Natural Disasters - Act of God?

[Tom Wetmore]

You all have of course heard the observation made by religious people regarding natural disasters as being the judgment of God for one heinous sin or the other. It happened after Katrina devastated New Orleans - that was God's judgment against the decadence and sin of New Orleans, more specifically some gay pride event. It happens every time an earthquake rocks San Fransisco or other parts of California. And most recently the dots have been connected between the gay marriage thing in California to all of the lightening started fires - Yes, God damning those homosexual unions by burning everyones' property in California. And lest you think good Adventists would be above such presumption to speak for God - think again. Sadly some of our good folk, some of whom fancy themselves among the purest of Seventh-day Adventists (conservative, historic, etc.) have been very much on this bandwagon. Nothing new about this...

BUT, notice that the flooding in the Midwest US in the heart of the Bible belt among those God fearing Bible toting church going Midwesterners gains no such knee-jerk wrath of God pronouncements from fundamentalist Christian types, that I am aware of. And hitting much closer to home, tornadoes swept though the Michigan Conference Campmeeting causing some significant property damage. How was this natural disaster at one of the most respectably conservative Adventist campmeetings characterized by some of those same Adventists mentioned above? Another act of divine judgment against the sins of the people? Uh... no... It was met with thanksgiving that God had so mercifully spared the lives of his people from Satan's fury trying to disrupt and destroy the blessing of that meeting of God's people. And the pronouncement of God foiling the Satanic monkey business in the Michigan tornadoes was uttered almost in the same breath out of the same mouths that had also instinctively and immediately pronounced God's lightening strike against those homosexuals of California!

Tom

[Gail]

Interesting observation!

The floods just couldn't be because the Lord's Sabbath day is being trampled upon... (see how it starts?)

I'm gonna call a tragedy a tragedy, and although I might wonder sometimes any of those disasters still call for prayer

[carolaa]

Yeah, I've noticed and wondered about that whole issue for a very long time.

[Tom Wetmore]

[Dr. Shane]

The mid-west is not the Bible belt. The Bible belt stretches from Texas across Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama to Georgia and the Carolinas and the states in that area normally called the "South".

Some natural disasters are from God. Noah's flood was a big one. Others are from the devil, such as those that killed Job's children. We know in a perfect world where there is no sin there is no death and natural disaster either. We don't know which natural disasters are caused by God and which by the devilbut if we live by the light God has given us we will be prepared should disaster strike us.

[John317]

We know that many natural disasters do not come from God but from Satan. It's Satan that wants to kill and destroy, and God does allow him to do it.

Jesus made it plain that earthquakes would increase both in number and in intensity as we draw closer to the time of Christ's return. We can only deny those things if we deny that the Bible is true. I don't know of anyone who thinks that every phenomenon is due to either God or Satan, but we shouldn't dismiss out of hand the possibility that God uses natural disasters to get people to think seriously about spiritual realities.

[there buster]

Quote:

Jesus made it plain that earthquakes would increase both in number and in intensity as we draw closer to the time of Christ's return.

I would be interested in reading the verses you have in mind.

[doctorj]

I don't know of anyone who thinks that every phenomenon is due to either God or Satan, but we shouldn't dismiss out of hand the possibility that God uses natural disasters to get people to think seriously about spiritual realities.

Does it matter whether a "natural disaster" is from God or from Satan. The fact of the matter is that we know natural calamities are to be more frequent in the last days. We should take heed of every "natural disaster" and live our lives as though Jesus' return is today. Having said that, we also need to live our lives as good citizens of which ever country we belong, and be wise in our investments of time, money and effort.

[John317]

Quote:

Jesus made it plain that earthquakes would increase both in number and in intensity as we draw closer to the time of Christ's return.

I would be interested in reading the verses you have in mind.

It is based on Matt. 24: 7,8 and Mark 13: 4-8. The principle is that the signs will increase like the pains of a woman in childbirth increase until the baby is born. So the signs of Christ's return increase in frequency and intensity as we draw closer to that time. They would not be signs of His soon return if they remained exactly the same for the last 2 or 3 thousand years. They are signs to those who are aware of Jesus' words and who put faith in them and watch these signs and see that Christ was right.

This is supported by clear statements by Ellen White is such passages as PP 108, 109; GC 304, 305. Look up "Earthquakes" in the first volume of the Index to Ellen White's writings. There are many entries showing that God uses them to show us the urgency of the times and to arouse us to a sense of our danger. It also says these signs will increase in both frequency and intensity.

I believe the following statement:

"Before His return, Jesus said, 'Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences, and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven.' (Luke 21:10, 11; cf. Mark 13: 7, 8; Matt. 24: 7). As the end draws near and the conflict between the satanic and divine forces intensifies, these calamities will also intensify in serverity and frequency, and find an unprecedented fulfillment in our time." (Seventh-day Adventists Believe, 1988, p. 344).

"How frequently we hear of earthquakes and tornadoes, of destruction by fire and flood, with loss of life and property! Apparently these calamities are capricious outbreaks of seemingly disorganized, unregulated forces, but in them God's purpose may be read. They are one of the means by which He seeks to arouse men and women to a sense of their danger.

"The coming of Christ is nearer than when we first believed. The great controversy is nearing its end. The judgments of God are in the land. They speak in solemn warning saying, 'Be ye also ready; for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.' Matt. 24: 44."

[John317]

I couldn't agree more with your very good post.

[John317]

The Bible shows that even if we know that God has sent judgments and punishments on people, our only duty as Christians is to help and pray for those who are hurting. Until the seven last plagues, all of God's judgments are in order to bring about people's ultimate salvation.

For instance, God loves gay people, and this is why he wants the truth about sin taught and known. It is not out of his hatred for gays but because he wants them saved and to live eternally with Him. The church needs to understand this and make it clearer. The important message is not that God hates you but that God loves you and has the power to help you change so that you can live in harmony with God's will and character. His message is fundamentally the same for heterosexuals as it is for gays. Certainly there is nothing in the Bible that should cause someone to feel it is right to mistreat, disrespect or denigrate a gay person.

[Amelia]

Act of God? How 'bout we call them Acts of Man. Since natural disasters wouldn't exsist if we were still living in the garden.

[carolaa]

There you go!

[Tom Wetmore]

...It happens every time an earthquake rocks San Fransisco or other parts of California. And most recently the dots have been connected between the gay marriage thing in California to all of the lightening started fires - Yes, God damning those homosexual unions by burning everyones' property in California...

This is just a follow-up on the continuing harangue by a handful of conservative Christians that God is executing judgment in California because of the gay marriage stuff. Not surprisingly the target of their wrathful proclamations is the modern day cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, otherwise known as San Francisco and Oakland. The word is that God is raining fire down on California just as surely as he did when He destroyed ancient Sodom and Gomorrah.

OK. Take a careful look at where the fires are in California - California Fire Map

It seems that God repeatedly missed the target almost completely. I would have thought His aim would have been perfect...

Or maybe He was targeting something else... Maybe we better check who is living in those hills where He started all those fires with divine lightening strikes.

Or maybe somebody else missed the point entirely...

Tom

[John317]

I don't necessarily disagree with your opinion that God is not punishing San Francisco. I have no conviction either way on that point. I simply do not know, but then I haven't spent time thinking about that particular question. Yet I do think, on the basis of what the Bible and Ellen White say, that it is theoretically possible that God is doing these things.

But do you reject the teaching or belief that God has punished cities for their immorality, such as Sodom and Gomorrah, Jerusalem, Ninevah, Tyre, Sidon, etc.? The Bible teaches that God did punish whole nations and peoples, such as Egypt, Edom, Babylon, the Philistines, the Canaanites, etc. The book of Revelation also shows that in the future, cities will be affected adversely by their evil.

Do you believe God does not do these kinds of things any more, and is this perhaps why you do not believe that God is punishing San Francisco, or do you deny that God ever did punish cities in that way? In other words, is your view of God such that you simply cannot believe God works that way in relation to humans?

[doctorj]

In our society, by education, we try to explain scientifically how these disasters occur. There are many different reasons we give for some of these "acts of God" -- some of them are explained by the shifting of the geological "plates", or others are explain away by the idea of "Global Warming". I believe we could possibly give a scientific explanation for every disaster, but this is not to say that God is using these disasters to teach a lesson, or to counter the forces of evil in the world.

One of the main lessons we can learn from these disasters is that we can never be certain when our "hour will come". We need to be constantly walking with God, for we don't know when our end on this planet will be. Life is uncertain in our world and we should be ever mindful of that. We need to act as though this is our last day on earth, and plan for a long and fruitful life.