Tsunami God's Judgment?

You forget, some view their calling in life as having an answer for all questions!

There are a lot of them on this list.

 

Those who think they are wise know nothing.

 

Hardsheller and chipsgirl...
AMEN!
It is possible the Tsunami is judgment from God. The majority of nations hit were/are muslim/hindu. Hence they are idolatrous which thing God hates.
OTOH; it is also possible that abortion is God's judgement on us for OUR wickedness and idolatry. Hmmm? God is still the same as He was in OT times. He often sent plagues and such upon his rebellious people for their idolatry, and many innocents suffered in the wake of it.
Perhaps; if WE cleaned up our OWN backyard, we MIGHT see clearer whatever it is that God is doing elsewhere.

In HIS service;
Jim

 

Rev. James McQuarter has suggested that the tsunami was a form of baptism, and a sacrament rather than an evil.

 

A natural disaster, like a hurricane, tornado, storm, flood, blizzard, lightning strikes, etc. We live in a fallen world and the earth wreaks havoc as part of the consequence of man's sin.</font>[/QUOTE]"Consequence"? You mean judgment? </font>[/QUOTE]The consequences of sin are not the same as judgment. Unless you want to see these disasters as a continuous judgment of God as a result of the Fall and the curse on the earth from Gen. 3. But then you need to be consistent and see very storm, every blizzard, every flood, every hurricane, every lightning strike, every earthquake, etc. as a "judgment" from God. Is that how you see those things?

 

It's interesting in light of what you say here that some Muslim leaders in Indonesia think the tsunami was a warning from Allah that they are not devoting themselves enough to Islam and they need to pray 5 times a day, attend mosque, etc., etc.

I agree that God is the same God as the God of the OT since His nature never changes, but I don't think God is sending judgment now. My understanding is that after Christ came, God is withholding judgment until the Day of the Lord.

Also, those plagues and other things that God sent were announced in advance by his prophets. That had to do with his relationship with Israel, and I don't think it's analaguous to the relationship with the church.

 

Jim,

Did you intend to say "that the results of abortion might be a part of God's judgement" ... I did not understand what you meant by, "it is also possible that abortion is God's judgement on us for OUR wickedness and idolatry"

In Christ

 

So, if it wasn't God's judgment, what was it? </font>[/QUOTE]I think there are several ways that I could answer this:

1. God's sovereign will for what reason we don't understand and don't really need to understand (i.e. rain to fall on the righteous and the unrighteous, but not necessarily a punishment). Whether we understand God's soveriegnty, his will, or his decisions or not, one thing we must understand is that God is soveriegn and just and righteous.


2. Testing of faith (Job)

The bottom line is, I don't think you would argue that God was punishing Job, would you? What about all of the apostles who were persecuted and killed for the faith?

Joseph Botwinick

 

Double Post. Sorry.

 

Judgment, the wages of sin, consequences. Call it what you will.

Yes, every disaster, loss or hardship is sent by God with a purpose.

Folks have no hesitation crediting God for every good fortune, why is it so hard to credit Him for the evil? As Job said, shall we receive good of the Lord and not evil also?

It appears you see God more as a spectator than as partaker in these things. That's a very humanisitic view and, frankly, not one that offers any kind of hope to anyone.

 

There's a difference between natural disasters and the diabolical conspiracy to persecute Christ.

 

There's a difference between natural disasters and the diabolical conspiracy to persecute Christ. </font>[/QUOTE]You certainly have a point there and I should have known better than to use that as an example. However, what say you about the case of Job which I also listed as an example?

Joseph Botwinick

 

Then how do you explain Israel A.D. 70?

 

LE,

Who are you quoting here? I can't seem to find this statement anywhere on this thread.

Joseph Botwinick

 

Marcia.

 

Then how do you explain Israel A.D. 70? </font>[/QUOTE]That's a good point, but I would categorize that as part of God's judgment on Israel, with whom he had a covenant. What I meant was that God was withholding judgment barring things he said about Israel. I don't see how we can interpret natural disasters as God's judgment when there is nothing in God's word to go by to "prove" that a specific natural disaster (or any disaster) is a judgment of God.

And does that mean ALL natural disasters are God's judgment? If not, how do we know which ones? When 100 people die? When 1,000 people die? When 10,000 people die? Where do we draw the line??

 

Marcia, we don't draw the line. If it is God's judgment, then He draws the line. None of us can know for sure one way or the other.

I believe the tsunami could have been God's judgment. I also believe the eruption of Vesuvius which destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 A.D. could have been God's judgment - the societies in both cities destroyed were totally wicked.

In August of 2005, Jerusalem will play host to the World Wide Gay and Lesbian International Pride Conference where thousands of homosexuals will gather from all over the world in the "Holy City" as they bill it, to party and pronounce to the world that they have the answer for peace for mankind, kumbaya, etc. If an earthquake or some other so-called natural disaster happens in Jerusalem during that event, I will not be chalking that up to "just a natural disaster."

And, PS: If nothing happens, I will chalk it up to God's GRACE.

 

Ladies! Ladies!!

What about the Earth "groaning" as in Romans 8:22, "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now."

And then what about that verse in 1Peter 4:17, "For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God . . ."

Remember ole Ananias and his wife??? They came face to face with immediate judgment--some scolars say they both had a massive heart attack---but I believe that God just stopped giving them life!! Now, how come the "whole lot" of them---including Peter, James, John & co. wasn't "wiped out" with them???

 

Hi, LE! Well, that's the point I was making -- we can't know for sure. But I tend to think that God is withholding his wrath because the NT talks about the "wrath to come" and I see that as God's judgment. Right now, it is the time of God's grace to allow people to come to Christ (not that they are not judged after death).

But there have been many wicked places since then -- many probably worse than those cities.