Relevant to yesterday’s tornadoes in Oklahoma…excerpts from a post today by Michael Brown:
To be sure, our nation has been sowing to the flesh for decades. As a result, we are reaping destruction on many fronts (Gal. 6:7-8). And I don’t argue with those who believe that God’s hand of blessing has lifted off of us in significant ways. Proverbs 14:34 remains true, whether people believe it or not: “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”
It is a painful fact that we have aborted more than 50 million babies (a sin that contains its own judgment on several levels); that we are the world leader in the production and distribution of pornography; that we have birthed and exported a man-centered, carnal prosperity message around the globe; that we have celebrated homosexuality and denigrated freedoms of religion, speech and conscience—and on and on the list goes.
Because of all this (and so much more), I tremble for our nation, knowing that Paul’s words are absolutely true: “On account of these [speaking of various sins of the flesh, all of which are practiced in abundance in our country] the wrath of God is coming” (Col. 3:6, ESV). At the same time, we must be very careful about our prophetic proclamations, lest we be guilty of misrepresenting the Lord before the church and before the world.
[…]
A few years ago, I did a radio survey, asking my listeners, “Does God send hurricanes as divine judgment?”
Based on the Word, I had no problem saying that He might well do so, but that certainly does not mean that we could assume that every destructive act of nature was an act of divine judgment.
