It seems as though any time a natural disaster hits America, the evangelicals (and some Church of God leaders) say that this is God’s way of punishing us for being an evil nation. When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, many said God was punishing that city for having so many homosexuals. Others said New Orleans was being punished for being a city of drunkenness and fornication. Some even attributed this disaster to too many inter-racial marriages!
Does God punish nations? Absolutely! The Old Testament shows how God would subject Israel to the ravages of outside armies for their sins. The people would repent, God would remove the punishment, and then the people would sin again. This Evil-Captivity-Delivery cycle is seen over and over in the book of Judges. It is mentioned no less than seven times in this one book alone. Even so, in God’s mercy, He gave Israel more peace than captivity during the times of the judges. Probably at a rate of five years of peace for every one year of captivity in spite their unwillingness to obey God.
The prophet Ezekiel makes very clear the reasons for Israel’s later captivity and enslavement. You can read it in Ezekiel 20:12-24. Verses 23 and 24 indicate that the main reasons for Israel’s enslavement were idolatry and Sabbath-breaking. These two sins are very prevalent in the U.S. The Church of God needs to do a better job of preaching that this nation needs to abandon idolatry and Sabbath-breaking. We are not effectively getting this message out.
Nevertheless, when there is a national or regional disaster, can we emphatically state that that disaster is God’s punishment? Absolutely not!
We know the reasons why the Israelites were punished by foreign armies because the Bible clearly tells us. But God does NOT make it crystal clear that our nation suffers natural disasters because of sin. We simply do not know the mind of God in these matters. Like it or not, there are no Jeremiahs or Ezekiels on the world scene to explain this type of phenomenon to us. Some may claim to be prophets or apostles, but they are liars if they claim these titles and they are liars if they emphatically preach that hurricanes and floods are a result of God’s anger.
Again, we need to preach repentance to the United States!
But there is no way to say for sure why reasons hurricanes and floods have been hitting our lands for hundreds of years. To attribute these disasters to God could very well be blaspheme.
Let’s be careful in these matters! Let’s not be quick to judge others. Let’s not be quick to condemn people. Let’s not be quick to claim that another’s misfortune is because of something he did to displease God. You never know when you might experience a difficult financial or health situation. Surely, you don’t want others to claim it is because you are sinful.
Let’s continue to preach God’s truth. Let’s continue to condemn sinful practices and false doctrine. But let’s also show the world that the Church of God is filled with people who have an abundance of Christian love!
By the way, we are excited to announce that we have a new tab on our website. It is called Sabbechism. (Nancy and I made up that word.) Check it out. I think you will find it informative and interesting.
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