“There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven” (Luke 21:11).
It is believed to have been brought by a fleet of ships returning from the Black Sea. It’s cargo — death. By the time the ships actually docked in Italy, most of the sailors were already dead. The few who remained alive likely wish they had not.
Their bodies were ravaged by fever, with boils festering on their skin. Oh, authorities ordered the ships out of the harbor, but by then, it was already too late.
Flea-infested rats had already scampered off the ship — down the ropes and into the neighboring village. And so, it had begun. The Bubonic Plague.
The plague was an infection that threatened humans by the infected fleas carried by the rats. Within five years, 25 million people in Europe had died.
Three centuries later, it still posed a threat — killing more than 100,000 citizens of London, taking some 7,000 lives a week. Mercifully, a bitterly cold winter killed the fleas.
There was no cure known and no hope found. The healthy quarantined and cared for the infected, while the infected suffered miserably, counting their remaining days.
The Black Death — the most fatal pandemic in human history — estimated a total of deaths from 75 to more than 200 million people — over 30% of the population during the middle of the 14th century. It has also been called the Great Pestilence.
What Is Pestilence?
The origins of the word “pestilence” are from old Middle English, from the Latin word “pestilentia,” which refers to a plague or unwholesome atmosphere.
A deadly disaster usually means a deadly disease affecting an entire region. Today, the word refers to pretty much any epidemic disease that is infectious and highly contagious.
Of course, today, we think immediately of COVID. Of course, many have said that COVID was a sign of things to come.
As used in the Old Testament, the word refers to a somewhat broader list of disasters than simply physical diseases, as it is often paired with other calamities.
Pestilence, as the original Hebrew word is translated, often includes any and all forms of public mass destruction and is often associated with famine or war.
The sword is without; pestilence and famine are within. He who is in the field dies by the sword, and him who is in the city famine and pestilence devour(Ezekiel 7:15, ESV).
He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war (Jeremiah 21:9, ESV).
In the Bible, pestilence is often used as a sign of God’s judgment on a nation or group of people.
Scripture, perhaps the Old Testament in particular, of course, teaches that God loves us, protects us, and blesses us, but that same God can and does also send disaster when he sees evil and when it fulfills his righteous purposes. Such disasters included pestilence (Deuteronomy 32:24; Ezekiel 5:17).
God sent pestilence upon the Israelites for their continued disobedience and idolatry:
Now therefore know for a certainty that you shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence in the place where you desire to go to live (Jeremiah 42:22).
There are, in fact, at least 46 verses from 13 books in the Old Testament that speak of or use the word pestilence. Each time is in reference to God’s judgment or fear of that judgment. In the Book of Exodus, after 400 years of slavery of the Jews, Moses and Aaron spoke of this to Pharaoh:
Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days' journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword” (Exodus 5:3).
It would seem that pestilence was not, then, always used as an expression of an extreme disease but rather as a broad term for disasters that may or may not have included deadly epidemics.
But then there came David’s sinful census, feeding his own ego, when the Lord brought judgment, not just to David, but to the entirety of Israel, giving David a choice (2 Samuel 24:13-15).
Pestilence then was clearly to be greatly feared — and still should be.
Did Jesus Speak of Pestilence?
In the Gospel of Luke, the disciples were admiring the temple — “…adorned with beautiful stones and with gifts dedicated to God” (Luke 11:5).
Jesus warned them not to get too excited, that there would come a time when not one stone of the temple would be left on another, that everyone would be thrown down (v. 6).
The disciples asked Jesus, “'Teacher,' they asked, 'when will these things happen? And what will be the sign that they are about to take place?'” (v. 7).
Jesus counseled them to not be deceived or alarmed — that many would come in his name, claiming the time was near. He taught them not to be frightened by word of “…wars and rumors of wars…” (Matthew 24:6; Luke 21:8).
He then alerted them to watch for the coming signs.
Then he said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and in various places famines and pestilences. And there will be terrors and great signs from heaven (Luke 21:10-11, emphasis added).
Famines and pestilences.
In great part because of this verse, many felt that the COVID pandemic might well have been a warning of the coming End Times. Of course, we don’t know. The same could have been said in the 14th century during the Black Plague.
Jesus went on to tell them:
“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved (Matthew 24:8-13).
The love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.
Be Strong and Courageous
As he was about to send Israel into the Promised Land, handing over leadership to Joshua, Moses spoke these words:
Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it”(Deuteronomy 31:7).
At least four times, the Lord spoke directly to Joshua, telling him to be “strong and courageous” (Deuteronomy 31:23; Joshua 1:6; 1:7, 1:8-9).
The words be strong and courageous appear in Scripture around 15 times in some form or another. It would seem the Lord means it. And he means it when he tells us he will not leave us nor forsake us.
In his letter to the Corinthians, who lived in a wealthy, bustling Greek city in a world around them driven by secular desires and lifestyles, Paul wrote this:
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love (1 Corinthians 16:13-14).
As believers, we are certainly not immune to the effects of living in a secular, fallen world. And we know that God will and does use trials and disasters, both personal and communal, to test our faith, teach us, build our trust, and draw us closer to himself.
We can rely on God’s promises, knowing that he is in control. We do not need to fear whatever may come. We are assured:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… (Romans 8:1).
We can trust that any coming times of pandemic, or pestilence, is not God’s judgment on us but his judgment on an unbelieving, disobedient world.
But we can be strong and courageous, because he will be with us, and he will never leave us nor forsake us.
For further reading:
What Are the 10 Plagues of Egypt in the Bible?
Does COVID-19 Fulfill Biblical Plague Prophecies?
What Is the Significance of the Plague of Locusts?
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