God

 

 

7. I want to ask you a question about earthquakes, floods, lightning which strikes people, the big hail, and other natural phenomena which cause disasters (and often they cause many victims as well); are all these things judgements of God?

 

 

 

Yes, they are.

As for earthquakes, the Scripture says that at His wrath the earth shall tremble (Jeremiah 10:10). It says also that in the days of Uzziah there was a great earthquake (Zechariah 14:5) which had been predicted by God through the prophet Amos against Israel because of the wickedness which held sway among the people of Israel: “Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt” (Amos 8:4-8). I remind you that before the coming of the Lord there will be a great earthquake that God will send against this evil world, which will be the greatest earthquake ever occurred on earth, as it is written: “And the seventh angel poured out his vial into the air; and there came a great voice out of the temple of heaven, from the throne, saying, It is done.: And there were voices, and thunders, and lightnings; and there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great. And the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell: and great Babylon came in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath” (Revelation 16:17-19).

As for floods, I remind you that in the days of Noah God sent so much rain upon the earth that the water covered all the high mountains under the entire heavens and all men were destroyed. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive. The animals also were all destroyed; only the animals which were in the ark of Noah remained alive. Therefore, just as that flood was a judgement sent by God upon the wicked people who lived at that time, so nowadays the local floods also which cause many damages and often many victims are judgements of God. In the book of Job it is written that God “withholdeth the waters, and they dry up: also he sendeth them out, and they overturn the earth” (Job 12:15), and that God “loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them. At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them. He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love” (Job 37:11-13 - NIV). Obviously, since the clouds pour out rain upon the places which God wants to water (and they pour out the quantity of rain predetermined by God), drought also is a judgement of God. With regard to this, I remind you that in the days of the prophet Elijah, God did not send rain upon the earth for three years and six months in order to punish the children of Israel for their wickedness.

Lightning (which strikes people) is a judgement of God, for it is written: “He fills his hands with lightning and commands it to strike its mark” (Job 36:32 – NIV. The Italian Bible Riveduta Version reads ‘gli avversari’ that is, ‘the adversaries’ instead of ‘its mark’).

Also the great hail, which sometimes falls on men, is a judgement of God, for one of the plagues God brought on Egypt was hail, as it is written: “Behold, to morrow about this time I will cause it to rain a very grievous hail, such as hath not been in Egypt since the foundation thereof even until now. Send therefore now, and gather thy cattle, and all that thou hast in the field; for upon every man and beast which shall be found in the field, and shall not be brought home, the hail shall come down upon them, and they shall die” (Exodus 9:18-19). With regard to hail, some months ago big ice-blocks fell upon various places of the earth, men were frightened and many wondered what they were: some even came to the conclusion that it was a joke! However, we know that it was God who sent those big ice-blocks upon the earth. With regard to this subject, it is interesting to notice that among the questions God asked Job when God rebuked him was also this: “Hast thou seen the treasures of the hail, Which I have reserved against [for] the time of trouble, against [for] the day of battle and war?” (Job 38:22-23)

 

 

 

 

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