posted
In light of all the recent, apparent, natural disasters occurring around the globe I would like to share some thoughts that may help our understanding of God's dealings with us.
God's Wrath?
What about the Tsunami? Did God destroy those people because of their wickedness? There are two scriptures that came to my mind that I'd like to share.
quote:Amos 3:7 "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets."
I will discuss the context of this verse later but surely this statement can stand alone. In all of His dealings with man that I can recall the Lord always gave a warning and allowed the people to choose before He punished them. Noah preached for 120 years before the flood. Lot tried to save Sodom and Gomorrah. Reluctant Jonah preached to Nineveh and they avoided disaster. Israel was preached to by Jesus. On and on and on it continues in this manner. If anyone can think of a time that God did not send a warning first, let me know. I would like to study it. BTW, the final warning to the inhabitants of the earth is found in Revelation 14 where the angel gives a loud cry. Always a warning.
But there was no apparent warning from God that the Tsunami was coming other than our ever present warning that if we step outside of God's protection then we place ourselves in jeopardy. At least, this is how God warned Israel. But if they were obedient, then He would protect them. "And the LORD will take away from thee all sickness, and will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which thou knowest, upon thee; but will lay them upon all them that hate thee." (See context for additional, conditional blessings.) Deut 7:15.
Regardless of what we might think about any so-called natural disaster, the Lord has not punished us according to our sins. There will be a white-throne judgment that will sentence us to eternal punishment or eternal life after the resurrection. (See Rev 19 and 20). So any punishment we might think comes from God in this life is not to atone for our sins. Remember, Jesus gave His life to atone for our sins. We may claim His death as ours. But for those who do not, they will give their own life's for an atonement for their sins. The problem with doing that is that when they die they will never live again. This is the second death described in Rev 19,20. This is not the first death that Hebrews speaks about when it states that "it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment." Heb 9:27.
Notice this verse suggests that God does not at this time punish us according to our sins. There will come a time when each person will be rewarded according as their works have been. That follows the judgment, not before.
quote: Psalms 103:10 "He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities."
and...
quote: Lam 3:22-33. "It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not." "They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness." "But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies." "For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men."
Natural Disasters
I suppose we call disasters natural because they occur because of some event in nature rather than by some act of man. But maybe they do occur because of our rebellion. Is that possible? If we refuse God's blessings, then do we suffer the curse that results from not being blessed?
quote: Isaiah 24:5 "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant."
Is the everlasting covenant the New Covenant? Didn't the old pass away? I think it is the new. This verse suggests that the earth suffers because of man's wickedness. Paul agrees with me.
quote: Romans 8:22 "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now."
So it would appear that God does punish after giving a warning. But these other so-called natural disasters are most likely brought upon us by the "prince of this world," the "prince of the air," and our adversary, the devil, who walketh about like a roaring lion seeking to devour us.
In the controversy between Christ and Satan there is a battle for the souls of men. Satan contends that because we disobey God and obey him that we are his servants. Jesus claims us as His rightful heirs. It would be just like Satan to lead men into sin and then destroy them before they repent. He can build up his army of followers in this way. Notice that God extends to us free choice, but Satan is always the deceiver.
Well, anyway, I've gotta go for now. Think about what I said and please add your comments. We can look for other examples of how God deals with mankind and why these "natural" disasters are occurring with more frequency and greater magnitude.
posted
Natural disasters used to be called "Acts of God." God gave and He took away - blessed be his name. I guess that's the old way of thinkin...
Here's an interesting analysis from W Simpson i just found:
GOD‚S TWO TSUNAMIS
2004 ended with a bang. On 26th December, St. Stephen's Day, the day on which Christians remember Stephen, their first martyr, hundreds of thousands of people died in the tsunami. On the same day in 1939, some 30,000 people died in Turkey, and 41,000 in Bam, Iran on the same day in 2003.
The Bible has no concept of a God unknowing and disinterested in the happenings in the world, so God is not only informed about this tsunami, He explicitly allowed it. Instead of just being shocked, donating or participating in the aid in some way, there is also a question which we must answer: if God allowed the tsunami, what does that tell us? And how should we react? The post-modern answer, that it is an unfair and incomprehensible act of judgement against the Indonesian Muslims, Indian Hindus, Sri Lankan Buddhists and pleasure-seeking tourists, is way too cheap and simplistic. God is saying something very deep to every one of us. My wife's family lives less than a mile from Madras' tsunami-hit coast; the following is a summary of our current feelings. You can read more at http://www.simsonwolfgang.de/html/welcome.html.
Personally, we don't know whether we should cry more for the dead or the survivors. Who can grasp the enormity of the situation? Which technology could have prevented this destruction? The tsunami is a foretaste of our ability to stand before God when He comes in His anger; there is no escape. We must ask ourselves "What prompted God to react in such anger?" Christians have been preaching the chocolate side of God for centuries, which is just what people want to hear. But God is also a consuming fire, the hammer which smashes stone, a double-edged sword, jealous, and a father who disciplines those he loves. What have we, His people, done, that He could not restrain His anger? How did we escape judgement this time? And why?
A tsunami of grace and judgement 1st Corinthians 15 teaches us that nature is a mirror of the supernatural: "However, the spiritual did not come first, but the natural, then the spiritual." For years, many prophets have been speaking of two coming tsunamis: one of judgement, the other of grace. On the one hand, God is shaking everything which can be shaken, with water playing a major role (Habakkuk 3). This is the dismaying, cleansing and judging aspect, in which everything built on human instead of Godly foundations is shaken to the bone. On the other hand, a harvest of truly Biblical proportions is building up around the world, and if you look carefully, you can already see it sprouting and blossoming. God is watering it.
We can see clear parallels between the natural tsunami on 26th December and the spiritual tsunami, which is having a similar effect on Christianity:
Natural Tsunami: (1) Foundations are washed away; (2) Security is gone; (3) Houses and large buildings washed away; (4) Dead bodies everywhere; (5)Destroyed shops; (6) Wave of Orphans; (7) The Poor suffer most; (8) The tourists have the microphone; (9) Corruption often prevents help to the most needy; (10) Military Spending: $900 billion p.a., disaster relief: $1 billion p.a.; (11) Lack of coordination in relief-work.
Spiritual Tsunami : (1) Traditions and structures are shaken to the core; (2) Financial disaster is hitting large churches and mission circles; (3) Individuals and Churches washed away by every wind of teaching; (4) High percentage of youth, Pastors wives, Pastors and leaders have given up; (5) Empty leaders that rely on others to lead and provide nourishment; (6) Spiritual Orphans, the Out-of-Church Christian phenomenon; (7) Rich middle and upper class Christians overlook the "Poor Brother"; (8) The Western nations and their agenda dominate Christian news; (9) Pseudo-Christian empire building takes large cuts of funds; (10) 98% of Christian funds flow into self-preservation, 2% into mission; (11) Lack of unity, everyone pleases self
According to the Bible, judgement always starts "in the House of the Lord". And we seize and judge those who earnestly warn us; if Jeremiah were alive today, we would have thrown him into the well! We have done enormous damage to the House of the Lord and His sheep. We are headed on a totally Godless course. It is because of us that godlessness is spreading like fungus in our nations. We have turned our back on our Creator. For whom, then, should we weep? For the dead, or for the survivors?
What is this tsunami saying to Christianity, to a libertarian church which graciously accepts God as Saviour, but effectively rejects Him as Lord and King? A rebellious, idol-worshipping and completely un- Christian Christianity protests loudly against the mere suggestion that an absolute God is a judge. It stands up and proclaims "No more war!", and if it would not appear so laughable, would angrily shout "No more earthquakes! No more tsunamis!" in God's face. There's only one message for this "Christianity": "Repent!"
What does that mean? God is giving everyone a historic opportunity to repent and rebuild, renew their foundations, rebuild the ruins, re-lay the tracks and reopen the blocked wells. Our chance lies in radical repentance, personally re- establishing Biblical principles in our own lives, and taking part in probably the last reformation and harvest in history.
So what should we do? (1) Wake up and build His Kingdom - united and coordinated; (2) Show people the Rock. What remains, when the ground beneath your feet is shaking? The Living God is the only hope; (3) Explain the water masses: judgement and grace, cleansing and watering; (4) Seek His face. Let's do everything we can, pleading to God to turn His face to us, and not His back; (5) Scream out to Him for our own deliverance. We Christians must ask God to judge us with His double-edged sword, and set us free from our selfish jails.
quote: Natural Tsunami: (1) Foundations are washed away; (2) Security is gone; (3) Houses and large buildings washed away; (4) Dead bodies everywhere; (5)Destroyed shops; (6) Wave of Orphans; (7) The Poor suffer most; (8) The tourists have the microphone; (9) Corruption often prevents help to the most needy; (10) Military Spending: $900 billion p.a., disaster relief: $1 billion p.a.; (11) Lack of coordination in relief-work.
But the summary seems to be a bit remiss in that it doesn' mention all of these points. I am referring to foundations washed away--traditions and structures shaken to the core. There are a lot of beliefs in the churches which are based on nothing more than tradition. These God will shake to the core and bring down.
It also reminds me of the house built on the sand... and the floods came and washed it away.
I thought how sad it was when the mother of the one child (that 9 mothers claimed was their's) received the child back she went out to the beach and offered a sacrifice to a Buddha idol.
I thought no wonder that disaster hit over there, their lives are filled with demonic activity.
I know how much trouble I have with the devil and I serve God, I can't imagine what Satan could do to you if you serve him.
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