“But the Lord abides forever; He has established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in righteousness; He will execute judgment for the peoples with equity.” (Ps. 9:7)
This word “equity” means justice that is fair. It is justice executed, that is free from bias or favoritism. Man cannot buy God’s favor like he can earthly judges. God is no respecter of persons.
“And I heard the altar saying, ‘Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous are Your judgments.’” (Rev. 16:7)
And so, we don’t question God’s judgments. The Bible says He will bring them when wickedness and lawlessness increase in the land. Our only hope is that, through humbling ourselves and praying for our nation, God will forgive us our sins, and heal our land. But when we don’t, the inevitable must happen:
“I searched for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before Me for the land so that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Thus I have poured out My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,’ declares the Lord God.” (Ez. 22:30,31)
God does not take pleasure in the death of the wicked (Ez. 18:23), nor anyone else for that matter. God is love (1 John 4:16), and with kindness, He seeks to lead all mankind to repentance (Romans 2:4).
But there are times when our righteous and holy God must bring judgment, as punishment for sin. It’s during times like this, that we should remind ourselves:
“If He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant lovingkindness. For He does not afflict willingly, or grieve the sons of men.” (Lam. 3:32)
Now, as our opening text declares, God has established His throne for judgment, and He will judge the world in righteousness, and will execute judgment for all mankind, without bias or favoritism. God’s justice is always fair, even when we don’t understand it. Let’s look at this courtroom scene, as described in Daniel 7:9,10:
I kept looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, its wheels were a burning fire. A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened.”
Here we see the only court in creation that really matters. Unlike earthly courts, where unfair and lawless decrees can be passed, due to lack of evidence or even unrighteous judges making ungodly decisions, such is not the case with Heaven’s high court. God knows all the evidence, and He passes sentence with equity, without flaw. And it is from this court that all decrees for or against mankind are made. There is only one Judge who sits on this throne—the Judge of judges!
How would God bring judgment on mankind? What are the ways He has shown us in Scripture, that He would judge mankind for his wicked ways? It’s important for us, as Christians, to know this. It’s important for the entire human race to know this.
God sends natural disasters to destroy, in order to accomplish His divine judgments. I know to some this may shock you. To others, you will disagree. But don’t argue with me. Argue with Scripture, which I wouldn’t suggest.
There are times when even insurance companies refer to natural disasters as acts of God. That’s exactly what they are. God controls all of creation for His purposes. Here are just a few examples of what I’m talking about:
“Also with moisture God loads the thick cloud; He disperses the cloud of His lightning. And it changes direction, turning around by His guidance, that it may do whatever He commands it on the face of the inhabited earth. Whether for correction, or for His world, or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen.” (Job 37:12)
“I placed boundaries on it, and I set a bolt and doors, and I said, ‘Thus far you shall come, but no farther; and here shall your proud waves stop?’”…Can you send forth lightnings that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’?” (Job 38:11, 35)
But it wasn’t Mother Nature that did this. Mother Nature is a secular name for “creation”, and creation doesn’t kill and destroy anything, apart from God.
“From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.” (Is. 29:6)
Scripture proves that God uses natural disasters, such as tornadoes and earthquakes and floods and forest fires and famines and volcanoes, to judge mankind for his sinful ways. As lawlessness increases in a nation, so do the natural disasters.
God brings judgment because He has to. The Bible warns us He will. He decides when it is necessary, and exactly what kind of judgment it will be. It is always for redemptive purposes. By natural disasters, mankind is warned (Ps. 19:11), and by them, mankind is punished.
It is when we don’t understand why good people get hurt too, that we have a hard time believing God would do this. I can understand. But we should never question God, or accuse Him of being unfair. There was once a righteous man named Job. This is what God said about him, “For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” (1:8)
But God caused Job to suffer. He had His reasons. Yes, it was Satan that actually did the work, but it was God’s “good” plan for Job. At first, Job did not sin with His mouth, but as the suffering continued on, Job began to sin, causing God to reply, out of the whirlwind and storm, not peace and calm:
“Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, ‘Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Now gird up your loins like a man, and I will ask you, and you instruct Me!’... Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm, and said, ‘Will you really annul My judgment? Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?’... Then Job answered the Lord, and said, ‘I know that Thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted… I declared that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.’” (Job 38:1-36,7)
I want to submit to us all, that like Job, we just don’t understand sometimes, why God would do something that seems bad. There will always be things too wonderful for us to know, like Job said. Our response to any devastating natural disaster, is to humble ourselves and pray, and do what we can to help. And we certainly shouldn’t blame it on Mother Nature.
Imagine when God brought the world-wide flood to destroy the entire earth in Noah’s day. Do you think the headlines in every nation read, “Mother Nature is trying to drown us all?” No, it was God’s judgment.
And what about Moses and the people of Israel
I don’t think so. How absurd this kind of reasoning sounds. I can sort of understand why the unsaved would think this way, but not God’s people. The Bible tells the truth. The reason God sends judgments, such as natural disasters, is so that man would know it was God’s punishment, and repent of his sins.
If it were only Mother Nature bringing destruction, who would repent? Man would simply hang his head and weep over his loses. But God is after more than this. God is eternity minded, and gives the sinner every opportunity to change his wicked ways. Why? Because… “For God so loved the world that He gave us Jesus Christ…”
It’s one thing to be sorrowful, it’s another to be sorrowful to the point of repentance, amen. And repentance is what God is always after, in His dealings with mankind.
Now, I’d like for us to take a look at just some of the Scripture which prove to you that what I’m saying about natural disasters is true. Again, I want to say that nobody rejoices when they come. We all weep with those who weep, and so does God.
We pray and help those in distress, without a thought of, “They deserved it…or even, they didn’t deserve it.” God decides. Vengeance is the Lord’s, never ours. Our part is to try and understand what our response should be, after every tragic disaster, and then do it. This would be the mercy and compassion of God, after the judgment has passed.
I’m going to consider the following natural disasters: tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, fires, famine and drought, volcanoes, hailstones, and last of all, cosmic disasters. So let’s begin with tornadoes.
“He spoke and raised up a stormy wind, which lifted up the waves of the sea. They rose up to the heavens, they went down to the depths; their soul melted away in their misery. They reeled and staggered like a drunken man, and were at their wits end. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed.” (Ps. 107:25-29)
“But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord…The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was abut to break up.” (Jonah 1:3,4)
Tornadoes“Therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘I will make a violent wind break out in My wrath. There will also be in My anger a flooding rain and hailstones to consume it in wrath.’” (Ezekiel 13:13)
“The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. In whirlwind and storm is His way…” (Nah. 1:3)
The winds of the recent F5 are registered from 261 to 318 mph. I would call this a violent wind. A tornado doesn’t come gradually like the winds of a hurricane. It breaks out suddenly as a whirlwind, and when it does, it comes with hailstones and rain. [See also Job 27:20-21]
“From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.” (Is. 29:6)
Earthquakes
“I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sack cloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood…” (Rev. 6:12)
“Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl (of wrath) upon the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple from the throne, saying, ‘It is done.’ And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth…” (Rev. 16:17,18) [See also Rev. 8:4,5]
“From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.” (Is. 29:6)
“But He will sweep away His enemies in an overwhelming flood. He will pursue His foes into the dark of night. (Nahum 1:8)
This flood is literal and figurative—an outrageous deluge, which is an overflowing of the land by water.
“Behold, the Lord has a strong and mighty agent; as a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction, like a storm of mighty overflowing waters, He has cast it down to the earth with His hand.” (Is. 28:2)
“The end of all flesh has come before Me; for the earth is filled with violence because of them, and behold, I am about to destroy them with the earth…behold, I, even I am bringing the flood of water upon the earth, to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life, from under heaven; everything that is on the earth shall perish.” (Gen. 6:13,17)
Fires
“Behold, I am about to kindle a fire in you, and it will consume every green tree in you, as well as every dry tree; the blazing flame will not be quenched and the whole surface from south to north will be burned by it. All flesh will see that I, the Lord, have kindled it; it shall not be quenched.” (Ez. 20:47,48)
“And the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared themselves to sound them. The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.” (Rev. 8:6,7)
“From the Lord of hosts you will be punished with thunder and earthquake and loud noise, with whirlwind and tempest and the flame of a consuming fire.” (Is. 29:6)
Famine and drought
“Do not rejoice, you Philistines…I will wipe you out with famine…” (Is. 14:29,30)
“I brought hunger to every city and famine to every town. But still you would not return to Me,” says the Lord. I kept the rain from falling when your crops needed it the most. I sent rain on one town but withheld it from another. Rain fell on one field, while another field withered away. People staggered from town to town looking for water, but there was never enough. But still you would not return to Me,’ says the Lord.” (Amos 4:6-8)
“Look! The Lord is coming! He leaves His throne in heaven and tramples the heights of the earth. The mountains melt beneath His feet and flow into the valleys like wax in a fire, like water pouring down a hill. And why is this happening? Because of the rebellion of Israel
“The second angel sounded (the Seventh Seal-- Trumpets), and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed.” (Rev. 8:8,9)
Hailstones
“The Lord threw large stones from heaven on them as far as Azekah, and they died; there were more who died from the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel
“And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.” (Rev. 16:21)
Cosmic disaster
“So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day.”(Joshua 10:13)
“The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. The name of the star is called Wormwood, and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter. (Rev. 8:10,11)
I think, after considering all of these natural disasters, and what Scripture has to say about their purpose, we can better understand Is. 45:7, where God says of Himself,
“The One forming light and creating darkness, causing well-being and creating calamity. I am the Lord who does all these.”
Again I say, that our part is not to be critical or judgmental, we are to tremble at the awesome Creator of us all, and leave divine justice to Him. He is sovereign, and in His providence, He is in charge of all creation. All of creation serves Him.
“For by these He judges peoples…” (Job. 36:31)
God is calling the United States
Who will stand in the gap and build up the wall and intercede for America
“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I will here from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land.” ( 2 Chronicles 7:14)
“Therefore God said that He would destroy them, had not Moses His chosen one stood in the breach before Him, to turn away His wrath from destroying them.” (Ps. 106:23)
God is waiting for our tears and our prayers. Amen…
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