The Haiti Earthquake...Why God?

Fox news reported that "the shaking started on Tuesday, Jan. 12, at 4:53 p.m. EST in the Haiti region, just 10 miles southwest of Port-au-Prince."

The results of course have been devastating to the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. The capital city is flattened and the conservative estimated death toll is now around 50,000. Such senseless wholesale carnage in such a poor country is hard for many to reconcile with the idea of a loving sovereign God. Couldn't God have stopped this earthquake if He is almighty? If He is loving, wouldn't He have wanted to?

Some, like Pat Robertson, have suggested that God is punishing Haiti for a pact they made with the Devil over 200 years ago. It's the same group that suggested that God was punishing New Orleans, LA through the devastation of Katrina.

In Jesus' days, there were many such attempts to explain disasters and calamities in a way that cast blame on the victims. Here's what Jesus had to say,

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." Luke 13:1-5 NIV


The Bible lists many reasons for the suffering on this planet, here are a few

-Divine judgment: characterized by unmistakable supernatural phenomena and always preceded by prophetic warning. (the flood, Sodom and Gomorrah)

Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets. Amos 3:7

-Cause and Effect Consequences of one's actions: if you drink and drive, you put yourself at great risk of being in an accident.

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." (John 5:14)

-The Devil: Although God allowed Satan to harm Job through natural disasters, disease, and marauders, it was Satan who did it. (Job 1)

-The natural results of living in a sinful planet: earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, etc

For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that[i] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. (Romans 8:20,21)

-The neglect of our duty to take care of one another, so that the innocent suffer.

Because of the oppression of the weak
and the groaning of the needy,
I will now arise," says the LORD.
"I will protect them from those who malign them." (Psalm 12:5)

The Haiti earthquake clearly meets the criteria of the last three categories. It's impossible to know for sure why this happened, but we can know that it was not Divine Judgment, since it was not preceded by any prophetic warning; nor was it supernatural in nature. It was not the result of anything the Haitians did, since we cannot control the earth's crust.

What would I say to Pat Robertson?

-It isn't just Haiti that has made a pact with the Devil. It's the whole human race. When Adam and Eve chose to obey the Devil and disobey God, they gave this planet into his hands.

The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship me, it will all be yours." (Matthew 4:5)

The Devil has great power over the forces of nature, and He uses that power to his own purposes. He loves to cause great suffering and then point the finger at God.

-Earthquakes are a reality on this planet. They happen from time to time for natural reasons. Since the human race has rejected God, God has to allow nature to takes it's course, and the second law of thermodynamics is taking into effect. Everything tends towards disorder. The planet is deteriorating just like everything else does when left to itself. Only something outside and greater than this planet can restore it. Until that happens, calamities will happen. We asked for independence from God, so He hesitantly gave it to us.

-Suffering and death appear like the worst of all evils in our eyes, and they are terrible. But we must always remember that everyone dies. Whether it's an earthquake, or a heart-attack. We will all die one day. Great disasters cause headlines, but the fact is, millions die every day. One day you and I will be one of them. Even looking at death as a tragedy requires the belief that we were meant to live forever.

In God's eyes, death is not the worst of evils. Despair, Oppression, violence, slavery, torture, are all much worse and happen every day. These are caused by human choice. Don't Miss This: The Greatest Evils In The World, the Ones God is Most Concerned About, Are Caused By Human Choice.

Human Selfishness is the real problem on this planet. It's always tempting to point the finger at God and ask Him, "why don't you do something?" but I'm guessing He wants to ask us the same question.

Evil and suffering cannot be solved by politics or technology. They can only be solved through the speaking and living of the gospel: a new principle of life based on a renewed relationship with God which He initiates by first forgiving us. God is the only cure to our selfishness. Only He can teach us how to love in the truest sense of the word. This relationship if properly nurtured will naturally result in us loving mankind made in His image. But please, before we preach it to others, let’s make sure we live it ourselves.