Does God Create Calamity?

What was interesting to me were the responses on my social media to Ray’s video. There were those claiming it had nothing to do with God doing anything, some saying it was God’s judgment, and others saying that God was in total control regardless. There was a lot of emotion in the comments as people grappled with how to view this from a Christian perspective. Here are just a few examples:

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But all this reminded me of the importance of an emphasis we’ve always had at Answers in Genesis—to teach people how to have a truly Christian worldview. And to do that, we must build our thinking on Genesis 1–11. As I’ve said many times, to deal with any topic, we have to start with Genesis 1–11. Sadly, this has been missing from the thinking of many Christians and the teaching of many church leaders. That’s one of the reasons I think many Christians find it hard to know what to say about calamities such as these terrible fires. I thought it would be good to share with you how I would deal with this topic from a truly Christian worldview starting with Genesis 1–11.

First of all, we need to understand that we live in a fallen world that is “groaning” (Romans 8:22) because of the consequence of our sin in Adam, and God’s resulting judgments (Genesis 3).

So it’s important to realize that earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, etc., are a result of God’s judgment—God’s judgment on our sin. And such will continue while this present earth remains.

Now Isaiah 45:7 states, “I form light and create darkness; I make well-being and create calamity [evil]; I am the Lord, who does all these things.” What does it mean God creates calamity? Some translations use the word evil. But the Hebrew word can mean “moral evil” (sin) or “harmful events.” In the context about a prophecy concerning King Cyrus, it means harmful events. In other words, the prophet was saying God was going to use a king who did not recognize the true God (Cyrus, not yet born) to bring calamity to Babylon for the sake of his people to restore them to their homeland.

So God orchestrated calamity for his sovereign purposes. He is in control of everything.

So did God create the calamities of the fires in Los Angeles, the hurricanes and tornadoes that devastated places in America, the fires in Australia that killed many of the koalas, and so on?

Well, because of God’s judgment of sin resulting in the groaning fallen world we live in, we must understand such calamities arising in this world are ultimately due to God’s actions as a righteous judge because of man’s rebellion.

But could any of these be a specific judgment from God? Well, it’s always possible as God has created calamity in the past to accomplish his sovereign will. For instance, God brought plagues, earthquakes, a global flood, famine, and so on to fulfill his plan. Now such specific events have happened because God initiated them, but really, they are rare throughout the years. God causing such specific events seems to be the exception, not the rule. Yet God is in control of everything and can do whatever he deems necessary to bring people to himself. That’s why Romans 8:28 tells us that “all things work together for good,” not that all things are good! He uses every situation for his sovereign purposes. The cross was an evil event, but God used it for a morally good purpose—salvation!

God also teaches us that there are consequences for those rejecting the truth of his Word and the gospel. Concerning the Jews in the Old Testament, we read of God giving blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 28). If they were to do these things that God commanded, they would be blessed. But if they didn’t do what God commanded and went after false gods, etc., they would suffer bad things (curses) because of it. So God does bless and judge behavior.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked. (Psalm 1:1)

Also, those who reject God will sow seeds of destruction:

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. (Galatians 6:7–8)

In relation to the devastating fires in Los Angeles and a few years ago in Australia, there is a lot of evidence that government leaders allowed the creation to have dominion over man instead of obeying the mandate that man has dominion over the creation (Genesis 1:26–28). For example, people in many instances weren’t allowed to clear brush from forests, build firebreaks, or use controlled burns to manage forests. Over time, this creates a situation where a fire, no matter how it started, can have devastating consequences. A wrong worldview results in negative consequences.

We see the same problem regarding how many view crime. They assume man is basically good, so if he does something wrong, you improve his environment, and he will get better. But it’s man’s sinful heart that is the problem!

Those who reject God’s dominion mandate basically assume everything natural is good. But everything natural is cursed because of sin. Fallen man living in a fallen world needs to understand that taking dominion means helping overcome the effects of the curse on the creation for man’s good and God’s glory. We see the same problem regarding how many leaders view crime. They assume man is basically good, so if he does something wrong, you improve his environment, and he will get better. But it’s man’s sinful heart that is the problem! And if that’s not dealt with, then the person will certainly not get better.

Also, man is made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27). Animals are not made in God’s image (Genesis 1:24). Yet in California, it seems that there was a lack of water because leaders were protecting a particular fish, among other things, to the detriment of looking after man who is made in the image of God. Their leaders also believe in much of the radical climate change agenda, which has evolutionary presuppositions. That false belief also led to a wrong approach to providing water, electricity, and more.

As a result of this happening in our fallen world, a combination of circumstances resulted in catastrophic fires, sadly impacting hundreds of thousands of people and the environment—which the leaders were trying to protect—greatly suffered as well. And really, this is God’s judgment because of the consequences of our sin.

But God is God! He knew all of this. He knew what was going to happen. Yes, he could have stopped it.

He could have sent rain to put the fires out. But for this event, he didn’t. For instance:

He makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust. (Matthew 5:45)

God must have higher purposes for allowing those fires to go unabated for so long.

Yes, many Christians lost their homes and church buildings. Why would God allow that? We can’t know the mind of God as his ways are far above ours and his thoughts far above ours. Perhaps the way God’s people respond could be a witness to those needing the Lord. Who knows how God could use all of this. Remember, Job didn’t know what was happening behind the scenes and why he lost all his material wealth and his children. It was devastating. Yet how did Job respond? “Though he slay me, I will hope in him” (Job 13:15).

Then when Job wanted to defend himself before God, in Job 38–41, God asked Job many questions to help him realize he knows nothing compared to God. And Job responded, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. ‘Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.’ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:2–6).

Job recognized he had to let God be God and realized we can’t understand the ways of God. We’re just finite, fallible people. And we deserve nothing! We don’t even deserve to exist. But God loves us so much he provided a gift of salvation through what his Son did for us on the cross. Wow! We owe him everything! And while we live on this earth, we cannot live above the curse.

We have to accept the consequences of God’s judgment.

And as hard as it is, be reminded: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).

In Luke 13, Jesus talked about 18 people that were killed when a tower fell on them. Concerning their deaths, he was asked if they were worse sinners than others. And his answer was, “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:5). In other words, that was their time to die. Make sure you are all ready for that time. Trust Christ for salvation. Repent and be saved.

AiG supports a Christian ministry called Children’s Hunger Fund. For 25 cents, they provide one meal to a needy child. Answers in Genesis has helped provide millions of meals for children by supporting this ministry through our VBS outreach and also through sales of food at our attractions with our “Buy a Meal, Give a Meal” program.

Our friend Dave Phillips, the founder and president, shared this:

Let me begin by expressing gratitude to God for sparing our headquarters building in Sylmar. When the Sylmar fire broke out at about 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, the high winds pushed the fire directly toward the hillside behind our building. At 11 p.m., . . . it became very apparent that our building was in great jeopardy!

However, through God’s providence and grace, our building was spared! Firefighters were able to keep the flames coming down the mountainside from damaging our building as well as our surrounding neighbors! We thank the Lord for his protection and for all who prayed, knowing that we were in harm’s way.

So why did God spare this facility, but homes of many Christians and church buildings were not spared? We don’t know, but maybe in God’s sovereign purpose, he planned for Children’s Hunger Fund (CHF) to be ready to provide meals to many needy children left homeless because of the fires. And that’s why I encourage you to support them—yes, every 25 cents provides a meal, and $100 provides 400 meals. To support CHF, go to ChildrensHungerFund.org.

My point is this: Many Christians don’t know how to deal with answering questions when calamities occur. We are only fallible, finite humans. But if we know to begin with Genesis 1–11 and build our worldview, we can give people a big-picture understanding. We won’t have all the answers. We can’t. We’re not God. But we can use such events to give them the basic answers and point them to God’s Word and the gospel.

And that’s what Answers in Genesis is all about.

Will you prayerfully consider donating today to our core ministry that allows us to continue developing resources and content that gives people answers and the life-changing message of God’s Word and the gospel?

Thank you for supporting us in all we do and being part of our family. And let’s all continue to pray for those still impacted by those catastrophic fires.