According to the Law of First Mention in biblical study, a biblical subject is best understood by the first mention of it in the Bible.
Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go on a three days’ journey into the wilderness and sacrifice to the Lord our God, so that He does not discipline us with pestilence or with the sword.”
Exodus 5:3
Quite a statement there by Moses, inferring God will send a pestilence on His own people if they will not obey. This is startling. So I checked the 47x OT testament and 2x NT references …they are almost always mentioned together with the sword and famine and almost always sent by God!
This is quite terrifying. Does God do still do that?