On September 25th, a 28-year-old lab technician named Darya Shipilova reportedly broke a test tube at work.
Her workplace happened to be the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia. According to local Russian media, that tube held live Yersinia pestis - - - the bacterium that causes plague. Yes, THAT plague. Something that can kill you in 24 hours if not treated correctly and quickly.
Four days later she was in the hospital in the little town of Shelekhov with pneumonia so severe they put her on a ventilator. By the night of October 1st, she was gone.
Then things got strange.
The hospital went into quarantine. Close to 200 people who'd been around her were identified, and 189 of them were reportedly hospitalized for observation. A local news site ran a story about plague, then pulled it down (but forgot to change the web address, which still had the word "plague" sitting right there in it).
The leader of a neighboring Russian republic posted that she died of plague - then quietly edited it to say she "may have." And depending on which outlet you read, she caught it from a broken tube, a business trip, or a vacation in Thailand.
Three stories. One dead young woman. And a government that won't show its work.
Within hours, the American internet did what it does best. COVID 2.0! The Black Death is back! Stock up now! Maybe… But maybe not…
What We Actually Know
Jesus told His disciples something about the last days that I think we read right past: "And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet." (Matthew 24:6)
Rumours. And I’m of the firm belief that the rumours were not just about war, but many other things. His instruction for handling rumours was simple: see that ye be not troubled.
So here's where the facts stand as of this writing.
On October 4th, Rospotrebnadzor - Russia's version of the CDC - officially listed her cause of death as "pneumonia of unknown etiology." Translation: we don't know what killed her (or we aren't telling). They say they found no lab accident and no germ connected to her work. Their own former chief went on record saying it's most likely not plague at all.
Now, do I trust that? About as far as I can throw Putin or even the Kremlin itself.
Proverbs 18:17 says, "He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh, and searcheth him." Russia has been first in its own cause many times. Thus far, no outside parties have been allowed to come ‘search them’ yet. No test results. No autopsy. No real explanation for why you'd quarantine 197 people over a "pneumonia" (shocker, I know).
So I’m thinking we have reason to be cautiously concerned… But here's the part the fear-merchants on your newsfeed won't tell you.
Pneumonic plague is a horrific, fast killer - nearly always fatal if it goes untreated. But it also burns out fast. Symptoms usually show up within one to three days of exposure. The CDC says if you're still healthy a week after being exposed, you're very unlikely to get it at all.
It has never been documented spreading from someone who wasn't already sick. And ordinary antibiotics - the kind sitting on the shelf at your local pharmacy - work if they're given in time.
Today is October 6th. That broken tube was eleven days ago. Not one of those 197 contacts has been reported with plague.
The calendar is preaching right now. And it's preaching “stay calm everybody.”
The Spirit We Were Not Given
Paul wrote to a young pastor who was apparently prone to getting rattled: "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)
That phrase "sound mind" comes from the Greek word sōphronismos - a disciplined mind, one that has been brought back to its senses. The kind of mind that comes back to the Bible before pressing the panic button.
For what it’s worth, any of us with a sound mind can be deeply suspicious of Moscow and completely settled in his soul at the same time. Those two things were never enemies.
And now comes my least favorite part...
Back in 2020, the American church got handed a pop quiz on this very thing. And I'm afraid a whole lot of us flunked it. People with Psalm 91 hanging on the living room wall were cleaning out the toilet paper aisle right alongside everybody else. Church doors closed while liquor stores stayed open - - - and to this day you can see it: some congregations never fully came back.
We let fear of a virus and fear of a governor set the agenda for the Bride of Christ.
I don't say that to pile on. I say it because the next headline is coming. Maybe this one. Maybe the one after it. You’ve got Bill Gates constantly warning us - - - like an overly-aggressive weatherman looking forward to the devastation caused by a hurricane - - - of Disease X - this mysterious disease that, according to him, would cause much more devastation than COVID ever could. Maybe it’s because he has already set in motion a chain of events to make sure it happens, or maybe not - who knows…
Luke 21:11 says plainly that in the last days there shall be "pestilences; and fearful sights.” Some of these things the pre-rapture world would see and many would come afterwards as a sign of God’s wrath…
So, I’m not sure which way to stand on this whole plague death that may or may not have happened.
Maybe I’m just writing this to make sure we all know it was indeed a thing, and we’ll just have to see where it goes from here.
I’m not looking to risk my credibility on something that may never happen, but let’s keep our eyes peeled.
So what do we do with Irkutsk?
Watch the news (or rather gather our news from trustworthy news sources). Pray for that young woman's family - she was somebody's daughter, and she's gone. Keep a healthy suspicion of any regime that hides its homework. And be sure we check the facts before we ever hit share.
And if this ever does turn into the real thing, this time around, I want to challenge the church to be the calmest person in the room. Our Lord is in control, and with all that is within us, we’re still gonna show up on Sunday morning.
Psalm 91:5-6 - "Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday."
The pestilence that walketh in darkness. Siberia has plenty of darkness this time of year. So does the Kremlin it seems.
I don't care what the newsfeed says - the God who numbers the very hairs on your head is not wringing His hands over a lab in Siberia. And His children shouldn't be either.
But we’re gonna keep our eyes on this thing… And as much as within us, not allow COVID 2.0 to happen on our watch.
Signed,
A Watchman Who Checks My Bible
(and is maybe a little more concerned about this than I should be)