Harvey, Irma and more
Psalm 83:15 So persecute them with thy tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.
In the text verse the Psalmist asks God to punish the enemies of Israel and God with a mighty wind and storm. In light of the recent events in natural disasters, the question that many ask is: “Is this a punishment from God?” Different people will have a different opinion about these events. The “gloom and doom” people declare that this is some kind of punishment – whether from God or nature for man’s crimes on earth. To the environmentalists it is a sure indication that we have violated the earth and it is a direct result of climate change. The futurists say it is a definite sign of the soon return of Christ and to the atheists and others it is just a natural weather event in the life of earth.
The word “storm” is used eleven times in the Old Testament and it carries varying meaning but always the idea of wind and floods. One time it carries the idea of “terror” that it instills in people.
We must first recognize that God is ultimately in control of the universe which includes the earth and He does use storms/natural disasters at times for punishment against a people or nation or even an individual. God sent a storm out against the ship carrying Jonah, His runaway prophet, in order to turn him around and get him to the place of repentance and obedience. When God sends a storm or natural disaster it is most usually one of major or record proportions. Both Harvey and Irma were of this category, so a case could be made that this is a punishment from God upon America.
Since I am not God’s counsellor and neither is any other human being, we cannot be one hundred percent sure and dogmatic about it. We must also recognize that the devil is permitted to bring storms upon earth. When Job was attacked by the devil, God gave him permission to destroy Job’s possessions including killing his children with a great wind that destroyed the eldest son’s house killing all Job’s children who were inside celebrating one of the children’s birthday. When Jesus was crossing the Galilean Sea with His disciples a storm arose which was probably brought on by the devil. Some of the times the word storm is used in the Old Testament it is a child of God calling for protection from or seeking refuge in God from it. We can clearly conclude that any time a storm occurs that it is a minister of God – whether produced by the devil or directly by God – because it serves numerous purposes.
If we look at the effects and aftermath of Harvey and Irma, we can see several outcomes that produce good results. (There are many things God can use and purposes for in storms, but finite man is not capable of discerning most of them). One thing that people do when these type events occur is they pray. Just think back to September 11, 2001 when the terrorists attacked America – people, including leftists, prayed for help. People were and still are praying for help in the aftermath of these storms. We also learned that people are more important than possessions. We heard it numerous times on public announcements that people are more important than material things. They said it numerous times – you can replace possessions but you cannot replace your family. Another thing that happened is that the outpouring of compassion upon the victims from everywhere, even the supposed “mean-spirited” Christian right, is publicly displayed on the news and the God-hating left and “looney-tune” news propagandists cannot spin it any other way. People did not ask what people’s politics were, what their color was or even if they were illegal aliens, they simply helped those in need. There are other things we can gather from these events but one more that we all should take notice of: God could at any time destroy this world and we are not able to prevent it. Man was completely helpless against the storms and all we could do was either hunker done or flee.
God will destroy this world again but not with a flood. Peter tells us that the next time it is destroyed it will be by fire (2 Peter 3: 7). At that time God will set the judgment against the ungodliness of mankind and each and every one will appear before God for judgment.
Did God cause these disasters? We cannot know for sure, but we can definitely say that at the least He permitted them and we should take note of how completely helpless we are against the power of nature and even more helpless against the power of Almighty God.