Do you believe natural disasters are a punishment or warning from God?

Question

Why or why not?

Side question: Has anyone ever been to the aftermath of a natural disaster? Does this affect your answer if you have?

Answer 1

Possibly, God used Nature in the old testament to punish disobiedience. Does he do this in modern times? I dont know.

Answer 2

Very interesting question...I think that these natural disasters are occuring because man has messed up the environment. BUT...because we have, the result is these natural disasters. In God's plan, if we were to cherish the earth, ourselves, have love for others, ( In other words, obey the 10 Commandments) etc,, then we would have had a peaceful and happy life on Earth. But, since that will never be possible without God in charge, we are living in another system, and these natural disasters, which are predicted to become worse and more frequent, will keep happening. So, in reality, they are definitely a warning from God. A punishment, no....we may just happen to be there when it's happening..God loves us all, but God wants us to love one another, and turn toward Him, but...how likely would that be?
I am living in a place that is trying to recover from a natural disaster from 3 weeks a go...A snowstorm that has taken down our trees and caused flooding and several deaths. I don't feel the way I feel because of it, I felt this way before Oct. 17th. It's not punishment from God; there are alot of people in this area who may be true Christians, and who do many wonderful things for others; Is God punishing us? No, we just happen to be here...and these natural disasters are a sign from God,,,we are most likely nearing the time of the Tribulation that the Bible tells us about.

Answer 3

I don't believe that natural disasters are warnings from God but I do believe they are warnings from the earth we live on. If you live on an earthquake fault and it triggers big enough you have a disaster but if no one lived there it would just be a natural process. If you live in an area where there are hurricanes and there is one (or more) you have a disaster but if no one lives there it is the natural cycle of nature. Lightning will strike in woods and many pines are dependent on the fires they cause to open the pine cones so the seeds can be planted yet we call the big forest fires disasters. Rivers flood and wash nutrient rich new soils and organics onto stale land for a reason. Our concern should be what nature is telling us, like don't live in those area or live there at your own risk. We should also be concerned with what we are doing to our natural environment that effect the natural processes. Global warming, ozone layers, water & air polution those are the warning signs that nature gives us that we can do something about. Nature is a living breathing energy but not God, yet she is more powerful than we are so we should heed her warnings and correct our ways. Blessed Be

Answer 4

God does not punish by means of natural disasters. That is what they are--disasters of nature, not God. God would never punish righteous people with the wicked, for that would go against his quality of justice. Also, throughout the Bible, God always forewarned people before they were punished, either by directly speaking to them or through his faithful prophets, as in the case of the flood in Noah's time and also in the case of Sodom & Gomorrah. Those who paid attention to both warnings, were saved. Even today, God has faithful ones who are warning all people about the upcoming war of Armageddon, God's final war against all wickedness.
Though God does not intervene to stop bad things from happening, he is never the cause--it is Satan & his demons who are to blame for mankind's suffering, but Satan's time is limited. He will soon be put out of existance.
The earth will soon be a beautiful Edenic paradise and natural disasters will never plague us again. God has promised it and it will happen for God cannot lie. (TITUS 1:2)

Answer 5

Natural disasters are neither a warning or punishment from God. After the great flood, God promised not to destroy the earth by flood again. I think this promise also applies to natural disasters.

Natural disasters are a consequence of the fall of mankind. As a consequence of our sinfulness and disobedience we live in a world with things like hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, etc. occur.

God allows these things to happen, but He also uses them to draw us closer to Him and to each other.

In one of the Gospels, the man was blind not because of some sin he committed or his father committed, but so that God's glory could be made known. Jesus then made the blind man see.

Answer 6

I believe that these are the beginning of birth pangs. I believe it is an announcement from God that we should not fall in love with the world around us this world will some day be renewed until then we are going to continue to see natural disasters and evil on the rise. We are instructed to keep on minds on the things above. This sounds wonderful and encouraging because the things down here can definitely make people nervous and scared

Answer 7

This is an excellent ? A true understanding of God love is required here. It is not from God but from Satan. Ultimately God does have the power but he allows this to occur especially against sinful nations in the hope that His children will return to Him in mind, body and spirit. A greater good. He knows what is best for us as a loving Father even if we do not understand it.

Answer 8

Grace(not Law) unto you, and peace(not division),
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Natural disasters are notably "natural".
God is "spirit-ual" of natural(first)/spiritual(after).
http://www.godshew.org/HowbeitAfterward.htm

Furthermore God is not "spiritual wickedness".
Which is to say true God is not "high", but "higher".
http://www.godshew.org/RevelatorySermons21.html

Law worketh wrath: Rom 4:15, which is Destructive.
God hath NOT appointed us unto wrath: 1Thess 5:9
http://www.godshew.org/RevelatorySermons18.htm

Consider and 'compare'(not mix) two high/higher Gods:
God our Saviour, in heaven, "higher" than the heavens.
God our Destroyer, on "high", in plural divided heavens.
http://www.godshew.org/ShewBread6.htm#Gods

Law: God our Destroyer: Imp-erfect, Faulty, Destructive.
Grace: God our Saviour: Perfect, Merciful, Constructive.

The law (lie) was given by Moses: (Jn 1:17)
But grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

He taketh away the first (law): (Heb 10:9)
that he might establish the second (grace).

LAW: press DELETE to "take away"
GRACE: press SAVE to "establish"
http://www.godshew.org/RevelatorySermons1.htm

The GRACE of our Lord Jesus Christ with you all. Amen.

Answer 9

No.

If that were the case, we would have been informed of this ahead of time.

"For the Sovereign Lord Jehovah will not do a thing unless he has revealed his confidential matter to his servants the prophets."
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Answer to Additional Details: Been TO??? How about Lived Through. I was in the direct path of Hurricane Ivan, so I saw the destruction everyday for months. My own house was mostly OK, but it was several days before I could actually get into it without climbing over fallen trees.

We suffered a little bit from Katrina; we were on the eastern fringes. I had one tree in my yard the blew down on the edge of my neighbor's house.

Our Congregation was greatly involved in the rebuilding efforts locally following Ivan, and in Mississippi following Katrina. (I live in Lower Alabama.)

Had no influence on my answer.

Answer 10

I believe that god does not punish its us who punish ourselves. We are the one s who decides whats good or bad. so natural disaster is a warning not a punishment from god coz if it were a punishment we would all be dead by now.
Think about it.Its true

Answer 11

The Bible proclaims that Jesus Christ holds all of nature together (Colossians 1:16-17). Could God prevent natural disasters? Absolutely! Does God sometimes influence the weather? Yes, see Deuteronomy 11:17 and James 5:17. Does God sometimes cause natural disasters as a judgment against sin? Yes, see Numbers 16:30-34. The book of Revelation describes many events which could definitely be described as natural disasters (Revelation chapters 6, 8, and 16). Is every natural disaster a punishment from God? Absolutely not.

In much the same way that God allows evil people to commit evil acts, God allows the earth to demonstrate the consequences sin has had on Creation. Romans 8:19-21 tells us, “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.” The fall of humanity into sin had effects on everything, including the universe we inhabit. Everything in Creation is subject to “frustration” and “decay.” Sin is the ultimate cause of natural disasters just as it is the cause of death, disease, and suffering.

So, we are back to where we began. We can understand why natural disasters occur. What we do not understand is why God allows them to occur. Why did God allow the tsunami to kill over 225,000 people in Asia? Why did God allow Hurricane Katrina to destroy the homes of hundreds of thousands of people? I do not know. What I do know is this…God is good!

There are many amazing miracles, in both instances, that occurred - preventing an even greater loss of life. Natural disasters cause millions of people to reevaluate their priorities in life. Hundreds of millions of dollars in aid is sent to help the people that are suffering.