Not just the covid pandemic, but include in this, terrorist acts, massacres, accidents and calamities, murder, genocide, wars, famine, do I need to keep going, add the name of any really bad event I have not mentioned here to the list. I want to know does God have any reason or make a statement about the reasons why in the Bible. I am not the only one to ask this question, everybody at some time, after some horrendous tragedy has asked the question. Questions such as, well what did those people do to deserve that judgment from God?

Let me start in Luke chapter 12 to set the context and then move over to chapter 13 to give the answer as Jesus gave it.

King James Bible : Luke 12: 1: "In the mean time, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trod one upon another," Jesus is out in the Hills and He is teaching a huge crowd, so big they cannot count them all and Luke records what Jesus says when some of the crowd ask a question about this very topic.

So look at King James Bible : Luke 13: 1 - 5
1: There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
2: And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
3: I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
4: Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
5: I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

The 5 verses above cover 2 events that have happened and affected some of the people in the crowd. Effected them to the extent that they ask the question, why did God allow this to happen to them?
Now we have to understand the thinking and philosophy or theology of the people back then, which actually is not much different to people's thinking today. They believed that God punished bad people and saved good people, simple and straight forward, those people in the events above were good, going about their own business, not doing anything wrong, in fact in the first event doing what the Law of Moses required them to do. In the first event a group from Galilee had walked the 60 plus miles from their homes to Jerusalem, so they walked to one of the required pilgrimage feasts, and they were up on the Temple mount with their sacrifice waiting patiently for their turn to present their offering to the priests when along came a group of Roman soldiers and hacked them to death with such ferocity that the blood of the men mingled with the blood of the sacrificial animals they had brought. These men are in the Temple, they are presenting their sacrifices to the Priest. The females who came with them would have been in the outer court looking down on them from the balcony, they would have seen the whole scenario in front of them. The soldiers would not have done this quietly, there would have been some choice language and the soldiers were probably trying to outdo each other. So why God is the question, what did these men do to deserve this?

The 2nd event is a little different. The tower that falls is a construction, it is built from stone, so we have a failure in the structure, as the stones fall, they crush 18 people who are simply going about their business, getting the water from the pool to carry back to the house. All the water requirements for every house in Jerusalem comes from this one pool, it is the only water supply in Jerusalem at that time. So these 18 people are just going about their daily duties, not bothering anyone else, but they are suddenly crushed to death by the falling stones.

The answer is the same in both cases, Jesus makes a comment first in both cases and then gives the answer.
The comment is, do you think that they were greater sinners than anyone else. Or in other words, do you think they were greater sinners and so deserved to die?
Then comes the answer, No, in both cases they were not greater sinners than anyone else and if you do not repent you could also suffer the same.
Jesus makes it very clear that everybody is equally guilty, we are all sinners and we are all deserving of death unless we repent. You can read it also as we will all in at least one point in our lives face some sort of disaster, terror attack, accident, or even a massacre and that getting ready in advance ahead of those events is crucial. You do not know what will happen during your day, these events are reminders that death is just around the corner.

Have you noticed how these events are getting more frequent, earthquakes, volcanoes, major floods and land slips to name a few natural events or terror attacks, mass shootings, riots, fires, accidents all are getting more prevalent. Yes you can say that the natural disasters are the result of global warming, and they are only going to increase, but you cannot say that God is the cause of all of the disasters. God may well send and use a disaster but He is not sending every single one of them.
Then again it is not just the natural disasters that are on the increase, terror attacks, massacres, calamities are all on the increase, have you seen the media recently, we are constantly bombarded with reports every day, and the greater the calamity the more the coverage. We are being numbed by the events, soon they will mean nothing to most people. During one month we will see more massacres, disasters, death than anybody would have seen in a life time 100 years ago and they are still increasing in frequency and ferocity. You can say that the only reason we are still alive is because of God's mercy, God is giving you time to repent. Jesus taught that the real disaster is to die without repenting of your sin. Sit in judgment of you own sins and ask for God's forgiveness, do not get to the last day and stand in front of the judgment seat of God without repenting or you will be lost forever.

Do not fall into the trap that says, I am saved, I am a christian so I am forgiven, I do not need to repent my sins are forgiven. Are you willing to allow one sin, one misguided misjudgment to follow you to the final day judgment seat and for Jesus to say I never knew you, be gone. Once you are dead in this world, you have lost all your chances of changing your end eternal destination. The only thing you can be 100 percent certain about is that there are more disasters, calamities, pandemics, plagues, accidents that are going to happen in your lifetime.

Amos 3:7 Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets

Notice above that GOD will do nothing, unless He has revealed it to his servants the prophets first. So if God is sending a disaster or calamity, He will have told us about it before so that we can get ready. If the prophets do not warn us then that is not God's problem, He will send to message to another and another. If we do not wish to believe the message then that is down to us, we have been given a free will to choose. If you say that God is not good enough to protect you or that His word does not work, then you are saying that God's word is not enough, the Redemption He has sent through His Son Jesus is not good enough, DO NOT go down that path. Sin is in the world, God cannot abide sin, and so the plan is to get rid of it, and God has told us His plan for doing that. If you want to see how bad it can get then read the last book of the Bible, Revelation, start in chapter 6 and read the next 15 chapters and get the description of what God is going to do. You have a choice and there are only 2 choices, Life or Death. Deuteronomy 30 : 19 :- I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: God has given you the chance to choose Life, you have nothing to winge about if you decide not to accept it. If you do accept the offer of life then even if you die you win because you are in heaven in the presence of Jesus and God, you no longer have any sickness, ailments etc, make a good decision and choose life and blessing, you never know what if coming just around the corner in our journey through life, this may be your last chance.