The Zika virus is spreading in the United States as 10 cases have been added to the number of infected found in Miami, Florida and the state and federal governments claim to have the devastating disease under control.
You may recall last year as the virus was reaching near epidemic levels in Brazil and many other South and Central American countries that the United States government did not believe that Zika would make it to the US anytime soon.
They also thought that if it did arrive in the continental US that it could be contained, yet now that Zika has shown itself in Miami, the Center for Disease Control has issued a travel advisory for that suburb of the Florida city most affected because of the great amount of tourism that flows through there.
Many vacationers are canceling their Disney World and Universal Studios plans even though they have had them for months and this would have been their once in a lifetime trip.
What is the biblical perspective on a disease such as the Zika virus? Is it a last days plague brought on by the breaking of seals, the pouring of viles or the blowing of trumpets? Is this the wrath of God that 1 in 10 pregnant women infected by this virus give birth to children with microcephaly, abnormally small heads?
As I have stated before, when we see outbreaks such as these we must understand that we are not seeing Revelation level plagues until a third of the population is afflicted but that does not mean such outbreaks are without a spiritual component.
You have heard me mention several times the Deuteronomy curse that falls on a nation that once committed to follow the Lord and walk in His ways but now rejects God and calls good evil and evil good. That curse extends to plagues and pestilence that result from choosing death instead of life and sin over salvation.
The Zika virus has come to the United States as a result of travelers that did not look out for the needs of others but believed that they would be immune. It came as a result of mosquitoes and sexual contact.
The now 14 cases of Zika virus in Miami have only just been discovered and it cannot be known how many others have been affected only to move on around the country later to be bitten by a mosquito or to pass it on to a partner that is unfaithful and passes it on to another.
To make matters worse, it appears that the type of mosquito that spreads the virus, the Aedes aegypti mosquito, is resistant to the pesticides being used to control the insect.
I do not make these statements to alarm us, but to challenge us that we can still change our ways and avoid the consequences of unrepentant sin. This disease will not be the only challenge we face and right now we have seen several potential epidemics scare the country only to fizzle and thankfully be stopped in their tracks, we must be careful to not become complacent so as not to take a real medical emergency seriously.
Zika may be contained to the 14 people living in Miami, Florida where it fades into the headlines of yesterday’s newspaper but if people are unwilling to seek the Lord though repentance and a change of ways, this disease could unleash an epidemic of biblical proportions.
