When Disaster Confronts a Nation

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought chaos to many nations,  First it was China and from there it spread to many nations in the world.  Why did this happen?  Was it a freak accident?  Did God condone it.  Is there something that God wants us to learn from all this?

Around 750BC a small nation was facing another desperate situation.  The Assyrian army was about to attack Israel and they felt helpless before the prospect of annihilation.  On top of this an earthquake was about to cause further havoc.  God sent them a prophet, Amos, to tell the Israelites that there was a reason for this impending disaster.  Doubtless there were other voices giving different answers but Amos’ message had a different tone to all the others. But Amos kept saying,

“This is what the LORD says . . .” Amos 1:3,6,9 2:1,4,6

. . . and so on.  His claim to authority was that the Lord God has given him a message for the nations.  By the time you get to chapter three the urgency of the message increases.  It is no longer a simple message, action is now demanded,

“Hear this word the LORD has spoken against you . . .” Amos 3:1

He reminds them that the Jews are a special people that God had chosen to be his representatives.  God has repeatedly spoken to his chosen people but they have failed again and again in their responsibilities.  Today, the churches are similarly God’s chosen people, and are also meant to be his representatives to the world.

“You only have I chosen of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your sins.” Amos 3:2

It is virtually always our sin that eventually causes God to act.  Amos builds up to the following stark statement,

When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused it?” Amos 3:7

“Surely the eyes of the Sovereign Lord are on the sinful nation.” Amos 5:8

“For I know how great are your offences and how great are your sins.” Amos 5:12

People in Israel were then terrified of lions.  Amos uses this as an illustration of how they should react when they hear God’s warning,

The lion has roared – who will not fear?  The Sovereign LORD has spoken – who can but prophesy.  Proclaim it to the fortresses of Ashdod and to the fortresses of Egypt” Amos 3:8-9

God is Sovereign

Amos reminds his readers who they are dealing with, the omnipotent creator God.

“He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of earth – the LORD God Almighty is his name.” Amos 4:13

“He who made the Pleiades and Orion, who turns blackness into dawn and darkness day into night, who calls for the waters of the sea and pours out over the face of the land – the LORD is his name – he flashes destruction on the stronghold and brings the fortified city to ruin.” Amos 5:8-9

This is the message of the whole Bible.  The God who created this world remains in control even though we cannot see him or hear him directly.

C.S.Lewis writes about this God in his book ‘The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’.  Aslan, the lion character and the Christ figure in the book, is the embodiment of this God.  Mr Beaver describes him,:

“Safe? . . . . Who said anything about safe?  Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

Elsewhere he says about Aslan,

“He’ll be coming and going . . . One day you’ll see him and another you won’t. He doesn’t like being tied down . . . . Only you mustn’t press him. He’s wild, you know. Not like a tame lion.”

Not tame, but God. Not safe, but a good king who is in control. Aslan is a symbol of Jesus Christ. God is a caring, loving God who is slow to anger but when riled can act fiercely.  We cannot trifle with God.

How does God warn people of his displeasure?

Repeatedly, throughout the Bible, God uses both natural disasters such as famine and disease and wars to try to wake people up to their needs.  Amos tells us,

“I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me declares the LORD.” Amos 4:6

“I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt.  I killed your young men with the sword . . . yet you have not returned to me, declares the LORD.” Amos 4:10

How can we hear God?

The Book of Nature

The metaphor of referring to nature as a revelatory book is deeply rooted in Christian history. “Book of Nature” references are found even in the writings of the early church fathers. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354–430), made the following statement in his classic work ‘The Confessions’:

“In your great wisdom you, who are our God, speak to us of these things in your Book, the firmament made by you.”

Protestant reformers continued the Christian practice of speaking of nature as a book from God. The Reformed (or Calvinistic) tradition often spoke of the “two books” of revelation.

During the scientific revolution of the seventeenth century, the Christian forefathers of science  referred to these “two books” of God’s revelation. For example, Francis Bacon (1561–1626) famously spoke of “the book of God’s works” and “the book of God’s word” in his book ‘Advancement of Learning ‘in 1605.

Nature has another way of speaking to us.  All people have natural instincts about what is right and what is wrong and we act against these at our peril.  These instincts are there because we have all been made in the image of God. On the basis of how we criticise others, we will all be judged.  Paul summarised this situation that faces every human being whatever their nationality or religion,

What may be known about God is plain to them.  Since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood by what has been made, so men are without excuse.” Romans 1:18-21

All people have consciences that inform us of right and wrong.  There is a ‘natural law’ that is common to all people.  Not that nature can make laws, nature works according to the laws God has imposed.  The Bible is clear that we will all be judged by God on the basis of what we know to be right.  Paul summarised this warning,

You, therefore have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things.  Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.” Romans 2:1-2

There are some mystics in all religions, including unfortunately some churches, who try to hear God speaking personally to them or feel his presence.  Today we must be wary of any who claim to have a hot-line to God and who say ‘God has told me . . .’  God has given us a more specific way by which he speaks to us today.  God has already made his nature and will known for all time in his word.

The Bible

God’s word is available to all people today, we can hear what he warns us about, what the consequences of refusing to listen are and what the benefits of obeying him are.  The Bible’s emphasis is that the way to know God is through repentance and obedience to his word.  The problem with God’s people in the 8th century BC was that they had stopped both listening to God and had failed to obey what he said.

The Bible keeps reminding us that the Sovereign God is concerned about how all people in every nation live.  The book of Amos begins by saying that God’s judgment will also come on adjacent pagan nations but for the very same reasons,

“For three sins of Damascus, even for four, I will not turn back my wrath.” Amos 1:3

Gaza, Edom, Ammon, and Moab were also condemned for the same reasons.  They had each behaved in ways that they instinctively knew to be wrong.

Psalm 19 is a classic example where David describes how God speaks to all people, both through nature and through his word.  They cannot be in conflict, the Bible cannot trump nature and nature cannot trump the Bible.  They must be in harmony as both come from the same source.  The first half of this Psalm is about nature,

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. . . Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4

The second half of the Psalm concerns God’s written word given in the Bible,

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul.  The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy, making wise the simple.  The precepts of the LORD are right, giving joy to the heart.” Psalm 19:7-8

It is significant that when Paul spoke to the Gentiles in Athens (Acts 17:16-34) he began by appealing to the natural instincts that people have.

Does religion please God?

Amos repeatedly warns people that injustice, greed and immorality are the consequences of godless lives.  The prime need of man is for each of us to personally submit to the rule of Christ.  It is the relationship with God that is fundamental.  Amos emphasises this,

“Seek me and live. . . Seek the LORD and live” Amos 5:4,6

When our prime concern is to be godly people, then the effect will inevitably be godly behaviour,  righteous decisions are made, the poor are cared for, and truth matters.  Unfortunately it is all too easy to be religious but not godly.  True worship must begin with a vertical sincere relationship with our heavenly Father which will inevitably extend into a horizontal relationship with others around us.  Both dimensions are vital if our worship is real.

Religion can never be a substitute for a personal relationship with God.  He says through Amos,

“I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.  Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them.  Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.  Away with your songs!  I will not listen to the music of your harps.” Amos 5:21-23

It matters little if we use guitars or organs, outward worship can be no substitute for a personal submission to Christ, the Messiah that the whole of Jewish Scriptures looked forwards to his coming for our salvation.

Isaiah emphasised this message that religious activities cannot of themselves satisfy the Lord (Isaiah 1:11-17).

Does God use disasters to wake us up to this need of God in our lives?

Jesus commented on how people are able to interpret physical events but fail to recognise the signs of the Messiah’s coming.  The unwelcome occupation by Roman forces should have made people think.

“Hypocrites!  You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky.  How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?” Luke 12:56

That could be said today.  We have made great advances in the physical sciences but we have all, at times, forgotten God.

Jesus continued to emphasise that both natural and man-made disasters are meant to point us to our need of God.

“Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.” Luke 13:1

It is easy to imagine the political outcry this would have caused.  We don’t know why these Galileans were killed but Jesus refuses to get into political issues – he has a more important message to bring to those still alive,

“Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered in this way?  I tell you, no!  But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13:2-3

This is the same message.  Disasters in this life are given to remind us that there is an even greater disaster looming ahead – hell, an eternal death.

Jesus continues to ram this lesson home.

“Or those eighteen who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them – do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no!  But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13:4-5

Could it be that the present Covid-19 virus pandemic and the associated worldwide economic disasters should be regarded in this way as a warning from God?  What do our consciences tell us about how we have behaved and what God sees in our hearts?  To repent is not just to be filled with remorse, it means to rethink the direction of our lives and to determine to live our whole lives with Christ in charge.  We refuse to do this at our peril.

BVP

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