What a year 2020 has been. Pandemics. A presidential impeachment process. A contested presidential election. George Floyd killed at the hands of police. Racial tensions, peaceful protests, and violent riots. Epic forest fires. Record unemployment. Record stock market losses…and gains. Wear a mask/don’t wear a mask. Obey governmental regulations/disobey them.

Biblical Wisdom for a Pandemic 

In a year like this, it is with trepidation that I even consider crafting this post. So why do it? Mainly because I’ve been wondering:

What wisdom does the Bible provide for responding to quarantines during a pandemic? 

As Evangelical Christians, we believe in the sufficiency and relevancy of Scripture for real life. That doesn’t mean that the Bible is a science manual on pandemics. It does mean that we should expect the Bible to provide wisdom-for-life amidst a health crisis.

Of course, my “take” on that wisdom will be different from someone else’s take. We all are subject to “confirmation bias” even in our exploration and application of Scripture. Honesty and humility require us to admit that:

We all tend to look for and find the proof that confirms what we already think­—confirmation bias.

3 Chapter 13s 

Recognizing my own confirmation bias, I’ll do the best I can to ponder a fair and balanced introductory biblical theology of responses to a pandemic. I’ll do that by briefly exploring 3 chapter 13s:

1. Leviticus 13
2. 1 Corinthians 13
3. Romans 13

Giving credit where credit is due, Skip Heitzig’s article at Christianity Today introduced me to how these three chapters relate to our current situation. I’d encourage you to read his article here: The Biblically Quarantined Life.

Leviticus 13: The Biblical Context of Contagion 

Heitzig says it poetically: “COVID-19 has been called the ‘novel coronavirus,’ but there is nothing novel about social distancing and quarantine.” Read Leviticus 13 and you’ll see how accurate Heitzig is. For instance:

“If the shiny spot on the skin is white but does not appear to be more than skin deep and the hair in it has not turned white, the priest is to isolate the affected person for seven days. On the seventh day the priest is to examine them, and if he sees that the sore is unchanged and has not spread in the skin, he is to isolate them for another seven days” (Leviticus 13:4-5).

“As long as they have the disease, they remain unclean. They must live alone; they must live outside the camp” (Leviticus 13:46).

Interesting. Fourteen days of social isolation quarantine in the Bible. These days were divided by two seven-day examinations to determine if the disease was a threat to the community—and if further social isolation was required. As Heitzig says, “Sounds eerily familiar, doesn’t it?”

Heitzig also notes that:

“God mandated these laws well before medical science could explain the reasons behind them. The Mishnah added rules for triaging cases of leprosy and STDs—how and when to quarantine, how to confirm positive cases, and how and when to declare someone clean and reintegrate them back into society.”

In the New Testament, lepers practiced a form of “social distancing.” A group of ten “stood afar off” (Luke 17:12, KJV) as Jesus approached their village and cleansed them. Jesus had compassion on those who were suffering, and He still insisted that they go through the established health system of priestly examinations as outlined in Leviticus 13.

So, biblical premise #1:

There is nothing innately unbiblical about quarantines, in fact, they are commended and practiced in the Bible.

1 Corinthians 13: The Biblical Concern for Others 

Many of us either avoid or race through Leviticus “with all those odd rituals and regulations,” or so we think. Yet, Jesus in Matthew 22:34-40 takes us to Leviticus 19 to demonstrate the central message of the Bible—love God (Deuteronomy 6) and love people (Leviticus 19).

The health regulations—the social distancing, the quarantines—were all predicated on the biblical foundation of loving our neighbor as our self. That’s Leviticus 19:18. That’s Matthew 22:39-40.

And this is where our second “chapter 13” also comes into play in a pandemic—1 Corinthians 13.

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

At times, those who are against masks judge and accuse mask wearers of living out of fear. First, it’s difficult if not impossible for one human being to perfectly discern the motives of another person’s heart.

Second, 1 Corinthians 13 explains that love should be the motivation for social distancing—my concern for the other person’s well-being. Love in a pandemic can be expressed, as Heitzig explains, by “giving up certain freedoms temporarily to ensure others can thrive.”

That other-centered reasoning makes me think of Philippians 2:3-5:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus…”

So, biblical premise #2:

Appropriate social isolation measures (social distancing, mask wearing, quarantining) can be part of the Christian’s loving commitment to look out for the interests of others.

Romans 13: The Biblical “Compliance” with Government 

In Romans 13, we find a third chapter 13—this one teaching us that:

• God ordains governmental authorities (13:1).
• God gives governmental authorities the responsibility to protect its people (13:2-5).
• Rebelling against the governmental authorities is rebelling against what God has instituted (13:2).

Biblically, Christians obey governmental authority unless that authority directly commands them to disobey God’s authority (Acts 5:28-29). Additionally, Americans are free to: a.) express our opposing views, b.) vote our conscience, c.) peacefully protest what we may believe to be draconian governmental measures, and d.) use the legal means of appeal at our disposal. (Consider the apostle Paul in Acts 28:17-19.) (For a recent forum on how various pastors are thinking through a biblical response to governmental mandates, see The Government Says We Can’t Sing! What Should We Do?)

Yet, the Christian citizen’s natural posture toward governmental authority is one of willing subjection. This is God’s Word, not my word.

“Let every soul be subject to governing authorities” (Romans 13:1). (See also Daniel 2:21; Titus 3:1; and 1 Peter 2:13-14.) 

In the historical context, the issue wasn’t whether or not to wear a mask or whether to limit worship services to 200 people. No. Nero was killing Christians. Speaking of Nero, D.G. Jeter explains:

“The mad ruler sentenced Christians to the most ghastly forms of death. ‘Covered with the skins of beasts, they were torn by dogs and perished, or were nailed to crosses, or were doomed to the flames and burnt, to serve as a nightly illumination, when daylight had expired.’ Did they suffer such horror to satisfy justice? No! To satisfy the gluttony of “one man’s cruelty.’” (See The Injustice of Roman Justice.)

It is in this horrific historical context that God commands Christians to be subject to governing authorities.

And it is in this powerful biblical context that God’s inspired Word connects the law of the land to the law of love.

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8).

This verse is not a separate context from Romans 13:1-7; it is the pinnacle of Romans 13:1-7.

So, biblical premise #3:

We obey the human law of the land designed to protect human life because of our ultimate commitment to obey God’s law of love.

6 Biblically-Based Wisdom Principles for Godly Decision-Making 

Surely you have noticed that I’ve never once indicated what decision(s) an individual Christian or a congregation should make in the face of pandemic quarantine mandates. Instead, I would suggest some biblically-based wisdom principles and decision-making questions derived from these “3 chapter 13s”:

1. The Leviticus 13 Biblical Context of Contagion Principle

• Question 1: How should the biblical context that quarantines are commended and practiced in the Bible impact our decisions about pandemic-related mandates?

2. The 1 Corinthians 13 Biblical Concern for Others Principle

• Question 2: How should the biblical concern for others impact our decisions about pandemic-related mandates?

3. The Romans 13 Biblical Compliance with Government Principle

• Question 3: How should biblical commands to comply with the law of the land out of commitment to obey God’s law of love impact our decisions about pandemic-related mandates?
• Question 4: Before considering “civil disobedience,” have we exhausted the options given to us by our freedoms: a.) expressing our opposing views, b.) voting our conscience, c.) peacefully protesting, and d.) using all the legal means at our disposal?

Based upon Acts 28 and the rest of the Bible’s commands to prioritize living out and sharing the gospel, I would add a fourth principle:

4. The Acts 28 Biblical Command to Be Gospel-Centric Principle

• Question 5: Like the apostle Paul in Acts 28:30-31, even while quarantined (or imprisoned) am I prioritizing proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with loving and gentle boldness over claiming and proclaiming my rights?
• Question 6: Are my proclamations of my rights hindering or helping my Christian witness and my calling to proclaim the gospel of Christ’s grace?