I noticed this verse as I was studying for today. We’re all likely familiar with 2 Chronicles 7:14, but I imagine far fewer are familiar with the passage directly before it.

“If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people…” 2 Chronicles 7:13.

The speaker is the Lord, Jehovah. Pestilence means epidemic, and so from this verse we learn that sometimes God sends epidemics as judgments. There’s no way around that. To be very clear, all suffering is a direct cause of Adam’s transgression. Not every affliction is a judgment from God, as many sufferings are “common to man” because of Adam’s original sin and the curse that passed on to all mankind. But God has and does send, from time to time, pestilences upon nations of men as His longsuffering runs out, because of their constant rebellion against Him.

One might ask, “how do we know if this pestilence is just a byproduct of Adam’s transgression or a direct judgment of the Almighty?” It’s simple: We don’t. As Paul said in Romans 11, “who hath known the mind of the Lord?”

But regardless of whether we suffer as a general result of the sin of Adam or we suffer the judgment of God, OUR reaction should be the same. We should:1. Humble ourselves.2. Pray.3. Seek His face.4. Turn from our wicked ways.

It is then, that God hears, forgives, and heals.

May we humble ourselves today.

Originally published March 2020