The earthquake that devastated the island na­tion of Haiti last month has once again caused people to ask questions regarding the meaning of catastrophes of this proportion. 50,000 dead and injured plus millions left bereaved, orphaned, and destitute of even the most elementary human needs. Who can fath­om such misery, pain and grief!

What makes this particular disaster so tragic is that the Haitians have suffered so much already and in so many ways for generations. Why were they singled out again for yet another catastrophe? Some would say they were the victims of blind forces of nature. Evolutionists believe that everything happens by chance. Wars are caused by economic factors, greed, lust for power or revenge, and therefore those who start them should be held account­able. But natural disasters wreak havoc on their victims arbitrarily and at random. Tough luck if you happened to be in Haiti the afternoon of January 12 and were buried beneath collapsing walls and roofs of the place you were staying. But if you managed to escape, you can count your lucky stars. End of story.

Is God Good, Really?⤒🔗

But not everyone reasons that way. There are also those who blame God, if indeed they still believe in Him. When in December 2004 a horrendous tsunami killed 250,000 men women and children in several Asian countries, someone commented in the Glasgow Herald (Scotland):

God, if there is a God, should be ashamed of him­self. The sheer enormity of the Asian tsunami disaster, the death, destruction, and havoc it wreaked, the scale of misery it has caused, must surely test the faith of even the firmest believer ... I hope I am right that there is no God. For if there were, then he’d have to shoulder the blame. In my book, he would be as guilty as sin and I’d want nothing to do with him.Quoted by Randy Alcorn, If God is Good, p.84

Similar comments have been made following the recent earthquake in Haiti. It is very common for people to blame God for disasters of such magnitude. “How can a good God allow things like this to happen?” they will ask. What such questioners never seem to realize or want to admit is that there is such a thing as evil in the world and that the human race and not God is responsible for this evil and its consequences. As Randy Alcorn explains, “natural disasters become most disastrous when they take human life – but they never did so until after hu­mans committed moral evil against God” (Ibid).

The Earth is Cursed←⤒🔗

Genesis 3 tells us that God cursed the earth as a result of Adam’s sin. That curse is all-inclusive, extending to ev­erything that is part of nature. The apostle Paul writes that the creation was subjected to vanity or frustra­tion and that this frustration will continue until it will be liberated from its bondage to decay on resurrection day when believers in Christ will be reunited with their bodies (Rom. 8:20-21). Meanwhile, the creation keeps groaning like a woman going through labour pains. Earthquakes, volcanoes, tornadoes and tsunamis are the visible, audible and fear-inspiring manifestations of an earth groaning under sin’s awful curse.

Why would a good God create a world like that, with such awesome natural phenomena, many are asking? The an­swer is: He didn’t. According to many Creation Scien­tists, the earth’s original atmosphere served as a giant water-filled canopy that shielded man from the ultra­violet rays of the sun. This made for a perfect, moderate climate, ensuring lush vegetation moistened by “a mist that went up from the earth and watered the whole face of the earth” (Gen. 2:6).

The Creation is out of Whack←⤒🔗

This perfect condition ended when man fell into sin. That’s when climate change began and it intensified when later God, seeing that “the wickedness of man had become great in the earth,” decided to “destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life” (Gen. 6:5, 6, 17). This universal Flood resulted in major changes in the earth’s climate and weather conditions. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hurricanes, but also heat waves and droughts, as well as extreme cold tem­peratures began to afflict mankind. Yet, all under God’s control and direction. Good weather and bad both come at divine direc­tion. Meteorologists can explain wind speeds in terms of differences in air pressure, but Scripture says that God gives snow like wool, scatters the hoarfrost like ashes, casts forth his ice like morsels, sends his word to melt them and causes his wind to blow, not always gently but often violently in the form of hurricanes, typhoons and tornadoes. (Ps. 147:16-18.)         

God did not just create these forces of nature to let them go their own way, or as some believe, to let Satan take charge of them. True, Scripture indicates that Satan has power over the elements, at least at certain times and oc­casions, but this power is given to him by God and with­drawn at His command each time (Job 1:12; 2:16, 19). Jesus rebuked the demon who caused the tempest on the Sea of Galilee with the result that “there was a great calm” (Matt. 8:26).

God Often uses Natural Disasters to Punish Sin←⤒🔗

I already mentioned the Flood as God’s instrument to destroy the earth because of man’s sin. Later, the Lord rained down brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomor­rah because the inhabitants of these cities had com­mitted great wickedness (Gen.18:20; 19:24). Egypt was devastated by ten awful plagues (Ex. 7-12) because of Pharaoh’s refusal to let Israel go. In Amos’ time God said to Israel, “I have given you cleanness of teeth in all your cities and want of bread in all your places ... I have also withholden the rain from you when there were yet three months to the harvest ... I have smitten you with blasting and mildew (Amos 4:6-7, 9).

Natural Disasters Cannot Always be Linked to Spe­cific Sins←⤒🔗

Sometimes Christians charge individuals or nations with specific sins when they are afflicted by a natural disaster of epic proportions. This happened also this time when Haiti was struck by the horrendous earthquake. Televangelist, Pat Robertson, host of the 700 Club and former candidate for the presidential nomination of the Republican Party, said in an interview that Haiti was being punished by God for the sin of mak­ing a pact with the devil in the late 18th century when Haiti was fighting for independence from France whose colony they were at that time. They had allegedly prom­ised allegiance to Satan in exchange for his help in gain­ing their freedom.

To make such a charge is both wrong and cruel. Even if it were true, one should never make such a statement because making a judgment like this is God’s preroga­tive, not man’s. Fundamentalists like Robertson have a habit of doing this. When Louisiana was struck by Ka­trina, Jerry Falwell and others immediately pointed to the wickedness of New Orleans as the reason why God had sent this hurricane to punish that city. Sad to say, I have heard similar remarks made by people much closer to home. Something terrible happens, a heart attack or a fatal accident, a house or barn goes up in fire and im­mediately they link it to some sin of which that person is supposedly guilty and for which he is now being pun­ished.

We don’t know all the Facts←⤒🔗

All such interpretations are wrong because no one but God knows all the facts. Unless God clearly reveals it, we should never assume that natural disasters or man-caused atrocities such as murder, rape or sexual abuse are sent by God as specific judgments on specific people. Jesus warned those who were doing this when He stated that the people murdered by Pilate and those crushed by a falling tower were no worse sinners than others. Unless they repented, they would likewise perish (Luke 13:2-5).

But granted that it is wrong to jump to wrong conclu­sions, can we not form any opinions as to why tragedies like the Haitian earthquake happen? C.S. Lewis, well-known English literary scholar and Christian apologist, states in his book, Christian Reflections, that it is impossible for men by using their natural powers to discover the inner meaning of an event. Apart from divine revelation recorded in Scripture, there is no way we can render judgments on why something happens. This does not mean that Lewis opposes any attempt at understanding history. We can study the facts, draw certain conclu­sions from them, but we can never arrive at the true and complete interpretation of what Lewis calls the metahis­torical meaning or the big picture (pp.100, 110).

The Hand or Finger of God←⤒🔗

The late Dutch theologian, G.C. Berkouwer, agreed with C.S. Lewis’ view of the limitations we humans labour un­der when trying to understand God’s providential acts in history. In his book The Providence of God, he makes the important and helpful distinction between the finger and hand of God in history. With the hand of God, Berkouwer means the confession of the Church that nothing occurs apart from divine Providence. The finger of God, he says, refers to man’s alleged ability to recognize special provi­dential interventions in a nation’s or individual’s history. There are many Christians, he writes, who while confess­ing God’s rule in all things, also “look for and see God’s finger exceptionally evident on certain occasions” (p.161).

Hitler the Saviour of Germany!←⤒🔗

To illustrate this, he points to some Christians in Ger­many who saw the special finger of God in Hitler’s rise to power in the early 1930s. According to them, God was at that critical moment in Germany’s history speaking in a clear voice. They formally stated that “We are full of thanks to God that He, as the Lord of history, has given us Adolph Hitler, our leader and saviour from our dif­ficult lot” (p.163).

Although we disagree with most of Karl Barth’s theology, it must be said to his credit that he strongly opposed this interpretation of what was happening in Germany. He saw it as an attempt to bind the church to obedience to a new commission not found in Scripture but in “the great events of our day.” Barth clearly saw the danger of in­terpreting these events as revelations of God’s secret will and purpose. In doing so, he warned that we are going outside the sphere of faith into the area of observa­tion, letting the facts speak their own lan­guage. (Berkouwer, p.163).

As it turns out in most cases this language favours us at the expense of others. Many who recognize God’s finger in a certain event or movement are simply trying to hitch God to the wagon of their own hopes and dreams. There are always subjective feelings and preju­dices involved. The German Christians adored Hitler be­cause they thought he could “save” their beloved nation. The Jews were of an entirely different opinion as they became increasingly aware of what Hitler had in mind for them.

Special and General Interventions in History←⤒🔗

What about God’s special interventions in Israel’s history? Do we not often read of miraculous deliverances of God’s people? Think of the Angel of the Lord killing 185,000 As­syrians who were poised to strike Jerusalem? Surely, that was a clear example of the finger of God intervening in history! Why can’t we recognize that same finger in un­usual events today, like the earthquake in Haiti?

Here’s the difference. The events I just mentioned, together with the examples referred to earlier, the Flood and Sodom and Gomorrah and other judgments, were events whose meaning were ex­plained by God Himself. That is to say, the divine disposition and intention is clearly revealed in those events. This is not the case with events that take place in secular or general history. Any effort to explain why God brought this terrible di­saster upon Haiti instead of another nation, for instance the bordering Dominican Republic, is doomed to failure for the simple reason that God has not told us.

History no Second Source of Revelation←⤒🔗

Those who think they know the answer are really claiming that God has revealed His purpose in the event itself. This means they look at history as a second source of divine revelation in addition to His revelation in Scripture. But this would imply that the German Christians in recognizing Hit­ler as God’s gift to them were right because who dares to question God’s revelation?

Does this mean that the Haitian earthquake has nothing to say to us? Is there no lesson to be learned from this awful catastrophe? There sure is. We can say with certainty that God is holy, that He hates sin and therefore sends judgments upon an earth exposed to His curse. Why did God deal so severely with the Haitians while so far we have been spared? Let us never attribute this to any merits of our own, for we have none.

It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.Lamentation 3:22­, 23