ARE TSUNAMIS AND EARTHQUAKES THE JUDGMENT OF GOD?
Renette Vermeulen
Courtesy, NOW UNBANNED PUBLICATIONS, C.C.
![Text Box: Satan, not Jesus, is the dual god:
We publish the following discussion because it pertains to the very Nature of God; the crux of our faith; our salvation in Christ – and to our study of Satan’s power through politics and religion in this world.
Some people believe that God sends destructive disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes to kill thousands of people, because God said in Isa. 45:7, ‘I form light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity.’ [We also deal with similar verses in Isa 54:14-16, ‘I, the Lord, do all these things… I created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire, who brings forth an instrument for his work; I have created the spoiler to destroy.’]
Someone even prophesied, “Those godless Muslims, Buddhists, and Hindus who died in these calamities were already evangelized. They had their chance to accept Christ, but they rejected Him, so God killed them.”
Let us test this prophesy as God commanded: 2 Ths. 5:21, 1 Jn. 4:1-2.
ALL Scripture is indeed God-breathed. Therefore we cannot take a verse from ‘ALL of Scripture’ – the whole CONTEXT of Scripture - and base a theology on it. In our search for Gospel Truth, we have to consider every verse in the light of ALL Scripture.
Many Christians fall into false doctrines because they do not understand the creation principles of God. They do not consider the cataclysmic influence that the fall in Eden had on all creation; the incredible power of Jesus’ complete atonement for all those who choose Him; neither do they view the Old- and the New Testaments as two completely different dispensations: Heb. 8:13; 9:8; 10:9.
The prophet Ezekiel wrote in chapter 33:11-12, ‘As I live, says the Lord God, I have NO pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live.”
Texe Marrs wrote in ‘Dark Secrets of the New Age,’ “False gods are a bizarre blend of evil and good… Vivekananda, a Hindu guru… taught that because the Mother Goddess Kali is all, all is one, and all is cyclical, God is both good AND evil… Likewise, Lucifer is said to be neither evil nor good. He simply IS… But the Bible warns: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil,” (Isa. 5:20.) God has no relationship with evil or with darkness… Attributing both good and evil to God is an occult and Satanist tactic to mock God...”
The god of the occult, in whichever form he is worshipped – is ALWAYS a dual god. He is the ying and yang: good and evil, light and darkness, male and female, etc. If this god has a bad hair-day, he kills his subjects. If they can appease him with sacrifice, he bestows ‘good luck’ upon them.
[Indecently, ‘good luck’ always pertains to the ‘blessing’ of Lucifer - the god of chance, fate, or destiny; while Scriptural blessing comes only through the Lord Jesus Christ, “Who became a curse so that sincere believers could inherit [not earn!] ALL the blessings of Abraham” – Isa. 65:11; Gal. 3.]
Were those who died in tsunamis worse sinners than all the others?
Jesus asked the following question in Luke 13, “Do you suppose that these Galileans [who were killed by Pilate] were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, NO; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish [in your sins, without hope of salvation.]”
God said in Heb. 13:3, “Remember those who are in prison as if you were their fellow prisoner, and those who are ill-treated, since you also are liable to bodily sufferings.” And in Rom. 12:15: “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.” This Godly love includes our enemies! And GOD loves His enemies so much more than we do. He does not desire that “any should perish…!”
A heart sold to mere religion, however, will know little mercy, compared to a heart immersed in New Testament Grace. Jesus commanded us in Mt. 5 to live by the New Testament Law of Truth, Mercy, and Love, as “God makes his sun rise on the evil AND on the good, and sends rain on the just AND on the unjust…”
The Light in the midst of darkness:
God is the Almighty Creator of His entire universe. God is and always will be the sovereign Protector, Ruler, and also the Judge of His creation in its entirety. Everything and everyone are subjected to Him. Even the devil has no power save that which God allows him from above. Therefore God can and does restrain the evil forces which Satan - the thief, the destroyer, the murderer - launches against God’s vulnerable creation, and in particular, against His believers.
Eventually, on His day of judgment, (and NOT before then,) ‘every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that He is God.’ But for now, and for the following reason, God allows Satan to be the ‘god of this world.’
The king AND queen of Eden, (Gen. 2:27-28,) sold the kingdom that God had entrusted to them – this world or physical creation – for a measly fruit, and Satan, the murderous thief, became the legal ruler – the king or “god” of the Lord God’s creation here one earth: 1 Jn. 5:19; 2 Cor. 4:3-4.
Satan rules this world so completely, he even had the audacity to declare to Jesus, “ALL these kingdoms of the world AND their glory I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” – Mt. 4:8-9.
ALL the kingdoms of the world and their glory are indeed under the rule of Satan; he won them in a legal battle, that day in the Garden when he deceived Adam and Eve to disobeying God - 1 Jn. 5:19.
Since that day of the fall, the WHOLE world has been in spiritual darkness.
Then, at the inauguration of the New Testament dispensation, God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to be born as a human being in the midst of this darkness. At that very moment, the little infant Jesus became the Ray of Light in the darkness. He Is the Light of the whole world, ‘Who shines in the darkness. But [those who live in] darkness did not understand it. [Most rejected Him and crucified Him.] But as many as received Him [as their personal Light,] to them He gave the right to become [light bearing] children of God,’ [while the rest of the world remains in spiritual darkness under the rule of the evil one,] Jn. 1:5, 12-13.
Hence, Jesus explained in Jn. 12:31 that He came to redeem all those who chose to accept Him as their personal Savior, OUT OF Satan’s rule, “Now, [at Calvary,] is the judgment of this world; now the RULER of this world will be cast out [of everyone who willingly accepts the Light.]” - 1 Jn. 3:8b; 5:19; Rev. 13:8; Gal. 1:4.
Light-bearers became squatters in the darkness of the world:
Physically, light-bearing, born again believers have to remain in this dark world, and so, ‘the chosen generation, the royal priesthood’ of Jesus Christ became ‘sojourners and pilgrims,’ [spiritual sub-farmers and squatters] on this Satan-ruled earth. Sincere believers are still IN the physical darkness of this world, but spiritually, they ‘were called OUT OF darkness into His marvelous light.’ They are no longer part of the darkness: 1 Pet. 2:9-11.
When Jesus taught us to pray, “Let Your Kingdom come, let Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven…” He was not giving His believers a mandate to topple the kingdoms of this world and to make them into ‘God’s Kingdom here on earth.’
In effect, Jesus was saying, “Father, manifest and extend Your Spiritual, unseen Kingdom, Your Light, in the midst of the satanically controlled, utterly dark kingdoms of this world by saving My blood-bought souls…” The only mandate or commission Jesus gave His disciples, was to “GO INTO [Satan’s dark domain,] the world, and make disciples…”
Each time we ‘go’ to proclaim the True Gospel of Jesus Christ, we ‘shine forth the Light of Christ;’ God ‘lets His Kingdom come; and His will is done.’ – Mt. 28:19.
Satan slowly suffocates little penguins in tons of oil, not God:
Sadly, not only unbelievers, but also God’s natural world – the elements, animals, and vegetation – are still under the destructive rule of the evil one. Paul wrote in Rom. 8:18-24, “…The creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption… For the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs…”
Although God CAN and DOES overrule Satan on many issues for reasons and in ways we cannot comprehend, He allows Satan, as ‘legal’ god and king, to rule the world which Satan has stolen by means of deception.
Where Isa. 54:16-17 therefore says, “God has created the blacksmith who brings forth an instrument for his work [of destruction,] and He has created the spoiler to destroy,” it does not mean that God is the author of evil!
The context of this is the previous and following verses, staged during the Old Testament dispensation, when a physical war threatened God’s physical nation, Old Israel. God said, “Indeed, [your enemies] shall surely assemble, but not because of Me, [not because I sent them.] Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake… No weapon formed against you shall prosper, [because I have created that human, the blacksmith who forges weapons of war against you; I will control him and not allow his weapons to harm you.] This is the heritage of the servants, [the children] of the Lord…”
God wil never create anything that is evil! He did not create the devil as an evil entity. Satan was a mighty, holy angel – and although he had fallen from glory, he is still just as powerful! The prophet of God wrote in Ezk. 28:15-17 that Satan himself “corrupted his wisdom through his own iniquity.” Because the self-willed, mighty devil cannot touch the Almighty God, he turned his fury on the innocent creation of God, (Rev. 12:12.)
Death, tornados, tsunamis, droughts, and bloodshed did not exist in the Garden of Eden. But since the day God gave this world over to the rule of the evil one, Satan has been perverting, distorting, destroying, torturing, deceiving, and killing God’s “very good” creation, (Jn. 10:10.) The lion ate grass and lay next to the lamb in Eden; now its lust for blood and flesh is insatiable. Only “mist watered the ground” in Eden, but now the god of this earth can – and does - turn God’s nature into elements of mayhem and destruction! – [Mt. 8:25-27;14:24 -33.]
God is NOT the Creator of evil, death, and calamity! - (See: 1 Jn. 1:5.)
The One, True God is ALWAYS all-good, all-powerful, and all wonderful! James wrote in Jam. 1:17: “Every good gift and EVERY perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with Whom there is NO variation or shadow of turning.” In God there does not even exist a shadow of darkness! God is completely single-minded – without ANY “turning.” God is completely and utterly Good! (Jam. 1:13-17.)
God does not simply love, He IS Love!
God does not simply speak the truth, He IS Truth! (1 Jn. 4:8; 5:6.)
God did not simply create light; He IS Light: THE Light, (Jn. 1:9; 8:12.)
Although every man is a liar, God IS True! (Rom. 3:4.)
EVERY PERSON has sinned, turned aside, did nothing good, and deserved everlasting damnation, yet “God SO loved the WHOLE world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did NOT send His Son into the world to CONDEMN the world, but that the world through Him might be SAVED!” (Jn. 3:16-17; Rom. 3:9-18.)
Peter wrote in 2 Pet. 3:9-13, “The Lord is… longsuffering toward us, [His attitude toward humankind is that He is] not willing that ANY should perish, but that ALL should come to repentance.”
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