The storms that have battered America, swept across the Atlantic, poured floods across the British Isles and swept on with fury across the continent of Europe – are they a sign from God? If God is in charge of the weather, what do these storms mean?
What is his purpose in sending storms and plagues and wildfires, locusts, tsunamis, heatwaves and droughts, volcanic eruptions and all the other natural disasters that appear to be fulfilling today what the Prophet Haggai foresaw in the year 520 BC? He wrote, “This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘In a little while I will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I will shake all nations…’” (Hag 2:6-7).
In New Testament times the writer to the Hebrews picked up this prophecy and interpreted it. He explained that God had given to Moses on Mount Sinai a set of rules and teachings for the guidance of human behaviour. Moses came down from the mountain and God called all the people of Israel together in a ‘great assembly’ where Moses presented the words to them.
Now, in our lifetime, the writer said (about the year AD 85, some 50 years after the death and resurrection of Jesus), God has once again spoken on a mountain: Mount Zion in Jerusalem, where his word has been embodied in Jesus, the true Logos. God has again summoned a ‘joyful assembly’ – an ‘ekklesia’ of the redeemed (Heb 12:22-29), who have put their trust in Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.
The writer to the Hebrews also said that just as God’s voice at Sinai shook the earth, the day will come when God will once more shake not only the earth, but also the heavens. In that day everything that is of human creation will be shaken – only godly things will survive the consuming fire of God.
The Shaking of Nature
We are all aware that extraordinary things are happening today in the world of nature. The humanists, atheists and anarchists all combine to tell us that it’s due to human pollution – that climate change is the result of what we human beings have put into the atmosphere and into the oceans. But this claim is deceptive and blinds humanity to what God is doing and the message of warning that he is trying to convey to us.
Of course, there is some truth in it! There is always some truth in deception. We know that humans have been pouring pollution into the world for a long time, and this will certainly have done harm. But we should not ignore what God is doing! God is still in sovereign control of the universe that he created, and he is able to use the sinfulness of humanity to work out his own purposes.
God is still in sovereign control of the universe that he created, and he is able to use the sinfulness of humanity to work out his own purposes.
We have reached the point in human history where our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom to such an extent that the very existence of humanity on earth could be under threat. We have high-level intelligence, technological advancement, scientific progress – but no moral compass, no spiritual understanding. This is a recipe for disaster. The words of Paul in Romans 1:18f are relevant today, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.”
Paul goes on to justify this by saying that since the beginning of Creation, God has made known his nature and purposes to human beings, writing them into the very fabric of Creation, in what philosophers call ‘natural law’. In the 13th Century, Thomas Aquinas argued that human beings have an innate ability to judge between right and wrong, so that they can act according to a well-informed conscience. This has been built into our humanity, since God created us in his own image.
Paul says that though we have no excuse, our “foolish hearts were darkened” by sin. We first abandoned the truth about God for idolatry and then got into every kind of fleshly sin, so that humanity has “become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity…Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but also approve of those who practice them” (Rom 12:9-32).
Warnings, Judgments, Birth Pangs
So, what is God saying to us through the storms and plagues that are shaking the nations? First of all, we need to recognise the seriousness of the events themselves – the wildfires that have been sweeping Australia, the vast swarms of locusts invading Eastern Africa, the huge threat to life of the coronavirus in China that could become a global pandemic. Even if it is largely confined to China, it is likely to have worldwide consequences in crippling the Chinese economy.
The Bible speaks of such events as conveying a message to humanity. First, as we remarked last week using the example of the Tower of Siloam, they can be seen as warning signs that humanity ought to repent – coming from the love of God for those whom he has created in his own image.
Secondly, Scripture also tells us that plagues and natural disasters can represent specific judgments from the Lord upon certain nations. It is interesting that the countries currently being worst affected by locusts – Pakistan, Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia – are also some of the worst countries in the world for Christian persecution.1
Our knowledge has surpassed our wisdom to such an extent that the very existence of humanity on earth could be under threat.
Finally, the Bible warns us to expect such events as birth pangs heralding the return of Jesus. In this context, we also need a clear assessment of what is happening in the Middle East as Assad continues his brutal slaughter of civilians and regains his total control of Syria. If the alliance with Iran and Lebanon completes a hostile net around Israel, it could explode into open warfare – even with atomic weapons. This comes close to the scenario foreseen in prophetic passages of Scripture such as Isaiah 24, Ezekiel 38-39 and Zechariah 14.
In response to the disciples’ questions about future events, Jesus warned:
Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, famines and pestilences in various places, and fearful events and great signs from heaven…
…nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. (Luke 21:10, 25-28)
Surely Bible-believing Christians should urgently be interpreting the signs of the times to the world today!!!
References
1 I am indebted to David Strickland-Eales for this observation.