Whenever disasters strike suddenly and without warning, the question is almost always asked, why did not God prevent such and such from happening, or where was God when this or that calamity came upon us. This question has long been fueled by various views held by different people, which are not always derived from scripture, but are often what someone may think is right or wrong about the way God operates in the earth. However, our opinions and concepts should always be based on the word of God so that we may arrive at sound, scriptural conclusions.
After 9/11 there was serious and agitated debate
on most of the major television networks, as many people sought to grapple with the unprecedented
magnitude of the disaster, and in our search for answers, many prominent clergy men were called in for questioning by the renowned Larry King, and other television anchors, as to why such a great tragedy was permitted by God.
The answers to this and other similar haunting questions should be addressed from a Biblical perspective so that we may have a better and clearer understanding of the prerogatives of God. It is worthy of note however, that God is always called into question by mortals when calamities and other natural disasters strike; but day by day as His blessings are poured out upon us, very few make any mention of His name, or acknowledge His consistent kindness in providing for all our needs.
At least there ought to be some sort of balance in the way we credit various circumstances to God, for if we believe that He permits catastrophes, we should also believe that He is also responsible for the many blessings and mercies that are renewed to us every day, instead of crediting the good things to “mother nature”, and the bad things to “an act of God”.
To begin with, the Bible teaches us that God cares for all of His creation, from the sparrow and the dumb animals which depend on Him for their daily food, to all members of the human family whom He also sustains with good. This first and very important point must be firmly established in our minds before we proceed. Let’s read:
Psalms 104:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD
my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with
honour and majesty.
104:10 He sendeth the springs into the valleys, [which] run among the hills.
104:11 They give drink to every beast of the field: the wild asses quench their thirst.
104:12 By them shall the fowls of the heaven have their habitation, [which] sing among the branches.
104:14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth;
104:15 And” …. “oil to make [his] face to shine, and bread [which] strengtheneth man's heart.
104:16 The trees of the LORD are full [of sap]; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
104:17 Where the birds make their nests: [as for]
the stork, the fir trees [are] her house.
104:20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night:
wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep [forth].
104:21 The young lions roar after their prey, and seek their meat from God.
104:22 The sun ariseth, they gather themselves together, and lay them down in their dens.
104:23 Man goeth forth unto his work and to his labour until the evening.
104:27 These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give [them] their meat in due season.
But in spite of all these blessings, the fact still remains that we are living in an evil world, where sin is often allowed to run its natural course, and because sin pays wages, we are sometimes forced to grapple with the cold reality that bad things do happen to good people from time to time, and Christians are not exempt from all such circumstances.
There is something known as collateral damage, by which unintended consequences of destructive actions can affect those who had nothing to do with a war or a fight, in other words, those who have no say or input in a matter can be affected in negative ways. In our situation as human beings we often suffer from the natural fall-out of certain destructive behaviors that we ourselves, or others have indulged in, like those babies that are born with deformities and disabilities because of the collateral damage of second-hand smoke, or the other half a million individuals who die each year from the same destructive habit.
And so the first question that needs to be answered is, can God prevent all calamities, disasters, and all types of collateral damage from taking place? The answer is a definite yes. Then the next logical question is why does He not prevent them from happening? The answer to this question is, we do not always know, for there are issues that are often hidden from the view of mortal eyes that must of necessity be brought into the equation.
One such issue is the supremely important one of the smooth and uninterrupted operation of natural and spiritual laws which govern our planet. If God were to start interrupting the course of natural and spiritual laws from running their course, the need for such laws would become obsolete and irrelevant sooner or later, for they would be of no benefit whatsoever to the human family, as was originally intended. Furthermore, any continuous action by God to reverse the natural laws of cause and effect would thereby confirm and encourage us in many destructive behaviors, for there will be no form of accountability for the violation of good, righteous laws.
We now know for instance that pollution and greenhouse gases are responsible for global warming, but if God were to reverse the natural results, we will almost certainly continue down a path of deliberate wrong-doing, knowing that no evil results will accrue. For instance, the Bible states that the wages of sin is death, meaning that when sin has run its natural course, the result is death, calamities, and disasters.
But the same Bible also states that sin is the transgression of the law, so that if we were to choose to sin, God will then have to interrupt and reverse the natural laws of cause and effect, in order to deliver us every time, and judging from our past records, He will need to spend the entire day of every year reversing and preventing that which should naturally accrue reasonable results, and this action of His will eventually invalidate the need for any good laws in the first place.
Let’s take for example the eating of blood or animal fat, and the natural results that obtain when this dietary law is violated. The Bible clearly states that very negative results will occur to anyone who ingests the blood or fat of animals, and therefore the injunction against indulging this self-destroying habit is given to us by God in the clearest language possible. Let’s read:
Leviticus 7:22 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
7:23 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, Ye shall eat no manner of fat, of ox, or of sheep, or of goat.
7:24 And the fat of the beast that dieth of itself, and the fat of that which is torn with beasts, may be used in any other use: but ye shall in no wise eat of it.
7:25 For whosoever eateth the fat of the beast” ….. “even the soul that eateth [it] shall be cut off from his people.
7:26 Moreover ye shall eat no manner of blood, [whether it be] of fowl or of beast, in any of your dwellings.
7:27 Whatsoever soul [it be] that eateth any manner of blood, even that soul shall be cut off from his people.
God is not here saying what He will do; all that He is stating are the natural results that will certainly occur when these habits are indulged. Now, if after giving us His good and perfect dietary law against the consumption of blood and fat, we were to deliberately or inadvertently partake of what has been forbidden, then the question is whether or not we think it is right for God to allow the natural results to accrue, or whether we think He should now engage His supernatural power to deliver us from the evil results that follow cause and effect. Let’s read:
ABC News.
Eating Animal Fat May Lead to Pancreatic Cancer
June 27
By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, June 26 (HealthDay News) -- Fat from red meat and dairy products can increase your risk for pancreatic cancer, researchers from the U.S. National Cancer Institute report. Pancreatic cancer, which is usually fatal, is the fourth-leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States.
Now, it is true that from time to time in the history of mankind, God has intervened to reverse a wrong course of action which produced harmful results, yet this decision of His to do so remains His sole prerogative, and cannot be reasonably expected on a general on-going basis. In other words, it is His prerogative to permit good or evil to run their natural course as He sees fit, and according to sacred history, He usually does. Let’s read:
Deuteronomy 11:26 Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
11:27 A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the LORD your God, which I command you this day:
11:28 And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the LORD your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which ye have not known.
For instance, if the governor of the sunshine state of Florida were to start reversing all of the speeding tickets that accrue when the laws against speeding are broken, our state troopers would soon mount a series of protests, because the governor’s actions would be rendering both the laws and their jobs obsolete and irrelevant.
This reversal of good laws, and the interruption of the sequence of cause and effect will then clear the way for drivers to speed at two hundred miles an hour, with no respect or consideration for the lives and safety of others, because the just fines and disciplinary actions would have been removed from the back end, where the natural results generally accrue.
On a much larger scale is the law of God, and the natural consequences that accrue for either obedience or disobedience. In other words, the same law can be a savor of life unto life, or of death unto death, depending on our relation to it. What is worthy of praise and note, is the fact that God has actually put the natural, permanent results of sin into reverse gear through His Son Jesus Christ.
But He did not do so by interrupting or reversing the sacred law; He accomplished this great feat by actually allowing the result of the broken law to run its natural course in Christ, who then suffered to the fullest extent of the law so that our sinful lives which naturally end in eternal death could be put into reverse gear. Let’s read:
Isaiah 53:4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
53:5 But he [was] wounded for our transgressions, [he was] bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace [was] upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
53:7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
53:8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.
53:10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put [him] to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see [his] seed, he shall prolong [his] days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, [and] shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
But there is a much more sensitive and difficult area to be understood, as it pertains to the prerogative of God to permit good or evil to come our way. In cases where a person has not been consistently living in deliberate violation of God’s law, is that person then entitled to an exemption from any misfortune? In other words, if nothing wrong was done on our part in a particular given situation, does God still retain the prerogative to permit bad circumstances to occur?
This last question is the one most of us have trouble with, and it is addressed in the Bible through the experiences of Job and other faithful souls such as Joseph, who suffered because of doing right. In such cases the question is asked, was God right and fair in permitting His faithful children to suffer, after they had done the right thing? In other words, was His prerogative to permit good or evil exercised in a judicious and righteous manner, or do we conclude that His dealings were somehow unfair? Let’s read:
Job 2:3 And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that [there is] none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause.
2:4 And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life.
2:5 But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
2:6 And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he [is] in thine hand; but save his life.
2:7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
2:8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
In our answers and conclusions to situations such as these, there are certain truths about the way God deals with us that we should always bear in mind. The first is that God is love, and everything that He does is always for the benefit of humanity, without exception. There is absolutely nothing that God does that does not carry with it some benefit to His creation, and especially those who love and serve Him. All things might not be good in and of themselves, but when observed cumulatively and quantitatively, they always end up benefitting humanity without exception. Let’s read:
Deuteronomy 32:1 Give ear, O ye heavens, and I will speak; and hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
32:2 My doctrine shall drop as the rain, my speech shall distil as the dew, as the small rain upon the tender herb, and as the showers upon the grass:
32:3 Because I will publish the name of the LORD: ascribe ye greatness unto our God.
32:4 [He is] the Rock, his work [is] perfect: for all his ways [are] judgment: a God of truth and without iniquity, just and right [is] he.
Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
But we are never to conclude that the righteous are the only beneficiaries of God’s goodness and blessings, for the Bible also states that those who are estranged from God are also blessed in very many ways, even though they may not know or acknowledge this fact. Furthermore, we were all estranged from God at one time or another, and that’s why the Bible teaches us that it is because of the goodness of God why we are led to repentance in the first place. Let’s read:
Psalms 73:2 But as for me” …. “my steps had well nigh slipped.
73:3 …. “when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
73:5 They [are] not in trouble [as other] men; neither are they plagued like [other] men.
73:12 Behold, these [are] the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase [in] riches.
Psalms 68:18 Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive: thou hast received gifts for men; yea, [for] the rebellious also, that the LORD God might dwell [among them].
68:19 Blessed [be] the Lord, [who] daily loadeth us [with benefits, even] the God of our salvation. Selah.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to [his] purpose.
In Job’s case he struggled with the issue of why God permitted such tragedies upon him, after he had done that which is right, and as he pondered the laws of cause and effect it seemed to him as if something unfair might have taken place. Let’s read:
Job 9:12 Behold, he taketh away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What doest thou?
9:13 [If] God will not withdraw his anger” … 9:14 How much less shall I answer him, [and] choose out my words [to reason] with him?
9:15 Whom, though I were righteous, [yet] would I not answer, [but] I would make supplication to my judge.
9:16 If I had called, and he had answered me; [yet] would I not believe that he had hearkened unto my voice.
9:17 For he breaketh me with a tempest, and multiplieth my wounds without cause.
The experience of Job is often duplicated in our day when the same questions haunt our minds for answers. The Bible clearly states that Job was an upright and a perfect man who hated evil and loved and served God faithfully. Now, after being faithful, and doing much genuine good in his community, the issue that needs to be resolved once and for all is whether he is rightfully exempt from any negative circumstances, such as he was now experiencing. And the question for us in our day is whether the keeping of all of God’s commandments, exempts us from any trouble or tragedy.
Now it is true that as human beings we have become accustomed to rewards for good behavior, and the Bible also pronounces many blessings to those who obey God, and therefore it is not unreasonable for us to expect such results after having done the right thing. But we must be careful of the Santa Clause mentality, where our good behavior warrants us certain rights and lucrative entitlements, because with God, the blessings of prosperity and protection from our enemies comes as a result of His mercies and kindness, not because of any good we may have done.
Furthermore, it is worthy of note that all of us have sinned in some form or fashion against God, and that includes “Perfect” men like Job, Joseph and Daniel, and therefore we cannot be legally exempt from the collateral damage of all sin in general, since we are still living in an evil world. Daniel understood this sacred truth about us not being legally entitled to the benefits of God on account of our good deeds, but that it is only because of His mercies and kindness why we are not consumed. Let’s read:
Daniel 9:2 In the first year of his reign I Daniel” …
9:3 …. “set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes:
9:4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;
9:5 We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments:
9:17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord's sake.
9:18 O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.
In our own individual and corporate experiences, we may not always know the reasons why God at times permits calamities or difficulties to come our way, but we are given the assurance in His word, that all things work together for good, and even though He always retains the prerogative to do with us, and for us as He sees best, yet we should be encouraged by the fact that His providences are given or permitted in love and always result in benefits to His people and the world in general.
We therefore end with two passages of scripture which confirm this sacred truth to us, and whatever the situation we might be currently going through, let us always remember that God does everything well and to perfection, so that we may rest by faith in the confidence that all things work together for our best temporal and eternal good. Let’s read:
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: [when] he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.
God bless!