MAJOR NATURAL DISASTERS
07/10/16 03:29
You will need to read this through to the end. If you do not read this through to the end you will walk away thinking that I believe God does evil; and that is just not true. Yet, we must look at the Bible and put things into perspective; and then make logical conclusions.
There have been a series of natural disasters in the world this year. I find many, within certain large religious movements, who blame these disasters on satan. My question is, while we can find Scripture, all through the Bible, about how God is sovereign over the weather, can anyone show me Scripture where angels are sovereign over the weather? The created angels do not have power over weather apart from the sovereignty of God; and satan is a fallen created angel. God is Creator, satan is creature.
Some may be asking, “Does this mean God is doing evil in the world?”
Again, to answer this question we need to put things into Biblical perspective. Major storms, no doubt, causes suffering. In that suffering, both the righteous and unrighteous are affected (Lam 3:38; Matt 5:45); whether in loss of possessions or life.
To get the perspective we must remember that the God of the New Testament is the same God that is in the Old Testament (Mal 3:6; Hebrews 13:8).
Some say, when they see disasters like this, that God is pouring His Judgement out upon wicked people. That could be true; as the New Testament God still gives time for repentance and then set’s righteous judgement after said time (Rev 2:21-23).
Based upon Revelation 2:18-29, God brings those people into judgement for the purpose of their repenting. We then are not to ignore them because we believe this is the judgment of God upon the wicked. We were once wicked and in so deserving judgment. It’s during the times of God’s judgment that we are given the opportunity to show the image of God more in His Mercy, Grace, Love, and Sacrifice in that we reach out to them with a gift of both physical salvation and and the Gospel of spiritual salvation.
Well then, if God is pouring His wrath upon the unrighteous then what about the righteous that our caught up in it? First, I believe we need an honest look at what is considered righteous in the eyes of God but we will look at the question on the surface; and we will look at two scenarios - the righteous who die in tragedy and the righteous who suffer in tragedy.
When we think of a good Christian who dies in the prime of their life, we see this as almost wicked. Do we believe in Heaven after this life? If we do, then how can we believe that a Christian moving from this evil world to Heaven is wicked? Honestly, I don’t know if anything else must be said on that subject.
Yet, then there are the good Christians who go through suffering from tragedy. Suffering is defined by a loss of something; typically a loss of stuff or a loss of a loved one. We were never promised that there would not be suffering. In fact, I believe suffering was designed for our lives. The question we should ask is, what are we supposed to do in the face of suffering?
We need to look at the book of Job. There’s many who try to reach some deep theological meaning from this book; but what we need to bring away from this story is what is actually on the surface. Job’s life seemed to be going well until God allowed satan to attack (See also Luke 22:31 for New Testament perspective). When Job asked why God did not tell him why; He told Job WHO. As a result, Job drew closer to God (Job 42:5).
When a Christian goes through suffering, whether it be the loss of stuff or the loss of a loved one, the purpose is to pull the Christian closer to God; not so we can get our stuff back - but so we but so we can understand who God is.
There have been a series of natural disasters in the world this year. I find many, within certain large religious movements, who blame these disasters on satan. My question is, while we can find Scripture, all through the Bible, about how God is sovereign over the weather, can anyone show me Scripture where angels are sovereign over the weather? The created angels do not have power over weather apart from the sovereignty of God; and satan is a fallen created angel. God is Creator, satan is creature.
Some may be asking, “Does this mean God is doing evil in the world?”
Again, to answer this question we need to put things into Biblical perspective. Major storms, no doubt, causes suffering. In that suffering, both the righteous and unrighteous are affected (Lam 3:38; Matt 5:45); whether in loss of possessions or life.
To get the perspective we must remember that the God of the New Testament is the same God that is in the Old Testament (Mal 3:6; Hebrews 13:8).
Some say, when they see disasters like this, that God is pouring His Judgement out upon wicked people. That could be true; as the New Testament God still gives time for repentance and then set’s righteous judgement after said time (Rev 2:21-23).
Based upon Revelation 2:18-29, God brings those people into judgement for the purpose of their repenting. We then are not to ignore them because we believe this is the judgment of God upon the wicked. We were once wicked and in so deserving judgment. It’s during the times of God’s judgment that we are given the opportunity to show the image of God more in His Mercy, Grace, Love, and Sacrifice in that we reach out to them with a gift of both physical salvation and and the Gospel of spiritual salvation.
Well then, if God is pouring His wrath upon the unrighteous then what about the righteous that our caught up in it? First, I believe we need an honest look at what is considered righteous in the eyes of God but we will look at the question on the surface; and we will look at two scenarios - the righteous who die in tragedy and the righteous who suffer in tragedy.
When we think of a good Christian who dies in the prime of their life, we see this as almost wicked. Do we believe in Heaven after this life? If we do, then how can we believe that a Christian moving from this evil world to Heaven is wicked? Honestly, I don’t know if anything else must be said on that subject.
Yet, then there are the good Christians who go through suffering from tragedy. Suffering is defined by a loss of something; typically a loss of stuff or a loss of a loved one. We were never promised that there would not be suffering. In fact, I believe suffering was designed for our lives. The question we should ask is, what are we supposed to do in the face of suffering?
We need to look at the book of Job. There’s many who try to reach some deep theological meaning from this book; but what we need to bring away from this story is what is actually on the surface. Job’s life seemed to be going well until God allowed satan to attack (See also Luke 22:31 for New Testament perspective). When Job asked why God did not tell him why; He told Job WHO. As a result, Job drew closer to God (Job 42:5).
When a Christian goes through suffering, whether it be the loss of stuff or the loss of a loved one, the purpose is to pull the Christian closer to God; not so we can get our stuff back - but so we but so we can understand who God is.
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