seemed to take was time! This pandemic has given us time. Yes, it has given us time! Time to unwind. Time to relax. Time to rethink, to revive, to restore and to renew. Time!
Precious, glorious, beautiful time!
This is what these 40 days have done for me. What have they done for you? That’s the ultimate question!
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