Friday, December 14, 2012

What if Earthquakes ARE Sent By God?

I would like to contrast two different passages in Scripture for a moment.

2 Chronicles 7:13-14

13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

Revelation 16:8-11

8 The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. 9 They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.

10 The fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom was plunged into darkness. Men gnawed their tongues in agony 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.

What I notice here is the difference in the response to what is happening to the people.  In 2 Chronicles, the expectation is that people will realize that GOD has sent these droughts, plagues or locust infestations, and REPENTof their wicked actions and ways of life that they had allowed to creep into the culture.  In Revelation, I notice the people will feel the sting and suffering from the plagues God pours out on them, but instead of realizing that it is what THEY have done that is the cause of their pain, they BLAME GOD for their pain, and curse Him.

What would people in our culture today do if they heard that God had sent floods, earthquakes and famine because of the way we are living in our culture to try to call us to repentance and to Him?  Have you heard any ministers of our day suggest that maybe God is trying to sway people away from evil by the natural disasters that we are experiencing in our world, calling us to repent?  Does that  make them angry, or sorry?  Do they blame the evil actions of our culture for their woes, or shake their fists at the idea of a God Who would dare to judge their behavior?

I am not suggesting that this is what is happening, I am merely asking if our response to that idea reflects 2 Chronicles 7, or Revelation 16?  Is it so hard to believe that we are coming to a time that no matter what God would do to call us to repentance, we would get mad at Him; or at least at those who would suggest He is doing this?  Have we recreated God in our own image when we suggest that He would NOT do something like this?