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In the religious commentaries on the Tsunami there has been a scarcity of interpretation of these events from a Biblical perspective. The following references may be helpful to your research in understanding these events from a biblical world view.

Prophecy

Events like the Tsunami are specifically part of the prophecies of Jesus. A review of Luke 21, Matthew 24 and Mark 13 will lead to warnings expressed through events and how we are to respond to them before God.

In Luke 21:11 Jesus warns that signs to come will include “great earthquakes” and predicts that:

“On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken” (Luke 21:25).

Scientists have estimated the force of the Tsunami was the equivalent of 9,000 Atomic bombs and that the earth was shaken in its axis. How accurate the Word of God is. However we should not be alarmed at these events as the Bible has specifically predicted that they will occur (Matt 24:6-8).

Cause and Effect

In these prophesies Jesus speaks of man-made catastrophes such as wars and revolutions as well as natural disasters. In Matthew 24:15 Jesus calls us to understand a principle behind many of these events. That principle is this: abomination causes desolation. Jesus refers to the prophecies of Daniel to point out the timelessness of this principle (Daniel 9:26-27).

In the last century we have seen this principle operating on the most mammoth scale imaginable. We have seen abominations causing desolation in two world wars and with Stalin, Mao, Pol Pot, Amin, Rwanda and Sudan, to mention a few.

One can only wonder about the consequences of decades of persecution, murder and revolution in Aceh and Sri Lanka… and the sex tourism the west has openly perpetrated on the young men and women of Thailand?

The reader must form their own conclusions about this latest catastrophe. However it is clear that the Bible casts catastrophes as signs of the times which are to interpreted (see Luke 21:25-36 and Proverbs 1:20-33).

In the current public debate from the Tsunami atheists have cast doubt on the love of God in the face of suffering… but they have completely missed the point of people neglecting to take responsibility for their own sinful behaviour before God. They have also missed the point of God suffering on our behalf on the Cross to provide a way of release from this world’s bondage to death and destruction (per Gen 2:17).

In Revelation 15 and 16 we learn that there will come a time when God’s wrath will be justly released. Here the bible teaches that God will invoke specific disasters as a result of human abominations. The recurring biblical lament in the face of these disasters is people refusing to repent and glorify God (Rev 16:9). Hence we can clearly conclude that our primary response to the Tsunami is humility and repentance.

The overwhelming point we need to understand from the prophecies of Jesus and the book of Revelation is that the Grace of God is not unlimited. It is like a stretching rubber band. At a time known only to God (Matt 24:36) the force of human sin played out against the resilience of God’s grace will reach a limit - and the repercussion will be God’s righteousness rebounding in wrath. This is the unmistakable warning of Jesus (Matt 24:37-44, Luke 21:34-36). We are called to be ready (Matt 25:1-13).

One great tragedy of the repercussions of abomination is that the sins of the fathers are visited on their children (whether in war or disasters) - and so fathers have to take responsibility for the innocence of youth caught up in such disasters (see the Ten Commandments, Deut 5:8-9). This impact on children is the last thing God wants to happen - as can be seen from the final words of the Old Testament (Mal 4:6) and in the critical process of getting prepared for the Lord (Luke 1:17). To avoid this disaster parents need to engage with John 3:16-21 and keep the Ten Commandments.

Are disasters always the result of sin?

No. Jesus answers this question clearly in Luke 13:1-8 and John 9:1-5. This can also be seen with Job’s friends who incorrectly formulate Job’s suffering with sin. In the end they were rebuked by God for incorrect judmentalism.

Nevertheless as we look on the suffering of others we are called to repent of our own waywardness and backsliding so that we also may not perish. One expression of our repentance is generosity in our support of those taking humanitarian support to the lost and suffering (Prov 3:21-27). Another is in repairing the relationships we so easily cast aside - both our relationship with God and the prolific dereliction and desertion of marriage partners.

The greatest pain in the Tsunami affected areas is the loss of loved ones. Yet in the West we desert our marriage partners, kill our unborn children, spread Aids through sexual promiscuity in defiance of God’s laws and suffer from a church in widespread disorder and disunity. Yes, we have our own abominations to put right before God.

The Bible and Geology

In Matthew 24:7-8, Jesus in describing the signs of His return says that: "nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes." And He adds, "but all these things are the beginning of birth pains"

The Bible teaches us that the earth as we know it is birthing a new heaven and a new earth (see Rev 21). Until that time the earth is in “bondage to decay” or in a state that tends from order towards disorder (Romans 8:20-22). For example, if you don’t clean your house or look after your garden they become disorderly. This fragility includes geology. Romans 8 states that: “the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of child birth right up to the present time”. One understanding of this description is that God built entropy into creation from the beginning... from the geological and atmospheric chaos of Gen 1:2, to the need of man to subdue and take care of the earth before the fall (Gen 1:28 and 2:15), to the teachings of Jesus on earthquakes and natural disasters. It is this very process in nature that demands the intervention of creative care. Both by God himself as creator/saviour and by man as God’s stewards on the earth.

How then do we live with natural disasters? In Luke 21:34-36 we read:

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth. Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

Jesus’ Guidelines for Survival

1. Be careful how you live so that you are not trapped by events that will come.

2. Always be OnWatch. Be both spiritually and intelligently alert and observant. This includes obeying the promptings of the Holy Spirit and observing services such as Tsunami warning systems (that Thai authorities ignored out of fear of loss of face if they got it wrong).

3. Pray for the way of escape.

4. Be ready and prepared to stand before Jesus.

One remarkable story to come out of the Tsunami was that of an English school girl who studied Tsunamis in class just weeks before going on holidays in Thailand. On boxing day she recognised the signs of a developing Tsunami and warned her parents who in turn warned local authorities. As a result the beach where they were staying was evacuated and everyone in that area was saved. This fits with Jesus warning to both watch and pray.

In your own relationship with God are you sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance to avoid a particular area or to take evasive action? Let me illustrate this in very practical terms:

We need to practice hearing the “still, small voice of the Holy Spirit” and be open to God speaking to us in dreams and visions. This is quite biblical and our lives and the lives of others may one day depend on it.

To summarise from Proverbs 9:10 -

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.”

It is hoped that these scripture references and personal comments may be helpful in developing a biblical world view that will be of value to you in the future.

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