ACT OF GOD, MAN, AND THE DEVIL by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction: The social media videos and pictures from Hurricane Helene will stay with us for the rest of our lives. It has been especially sad for Nicole, our kids, and me to watch them because for the past 22 years, we have been going to a Christian camp in Bryson City, North Carolina. We know some of the people who have been directly impacted by Hurricane Helene. Some of our church kids and families know those people as well. Their lives have been turned upside down. Today, I want to take a short break from our Judges series and take on the many questions that people have been asking since last weekend – Why did this happen? What could have been done better? What is God trying to tell us? By the way, there is another hurricane brewing off the west coast of Florida, potentially a Category 3. Today’s message is titled ACT OF GOD, MAN, AND THE DEVIL. Main Point: God is sovereign over natural disasters. He uses them for his glory and for our good. Man is the cause of the natural disasters because of sin, but the natural disasters can be used by God to draw us closer to him. The Devil uses the natural disasters to destroy us and to turn us away from God.

Psalm 135       6 “Whatever the LORD pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In the seas and in all deep places. 7 He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; He makes lightning for the rain; He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”

Background: Nancy Gibbs, former managing editor at Times and now a Harvard professor, wrote an online article after Hurricane Katrina in 2005, titled, “Where was God?” Listen to what she wrote: 

Mystery does not sit well with us, nor random tragedy, nor helplessness in the face of a ruthless wind, so we place our trust in better sensors and protocols and reinforced concrete and roofs designed to rebuff the gale. The cataclysm of Katrina has been blamed on everything from SUV drivers to coastal developers to the Army Corps of Engineers, in a strange rite of reassurance: if man has the power to cause these calamities, maybe he would have the power to prevent them. The speed with which the commentariat moved from covering an actual storm to a political one—hurricanes don’t kill people, inept bureaucrats kill people—suggests which subject is more comfortable discussing. Somehow human nature, even at its most disturbing, is less scary than Mother Nature at her most murderously cavalier, thousands dead in a single deep breath.

Then there is the response of those convinced they know God’s Politics and are just as intent on seeing the guilt assigned. An ultraconservative Israeli rabbi declared that Katrina was retribution for U.S. support of the Israeli pullout from Gaza. Louis Farrakhan of the Nation of Islam called Katrina judgment for the Iraq war. The Christian Civic Group of Maine noted that the hurricane struck just as New Orleans was planning a huge gay-rights festival. A Kuwaiti official said, “The Terrorist Katrina is One of the Soldiers of Allah.” There was, in other words, broad agreement in some far-reaching quarters that Katrina represented God’s punishment, just no consensus on the sin. 

…if he chose to save the living, did he choose to kill the lost? It is an occasion for atheists to remind believers of the flaws in the case for a benevolent God, and even the most mainstream pastors acknowledge that at times like this they are pressed for answers about how a loving God lets hateful things happen.

The question remains: “Who is to be blamed?” and even “What is the purpose of this tragedy?” Let’s take the first question:

I. Why do natural disasters happen? First Technical Answer and then Biblical Answer. They are not at odds with each other. They go hand in hand. It’s not Nature’s Laws but God’s Laws because Nature is God’s handiwork (Psalm 19):

A. Technical Answer (Taken from Michael Oard’s “Weather”): Hurricanes are formed when the ocean water heats up past 80°F. Since the warm water evaporates faster than cold water, there is much water vapor in the air above. The water vapor that is condensed into cloud radiates hot air. This combined with the tropical air, which is already warm, “causes a large pulse of heat to rise high into the atmosphere.” If the winds from both the surface of the earth and way up in the atmosphere are moving in the same direction, the warm air begins to focus on one area. This combination of heat and water causes “bands of spiraling thunderstorms.” They start whirling towards the center. The rain gets torrential in these bands, with the eye (center) of the hurricane getting the most rain. As the barometric pressure drops in the middle of the eye, the wind increases and causes more of the ocean water to picked up in the air. This makes the storm become even more violent. When the temperature of the sea is very high, this is weather fuel. Hurricane is a combination of heat, moisture, pressure, and wind. When the hurricane touches land or colder water, it tends to slow down. This is especially true when it comes to reaching the mountains. Unfortunately, Helene did not slow down. Two days before Helene made landfall, rain was already coming down hard on the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. With all the water already on the ground becoming vapor, this did not slow down. Also, the water did not soak into the ground but flowed downhill in what we call “mudslides” taking with large debris, rocks, homes, vehicles, light poles, and everything in its path. Little creeks became raging rivers and took with it entire communities.

I know there are also some conspiracy theories out there on what else could have happened. I’m not going to deal with that here. I’m not saying that they are all false, just that we don’t have any substantial proof for them at this point.

Is it Global Warming? Is that causing the water to heat up? Is it climate change? Are humans to be blamed?

• It is claimed that human beings are the cause for the rise in temperature since they are burning lots of fossil fuel and destroying the tropical forests. First, CO₂ and greenhouse gases have risen in the past 100 years. But the greenhouse gas that has caused the most warming is actually water vapor. 
• There are natural causes for climate change like strong volcanic eruption which cause cold global temperature and El Niño (warm water in the Pacific Ocean) which cause hot global temperature. There are also more sunspots which cause higher temperatures. If sunspots are cool spots, they also have faculae, hot spots.

Overall, man is not the cause of the Global Warming, but it is a fact. Yes, the temperature is warmer but only by about 1.6°F since 1880. This is a natural variation coming from Sea Surface Temperature that goes through times of ups and downs, as history has shown hotter and colder periods.

B. Biblical Answer:

1. Man is the cause of these climate problems, but for a different reason: Original Sin.

Genesis 3     17 “…Cursed is the ground for your sake; In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life. 18 Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, And you shall eat the herb of the field.”

Romans 8       19 For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; 21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.

2. God is supremely in charge of the creation.

• God is intricately involved with his creation.

Jeremiah 10       12 He has made the earth by His power, He has established the world by His wisdom, And has stretched out the heavens at His discretion. Now listen to verse 13 When He utters His voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens: “And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning for the rain, He brings the wind out of His treasuries.” This is quite verbatim of Psalm 135 that we read in the opening. That’s a description of a hurricane.

• God uses natural disasters to stop evil.

Of course, we know of Noah’s Flood, but that’s not the only time. Listen to Numbers 16       31 Now it came to pass, as he finished speaking all these words, that the ground split apart under them, 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the men with Korah, with all their goods. 33 So they and all those with them went down alive into the pit; the earth closed over them, and they perished from among the assembly. 34 Then all Israel who were around them fled at their cry, for they said, “Lest the earth swallow us up also!”

• God uses natural disasters to get our attention.

Deuteronomy 11      16 Take heed to yourselves, lest your heart be deceived, and you turn aside and serve other gods and worship them, 17 lest the LORD’S anger be aroused against you, and He shut up the heavens so that there be no rain, and the land yield no produce, and you perish quickly from the good land which the LORD is giving you.

Amos 4.        6 “Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD. 7 “I also withheld rain from you, When there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, And where it did not rain the part withered. 8 So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD. 9 “I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, Your vineyards, Your fig trees, And your olive trees, The locust devoured them; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD. 10 “I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; Your young men I killed with a sword, Along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD. 11 “I overthrew some of you, As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me,” Says the LORD.

• God uses natural disasters to bring about something good.
• Famine brought Joseph’s family together
• Storm on the Sea of Galilee was a means to grow the disciples’ faith
• Earthquake changed the Philippian jailer’s heart
• Even brought the early church together – Acts 11       27 And in these days prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar. 29Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea. 30 This they also did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

3. Satan uses natural disasters for his evil purposes.

• Job 1     18   While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
• He will truly use natural disasters in the end times.

II. What can we learn from natural disasters?

A. This world is not our true home.

• Isaiah 65:17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; And the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.”
• Revelation 21:4 “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

B. Life is unpredictable.

Luke 12       16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’

C. Something good can come through this.

• Spirit of Sacrifice is everywhere
• Perfect opportunity for a Revival and an Awakening

Luke 13       1 There were present at that season some who told Him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? 3 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. 4 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.”

Do you know Jesus Christ? Are you prepared to meet him? Do you know someone who is not prepared to meet him?