God Judges Japan (or did He?)

I’ve been thinking about, and praying for, the people in Japan who have been caught up in the latest natural disaster. Yet again we have the handful of self-appointed prophets of doom pronouncing judgment on the nation of Japan. As I wrote in an earlier article, Jesus warns against drawing a line from suffering to judgment in Luke 13, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?”

The earthquake and tsunami are not a judgment sent by God against Japan. God clearly told us what His judgments look like. In II Peter 2, God tells us that His judgment on Sodom and Gomorrah would be “an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly”.

You can find the story of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 18 & 19. When God told Abraham that he was going to destroy the cities, Abraham asked, “Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?” After some negotiation, God agreed that if He could find 10 righteous people in the cities, He would not destroy them. However, God could only find one righteous man, Lot. So did God sweep away the righteous with the wicked? No, He sent two angels to rescue Lot before He sent judgment.

Also, II Peter 2 also says that God’s judgment is seen when He judged the earth with a flood. God “brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness”.

When God sends His judgment, He does not “sweep away the righteous with the unrighteous”. God’s judgment is the execution of His divine justice, that satisfies the wrath of God. However, I Thessalonians 5:9 says, “God has not destined us for wrath”. Christians will suffer during this life, but they will not suffer as the result of God’s judgment.

In Japan where Christians are less than 0.2% of the population, biblical Christianity thrives in the eastern regions. The every same areas that were devastated by the tsunami waves (More information here). This wasn’t God’s judgment.

My daughter’s (7 and 9 years old) have been praying lately “God please help the people in Japan and bless them.” My prayer is “God, please listen to my girls and ignore those other people who misrepresent You to the world.”

Image by The Gospel Coalition at http://thegospelcoalition.org