Sackloth or Slavery – Nehemiah 8,9

Today's message falls under the category of 'occasional sermon', or a message intended to address a particularly significant historical moment upon us at the time of this delivery: March 29, 2020. Today our world and our economy are virtually paralyzed by the threat of a global pandemic. The 'coronavirus' can cause acute respiratory symptoms among a wide population as the contagion spreads exponentially across a populated area potentially overwhelming health care systems. As a result, many states like ours, have issued restrictions on the movement and assembly of persons until the worst of the pandemic has subsided. Naturally our world today raises the question: “How ought we respond to a crisis such as this?” Today's sermon is a Biblical study in crisis response seeking to answer this question and apply the timeless instruction found in God's Word to our world today.... The context of crisis moments throughout scripture instruct the attentive reader as to their purpose and pattern in sovereign history. One lesson is that the judgements of God calibrated to our response to an event are often more acute and protracted than those associated with the crisis itself. The initial affliction is often a disciplinary test allowing a window of repentance, and if penitence is not forthcoming, the 'knee jerk' reaction of a people will further reveal/unmask their sin. Their response, in this case, will prove nothing more than a frantic cry to their false gods who failed them in the first place. This kind of reaction manifests a spiritually suicidal impulse incurring a yet more precipitous decline. Let us turn to the scripture for perspective...