A) NATURAL DISASTERS ARE NOT NATURAL.

B) DISASTERS SERVE AS A WAKEUP CALL.

C) NOT ALL DISASTERS ARE DIVINE JUDGMENTS, BUT TRULY NATURAL DISASTERS.

D) DISASTER ARE AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FINAL JUDGMENT.

E) WHAT SHOULD WE TAKE AWAY FROM NATURAL DISASTERS?

 

 

A) NATURAL DISASTERS ARE NOT NATURAL

 

 

Natural disasters are not natural to God’s creation.  God put the Laws of nature into place at creation, but sin put natural disasters in place.  At the end of His six days of creation, God surveyed all that He had done and proclaimed it “very good,” Genesis 1:31.  Creation was complete and perfect.  The rivers, the vegetation, the flowers, the fruit trees, the birds, the fishes, the animals, all lived harmoniously together in a peaceful, stable, and idyllic environment.  Missing from God’s creation was disease and death.  There were no hurricanes, floods, earthquakes or Tsunamis.  Adam and Eve lived happily in an idyllic paradise, cultivating an intimate relationship with their Maker Who visited them “in the cool of the day,” Genesis 3:8.

 

Thus, the natural disasters the earth experiences today, are not natural to God’s creation.  There were no disasters in His original creation.  God’s world was a world of order.  While we live in this sinful world we will inevitably face natural disasters because they are the natural consequences of sin.

 

Disasters serve to remind us that, “[21] the whole creation has been groaning in travail until now,” waiting for the Day when, “[22] it will be set free from its bondage to decay,” Romans 8:21-22.  The fact that natural disasters are the natural consequence of sin does not mean that there is no Supernatural involvement in them.  In our scientific age, we tend to discount Supernatural forces, looking instead for “natural” causes of disasters.  The very designation, “natural disasters,” implies that there is no Supernatural involvement.  Such a view is foreign to the Bible.  There are numerous Biblical passages that suggest that God does micromanage the forces of nature such as earthquakes, storms, floods, draughts, etcetera, to accomplish His purpose.  But to say He is involved in all of them may be going too far.  For sure, He at minimum allows them.

 

This being stated, I believe that to the extent that God is involved in any disasters is probably due more in the sense that our human sinfulness causes Him to remove His protection, allowing these things to occur that we generally attribute to natural causes.  It can also be to glorify Him and teach others of His ultimate Love for them (see the Book of Job as an example).  It can also be a way of demonstrating what Satan’s character if allowed to rule.

 

The forces of nature never spiral out of God’s control.  Scripture tells us that God controls the rain (Deu. 11:14-17; 28:12; Job 5:10; Mat. 5:45; Jam. 5:17-18), lightning (Psa. 97:4), earthquakes (Job 9:5 & 6; 28:9; Psa. 18:7; 77:16-18; 97:3-5; 104:32; Isa. 2:19; 24:20; 29:6; Jer. 10:10; Nah. 1:5; Hag. 2:6-7; Heb. 12:26), while He causes the mountains to be thrown down and the valleys to fill (Eze. 38:20), along with thunder, snow, whirlwinds, floods, and clouds, “[12] that they may do whatsoever He Commandeth them upon the face of the world in the earth. [13] He causeth it to come, whether for correction, or for His land, or for mercy.”  Job 37:12-13.  See also Job 28:10-11; Psalm 107:25 & 29; 148:8; Eze. 13:13; Nah. 1:3-4.  Isaiah writes:  “I [God] form the light, and create darkness:  I [God] make peace, and create [allow] evil:  I the Lord do all these things.”  Isaiah 45:7.  While Amos asks the rhetorical question:  “shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it?”  Amos 3:6.  Since God is in control, then what are the implications of natural disasters?

 

 

B) DISASTERS SERVE AS A WAKEUP CALL

 

 

The Prophet Amos explains that God uses “natural” disasters to teach lessons to His people and to bring them to repentance (see Amos 4:6-13).  Amos explains that the purpose of the calamities was that God wanted His people to be led to repentance and if not, to “Prepare to meet your God.”

 

Disasters CAN have a sobering effect upon the human mind.  It was an earthquake that caused the jailer at Philippi to exclaim:  “Men, what must I do to be saved?”  Acts 16:30.  It was a famine that sent King Ahab searching everywhere for the prophet Elijah (First Kings 18:10).  It was a plague that brought Pharaoh to his knees, confessing before Moses:  “[16] I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you. [17] Now therefore forgive, I pray thee, my sin only this once, and intreat the Lord your God, that He may take away from me this death only.”  Exodus 10:16-17.  All-be-it, just to be relieved of it.

 

When a war breaks out, or an earthquake destroys countless lives and property, or a drought burns the crops and dries up the water supply, or an epidemic disease victimizes millions of persons, many people will call out to God either in curse or prayer.  C. S. Lewis wrote, “pain is God’s megaphone to a deaf world.”  While John Wesley wrote, in 1777 A.D., to a friend:  “There is no Divine visitation which is likely to have so general an influence upon sinners as an earthquake.”  Cited in, “Forecast:  Earthquake,” in the article, “Time,” September 1, 1975, page 37.

 

However, the attempt to explain natural disasters as a Divine punishment upon deserving sinners ignores that sometimes many of the victims are innocent children.  Even among the adults there are Godly people who are living according the moral principles implanted in their consciences.

 

In His Olivet Discourse, Jesus predicted that certain calamities would occur before His Return.  Because of their nature and function, we can call these calamities, “signs of Divine judgment.”  Specifically, Jesus said:  “[6] 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. [7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences [I might interject here, that these events of mankind CAUSE the “famines, and pestilences], and earthquakes, in divers places. [8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.” Matthew 24:6-8.  See also Mark 13:7-8.  And Luke adds, “the sea and the waves roaring.”  Luke 21:25, among the signs of the end.

 

Thus, the manifestation of Divine judgment through calamities is intended to summon people to repent, or that their probation is over.  In regards to repentance, the prophet Joel, for example, describes a disastrous drought and fire, which destroyed the harvest, the pasture, and the trees and dried up the waters (Joel 1:11-12 & 19-20).  In the context of this calamity, the prophet calls upon the people to repent (Joel 1:5 & 14), thus demonstrating the purpose of God in these calamities.

 

Disasters such as earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornados, and hurricanes, can have a sobering effect upon the human mind.  They can challenge complacent, self-centered, and self-sufficient people to acknowledge their finiteness and helplessness, and thus to seek God.  It was the earthquake which marked the death of Christ that led the centurion and his soldiers to confess, “Truly this was the Son of God,” Matthew 27:54.

 

 

C) NOT ALL DISASTERS ARE DIVINE JUDGMENTS, BUT TRULY NATURAL DISASTERS

 

 

The fact that sometimes God uses natural disasters to punish human wickedness, does not justify jumping to the conclusion that all disasters are a Divine judgment upon evildoers.  The story of Job makes it abundantly clear that those who suffer or die because of natural disasters are NOT necessarily singled out by God as deserving special punishment.

 

Job’s friends made the mistake of assuming that his living in some sort of sin caused Job’s afflictions.  But God vindicated Job as an upright man.  Jesus refuted the fallacious reasoning that all calamities are a punishment for sin, by mentioning two disastrous events which resulted in the loss of human lives:  “[1] There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. [2] And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? [3] I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. [4] Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? [5] I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”  Luke 13:1-5.

 

Thus, our Lord mentioned two tragic events familiar to His audience.  Jesus refutes the misconception of His time (and still in our time), that all natural disasters are caused by the displeasure of God with man.  We are all guilty sinners deserving of an eternal death.  Being murdered by a tyrant, being crushed by a tower, being killed by a tsunami, an earthquake, or hurricanes, is not as serious as the suffering and death impenitent sinners will experience at the final judgment.  Rejecting Christ’s provision of salvation has eternal consequences.

 

Our Lord’s bottom line and the reason for any of this is stated twice for force in His discourse:  “except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”  Thus, disasters should serve as a wake up call for us who believe in a Loving God and that He is anxious to see mankind come to repentance.

 

 

D) DISASTER ARE AN ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE FINAL JUDGMENT

 

 

Disasters are used by God not only to summon people to repentance, but also to announce His final judgment which is associated with the Day of the Lord in the Old Testament, and with the Day of Christ’s Second Coming in the New Testament [which is one-and-the-same-thing].  For example, Joel sees the historical famine described above as a sign that, “Alas for the day! for the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come.”  Joel 1:15.

 

In the prophetic perspective, disasters such as wars, earthquakes, and famines not only reveal God’s immediate judgment upon human ungodliness and wickedness (Rom. 1:18), whether He allows man to do these things or causes them Himself, but are also indications of the final judgment to come.  They constantly remind mankind that the Judge is standing at the doors (James 5:9).  Thus, every report of calamity by sea or land is a testimony to the fact that the end of all things is at hand and that repentance should play a part in the acknowledging of that final event.

 

Going back to Jesus’ “Olivet Discourse,” Jesus predicted that certain calamities will occur before His Return.  Jesus spoke of wars, earthquakes, famines, and pestilences, as disasters occurring not exclusively at the very end, but during the whole time preceding His Return.  This point is implied in the admonition not to be alarmed by the occurrence of these signs, “for this must take place, but the end is not yet,” Matthew 24:6; Mark 13:7; Luke 21:9.  In fact, these signs are said to represent, “but the beginning of the sufferings,” Matthew 24:8; Mark 13:8.

The latter expression was used in Judaism in a technical way to describe the period of suffering (“the birth-pangs of the Messiah”) that would precede the establishment of the messianic Kingdom.  Possibly Jesus made use of this familiar concept to characterize the conditions that will precede His Return.  In other words, the occurrences of wars, earthquakes, famines, and pestilences, do not “pinpoint,” but “point to” the approaching end.  They constitute a pledge that the end will surely come.

By saying that wars, earthquakes, famines, and pestilences are, “but the beginning of the sufferings,” Matthew 24:8; Mark 13:8, Christ clearly implied that they will intensify as the End approaches.  “But the beginning” presupposes that there will be more and worse disasters yet to come.  These will cause such a “great tribulation” that, Jesus said, “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved,” Matthew 24:22; Mark 13:20.

Christ’s prediction of the intensification of calamities before the end finds support in the prophetic Books of the Old and New Testaments.  These Books predict an intensification of warfare and disasters prior to the Second Coming of the Lord.  Both natural and man-made disasters are increasing today in different parts of the world.  Through natural cataclysms and man-made environmental crises, God is announcing His impending judgment upon human rebellion, and is calling people to repent before it is too late.

 

The unprecedented fulfillment in our time of the signs of Divine judgment predicted by Christ is a clear harbinger of the impending final judgment that Christ will soon execute upon mankind at His Second Coming.  Through natural disasters God is calling upon unbelievers to repent and upon believers to live holy and Godly lives, while “Looking for and hasting unto the Coming of the Day of God,” Second Peter 3:12.

 

 

E) WHAT SHOULD WE TAKE AWAY FROM NATURAL DISASTERS

 

 

Christ’s Words uttered in the face of the tragedy that killed 18 persons when the tower in Siloam fell upon them were:  “Unless you repent you will all likewise perish,” Luke 13:5.  Christ did not spend His time arguing about who was to be blamed for the tragedy.  Instead, He reminded His listeners that tragedies are a wake up call to repent.

 

Let us take to heart the prophetic implications of these disasters and let us be prepared as a people to stand and to be the type of people that do service for Him.  Already many Christian organizations and agencies are at work providing humanitarian relief along with eternal hope for the future.  Let not these disasters un-strengthen your faith, but re-strengthen your faith in the precious Word of God.

 

“The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love:  therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”  Jeremiah 31:3.

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