“Swine flu outbreak in 11 states; 1 dead.” The headlines of this week’s AJC placed everyone on alert. Some may even be in a mild state of panic.

The World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control have been communicating with the public in terms of the possibility of an epidemic or a pandemic. Either way, it is a serious matter in this day of rapid international travel.

A flu carrier can be in Mexico in the morning and at his home in America or elsewhere by the afternoon.

Many remember the SARS scare of 2003 (severe acute respiratory syndrome) when the world community scrambled to contain what seemed to be a deadly viral threat to millions of people.

In the 1300s the “black death” (the bubonic plague) swept through Europe, destroying a fourth of its population.

If you visit cemeteries in our own locale, you will notice how many died in the winter of 1918, at the height of World War I, from a lethal influenza virus that raced around the world. It is estimated that as many as 100 million people died worldwide from that great influenza outbreak.

The Bible gives us brief pictures of epidemics of sickness and death that have played a role in the story of redemption. The 10 plagues of Egypt come to mind (Exodus 7-10).

The tenth and final plague was the death of the first-born in every family that was not protected by the blood of a slain lamb on the doorposts and lintel of every house.

We are not told how God’s death angel administered such a sorrowful epidemic of death. But it was enough to dislodge Pharaoh from his refusal to let Israel go from his land. Whatever the disease was that killed so many, it was God’s judgment on a truth-resistant Pharaoh and deliverance for Israel.

In a case of passing a hot potato, the ark of God inflicted a fatal disease on every Philistine who welcomed it into their community (1 Sam. 4-5). After about seven months of this, the Philistines had had enough and worked out an arrangement to send the ark back to its rightful owners, God’s covenant people.

The idol-worshiping Philistines even tried some “sympathetic magic” as a means of alleviating their misery (1 Sam. 6:4-5). They thought that they could remove the disaster that plagued them by using models (five golden rats and five golden swollen lymph nodes).

To show that God does not play favorites, over 50,000 Beth-shemesh citizens succumbed to the same disease that had afflicted the Philistines when some Israelites disrespectfully looked into the ark of the Lord (1 Sam. 6:19).

In what was one of the low points in King David’s life, he brought a plague upon Israel through his disobedience to God (2 Sam. 24:10-25). David violated one of God’s commands to Israel’s kings by pridefully having Israel’s number of fighting men counted. This ego trip resulted in God sending a deadly epidemic that took the lives of 70,000 men.

The attempt to organize his kingdom more perfectly like the self-promoting monarchs of surrounding nations brought about thousands of grieving widows. David, as God’s surrogate in Israel, learned the hard way that glorying in numbers was contrary to trusting in God for defensive power against all enemies.

The present world population of over 6 billion makes the prophecy of the pale horse in Revelation 6:7-8 absolutely staggering.

A pandemic will contribute to the death of a fourth of the earth’s inhabitants in the Great Tribulation. Mankind’s hopes for creating lasting peace, plenty, and longevity of life through global politics, environmentalism, and scientific advances will meet with great disappointment.

The great day of the wrath of the Lamb will make use of viral and bacterial diseases that will defy human invention and take, at present calculations, over two billion lives.

The swine flu, along with every germ and disease known and unknown to man, is part of the curse of death. Sin is the mother of death. Microorganisms that cause disease stand as a witness to a creation that groans under the curse of sin.

It is sin that fallen human beings refuse to acknowledge as the real villain of human existence. It is sin that has corrupted every one of us and alienates us from our holy Creator. It is sin that ruins our relationships, breaks up our homes, deceives us, and hurls us into eternal judgment.

Men and women may deny they are sinners but they can’t play like death isn’t there. That is what is so terrifying about the possibility of a mutated flu virus that could kill people by the millions.

The grim reaper cannot be denied. The fear of death creates as many explanations for death as there are spiritually dead people. Sin’s grip must be broken if Satan’s (the father of death) grip is to be broken (Heb. 2:14; Eph. 2:1-5).

Where is this liberation that we so desperately need? Freedom from the fear of death comes in liberation from the guilt of sin. Our liability to God’s wrath because of our rebellion against Him must be brought to the foot of the cross and the empty tomb of Jesus. Those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for their salvation from God’s condemnation are the only ones who can be free from the fear of death.

Those who have experienced the transforming power of the gospel of Jesus Christ should not be people who are infected with the fear of death. Those who belong to Christ know that death belongs to them (1 Cor. 3:22). It takes every believer to their everlasting rest in heaven.

Christians are, therefore, able to show mercy to those who are afflicted with the diseases of our mortality. It is a ministry of witness to the hope that is in Christ.

The swine flu and every germ on our planet tell us that death is the penalty of sin. The mother of all plagues is the plague of sin.

But the greater news is that the Gospel proclaims the death of death in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dr. Howard E. Dial, senior pastor

Berachah Bible Church

Fayette County, Ga.

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