The Voice of COVID-19

The Voice of COVID-19

Podcast Introduction

Hello out there, my name is Breck Wheelock and I would like to welcome you to another episode in which we will be looking to Scripture to help us navigate through this time of corona virus crisis. Our text for today’s episode comes from the book of Amos; specifically, chapter 3, verses 3-6. And as we did a couple of lessons ago, we will be considering the expositional insights of Charles Spurgeon regarding this passage. Spurgeon chose to preach on this particular text because of a severe outbreak of cholera that was occurring in London at the time. He titled the sermon, “The Voice of the Cholera” (sermon 705), and it was preached from the Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit in London on August 12th of 1866.

I have selected and edited only those portions of the sermon which I felt best suited the purposes of this podcast, and I have modified some of Spurgeon’s language to make it more understandable to our modern ears. In altering the text, I did my best to maintain the integrity and the intent of Spurgeon’s thoughts. If you would like to read the original sermon in its entirety, it is readily available online. In fact, you can even listen to the original sermon being read on YouTube.

The primary lesson that we will be pondering in this episode is this: when God judges a nation, it is not without a purpose, and He will not remove the judgment, until its full purpose has been accomplished.

With that, let us begin by reading from chapter 3 of Amos. Though Spurgeon will only be focusing on verses 3-6, I will read verses 1-6 so as to give us a bit more context.

Text: Amos 3:1-6 (NKJV)

Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying:

2 “You only have I known of all the families of the earth;
Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.”

3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
4 Will a lion roar in the forest, when he has no prey?
Will a young lion cry out of his den, if he has caught nothing?
5 Will a bird fall into a snare on the earth, where there is no trap for it?
Will a snare spring up from the earth, if it has caught nothing at all?
6 If a trumpet is blown in a city, will not the people be afraid?
If there is calamity in a city, will not the Lord have done it?

Spurgeon begins his sermon with the following introductory remarks:

Sermon Introduction

We have all been grieved by the mortality that has been caused by the mysterious spread of cholera in our great city of London; thus, I shall speak boldly as to the theological aspect of the subject. As Christians, we believe that God sends all pestilences and that He sends them with a purpose. Therefore, as a minister of God, it is my business to call the people’s attention to God in this time of disease, and teach them the lessons which God would have them to learn.

To begin, I do not believe that every affliction is a judgment upon each and every individual person to whom it occurs. We see that in this world, the best of men often endure a great deal of suffering, and that the worst of men frequently have very little suffering.

Let’s pause for a moment here because this is a very important distinction that Spurgeon is making. When God sends a widespread judgment, such as a famine or a plague or a war, these types of judgments are not directed at individuals, they are directed at nations (Spurgeon is going to elaborate on this point in the next few sentences). Moreover, it is critical that we understand as God’s people that when we have to go throu