Are Natural Disasters a Judgment by God?

I don’t know. But someone said natural disasters such as hurricanes and tsunamis cannot be a judgment of God because those who lost houses may not have been the worst sinners, and because even believers may have been effected.

Well righteous Lot had to flee from his home and city when God judged Sodom, Gomorrah and the surrounding towns.

Righteous Noah was separated from house and land for 150 days, when God judged his generation.

The circumstances of even the Prophets were effected when God judged Israel and allowed the nation to be carried away into captivity in Babylon.

So I guess we believers must hold our possessions lightly, despite what we believe about prosperity. We should see our possessions merely as tools to serve God for the short time we have them.

Another cause of believers losing property can be persecution. The early church suffered the confiscation of their goods, even suffering imprisonment and death. This wasn’t a case of ‘reaping what you sow’ – this happened to them as a direct result of their faith, in direct fulfillment of Jesus’ Word!

And as for some of the worst sinners being spared, Jesus said:

“Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:4,5)

I realize that doesn’t entirely answer the question about whether or not natural disasters are a judgment of God. I don’t know if they always are. But regardless of who is or who isn’t effected by present disasters – after it’s all said and done, when the Son of Man comes, the righteous shall come out on top and the wicked shall perish!

“When the Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?”