Coronavirus
The media continues to be full of reports about ‘the deadly Corona virus’. I didn’t know what the Corona virus was, so I had a look online. It turns out it shouldn’t be ‘the’ Corona virus, but ‘a’ Corona virus. A Corona virus is one that is capable of being passed from animals to humans. From the BBC News, I quote an article written by Prof. Tim Benton “The HIV/Aids crisis of the 1980s originated from great apes, the 2004-07 avian flu pandemic came from birds, and pigs gave us the swine flu pandemic in 2009. More recently, it was discovered severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) came from bats, via civets, while bats also gave us Ebola.” (Prof. Tim Benton, 2020)
Prof. Benton goes on to say that unfortunately this type of pandemic is only going to increase in future. As the human population grows exponentially and the habitats of wildlife are destroyed exponentially, we are inevitably going to come into contact more often with wild animals. In fact, he says many wild animals are making their homes in our cities, as they can survive better on our leftovers than what they can find in the wild. International travel then effectively ensures the spread of any new Corona virus.
This is yet another symptom of the environmental damage we are inflicting on our planet. We have been given grave warnings about our future from scientists, naturalists like David Attenborough and concerned lay people like Greta Thunberg. Some experts think humans can find answers to rectify the situation, but many believe it’s too late, that we have passed our tipping point.
Fortunately, there is a certain answer. God has promised that He will not allow the world to self-destruct. He has promised to repair the environmental damage. I’ve written before about Isaiah 35, a great chapter in the Bible. Here are some words taken from a couple of verses “Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs...” (Isaiah 35:6-7, NIV)
Because of this, there will be plenty of room for people to get out of cities and live on the land. Not only that, but God promises they will do so in a peaceful environment. “Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Everyone will sit under their own vine and under their own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken.” (Micah 4:3-4, NIV) Sound good? It does to me!
Reference:
Benton, T. Professor (2020, January 31). “Coronavirus: why are we catching more diseases from animals?” BBC News.