In the first post of this series, I spoke against the idea that one doesn’t need to observe any safety protocols amidst the COVID-19 pandemic if they have faith in God. In this post, we will be looking at how a public health crisis was dealt with in ancient times according to the instructions God gave his people. Ultimately, we all believe God is a mighty healer and is more than able to restore health supernaturally. Nevertheless, it is abundantly evident in scripture that there were times when he instructed his people to implement some physical measures to prevent infections, the spread of diseases, and to cure them. This will be the focus of this part of the series.

The coronavirus has shaken up the whole world, affecting not only human lives but industries, big corporations, and nations. According to WHO safety protocols, two major ways to prevent the spread of the virus are:

1. Humans everywhere wearing face masks in public
2. People practicing social distancing in public spaces. 

This invariably means there is a virus on the loose; it could be hanging loosely in the air you breathe.  Adhering to these safety protocols makes sense because the virus is spread through human contact. Other measures such as quarantine, lockdowns and vaccinations have been carried out all over the world to curtail the spread of the virus too. 

Christianity is a religion steeped in the supernatural. The power of God is evident in the pages of scripture. To us, the miraculous is not just a special feature of Christian ministry, it is a command from Jesus. Two times in the book of Luke, Jesus sent out his disciples and he instructed them to preach the gospel of the kingdom and heal the sick (Luke 9:2 & Luke 10:9). In Mathew 10:8 it is recorded as such:

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. 

Therefore, how do we reconcile the idea that Christians can operate in the supernatural healing power of God with the idea that we have to adhere to safety protocols during this pandemic? That is exactly what this post is about, so journey with me as we arrive at the answer. 

In both the Old and New Testaments, it is clear that leprosy was a disease that was regarded as a public health crisis because of its infectious nature. According to WHO, leprosy “also known as Hansen’s disease, is a chronic infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium leprae. It mainly affects the skin, the peripheral nerves, mucosal surfaces of the upper respiratory tract and the eyes”. Its infectious nature poses danger to people who come into contact with lepers. Hence, in the Old Testament God gave ample instructions as to how to deal with the disease and diseased people. In Leviticus 13 and 14, God outlines a number of health safety protocols to be implemented by the people in their dealings with lepers. The instructions, or laws as they were called in Leviticus, were so exhaustive that they covered procedures from disease detection through a series of examinations to the prevention of the spread of the disease. Moses received these instructions and gave them to the Priests who were appointed by God to be the “medical officers” working to detect whether or not an individual had the disease. God outlined a number of symptoms they were to look out for before declaring the individual unclean or leprous. These symptoms include:

1.  A swelling in the skin that has turned the hair white and when there is raw flesh in the swelling, it is leprosy. Leviticus 13:10
2. A breakout of the disease on the person from head to toe that has turned white. The Priest shall declare the person clean. Most probably because at that stage, the disease is no longer infectious. Leviticus 13:12-13

It may interest you to know that God also instructed the priests to quarantine people suspected to be leprous for a period of 7 days (Leviticus 13: 21:22). This is the same God who wrought mighty miracles before and during the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt. How is it that he is the one outlining disease control measures the people should adhere to to curtail the spread of a disease he could zap away in seconds? Disease Control is defined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) as “the reduction of disease incidence, prevalence, morbidity or mortality to a locally acceptable level as a result of deliberate efforts…”. There is no doubt, this was exactly what God instructed the Israelites to do and so they did throughout their generations.

Here are a few more Disease Control measures God instructed the Priests to carry out to prevent the spread of the disease: 

1. Objects and surfaces that diseased people have had contact with are regarded as unclean or infectious. Therefore, they should be burnt.

And he shall burn the garment, or the warp or the woof, the wool or the linen, or any article made of skin that is diseased, for it is a persistent leprous disease. It shall be burned in the fire. Leviticus 13:52

2. Leprous people are to announce their presence in public by shouting “unclean, unclean” lest they infect others. They are to be responsible for not infecting others with the disease.

“The leprous person who has the disease shall wear torn clothes and let the hair of his head hang loose, and he shall cover his upper lip[a] and cry out, ‘Unclean, unclean.’ He shall remain unclean as long as he has the disease. He is unclean. He shall live alone. His dwelling shall be outside the camp. Leviticus 13:46

Both in the Old and New Testaments, we see lepers ostracized in the Jewish society. At least in two different verses of scripture, we are told they were stationed at the gate of the city. One of such verses is 2 Kings 7:3, where it is said that there were 4 lepers at the entrance of the city gate. Also, in Luke 10:11-12, Jesus was met by 10 lepers as he entered a village. They stood at a distance and called out to him. This means they, too, were stationed outside the village – most probably a distance from the entrance of the village. Jesus healed them by commanding them to go and show themselves to the High Priest, which was the approved procedure one had to go through to be either declared clean or unclean. On their way to see him, they realized they were cleansed. These lepers were already following the disease control protocols God outlined in the Old Testament by socially distancing themselves from everybody to prevent the spread of the disease. Yet one encounter with Christ changed their story instantly. The point I seek to make here is that God is sovereign, wise, omnipotent and many more divine attributes can be used to describe him. Even though He has given us power to heal all diseases including infectious ones such as leprosy, he has also laid down certain principles in scripture that we can follow to prevent our getting infected and spreading diseases. These two realities are not mutually exclusive. The same bible that  teaches us to lay hands on the sick and they will recover, also points out to us that we can use medically approved methods to prevent the spread of diseases and cure diseases. [I have addressed this idea more extensively in my blog on healing where I cite the example of Isaiah prescribing the use of cake of figs to heal the boils on Hezekiah’s skin. Do check it out by clicking here].

To those who insist that Christians ought not follow safety protocols during this pandemic, although I may understand where you are coming from, I beg to differ. Should we apply this same understanding of faith to all other issues of safety and wellness? Wouldn’t that mean Christians ought not lock their doors at night because the bible says “… he who watches over Israel neither sleeps nor slumbers.” (Psalm 121:4)? Again, the bible says if the Lord doesn’t watch over a city, the watchman watches in vain (Psalm 127:1). Therefore, are we saying every Christian who has a security guard at post in his/her home isn’t walking by faith?

Even if it was a matter of “faith”, we should understand that different people have different “sizes” of faith. Faith in God varies from person to person usually because of their level of maturity and intimacy with God. When Jesus descended from the mount of transfiguration in Matthew 17, he referred to the faith of his disciples as ‘little faith’ because they couldn’t cast out a devil from a little boy. Therefore, I vehemently oppose this idea that is being pushed by some men of God and specific denominations based on the assumption that everybody operates at the same level of faith. I believe faith and prudence can co-exist. I can have faith in God to do the impossible and still be safety and health conscious. It isn’t a game of choosing either to have faith and act recklessly or choose to be safety and health conscious. The point is to know what God’s word says and to do accordingly. Once we have established the fact that it is a biblical truth for us as children of God to adhere to safety precautions lest we get infected by diseases, then I believe there shouldn’t be any snide comments or mockery coming from anybody (especially Christians) towards believers who want to keep safe in this pandemic.

Faith is a very important concept in Christianity. In fact, nobody becomes and stays a Christian without faith. We are justified by faith and according to Habakkuk 2:4, “the righteous shall live by faith”. This statement is quoted 3 times in the New Testament and it goes to show that the entirety of a Christian’s experience is based on faith. The writer of Hebrews defines faith as the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. It is also stated in James 2:14  that faith without works is dead, therefore, the formula for faith is “belief in God” plus “acting according to that belief”. 

Faith requires you to act according to God’s word. The caveat here is that sometimes God’s word requires that you don’t act at all. Therefore, in some cases, staying put and not moving is an act of faith when it is in accordance with the word of God. One may even argue that inaction is still an action, hence, faith is still an “action word”. For example, when Jesus told his disciples after he resurrected to wait in Jerusalem for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In this instance, the disciples had every reason to scatter abroad since their association with Jesus put their lives in danger as well. But he told them to go to Jerusalem and wait. They complied; they didn’t travel or do anything else but wait for the promise and they had an experience that would forever change the course of history and affect millions of lives all over the world. Also, the movement of the Israelites in the wilderness depended on the movement of the pillar of cloud. This was how God guided them on their way to the promised land. When it moves, they move. When it stops, they stop. In Numbers 9:18-19, we are told that:

As long as the cloud remained over the tabernacle, they remained encamped. Even when the cloud lingered over the tabernacle for many days, the Israelites kept the LORD’s charge and did not set out.…

When an action is done in faith, it means it has its roots in scripture, according to the will of God or it is done at the command of God almighty. Faith is applied according to the will of God for an individual, a people, the body of Christ, or the world at large. For example, Peter was able to walk on water because Jesus gave him permission to do so. Therefore, by acting on that word, he acted in faith. It is very important that we realize how faith has nothing to do with showboating or doing things for the applause of men. 

In the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic, there have been mixed reactions coming from different denominations of the body of Christ. While some denominations have gone on to emphasize and implement the World Health Organization’s (WHO) safety protocols in their churches, others have said that Christians shouldn’t follow the safety protocols outlined by WHO because doing so is proof of a lack of faith. In the past few weeks, we have also seen the outrage expressed by some men of God against churches buying into the idea of the COVID-19 vaccination. 

One of the verses that some Christians have based their arguments on against adhering to WHO’s safety protocols is Mark 16:18. It is a statement Jesus made after his resurrection in what is popularly known as the Great Commission. He said this was one of the signs that would follow all who believe in him, they will pick up serpents with their hands and if they drink any deadly poison it will not hurt them. Paul in Acts 28:3 had an experience that was close to what is stated above. He gathered a bunch of sticks to lay them on a fire that had already been set, then a viper driven out by the heat of the fire came out and fastened itself to the Apostle’s hand. He shook the snake off into the fire to the amazement of the people gathered there. Some commentaries I have read stated that this is a fulfillment of what Jesus said in the Great Commission. If this assertion is true, there are few points we need to note here from this event and what Jesus said:

1. Paul didn’t intentionally expose himself to the viper just to show that he had faith.
2. Jesus didn’t command us in the Great Commission to go looking for ways to put ourselves in harm’s way. He said, “they will pick up serpents and IF they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them”. 

“They will pick up serpents” doesn’t mean they should intentionally go looking for serpents to pick up but it means if they face the danger of being attacked by a serpent it will be rendered harmless to them. This is exactly what happened to Paul. The second part of the verse even puts things into a better perspective for us. It starts with “IF”, which is often used to introduce conditional or possible situations. So if it so happens that a Christian drinks a poisonous substance and only finds out after he/she has drunk it, it will not hurt the person. 

By definition, faith has nothing to do with intentionally putting yourself in harm’s way and expecting God to deliver you. There is a term for that, it is called “testing God”. Knowing that an act is dangerous to your health and safety but going on to indulge in it is not faith, in the bible, it is termed as testing God. Interestingly, Jesus used this term while responding to the devil’s temptations. The devil, while tempting Jesus, suggested to him that if he could jump off the pinnacle of the temple, God would send his angels to save him. In response, Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:6 when he said that “Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test’”. It is the devil’s preoccupation to get us to test God in our daily lives by pushing us to defy sound logic all in the name of proving our faith or supposedly standing on some scriptures as a foundation to test God. It is important to note that the devil, during this particular temptation, quoted verses of scripture as well. 

”These “sign” miracles are given to encourage us to trust God and not to tempt Him with foolish experiments”. (from Wiersbe’s Expository Outlines on the New Testament. Copyright © 1992 by Chariot Victor Publishing, an imprint of Cook Communication Ministries. All rights reserved.)

One of the facts about faith I mentioned at the beginning of this article is that it is seen when a person acts in accordance to God’s word or a personal instruction they received from God. So you can see in scripture on numerous occasions where God commanded people to do things that would appear dangerous to them and their lives and even that of others. Yet, in those instances, to act on the word of God is an act of faith but to do otherwise is an act of fear. 

Here are a few more points on faith I noted while studying on this topic:

• Faith sometimes is necessitated when God is testing us not when we are testing God – Hebrews 11:17. In this verse, we are told that Abraham was tested by God to offer Isaac as a sacrifice.
• What is done in faith that brings salvation to one person could bring calamity to another when they do not do it in faith – Hebrews 11:29. In this verse, we are told that the Israelites crossed the parted red sea by faith but the Egyptians drowned in it. 
• By faith some people allowed themselves to be persecuted, stoned, sawn in two, and eventually killed – Hebrews 11:37. Faith doesn’t always require you to step out and do some “superhero” stuff. Sometimes, faith gives you the strength to endure painful ordeals in the name of the LORD. 

Usually, we can see defiance in faith. Defiance of natural laws, medical laws, logic, and sometimes even earthly authorities (as in the case of Moses’ birth when his parents defied the authority of the Pharaoh and hid him Hebrews 11:23). However, there are times when faith is in the simple obedience of authority and the wisdom of God. After all, we are admonished in Romans 13:1 to obey earthly authority. The President of Ghana has issued a directive that suggests that safety protocols have to be taken to safeguard the lives of citizens of this country. Defying this and calling it an act of faith is in direct contradiction of the word of God. Especially because the directive will not lead to the persecution of Christians or the church. There is a virus on the loose, what do you do? Just adhere to all the safety protocols outlined by the WHO to prevent you from coming into contact with it and also get vaccinated if possible. To defy this is to intentionally put yourself in harm’s way and endanger the lives of others which cannot be seen as an act of faith. You are testing God, not your faith in him.

The statement, “the righteous shall live by faith” is found in the following New Testament verses: Galatians 3:11 , Romans 1:17, Hebrews 10:38