2020 in Review

On this second Sabbath day of 2021, I take occasion to reflect on the past year of 2020. What an unprecedented year we had! Natural disasters and human-caused catastrophes have occurred to varying degrees over the course of this Earth’s history. However, events we witnessed in 2020 are an exception to this generalization in that there is now a confluence of disasters of global scale magnitude marking the past year unusually unique. In 2020 we had both natural and human caused disasters of varying global scale which include:

(i)?????a global COVID-19 pandemic that is still ravaging the world although the recent roll-out of vaccines promises some respite;

(ii)????numerous landslides caused by floods, storms, hurricanes, and similar phenomena in too many places to mention;

(iii)??the devastating Atlantic hurricane season that set and broke all-time records (in 2020 we had 30 named storms—highest on record, 13 hurricanes—presumed second highest on record, and 6 major hurricanes that tied for second highest on record;

(iv)??locust outbreaks in Eastern parts of Africa and other areas of the world;

(v)????the approximately 12,000 dry lightning strikes within 72 hours (the August siege) that started upwards of 580 fires in California. While fires are an annual occurrence in California, the 2020 fire season is currently the most destructive on record by every measure and the sheer number (approximately 12,000 were reported) of lightning strikes within a three-day period was extraordinary;

(vi)??2020 ranks as the warmest year on record for Europe, while globally, 2020 ties with 2016 for warmest year recorded; and

(vii)?wars and other conflicts in various regions of the world including the insane political and social polarization in almost every country. I’m not aware of any country that is spared of this polarization!

I urge every reader of this article not to waste the teaching and humbling moments from 2020 and its crises resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and other natural disasters and catastrophes. We have a treasure trove of information in science (e.g. ever changing climate patterns) on how these disasters will intensify. Due to the fact that “science is truth” to most people, knowing about potential natural disasters arising from these changing weather patterns and being indifferent when armed with this knowledge would be tragic. Some are quick to dismiss activism through the climate clock as mere art and alarmist at best, and yet whether we like the underlying science or not, believe in climate change or not, there is scientific data proving changing weather patterns and that natural disasters will continue defining and shaping Earthly life. Global warming is backed by scientific data, and other changes in weather patterns are real—I grew up in my early formative years in rural Sub-Saharan Africa in subsistence farming-type communities and personally witnessed the devastation in crop production caused by phenomena such as El Ni?os. Not to mention the erratic rain seasons I witnessed that led to rivers and streams drying up—rivers (to swim in) and streams (to bath in) that brightened my childhood years as any rural child can testify!

To some people natural disasters are meaningless events that are a nuisance. Personally, I see a supernatural hand in the confluence of these global strange-happenings that took place this last year. 2020 was a defining moment that helped me take pause to think about life and how fleeting it can be. And most importantly, disasters of 2020 reminded me that human beings are not in control where nature is concerned. For instance, when confronted with a passing hurricane, the best we can do is to shelter in place and let nature be—there are definite limits to our collective knowledge and power, regardless of the illusions to the contrary we often hold.

These unusual times require unconventional out-of-the-box thinking on this subject of disasters. We could continue hedging our bets on scientific views which for the most part describes how things work and not necessarily why natural disasters happen. The latter perspective of why some natural disasters happen is the realm of the Bible which also offers some solace on how to individually better prepare for the inevitable scientifically proven natural disasters that will define our tomorrows. What have we to lose by individually considering this alternative Biblical perspective on the subject of why natural disasters happen?

At the very dawn of 2021, we hear of rumblings of volcanic activities from the East Caribbean countries (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and surrounding countries). The list of events of Biblical proportions keeps getting longer with each passing day. What can be said about these events, are we ever going to experience the relative “tranquility” of the pre-pandemic years, and what could be the lasting solution to a world that appears to be convulsing through disasters caused by human beings (wars and conflicts) and nature (hurricanes, dry lightning strikes that cause devastating fires).

Human beings have ultimate control on issues such as wars and conflicts, one could prescribe not even contemplating starting any conflict as the ultimate simplistic solution for lasting peace. Understandably, this is a pipe dream since human beings have been fighting for millennia and sources of potential conflicts are everywhere. It seems “wars and rumors of wars” are needlessly a human heritage. Turning to the issue of “natural disasters/events”, human beings have limited control. Our power is finite and is at the mercy of mother nature, so it seems! Personally, I have no illusions of control and this is my own way of thinking outside the box and hence I find sensible and logical answers from the Bible.

What we deem as “natural events/disasters”, I see the out-workings of a supernatural being in some of the events. The Bible abounds with examples where God used or threatens to use natural disasters to punish human wickedness and such instances include:

(i)?????the flood during Noah’s time. Evidence of a catastrophic global flood are everywhere to see including in such places as the Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA. I must stress that while geologists are still debating the origins of the Grand Canyon and various theories are touted, most of these debates are premised on evolution. Whereas, I premise my worldview on the creation story and thus, the carving of the Grand Canyon perfectly fits in the narrative of Noah’s flood.

(ii)????Isaiah 29 v. 6 warns the disobedient of divine judgments by natural disasters such as storms, earthquakes, and fires "in an instant, suddenly, you will be visited by the Lord of hosts with thunder and with earthquake and great noise, with whirlwind and tempest, and the flame of a devouring fire".

(iii)??The book of Job 37 v. 12-13 affirms that God controls thunder, snow, whirlwind, flood, clouds which He turns “around by His guidance, so that they may do whatever He commands them upon the face of the whole earth. Whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy, He causes it to come.” The vein of these themes of a God fully in control of nature runs through the entire Bible, for instance he commands the rain (Deuteronomy 11 v. 14-17, 28 v. 12, Job 5 v. 10, Matt 5 v. 45, James 5 v. 17-18), lightning (Ps 97:4. The Psalmist 148 v. 8 states that God commands "fire and hail, snow and frost, stormy wind fulfilling his command!"

(iv)??Haggai 2 v. 6-7 further affirms that it is God who controls forces of nature on the basis of His creative ability and not some imagined gods "once again, in a little while, I will shake the heavens and the earth and the sea and the dry land; and I will shake the nations.. .". Nahum 1 v. 3-4 concurs that?“the Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked. The Lord has His way In the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet.”

(v)????the destruction by fire of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Various archeological finds in recent years are proving this to be true. The Bible in Ezekiel 16 v. 49-50 presents the reasons that led to these cities’ destruction as “arrogance, overfed, and complacent (and) they did not help the poor and needy. Because they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them.” Jude 1 v. 7 further links the destruction of these cities with the concept of hell stating “Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns … serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.” This total/complete destruction is presented in the Bible as being burnt in “hell” which is also called the “second death” in the book of Revelation. In another future discourse I will revisit this issue of hell. Suffice to say, the destruction by fire similar to the punishment meted on Sodom and Gomorrah leads to complete and utter annihilation. In other words there is no perpetually burning hell as often taught, or else the parallelism of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to a perpetually burning hell would be senseless, we don’t see sulfur and brimstone still burning in the modern day locale of these ancient cities! In another study, I stated that human beings are mortal, to suggest that those who burn in hell also have eternal life is fallacious. The Bible only promises eternal life to those who believe in Yeshua/Jesus, those who don’t believe in Him will “perish” or will be destroyed according to John 3 v. 16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life”. Hence, those who believe in Yeshua/Jesus do not fear anyone other than God who alone “can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

In the mix of the 2020 strange happenings, we also had the 2020 USA election that was preceded by predictions of the likely winner and pronouncements which were dubbed as “prophecies” from pre-eminent preachers in the religious communities. Biblical prophets are to be tested by Deuteronomy 18 v. 22 “When a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD and the message does not come to pass or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. The prophet has spoken presumptuously.” Of-course “prophecies” on the 2020 USA elections turned out to be false and can easily be added to the Biblical prophetic tick-box of Matthew 24 v. 11 “and many false prophets shall arise and shall mislead many”.

What teaching lessons can be drawn from the startling calamities of 2020 that caused most of us pain and suffering? When confronted with disasters such as pandemics, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, droughts and many others, the commonly observed human response is to turn to God with curses or prayers! This is a fact that most people can’t deny, we all have instances we have made that cry for help when faced with disasters! A phenomenal late Christian author and theologian, C.S. Lewis summarized the issue of pain in his masterpiece book The Problem of Pain as follows: “We can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world....No doubt pain as God's megaphone is a terrible instrument; it may lead to final and unrepented rebellion. But it gives the only opportunity the bad man can have for amendment. it removes the veil; it plants the flag of truth within the fortress of the rebel soul.”

The use of calamities to invoke human responses is a well-known Biblical theme. God used natural disasters (plagues) to punish slave-masters and effectively ended the slavery of an entire nation of people as recorded in the book of Exodus and in the process humbled Pharaoh who in Exodus 10 v. 16-17 “quickly summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you. Now forgive my sin once more and pray to the Lord your God to take this deadly plague away from me.”

It was a violent earthquake and events that happened thereafter as recorded in the book of Acts 16 v. 25 - 30 that brought some prison guard to kneel before the christian prisoners “Paul and Silas… and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” It was another earthquake that made some military unit commander (the centurion) quake in his boots as recorded in the book of Matthew 27 v. 54 as follows “When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”?

It was a three year drought that caused severe famine in a certain nation, that humbled its proud king (Ahab) to cause him to desperately search for Elijah the prophet until one on the search party found the prophet and confessed as recorded in 1 Kings 18 v. 10 that “there is not a nation or kingdom where my master has not sent someone to look for you. And whenever a nation or kingdom claimed you were not there, he made them swear they could not find you.”

In another Bible recording in the book of Jonah 1 v. 4-5, “the Lord sent out a great wind on the sea, and there was a mighty tempest on the sea, so that the ship was about to be broken up” and “every man cried out to his god” in terror. All human beings—small or great, king or queen, president or not, rich or poor—are all wired to exclaim for help when confronted with disasters that challenge our invincibility and remind us of our human limitations!

So what does the Bible say about calamities in our modern times? Yeshua/Jesus predicted that before His return back to Earth, disasters will intensify as a pre-warning that he is about to come back again in person to this Earth for a second time. Science confirms the unusual intensification of disasters in recent years especially in 2020. These warnings of impending calamities are not to be ignored, for these are designed to humble us, elicit confession of sin and thereby put our lives in order ahead of Jesus’ promised return. For on the latter event hinges our eternal destinies and this will mark what the Bible calls the end of this present Earth as we know it.?I should stress that the confluence and extraordinary nature of disasters caused by pandemics, earthquakes, famines, wars, and other extraordinary events are but warnings pointing to the imminence of Yeshua/Jesus’ return. It would be foolhardy to look at 2020 as a simple bump in time. Science confirms what the Bible long predicted that disasters will intensify and it is quite possible that 2020 is “the beginning of sorrows” spoken of in Matthew 24 v. 8. Events of the past year ticked many Biblical prophetic tick-boxes.

At this juncture it’s fitting that I revisit the plagues that I briefly mentioned to have been God’s tool in humbling the pompous Pharaoh who had sarcastically asked as recorded in Exodus 5 v. 2 “ Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice…?.” To which God responded as recorded in Exodus 6 v. 1 that “you will see what I will do to Pharaoh… [with] my mighty hand…”. Immediately afterwards, a series of ten natural disasters/plagues were meted on the rebellious Pharaoh and his nation and these natural disasters as recorded in Exodus 7-11 included (i) the extraordinary instant pollution of all the rivers which were turned into blood; (ii) an outbreak of frogs; (iii) an infestation of clouds of gnats that stung both animals and humans (vi) swarms of flies; (v) a pandemic that killed animals; (vi) another pandemic of festering sores/boils that affected both animals and human beings; (vii) an extraordinary thunderstorm accompanied by hail and lightning; (viii) an outbreak of locusts that devastated that agrarian nation; (ix) inexplicable three days of total darkness; and (x) unexplained deaths of the firstborns of both humans and beasts.

The Bible predicts that God will once again visit this Earth with divine judgments that will cause such “great distress, unequaled from the beginning of the world until then, and never to be equaled again” according to the book of Matthew 24 v. 21. As I previously stated, these divine judgments are meant to perhaps make us repent and acknowledge God who in return pledges to protect and shield us from these disasters in the here-and-now, and to save and grant us an inheritance of eternal life in the hereafter! Whether we will avail ourselves, or not, for this free Godly protective insurance, the Bible presents the impending disasters as a matter of fact!

The Bible draws a parallel between the way God led, out of slavery in Pharaoh’s land, those who acknowledged Him as recorded in the book of Exodus, and the manner in which God through Yeshua/Jesus will lead, out of the slavery of this sin-sick Earth, those who worship Him as recorded in the book of Revelation. It should therefore not surprise anyone that six of the seven disasters that will occur in the last days of this Earth’s history have a remarkable resemblance to the divine judgments that humbled Pharaoh! These impending disasters as recorded in the book of Revelation 16 include (i) pandemics that will cause festering sores; (ii) pollution of water in the seas turning into blood; (iii) again pollution of rivers and springs of water turning into blood; (iv) unbearable scorching heat from the sun that will “sear [people with] intense heat”;?(v) inexplicable darkness; and (vi) flashes of lightning, rumblings, pearls of thunder, and a severe earthquake which the Bible states that “no earthquake like it has ever occurred since mankind has been on earth, so tremendous [will be] the quake”, accompanied by ridiculously huge hailstones “each weighing about a hundred pounds (about 45 kilograms)”. Some of these impending disasters of Revelation 16 are in the realm of scientific possibility. Further, strange powerful localized earthquakes that are splitting tectonic plates could be building to the big one of Revelation 16 v. 18—yet another scientific possibility!

The intensification and confluence of natural and human-made disasters such as we experienced in 2020 is a clear sign of God's final warning to humankind of the impending divine judgments.?In these closing scenes of Earth’s history, God continues to up the ante through disasters and soon Yeshua/Jesus will return to this Earth to end the present age as He recreates an unblemished new world. While time still lingers, it behooves us to respond to God’s timeless invitations of mercy “come now, and let us reason together,” He says and pledges to clean us all up “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be destroyed…for the mouth of the Lord has spoken” (Isaiah 1 v. 18-20). Through the megaphone of disasters, God’s message has been consistent in every generation “I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die?” (Ezekiel 33 v. 11). Personally, 2020 has spoken loudly enough to me, and I will act on it and put my spiritual house in order—so Help me God and every reader of this article whosoever wills.