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Natural Disasters and the Judgment of God

by Anthony Weber
3/13/2013 / Christian Apologetics

Whenever America experiences a large natural disaster or "act of God," in insurance company lingo - the inevitable question resurfaces in Christian circles: What is God angry about? What did we do?It's a popular topic every time a storm hits, especially if it hits where we don't live.

Usually, the apparent target of God's wrath is a particular situation or people group about which the person claiming clarity happens to feel very strongly ("It's the homosexual abortion doctor! It's because of international policies! It's the war! It's liberal, feminist Marxists! It's the greedy Wall Street 1%! It's evolution in our schools! It's for someone with whom I am displeased!")

There's quite a list that gets generated in the aftermath of a disaster like Hurricane Sandy. God has lots of options.

This is not new information. Even Jesus pointed out that the net we cast for sin gathers in quite a large catch. Jesus was once asked if a tower's collapse in Siloam was a judgment from God on a particularly bad group of people. Jesus' response was this: "Do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? No! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13:4-5) In other words, if we are trying to figure out who deserves judgment, we should start with ourselves.

Many Christians today don't cast the net as widely as Jesus did. They observe modern Siloam towers fall and assume God is particularly unhappy with a specific target group. "Thank God it's not me!" (said all those who lived far enough away).

This perspective blatantly ignores the perspective of Jesus. If a hurricane impacts some, it's deserved by all.

But there is a more fundamental question that needs to be addressed: Does God use natural disasters to punish America?

Clearly, God has used this method at times according to the Bible. The Old Testament is full of stories where God used nature to further His purposes, or to send a message of blessing or judgment. I'm asking if God still does this today in America. I believe He does not, and I have several reasons.

First, if we have been hammered because of God's wrath, why is God so angry? Hurricane Sandy's arrival in November of 2012 gave us a lot of options. Was it the election? International politics? New York City's recent decision to hand out more contraception? The cast of Jersey Shore? The lobster industry? Abortion? Homosexuality? Greedy 1%ers? Wall Street? Halloween?

The Bible does not portray a God who slaps people around and then makes them guess why. The prophet Amos once wrote to the Israelites that when it comes to judgment, "Goddoes nothing  without first telling his prophets the whole story." (Amos 3:7). A punishment without a known reason accomplishes nothing. We do not have record that Pharaoh ever said, "What was that all about?"

When God brought judgment to a situation in the Bible, there was a pattern: people were engaged in known, obvious wickedness; they received a clear, prophetic call to repentance; they were given an opportunity to escape. The book of Jonah provides a great example of how this works.

Second, if large natural disasters are national referendums, what do local storms mean? If we know God was angry at America because of a hurricane, was He in addition mildly irritated with Traverse City? We got some wind and rain, along with a few downed trees and power outages. A tree fell on my neighbor's house but not mine; should I read something into that?

In his famous Sermon on the Mount, Jesus noted, "[God] causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous" (Matthew 5:45). It's tough to use any kind of weather to gauge the character of our neighbors, be they local, national, or international.

Third, if we can use natural disasters as a means of gauging God's displeasure, why hasn't Vegas been leveled? It's Sin City; it's the poster city for pretty much everything for which Christianity grieves. On an international level, why doesn't Amsterdam (with all its decadence) or Switzerland (with all the money that passes through) get nailed? That would seem like an easy choice.

Luke 9:51-55 records this interesting window into the mindset of Jesus: "Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, 'Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?' But Jesus turned and rebuked them."

I wonder what Jesus would say to us today.

Anthony Weber is a pastor, teacher, husband, father, author and blogger (nightfallsandautumnleaves.blogspot.com; learningtojump.blogspot.com; empiresandmangers.blogspot.com). You can contact Anthony at [email protected]

Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com-CHRISTIAN WRITERS

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