The plagues that destroyed A survey of epidemics and some Christian responses
You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. (Psalm 91:5-6) As far back as human history extends, we find accounts of communities afflicted by widespread diseases that eventually subsided, or became long-term, but not especially alarming, features of life. Today we call them epidemics: frequent terms such as “plague” and “pestilence” are imprecise synonyms.
blessings and cursings Christian theology has typically accepted the natural causality of disease, while at the same time asserting God’s ultimate sovereignty and inscrutable providence in all spheres of nature and history. Because epidemics cause widespread and extensive human suffering, Christians have traditionally viewed them either as
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blood, fire, locusts “Plague” for many recalls the 10 plagues of Egypt, pictured here by a 20th-c. Israeli painter.
evidence of God’s wrath or as portending the end times. In the Old Testament, God not only inflicted plagues on the Egyptians and later on various enemies of the children of Israel, but, when the Hebrews left Egypt, God promised them blessings if they were faithful to him and sufferings if they spurned his love. This was repeated throughout the Old Testament. Prominent threats included the triad of sword, famine, and pestilence (mentioned 14 times in Jeremiah alone). Apocalyptic passages also warned of end-times plagues and pestilences: “The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them” (Isaiah 19:22) or “This is the plague with which the Lord will strike all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths” (Zechariah 14:12).
Christian History
Passover Portfolio, Ten Plagues (silkscreen on paper)—Bridgeman Images
Darrel W. Amundsen and Gary B. Ferngren
