Dear friends:This is a follow up to my message, “Is Katrina God’s Judgment,” dated September 9, 2005 (at www.insights.injesus.com ).
The message, in which I quoted Dr. Hilton Sutton, provoked a lot of interest. Some were offended by Sutton’s words at the end which came across as arrogant and condescending. Probably true, but I will cut the old man some slack and will just look at the biblical issues.
The question was whether or not Katrina was God’s chastisement, punishment, or judgment on America for forcing the Jews out of Gaza, or other sins. Hilton did not seem to think so, but most others do.
One thing all agree on is that God is sovereign. He alone rules the universe. Where people disagree is how much He causes, or “allows” certain disasters to happen, and how much responsibility Satan bears, or neither. Remember, the Bible calls Satan “the prince of the power of the air” -- Greek aer, atmospheric region, Strong’s (Ephesians 2:2).
God gave Adam dominion “over all the earth.” But when Adam sinned, he relinquished that dominion to Satan, whom the Bible calls “the god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
But with His own blood, the last Adam, Jesus, bought back the dominion, which is exercised through the faith of God’s people, who Jesus said could do the same things He did (John 14:12). Jesus calmed the storms, and as long as God’s people are still on the earth, they can do likewise, by prayer, radical faith, and speaking the Word into life situations, just as Jesus did. Was this attempted on the Gulf? I do not know.
But back to whether or not Katrina should be blamed on God, Satan, or neither. One thing convincing to many is the timing of Katrina vis-a-vis the Gaza pull out, which is remarkable. That is a strong argument in favor of judgment. Mere coincidence seems unlikely; however, we have seen many such coincidences.
Also, if we conclude a direct cause-and-effect relationship between Gaza and Katrina, we are establishing a principle which should also be applied universally to other hurricanes and natural disasters, and I do not see how that can be done. For example, below are the Top Ten Worst Hurricanes in the U.S. since the year 1900. All but one came before the nation of Israel was even born in 1948! I thought about this the other day when I was watching a History Channel documentary on the great 1935 hurricane in the Florida Keyes.
Rank Year Lives Where
1. 1900 8-12,000 TX
2. 1928 1836 FL
3. 1919 600 FL/TX
4. 1938 600 NE
5. 1935 408 FL
6. 1957 390 LA/TX
7. 1944 390 NE
8. 1909 350 LA
9. 1915 275 LA
10. 1915 275 TXProbably most can agree that Katrina was not necessarily caused by New Orleans’ sins, because New Orleans does not have a monopoly on sin. It is just as bad in many other places. The worst sin is not voodoo, but rejecting Christ, which is as much or more prevalent in many upstanding communities.
CONCLUSION. I do not know the answer, and Dr. Sutton may not be correct . But those who insist on a direct cause-and-effect relationship between Gaza and Katrina may not be correct either. At this point, I am inclined to believe Katrina is just part of the increasing “sorrows” and birth pangs prophesied, as the forces of nature are in upheaval, probably because of wars in the heavenlies. (Yes, “nature” is mentioned in the Bible, such as the “olive tree which is wild by nature” (Romans 11:24); nature: Greek: phusis, “the nature of things, the force, laws, order of nature” (Strong’s).
Jim
(Please spare me your lengthy arguments. I hereby admit in advance that I do not know for sure and you may be right!)