Professors Reflect on COVID-19: Dr. Andrew Hill, Bible & Theology

Andrew Hill on August 23, 2020

We were working through the Babylonian exile period of Hebrew history in one of our remote course sessions this week. Jeremiah’s letter to the exiles was referenced in terms of how the captives were to carry on with life in exile, while separated from the land of the promise and all that meant for Hebrew covenant relationship with God. The specific text of focus was Jeremiah 29:4-9, where the prophet exhorts the Hebrew captives to pray and work for the welfare and benefit of the nation ruling over them. As the Hebrews sought the peace and prosperity for their captors, they too would prosper. One of the students posted a comment in the chat box of our Schoology Conference session that these verses had implications for the Christian and the church’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Spot on! We all appreciated the comment and spent some time discussing those implications. One thing I would hope and pray that future generations might inherit from this current pandemic (since there may be more in the future) is to move past the political, cultural, and religious tribalism of our age and become those people of God who heed Jeremiah’s exhortation to be those Christian citizens who pray and work for the welfare of the people and society in which their life and livelihood is contextualized—pandemic crisis or not.