A Question of Judgment

Bear with me here. I'm going to tie two thoughts together. Follow along.

First thought: Yesterday a 25-year-old Mesa man was convicted by a jury of first degree murder of his girlfriend's two-year-old son. The man lured the little boy from his bedroom, took him out to the pool at night, and drown the little boy. In a statement to the police, Derek Chappell admitted his "mistake" in killing the boy. "Mistake" -- that was his word. How many times have we heard that term used in similar circumstances? "I admit my mistake of killing someone." "I made the mistake of lewd and indecent acts with a minor." "My involvement in the illegal act was a mistake." The term doesn't rise to the level of its real term -- "sin". A mistake is an error in action, calculation, opinion, or judgment caused by poor reasoning, carelessness, or insufficient knowledge. A sin is a violation of God's commands. One is careless reasoning; the other is Cosmic Treason. How often do we consider our sins to be mere mistakes as a way of mitigating our culpability?

Second thought: Have you ever noticed how many times God uses weather in terms of judgment? Now, mind you, I'm not the standard "wrath of God" type. When September 11, 2001 hit, many voices called it the judgment of God. When Hurrican Katrina struck, many voices considered it the judgment of God. Me? I remembered Jesus's words when He was asked something similar. In Luke 13, some people asked Jesus about "the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices" (Luke 13:1). Jesus replied:

"Do you suppose that these Galileans were greater sinners than all other Galileans because they suffered this fate? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" (Luke 13:2-5).

Jesus didn't say one way or another whether or not these events were the judgment of God. He simply warned them to look to their own sins. But the question was suspended. Then, in John 9, Jesus's disciples asked Him about a man who was blind from birth. "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" (John 9:2). The assumption was that when bad things happen, it is the judgment of God for something. Jesus denied this assumption:

"It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him" (John 9:3).

In this case Jesus specifically denies that this event (a man born blind) was the judgment of God. So I'm not your standard "The sky is falling; it's the judgment of God" type of person.

Still, it is noteworthy the number of times that God uses weather in His threats of judgment. In Genesis, He judged the world with a worldwide flood. In Exodus 9, God sent rain, thunder, and hail as one of the plagues on Egypt. In Deuteronomy 11, God sets forth blessings and curses on those who love Him and those who don't. One blessing for loving God was "He will give the rain for your land in its season, the early and late rain, that you may gather in your grain and your new wine and your oil" (Deut. 11:13-1). Conversely, the curse for failing to love God was "He will shut up the heavens so that there will be no rain and the ground will not yield its fruit" (Deut. 11:16-17). In Deuteronomy 28 He gives similar blessings and cursings, including the promise of good rain for obedience and drought for disobedience. In 1 Sam. 12, God sent thunder and rain to demonstrate His displeasure at the people's request for a king. In 1 Kings 8, Solomon returned the Ark to its rightful place. When God made His presence known, Solomon prayed. He mentioned several signs that would tell Israel they were in sin, including defeat in battle and drought (1 Kings 8:35-36). In 1 Kings 17, Elijah understood that lack of rain was a warning to the people, so he told the evil king Ahab that he had asked God to withhold the rain as punishment for Israel's sins ... and God stopped the rain for three years. In Isaiah and Jeremiah they warn of God withholding rain as judgment for sin. In Ezekiel 13, God warns that He will send "a flooding rain and hailstones" as an act of His wrath. In Amos 4 God Himself says that He sent rain on one city and not on another as an act of judgment. And there are many more. The Bible often refers to weather disturbances as an act of God's judgment.

As I said, I'm not your typical "Judgment of God" type. It just strikes me as odd that there are floods in the UK and Europe and Australia and the U.S. and there are droughts in Australia and Africa and the U.S. and, although we're quite convinced it's just "global warming", there are so many passages of warning from God that He will use violent weather to call for repentance. I'm not ready to call our odd weather over the past several months and years "the judgment of God." On the other hand, I'm not ready to call us "mistaken," either. It may or may not be God's judgment, but it is never a bad time to consider our sins rather than our "mistakes" and repent.

In a famous passage in 2 Chronicles 7, God tells Solomon, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land" (2 Chron. 7:14). We hear that sometimes. But the verse before it gives it context. "If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people;" (2 Chron. 7:13). The "healing of the land" of which He speaks is in terms of disasters of nature. I don't doubt it extends beyond that, but He is specifically speaking of drought, locusts, disease ... disasters in nature. And God doesn't talk about "all people." He refers to "My people." Calling on the world to repent is always a good idea, but we who call ourselves Christians -- followers of Christ -- would do well to examine ourselves, to test ourselves and see if we are in the faith, and to repent of our own sins. I won't say that the weather we are experiencing is the judgment of God, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to use this opportunity to reflect and repent, would it? After all, they aren't mistakes; they are acts of Cosmic Treason.