Ten Lies about God “God Takes No Responsibility for Natural Disasters” 02/21/2010 Dr. Dane Boyles

Ten Lies about God“God Takes No

Responsibility for Natural Disasters”

02/21/2010Dr. Dane Boyles

Romans 8:19-20

19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope

Romans 8:21

21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Genesis 3:17

17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.

Genesis 3:18

18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.

“God Takes No Responsibility for Natural Disasters”

– When man ruined himself, he also ruined nature.

– When God cursed man, He also cursed nature.


– Does this mean that God has removed himself from nature?

– As Christians we must distinguish between what we see & what stands behind what we see.


– God holds a moment by moment relationship with all things.

– People react by making the “laws of nature” and God co-equal.


– People who believe this way don’t see that nature is relationally linked to God.

– Does that mean God has relegated such calamities to the devil?


• The God who permits natural disasters to happen could choose not to permit them to happen.

Job 1:12

12 The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.


• The Scripture also pictures God directly controlling nature.

• If the heavens declare the glory of God, why wouldn’t the calamites of nature reveal something about his other attributes?

Psalm 135:6-7

6 The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, in the seas and all their depths. 7 He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses. (Psa. 135:6-7)


– Who sent the flood during the time of Noah?

17 I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. (Gen. 6:17)


– Who sent the plagues on Egypt?

– Who caused the sun to stand still?

– Who caused a drought in the time of Elijah?

– Who sent the earthquake when the sons of Korah rebelled against Moses?

Numbers 16:31-32

31 As soon as he finished saying all this, the ground under them split apart 32 and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them, with their households and all Korah’s men and all their possessions.

Numbers 16:33

33 They went down alive into the grave, with everything they owned; the earth closed over them, and they perished and were gone from the community.


4 Then the LORD sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up.15 Then they took Jonah and threw him overboard, and the raging sea grew calm. (Jonah 1:4, 15)


– Clearly, God was in charge.

• What do all these stories have in common?– God meticulously controlled these

events.

– These were, for the most part, acts of judgment.


• Is God responsible for natural disasters?– For us responsibility usually means

accountability.6 The LORD does whatever pleases him, in the heavens and on the earth, (Psa. 135:6)


– But if God is the cause of all things, dare we charge him with evil?6 He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth,’ and to the rain shower, ‘Be a mighty downpour.’ (Job 37:6)

Job 37:10-11

10 The breath of God produces ice, and the broad waters become frozen. 11 He loads the clouds with moisture; he scatters his lightning through them.

Job 37:12-13

12 At his direction they swirl around over the face of the whole earth to do whatever he commands them. 13 He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love.

Job 37:13

13 He brings the clouds to punish men, or to water his earth and show his love. (Job 37:13)


– Should we charge God with evil?

– If God plays by a same set of rules as we do, then we should.

– God’s agenda is more complex than keeping people alive.

Isaiah 55:8-9

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.


– God always acts from the standpoint of eternity rather than time.

63 Just as it pleased the LORD to make you prosper and increase in number, so it will please him to ruin and destroy you. You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. (Deut. 28:63)

– We cannot judge an infinite being.


• What is the message of natural disasters?

2 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? (Luke 13:2)


3 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. (Luke 13:3)4 Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?


5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” (Luke 13:5)


– Disasters are a picture of judgment, but those who die in them are not greater sinners than those who don’t.

– Natural disasters are God’s megaphone, shouting to us messages we should be quick to learn.


• Death is inevitable.

• Natural disasters remind us that judgment is coming.

• We escape coming judgment by repentance.

3 Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish (Luke 13:3, NASB)


Conclusion– Can we trust a God who controls nature?

– If nature is out of God’s hands, then our lives are also out of his hands!

1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. (Psa. 46:1)

Psalm 46:2-3

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

Psalm 46:4-5

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.

Psalm 46:6-7

6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. 7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 46:8-9

8 Come and see the works of the LORD, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.

Psalm 46:10-11

10 “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Mark 16:16

16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved.

Ten Lies about God“God Takes No

Responsibility for Natural Disasters”

02/21/2010Dr. Dane Boyles

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Ten Lies about God “God Takes No Responsibility for Natural Disasters” 02/21/2010 Dr. Dane Boyles