I hear there is another hurricane brewing in the Atlantic.
That means there will also be another bevy of voices pronouncing God’s judgment on this sinful nation. It happens every time there’s a hurricane, tornado, earthquake, snowpocalypse, or any other natural or man-made disaster. Some Christian identifies it either as a fulfillment of prophecy or an outpouring of God’s wrath against our manifold sin.
Of course, many scoff at such an idea. A God of love in an age of grace would never send a hurricane to hurt good, innocent people. He is a God who loves, blesses, and encourages. He does not send disasters. We have tamed Aslan in America.
But is it that far-fetched to believe that God might use nature to judge sin? Ask Sodom and Gomorrah. Ask Pharaoh and his armies. Ask Israel. Our God is often seen as marshaling the forces of nature to bring retribution on his enemies. I know that is totally uncool, folks, but it is also totally biblical.
So, what are we to think? Are these disasters a warning from heaven or are they just random weather systems that we need to endure? Every one of us knows one of “those” Christians, who sees signs in the sky every time there’s a Blood Moon or an eclipse, who believes just about everything that goes on in our world is a fulfillment of some biblical prophecy. None of us wants to be “that” Christian. But what should a sane Christian of sound mind think? Our views must be shaped by God’s word, even if that makes them unpopular.
So, what should we think?
Is God judging Us?
Let’s largely ignore the question of whether God judges nations, since the Bible clearly says he does. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel contain dozens of prophecies of God against specific nations, and the trend continues in the minor prophets. God judges nations corporately. Certainly, Americans have a tendency to go overboard with nationalistic interpretations, but that is no reason to ignore what is a clear concept in Scripture.
The question at hand is whether all these roilings of nature, terroristic upheavals, and other issues of our day are evidence of the displeasure of God and a call to repent.
Foundational Thoughts
1. God Runs This Place
The Bible asserts one truth above all others. “I am the Lord and there is no other.” What happens in this world happens under the direction of God’s sovereign hand. To explain the interaction of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility is above both my intelligence and my pay grade. But the Bible asserts this without equivocation.
Look at Isaiah 45:5-7.
I am the Lord, and there is no other;
there is no God but me.
I will strengthen you,
though you do not know me,
6 so that all may know from the rising of the sun to its setting
that there is no one but me.
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
7 I form light and create darkness,
I make success and create disaster;
I am the Lord, who does all these things.
“I am God” is unequivocal. God is saying that he runs the show. By himself. Without any help. And just so no one starts thinking this is some kind of dualistic world where Satan runs the dark side of the Force, God makes it clear that his sovereignty extends to both the good things and the bad. Light. Darkness. Success. Disaster.
Try this exercise. Take a Bible and underline with a red pen every verse that asserts God’s sovereign authority over the events of this world. Mark with a green pen any verse that gives ultimate control of world events to Satan, to circumstances, or to the choices of men. When you finish, you will have a Bible dripping with red ink and nearly new green pen.
God is in control of everything, the good and the bad.
Again, don’t ask me to explain the hard parts of that. God does not cause evil, but he uses it for his purposes. We are not puppets, but morally responsible agents. Still, God is in control. His thoughts are higher than mine. I can’t understand it, but I can believe it.
Because the Bible says it.
2. God has many purposes.
In the Bible, nature can be a tool of God’s discipline, but it is not always so. God has many reasons for his actions. He allowed Job to suffer greatly (illness, natural disaster, death of loved ones) to prove to Satan his fidelity to God. The Pharisees saw the crippled man and assumed karma had struck. Jesus corrected them. The man was sick so that God’s glory could be displayed.
Every storm is not a judgment.
3. God’s purposes are beyond our intelligence.
Job struggled with increasing anger to understand God, even coming to point of accusing God of wronging him. Eventually, though, God spoke to him and said, (in the Miller Paraphrased Version), “I have this thing handled! Why don’t you stop trying to understand me and just trust me.”
Isaiah 55:8-9 is a formative verse for sound theology.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not my ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
9 “For as heaven is higher than earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
We are intelligent beings, made in the image of God with an intelligence that no other being on this earth can approach. But compared to God, our intelligence pales. We can understand some things about God, but the intricacies of his sovereignty are beyond us.
Why did God send Harvey or Irma?
We know it was part of the unfolding of his sovereign plan to redeem a people and to consummate the world in his glory. But the specifics are beyond the reaches of our intelligence. We aren’t smart enough to understand what God is doing. Don’t sprain your brain trying to explain the sovereignty of God.
Having said all of that, here’s what I think about the judgment of God.
On Our Response
In my mind, there are two key ideas that we ought to keep in balance.
1. Our God judges sin. Don’t try to absolve him.
God is holy and sin is an offense against his being. He is patient and kind, but there are times in Scripture when his wrath against a nation breaks out. God does that. We do not need to try to absolve God of responsibility.
God was not asleep at the wheel when the hurricanes hit. He wasn’t for reasons that I will never understand God determined that what happened was what should happen. (If you feel more comfortable using the words “permitted” or “allowed,” fine. I’m not going to split hairs. God was in charge however you word it.)
We need not defend God from the repercussions of his sovereignty or deny the reality of his wrath and judgment.
2. Our God is beyond our understanding. Don’t try to explain him.
Here’s where I think the modern prophets of judgment go wrong. Yes, God is holy and a judge of sin, but I should never take it upon myself to explain God according to my understanding. Have you ever noticed that God is always judging the thing that the person who is pronouncing the judgment is most upset about?
I do not get to set myself up as the spokesman of God. In the OT, a prophet delivered a clear message. Repent or destruction is coming. God told Pharaoh exactly why the plagues were coming on him, and how to get rid of them.
It is hubris to pretend that I understand the workings of divine sovereignty enough to explain them to the world. “This is God’s judgment on homosexuality.” “This is God’s judgment on abortion.” Okay, how about God’s judgment on gossip? On self-righteousness? On materialism? Racism? How does any person know exactly what a particular action of God is all about?
So, here’s my 3 cents (inflation).
- Every disaster is a reminder of sin and its consequences. So, let us repent. Of our sins. Let’s worry more about getting ourselves right than using the disaster to zap this group or that.
- A disaster is an opportunity for Christians to show Christ, to live out his love and to demonstrate our faith in Christ.
- Let us trust God’s sovereignty and not commit the sin of hubris – acting as if we have insight into the inner workings of the Godhead that we don’t have.
- Whatever comes – good days or bad – let us be about the work we have been given by our Savior!
One more thing. When I am whining about 20 below this winter, remind me of the hurricanes, okay?
Great post. Welcome back. Hope you continue to be on the mend.
The areas where God is judging America are manifest.
With regard to weather and natural disasters, without some divine revelation or insight, we cannot say,
We thought I had malaria. Then tests said I didn’t.
We thought I had a parasite. Then, finally, tests said that likely wasn’t the case.
So, I will never know what I had, I just know that my return flight from Senegal almost detoured to glory!!
Dave, this is excellent for all to read. In fact, it is so good I would like permission to print it for our church family. Perhaps I should ask you in private; but perhaps some other pastors would like to do the same. Can you give us permission to share this article with our churches?
Absolutely.
Hey, if you are going to copy and paste, could you use the one I just updated? There was an awkwardly worded phrase that I clarified.
Thanks!
Dave, Regarding Job and your comment that “He allowed Job to suffer greatly (illness, natural disaster, death of loved ones) to prove his fidelity to Satan.”: The book is much better understood as a polemic to what we now refer to as the prosperity gospel – which in reality is as old as the hills. All religions other than Christianity teach that God is at some level a quid-pro-quo God – you have to do the right things to get Him to be good to you. That is exactly what Job is meant to argue against. If you have spent… Read more »
Fidelity to “Satan” was worded awkwardly.
I have clarified what I said.
God allowed Job to suffer to demonstrate to Satan that Job’s loyalty was to HIM, not just to the stuff he gave. It was to prove to Satan Job’s loyalty and fidelity to God.
The rest of the things you mentioned I don’t disagree with, but they do not change the fact that in the narrative in chapters 1 and 2, Job suffered due to a conflict in heaven.
I always try to assume good intent until proven otherwise, so apologies if I came across as trying to nitpick on that. I had assumed you were trying to say what you were trying to say, even if it was a bit of a jumble… but it’s definitely clearer now 🙂 Apologies as well for the wall of text, but I really do think that when we reduce the book of Job to a contest of egos between God and Satan by proxy, we seriously miss the point. At the beginning of the book, Job was trusting in his works… Read more »
Not to push a minor point too far, but I think my representation of the initial conflict in chapters 1 and 2 is accurate. Saying that God had a conflict with Satan over Job’s fidelity in chapters 1 and 2 does not negate the drama that unfolds in the rest of the book. Actually, I believe that is the point of the book. Job had the same karma-based theology as his friends. When trouble hit it rocked him to the core. He had to learn to trust God’s sovereignty even when things didn’t fit into a nice, neat little pattern.… Read more »
Is God judging America? Constantly. Is He punishing America with hurricanes? While he certainly can, I wouldn’t say so without unequivocal revelation from God. It would be really easy to conclude that God really hates the Caribbean since he sends so many hurricanes at them. There are certain parts of the world that get harsher weather than others. There are places where people live that are below sea level. I live in a place that gets lots of cold weather. Is that a judgement? Is hot weather a judgement? Rain? Wind? Hail? Fog? The answer I suppose is possibly to… Read more »
Bill Mac, Think of it as directed warnings instead of direct punishments. In the world to come do you think there will be hurricanes or tornados or tsuamnis? If we start with the premise that God is in control of this world including the weather, we should then ask why He permits/allows/causes these terrible weather disasters. If we conclude that sinfulness has brought onto the world a curse, then we see that such disasters are more than just weather but strikes against the pride of man who disregards his subservient place before a holy and awesome Creator. A new movie… Read more »
The other thing that doomsday preachers fail to consider is science and history. How many hurricanes hit North America before 1492ish? We can really only guess, but I bet it is more than zero. I guess God was judging the US before it existed??? The most active period of hurricane activity since records were kept(1851) was in the 1880’s. In 1886, 7 hurricanes came to the states. The Galveston Hurricane of 1900 killed upwards of 6,000 people. How do these facts fit within the narratives of the doom sayers? I concur with your points Dave and would add that assigning… Read more »
Mike,
I believe God can control the weather. But I have no problem believing he generally lets thing happen according to the laws of nature he has set up. We might as well ask whether God is judging people who fall off cliffs by allowing gravity to work. I’m sure bad weather happens in places where no people live, so I don’t know that we can assign some kind of spiritual aspect to it.
Lightning can do a lot of damage, but I love thunderstorms. I don’t see them as a curse.
Bill Mac, So do you think we will have terrible weather occurrences in the New Earth? And do you think it is folly to pray to God, as many do, to stave off these storms and turn them away? And Bill, if God can control the weather and generally lets things happen, how do you know when He is not just letting it happen? Also, if God is working out everything for the good of those that love them, isn’t weather something that affects the good of His people? Or are you thinking He lets it happen and then works… Read more »
Mike White, regarding your comment: “Also, if God is working out everything for the good of those that love them, isn’t weather something that affects the good of His people? Or are you thinking He lets it happen and then works out the good?” What about the bad or good actions of another human being towards an individual. Do you think that it is essential for God to cause that individual to do harm (or good) to another in order for him to work it out for the good? Can’t God use the actions of men (which he didn’t force… Read more »
“So do you think we will have terrible weather occurrences in the New Earth?” Terrible? No. Big storms? Why not? “And do you think it is folly to pray to God, as many do, to stave off these storms and turn them away?” No “And Bill, if God can control the weather and generally lets things happen, how do you know when He is not just letting it happen?” I don’t. That’s a big part of my point. “Also, if God is working out everything for the good of those that love them, isn’t weather something that affects the good… Read more »
In the end, I believe all of this is a judgment on the New England Patriots and the Alabama Crimson Tide.
I now find myself in complete agreement with you…
Roll Tide, Dave.
I usually do not comment here but I am reminded of Job 5.2: Surely vexation kills the fool, and jealousy slays the simple and also Proverbs 33.4: Only a fool pokes a giant and expects no response.
Sometimes you have to stand against evil, even if the stand is unpopular.
I thought that was in the book of Hezekiah.
I was with you till you said the Patriots. Insert Cowboys or Giants or Steelers then I’m with you. With Bama you’re spot on. Hahaha.
James, behold – flesh and blood has not revealed this to you….
The Cowboys, Giants and Steelers are in fact the axis of American football evil..
Your discernment skills on this matter are impeccable.
If God is sending judgment on the Earth through earthquakes and storms wouldn’t this mean the canon is not closed and there should be new chapters of the Bible written to update it? Looks to me as if some want their cake and eat it too. Weather started as a judgment for man’s fall in Eden. I think there are no new judgments, if so they would be unbiblical. If new judgments are biblical then new chapters should be written and recorded in the bible. The scripture clearly states we cannot add to or take away from the books of… Read more »
Not sure of the logical connection there.
Dave, Looks to me as if new judgments should be recorded as biblical if this is what many believe is the judgment of God. If this is true then the Bible is not finished being written, it becomes an incomplete book. In fact, the book of Irma should be written, the book of The Mexico City Earthquake, and The Destruction of Porto Rico. Since the Bible is a complete book, the word of God is also complete, and the canon is closed, we simply cannot add to the Bible and say we have some new judgments, or God did this… Read more »
Okay….
Jess: Are you saying everything God ever did is recorded in the bible?
Jess,
“I believe God has nothing to do with nature except for creating it.”
I hope I am misunderstanding you in what seems to be an advocacy for Deism.
I don’t think you are meaning to convey this…
Here is something that might help you.
“Deism is the belief that God has created the universe but remains apart from it and permits his creation to administer itself through natural laws.”
http://www.theopedia.com/deism
Bill Mac, Tarheel, First to Bill Mac, I’m not talking about things God ever did. I’m talking about new judgments. Tarheel, Call it what you like, David. Jesus told us where to build our house, he said build upon a rock and not the sand. I know there is a spiritual significance to what Jesus said but there are also a practical significance. The Holy Spirit still works today which makes me not a deist. I just believe we get in the way of nature and we cannot be superstitious and say God did it to those people. If God… Read more »
Jess: Your logic doesn’t make sense. The bible never says there would be no new judgments. The bible never says all of God’s judgments in the future would have to be recorded. The bible is complete not because it records everything God has ever done, or will do, but because it’s all he intended to give us. I think it is folly to try to assign a natural disaster to God’s judgment, but not because I think it suggests the bible isn’t complete. You’re welcome to believe that, but you don’t have any reasonable basis to believe it.
Bill Mac,
I think it’s very reasonable. The canon is closed or it isn’t. Every time we have bad weather we cannot say God is punishing someone. If this is true then the canon is not closed and the Bible is still being written. I think there will be a judgment one day when we stand before God which is recorded. Natural disasters is just what they are, natural disasters.
Jess: So when the canon closed, God basically said, well, that’s it, I don’t really need to do anything until the rapture? Because if He did do something, (a judgement, a prophecy, etc), then the canon would have to be re-opened? As an opinion, you’re certainly entitled to it. I wouldn’t mind seeing some canon support for it however. That, I think, you cannot provide.
Bill Mac,
Sir, I agree with you that natural disasters shouldn’t be assigned as judgments.
Tarheel David,
Please share with me what you believe about storms and earthquakes. If you believe what I think you do. Then why would God send judgment upon little babies and kill them in a storm or earthquake. Wouldn’t God be charged with injustice? If you do not have a stance on the subject why accuse me of dabbling in deism. I would like to know what you believe.
I have stated several times that i believe God is an active sovereign Lord over all of his creation including the weather. I have also stated that I do not know nor understand the plans he works according to his good pleasure….scripture teaches that his ways and thoughts are above ours and I’m ok with not knowing/understanding all his works. I have also said that we have good scriptural standing in saying that God has in fact used weather to cast judgement when he wanted to – we also have solid scriptural evidence that He often chose other means of… Read more »
Everyone dies. Some day. God sent the Hebrews into the promised Land with the inductions to kill every last person and all their animals. The standard for us as creatures is not the same for God who rules and reigns. Even if one believes God made the weather and let it go and do its thing whatever its thing is, does mot mean the weather is random. God knowing all things has always known, that unless He intervenes, tornadoes and earthquakes and erupting volcanoes, and floods, and tsunamis and the Harveys. the Irmas, and the Marias would happen, and therefore… Read more »
Mike White,
I just cannot agree with you at all on this subject. I do respect your thoughts and comments. Maybe one day we will understand it all. God bless you.
Jess,
Not at all?
Not even the parts from the Bible?
Well okay.
Thanks for respecting my thoughts and comments.
Be blessed.
I do consider myself a Calvinist, but I’m certainly not a Hyper Calvinist. I do believe there are injustices in the world that God is not part of because God always works in righteousness, not evil. God did create the weather but is not involved in it’s every day occurrences. I believe in accidents simply because God didn’t tell us to drive down the highway in a two ton hunk of metal at 70 MPH. God didn’t tell us to perform abortions nor to have same sex marriages ( Actually they are civil unions,) and not biblical marriages. Hyper Calvinism… Read more »
Bill Mac, In response to your last comment, if the Bible doesn’t say it then it ain’t so. Neither is there going to be a rapture. There is going to be a resurrection but no rapture. Blessed are they that have part in the first resurrection, and I believe it was Mary who said I know my brother will rise again in the resurrection on the last day, she was referring to Lazarus. The church will be entering the tribulation wide open. Anyway, I’m not pushing this on anyone. It’s my story and I’m sticking to it. When Paul said… Read more »
I once learned or thought I had learned that water was made up of two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen. Or scientifically written H20.
But I can’t find it in the Bible so I guess it ain’t so.
Mike White,
Yes water is mentioned in the Bible, several hundred times.
Jess,
water is mentioned, it sure is.
But it’s not mentioned as to its components of hydrogen and oxygen now is it?
Guessing you can’t believe that water is made up of those two then can you?
Mike White, Water is mentioned and that is all that counts. We are talking bible here, it doesn’t matter that man has figured out what God made water from. Neither is gasoline mentioned in the bible but we know man has made it from what God initially created. This is getting a little silly. We are talking bible and what God says and don’t say. In all the scriptures you posted about weather they only indicated that God created weather and he is not responsible for it’s everyday occurrences except when he sent direct judgement on people and it was… Read more »
Jess,
Actually the Scriptures I have posted say a lot more than that.
But then you are free to believe as you wish.
Blessings.