Authorizations: You are authorized and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you add the above information, do not edit the original content, and do not use it for commercial purposes.
(This article is an adaptation of what I wrote on August 18, 1999 in response to the earthquake in Turkey that killed 17,000 people. )
First of all
When Christians see suffering, they feel empathy; we also have a body (Hebrews 13:3). Love therefore commands, “Cry with those who mourn?”(Romans 12:15).
So help comes, do we want to help alleviate human suffering?All this, especially eternal suffering:
Then, as long as we have the opportunity, let us do good for all, and especially in the house of faith (Galatians 6:10).
And that includes enemies
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you (Luke 6:27);
If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If you are thirsty, give him a drink (Romans 12:20).
But sooner or later, do people want more than empathy and help, they want answers.
When love wept and worked, he must have had something to say about God; you don’t need to have all the answers. Only God has them, but he has the Bible, and the Bible is not silent on this subject.
No earthquake in the Bible is attributed to Satan, many are attributed to God. (2 Samuel 22:8; Isaiah 13:13; 24: 18-20; 29: 6; Psalm 60: 2; Nahum 1: 5-6; Revelation 6:12; 8: 5; 11: 13-14; 16 : 18) This is because God is Lord in heaven and on earth:
He even commands the winds and the water and obeys him (Luke 8:25);
You’re sending your command to earth? It gives snow like wool; sprinkle the frost in gray. Throw your ice in pieces; who can stand your cold Blow the wind and the water flows. (Psalm 147: 15-18);
He looks at the earth and she trembles; Hit the hills and smoke (Psalm 104: 32);
Shake the earth out of place and its columns tremble (Job 9:6)
Earthquakes eventually come from Dieu. La has no will of their own. And God owes satan no freedom. And God has reason to allow it. Your permits are for purposes. This is job point 1-2 and Luke 22:31-32.
God does nothing without an infinitely wise and good plan:
He is wise and brings disasters (Isaiah 31:2);
The Lord is good (Psalm 100:5);
His works are all righteous and his ways are righteous (Daniel 4:37).
Therefore, God has a good and very wise plan for the terrible calamity of March 11, 2011 in Japan that seems to have cost tens of thousands of lives.
In fact, it has hundreds of thousands of objectives, most of which will remain hidden until we can understand them at the end of time:
How impenetrable are their judgments and their ways! (Romans 11:33);
The occult belongs to the Lord our God; what has been revealed belongs to us (Deuteronomy 29:29).
However, there are possible goals revealed in the Bible for which we can pray:
1. Are the end-time earthquakes in the book of Revelation (see below) intended to call for repentance? To warn people who deny Jesus Christ that the day will come when unbelievers will cry out to the mountains and rocks 😕 (Revelation 6:16).
2. The end-time earthquakes in Matthew 24: 7-8 are intended to be interpreted as “the beginning of pain. ” In other words, they are a call to this world to wake up to the fact that the kingdom of God will soon be born, so stay alert and prepare to meet Jesus Christ.
3. La unilateral take of God from thousands of lives is a clear statement of what the Lord has given and the Lord has taken away (Job 1:21). The message to everyone is that life is a loan from God (Luke 12:20) and belongs to him; He creates it, gives it and takes it according to his own will and owes us nothing. You have the right to both children. (2 Samuel 12:15) and the elders (Luke 2:29). It is a great gift to learn this truth and dedicate our lives to its true owner instead of letting them down until it is too late.
4. La force felt in an earthquake reveals God’s terrifying magnificence. It is a great gift, for “Is jehovah’s fear the principle of wisdom?”(Psalm 111:10). Most of the world is not afraid of the Lord and therefore lacks saving wisdom. Violent calls to fear God are compassion for those who live.
5. When the earth trembles beneath our feet, there is a dramatic feeling that there is nowhere to run. In most disasters, land is the only thing that stays stable when wind and flooding havoc. But where do you go when the earth itself isn’t safe?Answer: God.
And let us pray that in this catastrophe the Lord will achieve two other goals:
1. May Christians repent of their worldly interests. ” If you don’t regret it, will you perish the same way?(Luke 13:3).
2) May Christians in Japan and around the world take the initiative with extraordinary and sacrificed love to more clearly show the mercy of Christ who has given up his own life at the center of the Father’s judgment. The suffering and death of Jesus Christ by sin the world is the only place where empathy, help, and answers are found. He invites everyone to come for all three of us.
Ah, how fragile this life is! The world and all its vital processes seem so safe and solid, but they are not. One thing is safe and solid:
Let us be grateful to receive an unwavering kingdom and consecrate acceptable worship to God, with fear and reverence (Hebrews 12:28).
Authorizations: You are authorized and encouraged to reproduce and distribute this material in any format, provided that you add the above information, do not edit the original content, and do not use it for commercial purposes.