You may find me at my new Geocities Messianic site Pool of Bethesda now and whenever articles are no longer current at Suite. Hurricane Katrina has given birth to many questions. One among many ask, "Why does God allow innocent people to suffer?"Natural disasters are part of ordinary life in a fallen, post-Edenic world. They come and go, but life goes on. Tectonic plates move and earthquakes occur. Tsunamis happen. Forest and urban fires cause innocent death and financial losses in the billions. Blizzards and tornados occur and people suffer. Hurricanes are happening on a more destructive basis.
As bad as natural disasters are, they can be worsened by human pride, ignorance, and greed. Take New Orleans, for example. The Big Easy. Sin City. Why build a city below sea level? Why build houses and other buildings so close to the ocean that they are swept away? Why not give adequate resources to strengthen the levees? Why not have the sand bags and heavy helicopters on hand just in case a levee breaks? There were plenty of warnings that exactly this kind of natural disaster was bound to happen. It was not a matter of if, rather, when?
But a natural disaster can also be a supernatural disaster, and God's Word gives many examples.
Consider how the Israelites responded to the prophet Amos (3:1-6). Amos spoke to the Jewish people of the northern kingdom who were straying farther and farther from God. He called Israel to return to God, and come back to truth and holiness. Amos implored the people to listen to the Word of the Lord, but they told Amos that the Lord had rescued them out of Egypt; that He had chosen them, loved them, favored them. They had been saved before. Stop worrying Amos. Things are good. They did not think anything bad would happen to them. But that is the wrong conclusion for anyone to make, and the Israelites were wrong, too. Bad things do happen to good people.
So Amos preached his message from the Lord saying, "Therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities." The right conclusion that they should have drawn was not that a nation that has enjoyed the favor of God is immune to His judgment, but is, indeed, more subject to it simply because to whom much is given, much is required. The more one knows, the more responsibility he has. Therefore, the greater the punishment for his failure. Israel had been given much. Our nation has been given much, and so we are held to a high standard by God.
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