The Role of God in Natural Disasters

Transcript

GRM 941
9/4/2005
The Role of God in Natural Disasters
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh


I want to talk to you a little bit about matters relating to the events that have taken place the past week, last week. As we met together they were talking about a hurricane coming up the Gulf, that hurricane arrived and as everybody is aware, did great damage. I had the privilege of being in a Bible Conference about 5 years ago now on the Gulf Coast in Biloxi. There was a great storm and I wonder what those believers have suffered. The Bible Conference was right there in Biloxi, don’t imagine there’s much of that. All the churches there, you see the devastation. We’ve all been moved by that. You watch the TV, we have a sense of something ought to be done. You’re reminded of the American way—everything ought to be done and done quickly. Sometimes people in the church, you know people can’t understand why it’s not been done. And we’re that way as a country. We all want to see tragedies taken care of as quickly as possible. But I couldn’t help but think, a great disaster comes, they say perhaps the greatest natural disaster to hit our country, and people are just dumbfounded that we didn’t get it fixed in a day or two. Sort of the way we go to war, you know, if the war isn’t won in a week and a half we ought to come home and forget it.

And we are reminded that we live in a fragile world. One thing to watch the third world countries be overwhelmed by a tsunami or a great disaster, as we call natural disaster, but in our country if it happens here we think we just step in, take care of it, we’re all prepared for those. And we realize how unprepared we are and how fragile even the most powerful country is with all of its resources. We have a sense of being overwhelmed and a week later we still struggle with it.

I don’t want to address the political or social issues involved, that’s not my role, it’s not the church’s role. But I thought it was a good time for us to be reminded of the role of our God in all that is taking place in the world. That doesn’t mean that we have any less sympathy for the tragedies taking place. We see that human suffering is overwhelming, it moves us to compassion and it should, moves us with a desire to want to help and it should. We want to be careful that as believers we have a proper perspective of our world, what is taking place and where it is going.

We also have heard in the last hours, last night, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court passed away, and that wasn’t unexpected. But again, something else takes place that has to be dealt with. Appreciated the answer of our President to a question at a news conference some of you would have watched. When he was asked, don’t you think we have too many resources tied up in the war in Iraq, and we ought to bring those home and concentrate on fixing the problem we have here. And the answer I thought was to the point, we have to do more than one thing. And that’s true in every area. The governmental leaders have to do more than one thing—they’ll have to deal with the need to appoint Supreme Court justices, they have to deal with the problems created on the Gulf Coast, they have to deal with the war we’re involved in, they have to deal with a multitude of other things. Sometimes we would like just to simplify life and be able to do one thing. And sometimes we as Americans think we have it all under control, we can handle it, and we are reminded that we can’t.

But I want to remind us of the role of God in all that takes place, including what we would call the natural disasters in the world. Everything in the Bible is founded on the premise that begins in Genesis 1:1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And Hebrews 11:3 says, it’s by faith that we understand that God created the world out of nothing. I don’t look for the scientific evidences and proofs, although I believe what the Bible says is consistent with true science. The fact is, I realize that we understand that because we believe what God has said, that He created it. Now we’re not going to talk about creation, we’re going to talk about what flows out of creation. It’s important that we understand the connection, that the God who created everything continues to be actively involved in His creation, sustaining it, directing it and controlling it. So that nothing is happening without His involvement and His direction of those events. And that is called the Doctrine of Providence. And you go to any theology, you can look up in the index “providence,” and then you can turn and read the section on God’s providence. His sovereign involvement and control of everything that is taking place.

Turn to the book of Hebrews in your Bibles. We’re going to look at a number of verses today that overview. What I did was go through in my own study and I brought together many passages from different sources, and then I kept going back through and marking some off until I limited it down to 1 or 2 on each area, so we could move more quickly. Hebrews 1:3, we’re told that God in these last days has spoken to us in one who is a Son, superior to all other revelation that has been given. This is the one, at the end of Hebrews 1:2, through whom also He made the world. Note God the Father and God the Son involved in the work of creation. Then note verse 3, and He, Christ, is the radiance of His, the Father’s, glory and the exact representation of His nature. Now note this, and He upholds all things by the Word of His power. At the end of verse 2 you have the work of creation. In verse 3 He upholds all things by the word of His power. That’s His providence. Some of our early founding fathers of this country were what are known as deists. And the deists believe that God created the world and then He withdrew and everything now just functions on the basis of natural principles. God is not directly and actively involved in His creation. That is not biblical. Hebrews 1:3 says that Christ upholds all things by the Word of His power.

Back up to Colossians 1:17. Again, verse 16 talks about creation, for by Him, referring to Christ, all things were created. The end of verse 16, all things have been created through Him and for Him. Verse 17, He is before all things and in Him all things are holding together. So you see that the one who created everything is actively involved in sustaining that creation and working in it and through it, so that His purposes are accomplished. And all that happens is part of His divine plan, part of His divine purpose. Now that does not mean we will understand all that He is doing or that we will know why He is doing all that He does. But then we are not called to be God. But I do recognize that He not only created everything, but He is actively involved in His creation in directing it, in controlling it, so that everything happens according to His plan.

Back up to Ephesians, just a couple books in front of Colossians—Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians. And there is no special reason I went backwards from Hebrews to Colossians to Ephesians. Ephesians 1:11 and we’re just going to pick up in the middle her to pick up what we want to note in this verse. God is the one who having predestined according to His purpose, the one who works all things after the counsel of His will. God sovereignly works His will, He counsels with Himself, determines what He would do, and He does it. And so His work in upholding all things, in holding all things together is part of that work of Providence. If it were not for that ongoing work, this world would disintegrate. We say oh there are natural laws. The natural laws do not control things. There is a power behind the natural laws at work, and He upholds all things by the Word of His power and in Him all things hold together.

This means there is no such thing as randomness or chance in the world in which we live. Nothing ever happens by chance, nothing every happens randomly. Turn back to the book of Proverbs—Psalms, Proverbs—one of about a dozen books we keep saying are in the middle of your Bible. But just after the book of Psalms is the book of Proverbs, before the book of Isaiah, the next big book. Proverbs 16:33, just pick this one verse as an example that there is nothing that happens just randomly. The lot is cast in the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. Now casting the lot into the lap would be like we would talk about rolling dice. And what we’re told here is they roll the dice, but every number that comes up, if you will, is the decision of the Lord. Now that doesn’t mean you ought to run to the casino and pray and roll the dice. But it’s a way of saying there is nothing at chance, even the smallest deal. We us rolling the dice today to talk about, well it’s just a roll of the dice. In other words, it’s just a chance. Well the lot is cast into the lap but it’s not a chance. It’s every decision is from the Lord, down to that which we would say is not that significant a thing. But God has sovereignly determined it and controls it, so it doesn’t happen randomly, ultimately, not from that perspective of God. It is what He determined would come up. Now I get to a point here, my mind cannot grasp this and the expanse of all that is involved in this. But again I have a finite mind, I’m dealing with an infinite God. But the fact is indisputable—there is no randomness, there is no chance, nothing just happens in the world, nothing happens by an act of mother nature. Everything happens by and act of Father God. It is part of His sovereign work. And we get so accustomed to talking about nature, what an act of nature, what a freak act of nature that that would just go that way and turn that way. We need to be careful as believers, you understand if you believe God is the creating God and you believe what the Bible says about that creating God, there are no freak acts of nature. There are no random acts of chance, but everything is part of His sovereign plan and divine determination.

Turn over to the book of Daniel. That’s a little further back from Proverbs, past the large prophetic books like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and then you’ll be into Daniel. Daniel 4. I include this in light of the fact that we’ll be appointing a new Supreme Court Chief Justice as well as another justice, and whether there’ll be two appointed or existing one becomes the Chief Justice, whatever. Reminder of God’s work and you see His sovereign determination in Daniel 4--the context of God dealing with Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel and then Nebuchadnezzar responding. Look at Daniel 4:17, this sentence is by decree of the angelic watchers, and the decision is a command of the holy ones. So God has sent the angels with this decree. In order that the living may know that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whom He wishes and sets over it the lowliest of men. He sovereignly determines who will rule and who will not. He places rulers in authority. That’s why when you get to the New Testament to the book of Romans Paul says that it is essential for believers to submit properly to governing authorities and show proper respect, because we recognize, no matter what their character, they are there by divine appointment. He sets over it the lowliest of men. So Christians need to be careful how they talk about their rulers when they speak so disparagingly and so on. Realize this is God’s man, not in the sense he’s a saved man, but he’s the man God has placed here.

Nebuchadnezzar being the example. You’re pretty far down the line as far as character. He’s the man who would heat up the furnace to burn up Shadrach, Meshech and Abednego. He heats it up so high that it consumes his own soldiers. He’s not a nice man, but he’s there by divine appointment. I thought it was by the might and power of Nebuchadnezzar. That’s what he thought—military might. No, divine appointment.

Look at Daniel 4:34, after 7 years of insanity Nebuchadnezzar is saved, turns to the living God. And note now the insight he has. Verse 34, at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, my reason returned to me and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever. For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. He does according to His will in the host of heaven. In Ephesians 1:11 we read that God works all things after the counsel of His will. Nebuchadnezzar has some great insights here very early, now, in his life as a child of God. He does according to His will and all the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can word off His hand or say to Him, what have you done. So Nebuchadnezzar realized I’m here by divine appointment. Now God used military wars and battles and intrigues and all of that, but that's not what brought Nebuchadnezzar to power. It was the sovereign hand of God, using those events to bring the man of His appointment. Now you multiply that out through all the rulers at all levels all over the world, and it’s almost overwhelming. God is sovereign, in control of His creation.

All right, look back in Psalm 135. That doesn’t mean we don’t pray, that we don’t exercise our wills. But it does mean, for example, whoever is appointed to the Supreme Court, we will honor and submit and treat respectfully. And we won’t be huffing and puffing and wonder what’s going to happen to our country now that that person got in. There is no hope for the country, and the only hope for the country is we get the right man in. We do what we are responsible…….. Human responsibility is clearly taught in scripture along with human accountability. So we also recognize the sovereign hand of God. I don’t want to deny my theology by my grumbling.

Psalm 135, let’s move on from people, particularly in power, to events in the world. Look at Psalm 135:5, for I know that the Lord is great, that our Lord is above all gods. Whatever the Lord pleases, He does. He works all things after the counsel of His will, doesn’t He? Whatever He pleases He does. Note this, in heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all the deeps. There is no place that God is not working His purposes and plans. In the deepest recesses of the ocean God sovereignly controls His creation. He causes the vapors of the clouds to ascend from the ends of the earth. Who makes lightnings for the rain? Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries? These aren’t random acts of nature. The wind, tornadoes, hurricanes—God is sovereignly working and controlling and directing.

Look at Psalm 148:7, praise the Lord from the earth. Maybe I ought to mention verse 5 of the creation, let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He established them forever and ever, He has made a decree which will not pass away. Praise the Lord from the earth. Sea monsters, all the deep, fire and hail, snow and clouds, stormy wind fulfilling His word. You see He is sovereign in His creation, in all elements of creation. He created it and now He sovereignly controls it. That includes the fish of the sea, includes lightning, hail, snow, clouds, stormy wind. It’s all fulfilling His word. That’s amazing. There are no random acts of nature, there are no twists of nature that a hurricane is coming up the Gulf and we knew something like this would come, but there was an adjustment. Evidently some cool air came down and it just tilted a little bit further to the east and New Orleans didn’t get it so bad, but somebody else did. And what do you do? That’s the way nature works. But if I’m a believer there, my comfort is knowing my sovereign God directed all of this. I don’t know why, maybe, I don’t understand His purposes, but I know He works all things together for good to those who love Him. And as they stand in the ruin of their home and lost loved ones, they say I know perfectly well why God did this. No we don’t. But I do know that He’s doing it for my good. I may never understand why in this life.

This is just one thing. Why does one person’s child get a disease and another ……….. I don’t know. But I do know God is sovereignly working and accomplishing His plan and that just wasn’t an accident. We talk about accidents, but I understand from the biblical perspective there are no accidents. Behind that accident was the sovereign hand of God working His purpose. We sometimes say I can’t see any good that will come out of this. Well, that’s all right to say that, maybe you can’t see any good that comes out of it. But I don’t want to say there is no good that comes out of it. All I’m saying is I’m limited in my vision. Sometimes I have to tell people, I don’t know why God did what He did. I don’t know why you have to experience the tragedy you do. I don’t know why the hurricane swept away these people, destroyed their lives. And the ultimate explanation, I do know that it wasn’t random acts of nature. But the God who controls the wind and the storm and the raging seas is working His purposes and His plan. For His children it is for good.

Back up to Job 37, just before Psalms. Job 37:5, talking about the thundering voice of God in this context, talking about His majestic voice and so on in verse 4. Verse 5, God thunders with His voice wondrously, doing great things which we cannot comprehend, doing great things which we cannot comprehend. I don’t want to pretend. Since I am a child of God, since I study the Bible I always know what God is doing. There are certain things God is doing we as God’s children do know, and we do know where things are going. We’re going to talk about that in a moment. But the fact is I don’t understand how everything He is doing fits into His plan. Some things in my life I couldn’t understand when they happen. And I look back and I can see now clearly how God’s hand was directing. But some things I look back and still to this day I don’t know why. But I do know God is in control.

Look at Job 37:6, for to the snow He says, fall on the earth; to the downpour and the rain, be strong. He seals the hand of every man that all men may know His work. Then the beast goes into its lair and remains in its den. Out of the south comes the storm and out of the north the cold. From the breath of God ice is made, the expanse of waters is frozen. Also with moisture He loads the thick cloud, He disperses the cloud with His lightning. He changes direction, turning around by His guidance. You watch them do the storm tracking and then you think of Job 37:12, it changes direction, turning around by His guidance, that it may do whatever He commands it on the face of the inhabited earth. Whether for correction, or for His world, or for lovingkindness, He causes it to happen. In other words there may be a variety of reasons and we may not know what the reason is, but we know He is working. He controls it. He commands it. Some people say oh that’s terrible to say. Have you watched the news, have you seen the tragic pictures? How could God do that? God is sovereign. He is a good God, He is a kind God, sometimes He is a judging God. I don’t know. We need to be careful. I read in one of the articles that some Christians were saying this was God’s judgment on New Orleans because they were planning a homosexual festival in New Orleans. Well if that is what He was going to do, it probably would have been gone a long time ago.

You know there was a tower that fell and killed a number of Galileans when Jesus was on the earth. And He cautions His disciples, don’t think that those Galileans were worse sinners than others just because the tower fell on them. So we need to be careful, we sit and think, obviously I can see New Orleans, partytown, all of that, just a cesspool of vileness. God finally judged it. Be careful, a tornado may come through here next month and wipe out our church. Then what are they going to say? Well I guess it’s because they oppose homosexuality, God was judging them. I mean we sometimes like to parade around like we have really lots of knowledge and insight, and we can speak for the Lord. The Lord will speak for Himself, and that’s what His Word is.

Why He brought that devastation to the Gulf Coast, I can’t tell you. For correction, for His world, for lovingkindness. I don’t know, but I can tell you it was the hand of God who directed it, I’ve read the verses. Changes direction, turning it around by His guidance, that it may do whatever He commands it. And that would be my comfort if I were there in the midst of ruin and destruction and loss. Saw one elderly lady share, well you know God takes care of me. When asked, what are you going to do now? Well God has always taken care of me, He’s taking care of me now, He will take care of me. Biblical answer. What would we have said? Oh I know why God did it. She didn’t say she knows. All she knows is He’s my God, He’s taken care of me before, He’s taking care of me now, He’ll take care of me in the future. Sort of answers it all, doesn’t it? I know what I need to know, my God is sovereign and my life is in His hands, and He even brought this storm through that destroyed my home, took all my possessions, divided my family. I don’t know what……….. He’ll take care of me.

Look over in Isaiah 45. I realize I’m giving a series today in one message, but I’m just stirring up your pure minds by way of remembrance. Context of God is God. He has said in Isaiah 44:24, thus says the Lord your redeemer, the one who formed you from the womb. I the Lord am the maker of all things, stretching out the heavens by myself, spreading out the earth all alone. Come down to Isaiah 45:5, I am the Lord, there is no other. Besides me there is no God. Verse 6, that men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun that there is no one beside me. I am the Lord, there is no other, the one forming light and creating darkness, causing wellbeing and creating calamity. I am the Lord who does all these things. We sometimes get embarrassed for God in calamities. We find people trying to say, well God doesn’t cause these kinds of things, they just happen as part of a sinful world. And bad things happen in a sinful world, but God doesn’t cause the bad things. That’s not true. God says in Isaiah 45:7, I cause wellbeing and I create calamity. I am the Lord who does all these things. And I can’t apologize for God. We say, I don’t like to think God would do that. I am comforted to know my God is sovereign, and His purposes were perfect in what He did, even in tragedy. That will be true if tragedy strikes my life. Is that not our comfort? Well, I don’t know why I got this disease, just happened I guess, I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. God’s done a lot of good things in my life, I can’t complain if I happen to have some bad things. No, my life is more determined than that. He causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him. He is also working His purposes in the context of those who don’t love Him. And sometimes He’s creating calamity for those who love Him and they don’t know why, but it’s part of His purpose.

You can just jot down Amos 3:6, I figured it might take a little longer to find Amos. In Amos 3:6, the rhetorical question is asked, does calamity happen in the city without God causing it? God asks the question, does calamity happen in the city and I have not caused it? The answer is no. Amos 3:6, when calamity overtakes a city God has brought that calamity. I see the hand of God in it. Sometimes I have to say, Lord, help me to learn whatever is to be learned here. But the beginning point is I bow before that God who is the sovereign creator and working His purposes with His creation and He is accountable to no one.

If you’re still in Isaiah 45, look at verse 9, woe to the one who quarrels with His maker, an earthenware vessel among the vessels of earth. Will the clay say to the potter, what are you doing? In other words I may not understand all of this, but I better be careful that my attitude is one of submissiveness to the God who is my creator. And He is working His purposes with the clay, and even if I don’t understand, I need to have the proper attitude of submissiveness to Him as God. I can never challenge Him. Woe to the one who quarrels with His maker. An earthenware vessel among the vessels…….. You understand, you’re just a clay vessel like everybody else. We elevate ourselves to challenge God because we don’t agree with what He has done, we don’t like what He has done. We don’t want to acknowledge Him or give Him the credit. He is the sovereign God.

Now He’s a good God, He’s a loving God, He’s a gracious God. And all of the world experiences the common grace of God. And that includes those on the Gulf Coast. Why God brought that tragedy there, I can’t say. It could have been an act of discipline and judgment, could have been a wakeup call. I don’t know. I was interested that one of the news anchors a couple days ago said, you know what? The second most asked for item in this region, they said, after food and water, are Bibles. He couldn’t understand that. He said you know what they’re asking for after food and water? That’s the second-most asked for thing? Bibles. Amazing. Maybe that in this some people under pressure and calamity realize and are more open. May indicate that many of those dear people were believers and are believers. I don’t know what God is doing there, but I know it is His doing.

Turn over to II Peter 3:5, a reminder. And we’re told in the last days people will come mocking and they don’t believe there is a God. They don’t believe there is a God who has created all things, they don’t believe there’s a God who is controlling all things, they don’t believe there is a God who is going to bring all things to their appointed end according to His plan. They are mockers. Verse 5, in all this it escapes their notice that God created the heavens and the earth long ago. And then in verse 6, God destroyed that earth in the flood of Noah, long ago. And in verse 7, by His Word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for fire, kept for the day of judgment and the destruction of ungodly men. One thing that does take place, that in all the catastrophes we call natural disasters, we are reminded that there is coming a day of judgment for this world. That is a reminder to this world, that is a reminder to us as believers. It is a call to repentance.

Verse 9, the Lord is not slow about His promise regarding His coming and His completing His work as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. Like the word of warning that went out to that region, and focus has been on New Orleans since the water continues to flood the area. Some of those people didn’t want to go. This morning before I came I turned on the news and they said we’re picking up people now living in the 2nd story of their house. These aren’t the people who couldn’t afford to leave, they had cars in their garage, they had the resources to go. They just didn’t want to go. For some of them they say they had to force them to leave now. What does this say? You know God gives a reminder, judgment is coming. He wants people to repent, He does not want them to be destroyed in His coming judgment. But there are some who do not heed the warning.

So every “natural disaster” is a reminder that God is not only a God of love and patience and kindness, but a God of wrath and judgment. And His wrath can be severe. There is a lesson for us to learn in this as God’s people as well. Verse 11, all these things are to be destroyed in this way. What sort of people ought you to be in all holy conduct and godliness? How many of you would like to buy a house in New Orleans today? You know I watched the vacation program a while ago. People paid $800,000 for a 2nd home apartment in the French Quarter. Wonder where it is now? I’m not minimizing the tragedy of that. But you know what he’s saying to believers in verse 11? We know the future of this world, so our concern in this life is to be faithful to our God and to serve Him. Because all these things are going to be destroyed. We looked at the tragedy of that, but you look around, you go home, walk around your house—it’s all going to be destroyed. You believe the Word of God? Look at our fine cars and all that we have and all that we……….. It’s going. This is just a reminder of what is coming and we are prepared for it, and we are to live in light of that. If someone knew beyond a doubt that New Orleans was going to be destroyed by this hurricane and six months ago the started to build a $4 million house and wanted to get it done in 5 months so they’d be done before the storm, you’d say that’s foolish. It will be unlivable, this is going to be uninhabitable, at least for a time. We as Christians know what’s going to happen. It will happen, and so we are to live accordingly, that’s to shape our conduct.

You know the worst of the earth’s catastrophes is yet future. Turn over to the book of Revelation. We don’t have time to walk through the judgments of the book of Revelation, I’m aware of that, but it won’t keep me from trying. Just a couple of highlights, remind ourselves. A number of you, and as believers we can’t help but think, you look at that devastation, what’s the first thought that comes to your mind? What’s the tribulation going to be like? Any of you think about that? When so much of the world is destroyed. Some of the articles say, will this be inhabitable in the anywhere near future? The pollution with chemicals and everything that’s in that water that’s sitting there. Once we get the water out the soil is polluted, all the pipes are destroyed and polluted. Is it even possible? And this is just a little area. We’ve found out how our country can get paralyzed. We visited Yellowstone Park, my wife’s planned travels this summer. And I like most of it, it’s pretty. But I saw a program on TV talking about what a volatile area that is. Could have some of the most explosive volcano activity in the world there, and so they show what would happen and how much of the country would be affected. Nebraska would be turned to darkness if that explodes the way they say it has the potential to do at any time. Pretty soon our whole country.…… We wonder what could happen. We’re just in a position to deal with whatever disaster comes. It doesn’t take much to realize our resources are stretched and maximized. We don’t know what to do with the injured, the sick, the dying. People say, I can’t believe that there are bodies floating here and nobody is doing anything. There are bodies lying on the street.

Just a reminder, there are a series of judgments coming after the Rapture of the church, the 7-year period before Christ returns to the earth—the seals, the trumpets and the bowls, 7, 7, and 7. They unfold the pouring out of God’s wrath on the earth and they are primarily focused on physical disasters that will take place. Look in Revelation 6, there are a series of seals, I’ll just tell you like the second seal. Verse 4, the first 4 under the picture of a horseman come riding out and so you have the four horsemen of the apocalypse that’s often used even in secular literature as a reference to coming disaster and judgment. And that brings war to the earth, peace is remove from the earth. Men are slaying one another, a great sword is given. So there will be mass destruction here. Look under the third seal, verse 6, a voice saying, a quart of wheat for a denarius, 3 quarts of barley for a denarius. Don’t harm the oil and the wine. The basic staples of life are going to be getting rationed. We say we ought to be able to get food to these people. Multiply these disasters in great waves. We get an idea how pathetic and pitiful it is. We’ve seen it in third world countries, people here say we need water, we need food. Now you have famine on a broad scale.

Look at the 4th seal being broken. Every time a seal is broken another judgment is revealed. Verse 8, I beheld an ashen horse followed by death and Hades. Authority was given him over a fourth of the earth to kill with the sword, with famine, with pestilence, wild beasts. Here you have one judgment. We’re going to have 7 seals, 7 trumpets, 7 bowls, all getting worse. We’re at the 4th seal and one-quarter of the earth’s population will die under this seal. Can you imagine? I don’t know, what’s the earth’s population? Somebody told me earlier today it was 6 billion. I’m a little behind, I thought it was less. So let’s say 6 billion, that would be 1.5 billion people die under this one judgment. Now we also have slaughtered in war, we also have famine going. Now we have all this collected together. We could understand there how quickly pestilence……. They say what about disease going to take place if we don’t do something quickly. Disease. And then they have to worry about the animals—poisonous snakes, and……….. People walking through the water. You multiply that. You have martyrdom going on, changes in the atmosphere.

Turn over to chapter 8, we move on to the trumpets. Out of the 7th seal come the 7 trumpets. You can get the details of Revelation in studies we’ve done. Now it’s getting more awesome. Before the trumpets even sound there is silence in heaven for ½ hour. This is getting more awesome. We move from the seals where over a quarter of the earth’s population has died, now we’re getting to things that are getting more serious. There is even silence that sets the stage. Then in verse 7, hail and fire thrown to the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees, a third of all the green grass. Imagine if one-third of the earth was destroyed this way, its impact? The second angel blows his trumpet and a third of the sea becomes blood, a third of the animals in the sea, the fish in the sea die. A third of the ships are destroyed. Talk about the stench wafting over the earth from this. Then the third trumpet sounds and a third of the fresh water is destroyed. We talk about water shortage. One of the news magazines in the last few weeks had the major battle in the western part of our country is for water. And now we’re going to destroy a third part of the fresh water? How is that going to impact the world?

The fourth angel sounds in verse 12, you know what? You reduce the light of day and the light that shines by night by a third. We’re afraid about global warming, well there’s going to be global warming, but before global warming there’s going to be global coolness. I mean all of a sudden now all the climates all thrown out of kilter. And the fifth angel sounds and you have a demonic invasion, and what these demonic beings do, and they may use natural forces, some kind of animal. But the power behind it is demonic, and they have the power to inflict people with tremendous pain for 5 months. So bad that Revelation 9:6 tells us, men will seek to die but they won’t be able to die. Here you have these people writhing in agony. We see our health services getting overwhelmed with one small catastrophe. I don’t minimize the loss of life, but we’re talking about thousands, maybe hundreds down there, may get to thousands. We’re talking about not millions but billions of people dying on the earth. Think about the health services and here you have people writhing in pain and where is the help, where does the help come from.

And then under the 6th trumpet, that was the 5th trumpet, you have another demonic army or invasion and you know what happens with that? The end of verse 15, they’ll kill one-third of mankind. That was just under the 6th trumpet. Now we have one-fourth of mankind die under one of the seals. Now under one of the trumpets we have a third. That’s half of the earth’s population dying under these two judgments, you add to that all the rest and you have billions of people dying on this earth.

Now with all of this there is a semblance of normality going on because Jesus said they’ll be marrying and giving in marriage until He returns. We say, how can that be? Well you know it deals with one portion of the earth. Someone said that North and South America could comprise one-quarter of the earth’s population. I don’t know how accurate that is, but we wonder what happens to the United States. Maybe it goes in the early judgments, I don’t know. But you know we’re relatively unaffected. I look around here, we look good, we’ve all watched the news, we’ve been moved, we think maybe we ought to do something, maybe we ought to give something. I watched this and then we were on our way to lunch, I think it was Thursday, we’re driving down the road. Someone says isn’t it amazing, we just get done, and we are moved by the tragedy in that part of our country, but we’re on our way to lunch. And we’ll go sit down and overeat, and we’ll go back out and say that was really good. Life goes on for us. That’s the reality. Even when it happens in our country, life goes on for us. We can’t all just pack up our bags and go to the Gulf Coast and do something, so life goes on.

That’s the way it will be in the tribulation. There will be places in the world in the antichrist’s empire where it will be marrying and giving in marriage, going about business and saying, isn’t it terrible what happened to the United States of America? It no longer exists. South America got wiped off the map. And they say, isn’t that terrible? And you know what’s happening over there and there are people dying by the millions. How many millions of people die in Africa from AIDS and that? We say that’s terrible, but life goes on for us. I don’t want you to get the wrong idea that there’ll be…….. People will be maintaining some normalcy in parts of the world while the world is being absolutely overwhelmed. And that’s basically the way we are, isn’t it? So many of the people in our country, what’s their attitude? Let’s not get involved over there, and as long as it doesn’t happen here. What did Frances Schaeffer say over 20 years ago? The guiding thing for Americans is personal peace and affluency, and as long as it doesn’t affect my personal peace and my affluency, things are good. And there is that certain sense of self-centerdness.

But it’s going to get worse. This is what the world is moving toward. We haven’t gotten to the worst judgments yet. In fact the last three trumpets are so bad that the angels stop and say, woe, woe, woe for the last three trumpets. But you know what the last trumpet does? It introduces the worst of the worst. Now we go to the bowls, and the bowls are contained in chapter 16, and there are 7 of those. And I don’t know what to say about these, the destruction is overwhelming. The second angel, Revelation 16:3, the sea—now we have one-third of the sea destroyed, now you have the whole sea becoming blood. Then we had a third of the fresh water destroyed, now in verse 4 the fresh water turns to blood. Reminds you of the plagues on Egypt, doesn’t it, in the book of Exodus? No there is evidently some fresh water perhaps in wells and so on, but the vast majority of fresh water is destroyed. The fourth angel pours out his bowl, now there is a progression here. You destroy the water of the sea, you destroy most of the fresh water, and now verse 8, the fourth angel pours out his bowl on the sun and it was given to scorch men with fire. Watching the events on the news with the Gulf Coast and they’re talking about, must have been Tuesday or Wednesday, how the temperature is soaring down there. Going to be in the 90s and the humidity and heat index, it’s going to be unbearable and there is a lack of water. And what do you have here? You have the water destroyed and now you have the sun, and they’re going to be saying, guess what? It’s going to be 122 degrees today. And we’ve had a water shortage. And you see the misery of the men on the earth.

What’s the impact? People falling in their knees, oh God forgive me, I’m a wretched sinner. Well verse 9 says, men were scorched with fierce heat, they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues. They did not repent so as to give Him glory. There is darkness caused, and I don’t know what all is entailed in that, but evidently what happens in the context of this plague is so terrible people gnaw on their tongues for pain. Now you know what it’s like when you accidentally bite your tongue? That hurts! Now I don’t know what could be so painful that would cause me to chew on my tongue for relief from the pain, but that’s the description God gives. And yet verse 11 says they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and sores. You know what? They know who’s causing it. ??????reaction if you tell people today in a disaster like we experienced, well you know it was the hand of God behind that. I wouldn’t serve a God like that. A God like that is despicable. You’re almost concerned for them, with that coming out of their mouth. But here they do recognize, only God can do this and they blaspheme Him. They did not repent of their deeds and the judgments go on. It culminates with the return of Christ and the destruction of the wicked, the setting up of His kingdom. And after 1000 years of perfect rule, rebelling against Him and then the destruction of all things by fire, and an eternal kingdom.

I want to turn you back to the book of Ezekiel and we’re done. Ezekiel 33, right about in the middle of your Bible. And if you turn to the middle and you get the Psalms you’re in the wrong middle. Close it up and turn again. And if you get to Isaiah close it up and turn again. Ezekiel is one of those right there in the middle. Ezekiel 33:7, now as for you, son of man, God speaking to Ezekiel. I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel so you will hear a message from my mouth and give them a warning from me. He’s told them about the responsibility of a watchman who is to watch for a disaster coming to his city, then sound the warning. Now Ezekiel is God’s watchman to the nation Israel. When I say to the wicked, oh wicked man, you will surely die. And you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity. But his blood I will require from your hand. But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life. We have to think, God has entrusted His word to us. He’s told us of coming judgment, He’s warned us of wrath to come, He’s entrusted to us in these earthen vessels the message of salvation from coming wrath and judgment. Our responsibility is to warn them. I think it’s right that we are moved with compassion and desire to help those going through a tragedy like the Gulf Coast. But you know sometimes we are blind to the reality we have people living on our street, family members who are on their way to overwhelming wrath. And God has told us, but we don’t tell them. That’s serious. God says He’ll hold us accountable. Here you see human responsibility and divine action. That wicked man will still pay the price for his wickedness, but I will be accountable to God for my unwillingness to do my job.

What will be the answer? Why, if I know that storm was going to hit the Gulf Coast and none of the weathermen said it was coming, we’d say they deserve to be punished, they’re guilty. Now they sounded the warning and people refused to leave, at least they did what they could. Going around telling people you have to leave, this is going to be serious, you could be destroyed. People who didn’t go we’d say, well they paid the price. Now we sit knowing that men and women are on their way to destruction. Judgment is coming on this earth and the judgment of eternal hell is awaiting them. God has given us the message and we don’t tell them. We will be accountable. We want to be careful we don’t see the world………. We look at a tragedy and say oh that’s terrible, but it’s not so terrible that people look good today but tomorrow they’ll be swept away in judgment.

Look at Ezekiel 33:11, as I live declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked. But rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back. It’s not that God delights to destroy people. That’s why He’s given the message, that’s why you and I are entrusted with the message. I mean ?????? we’ve had people that run through the streets and the cities of the Gulf Coast telling people to flee for your life, there is deliverance, get on this vehicle and get out. But we have the message that will deliver people from eternal hell and we’re speechless, we’re dumb, we’re paralyzed. We don’t say anything. But we are accountable to God. God is a God of salvation. He’s not willing that any should perish but that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. So He’s given His Son to be the Savior. Wrath is coming, the worst for this world, far more than you or I can even imagine. And then that will be followed by the worst of the worst, eternal sentencing to an eternal hell. That’s the wrath of God.

But this is a time of mercy and grace. We’re reminded of coming wrath, but God’s invitation today is the same as it was to Israel. Why wouldn’t Israel turn from their sin? Turn back, turn back from your evil way. Why will you die oh house of Israel? We carry that message. Why would people not believe? God does not lie, He cannot lie. What He has said about coming judgment is true and in one real way we do see something of a foreboding of a judgment that will overtake this world in the disasters that come. That’s just a little preview to remind the world and to remind us as God’s people of the truth of His Word.

If you haven’t trusted Christ, why not? Why would you take your chance? With the storm you have no chance. You cannot escape the wrath to come by your own doing. Well I’ll take my chances. There are no chances. It’s assured destruction. But salvation is real. Turn from your sin and place your faith in the Savior who died to pay the penalty for your sin. God will cleanse you, forgive you, and He promises to deliver you from wrath to come. And for those of us who have experienced that deliverance, now we’re privileged to be the watchmen and tell others. So we should see all those we come in contact with today, tomorrow, this week in that awful, precarious position in the face of impending judgment that could break loose at any time. And we are the watchmen to tell them. As bad as the tragedy we’ve just observed in our country is, there is something far worse coming. That will be followed by the worst of the worst. But this is what God says. There is deliverance and you can flee. There is still time to flee the wrath to come by believing in His Son.

Let’s pray together. Father, we are thankful that we are privileged to know that you are the God who has created all things. You are the God who is sovereign over all of your creation and you are intimately involved in every way, in every aspect, in all the details of your creation so that your perfect purposes are accomplished. And we acknowledge we often don’t understand and we don’t know why. But we are satisfied to know that you are our God and you are working what is right, what is proper, what is good, and it’s your purposes that are being done, from the depths of the sea to the highest mountain. Lord, I pray for those who may be here and have heard the warning, perhaps repeatedly, of coming judgment that they have yet to flee, yet to turn from their sin and trust your Son. Lord, by your grace may they believe in Him today. Lord, what a tragedy that we as your people would be entrusted as watchmen with a message of deliverance and salvation, but remain speechless and fail to warn people of wrath to come, fail to tell them of the Savior who is their only hope. Give us boldness and courage in these days. We pray in Christ’s name, amen.