In those old primitive days humanity was concerned with keeping the local deities happy. Drought, fire, storms, pandemics among other "natural" disasters were a warning that the gods or goddesses were not happy. Somehow they had been offended and now must be appeased. Often times the people were clueless as to what they had done. In Acts 17 Paul addresses the Greek philosophers on Mars Hill. Paul had seen many altars to the "Unknown God" around the city and uses this as a way to introduce the Lord God and His Son, Messiah Jesus. The background of the altars came from a pandemic that swept through the city. No one knew which god or goddess they had offended so they released sheep to wander around and whatever temple they went near they were offered up to that deity to appease them and ask them to stop the plague. However, some sheep never found a temple, so the people of Athens built an altar to the "unknown god" and made a sacrifice just in case there was a god they were not aware of. The point is, plague equals angry god. We have grown far beyond those foolish days of superstition and ignorance. Now we can explain troubling events and natural occurrences with logic and science. When we do not have an explanation we just blame things on poor management, global warming or manmade climate change. There is no need to revert to the unsophisticated days of the supernatural.
For those who are believers in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the supernatural is not, at least in theory and rhetoric, unreasonable or foreign. We speak of the power of God and the power of His Spirit. God is a supernatural being who is worthy of our worship, praise and obedience. He is also a God Whom we have come to contain and surround by our theological fences. He is a God of love and compassion Who demonstrated that through the birth of His Divine Son who lived, was crucified, died, was buried and rose again, conquering death. This God offers forgiveness and life eternal to those who accept and believe in His Son, Messiah, Jesus. These are all truths to be accepted, except for the theological box thing. We, as believers, tend to struggle to keep things in balance. We spring from one doctrinal belief to another and find Scripture to support our position. We also tend to ignore the texts that bring an opposing point of view. Sometimes we are a bit like those in Athens, not sure what to do with God or what to do with the natural events that surround us.
It is clear from God's Word that there were and will be natural events of a tragic nature that touch our lives. Floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, fires and plagues that exterminate lives have been with humanity from the earliest times, Some are a simple result of living on a fallen planet that is touched by sin and, like us, "creation groans" (Romans 8:22) under the weight and corruption caused by man's rebellion against the Creator. These are the natural consequences of events in Genesis 3 that are with us every day. However, God also makes it clear that such events may be of His design to alert His people, or to bring judgement on those who reject His call to believe and follow Him. The question might be, "How can you tell?" Is this a message from the Lord wrapped in an earthquake or a pandemic? The follow up question could be, "Does it matter?"
In our rational, despiritualized culture such natural events are passed over or excused. The people of God used to understand that such situations were a call to introspection and prayer. Is every tragic occurrence the judgement of God? Probably not. However, there are indeed times when the Lord does bring such discipline upon His people. In 2 Samuel 21:1 we read. "Now there was a famine in the land in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the Lord." The famine was indeed a message from the Lord, a judgement due to the brutality of Saul upon the Gibeonites. Out in the wilderness the Israelites rebel against Moses and Arron and we read of this result, "So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the LORD. The plague has begun.” Drought, famine, plague, and you can add the earthquake when Korah rebels and the drought called by Elijah in the days of Ahab (See 1 Kings 17-18). Famine was predicted in Acts 11 and famine, death, and fire will come by God's hand in Revelation 18.
In addition to "natural" disasters, God will sometimes use the unrighteous to discipline or challenge His own to repent. It is a call to wake up and rekindle their devotion to Him. God used the oppression of the Philistines, Babylonians and Romans, to name a few. Within the past year we have seen fires, earthquakes, a few volcanic eruptions, a world wide pandemic, and leaders desiring power who flaunt the truth and righteousness of God. Are these God's judgements? Is the Apocalypses upon us? Are we under the wrath of God? Is this the end of life as we know it? An end to the USA? (Which, by the way, does not seem to be a power worth mentioning in any Biblical prophecy.) What do we do with all of this? It seems believers either find little prompting toward confession and repentance in the face of such things or find a spiritual battle hidden in everything, So believers I have known stressed over which cereal to buy, "Does this company have ties to some godless regime?" Where is the balance?
It seems that we do, indeed, need to pay attention to the world and the calamities that surround us. They certainly should be a reminder to walk with purity and humility before the God we say we follow. Introspection is not a bad thing. Neither is confession and repentance. As the years go by we may well find that our devotion to God and to the principles of His word are less and less acceptable to the world around us. It would be naïve to think that the Lord does not notice the growing depravity of our society or the gradual acceptance of evil by His own. Things that were appalling or unacceptable have quietly invaded the Body of Christ. Profanity and sexual impropriety are woven into what we see as entertainment. The push for acceptance of perversion and the killing of the unborn as an acceptable a social norm is a daily assault on God's holy standards. How would this not invite some divine repercussions?
The question for today is simple. Has rationality brought about the death of the Spirit? Do we explain away the actions of a Holy God or do they draw us to repentance and a call to holy living. It is much easier to ignore or explain away the disasters that surround us. The natural answer is less disturbing than falling into the hands of an angry God. Just how rational have we become? Just what would God have to do to capture our attention? Famine, fire, plagues, godless people coming to power, an assault on our religious liberties and freedoms. Is this a warning sign or just a sign of the times. Is it God's hand upon us or just the course of nature randomly unfolding? If nothing else, maybe it is something to think about when you see God's creation convulsing around you.
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