God’s Cosmic Grudge
Haiti’s secret pact with the devil…never happened.
We have heard from irrelevant preachers that Haiti made this secret pact with the devil. You can find countless sources on the Internet dispelling this rumor (Look! Here is one now!) Many have pointed to this supposed “deal with the devil” as the reason for the earthquake which has taken so many lives and put the country in turmoil.
Many have asked, is this earthquake the work of an angry God?
This question has been debated and kicked around Twitter and blogs for the last several days. The biggest reaction came when Pat Robertson made the shocking statement stating the earthquake was “God’s judgment” on this country for their sins. Many have pondered if we have seen a return of “Old Testament God.” Some of the same questions were kicked around after the Tsunami a few years ago.
What I find interesting is, when this question was asked about the 9/11 tragedy, it could not possibly be God’s judgment on our self-righteous nation, but the work of bad men. Or Katrina. The hurricane was marginalized by most as just a freak storm which could not be God’s wrath poured out on us for our sins. But a little country like Haiti? Obviously it is the result of an angry God.
For the record, God is sovereign.
“Old Testament God” and “New Testament God” are the same. God does display His wrath in the NT. Many neglect the account in Acts 5 of Ananias and his wife, Sapphira. Because they lied to God, He took their lives. We neglect the book of Revelation where we see God pouring our His wrath on the earth. It is only by Jesus’ atoning death we can be spared His anger (do a study on “propitiation” to learn the depths of this). This makes us ask the question; “Was God so angry at Haiti that he took 50,000 lives?”
Romans 9:20-23 (hover your mouse over the verse to read it)
There is a chance God poured out His wrath on Haiti January 12th. There is a chance we saw God’s anger during 9/11, Pearl Harbor, hurricanes Katrina and Andrew, and even the Tsunami. Looking to Romans, we see we really have no right to rebelliously question the one who made us (see the ESV Study Bible notes, published by Crossway). It is not that we cannot go to God and ask why things happen, it is that we should not go to Him and question Him like we are His superior. We should not be pulling interrogation room tactics on God. He caused an earthquake for some reason. We may not know why, ever.
How can we respond?
One way not to respond is to pridefully point fingers at Haiti. As we should know, it is not always the result of sin that bad things happen (you heard me prosperity Gospel, shove it). John 9:2-3 explains all things, even the bad things, are there to show the power and glory of God (or, as in Romans 9:23, to show the riches of His glory for the vessels of His mercy). Our response should be one of mercy and love to a suffering people. This is a situation where an outpouring of the Gospel can take place. It is often during tragedy we see the Church come together to help those who are suffering. As long as we live in a this fallen and flawed (sorry Demian, I had to do it) world, we can expect bad things to happen. After all, we are sinners in the hands of an angry God. It is our job, as Christians, to bring His healing and comfort through His Gospel to those in need.
-Don-
