Some say the intensity of a Hurricane Ian is God’s judgment upon a sinful people.
In fact, the Bible states clearly that God did bring judgment on wicked humanity at the Flood and also upon Sodom and Gomorrah. That He brought the storm against Jonah (Jonah 1). And that at certain times He has called for the locust, famine, and drought (Amos 7:1; 2 Kings 8:1; Haggai 1:11).
So should we assume that all such calamities are God’s judgment?
I believe we have some insight on this from Jesus. On one occasion the crowd was abuzz with the news that a tower in Siloam had fallen and killed 18 people. Jesus asked, “Were they worse sinners than all the others in Jerusalem?” Jesus knew the wisdom of the day—that such a calamity was clearly God’s judgment on wicked sinners.
Then He answered His own question: “I tell you, no!” They were not worse sinners than all the others in Jerusalem. This calamity did not happen to them as God’s judgment because they were worse sinners.
So we have it from Jesus, then, that not every disaster, whether natural or man-made, is God’s hand of judgment. Therefore, we should be careful about ascribing God’s judgment to calamity.
But as usual, Jesus isn’t finished with this conversation. He has a deeper point He wants to make. So He continues: No, they were not worse sinners… that’s not why the tower fell on them… “but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5).
May I paraphrase Jesus’ point? You people are pontificating on whether or not those people were killed by the hand of God in judgment. But you’re missing the most important thing: those people perished. It’s not how they perished, but that they perished. “Every calamity that sweeps men away is a divine call to repent and a divine warning to escape perishing forever by repenting in time.” *
There you have it, my friend. Hurricane Ian is nothing less than a divine call to repent; a divine warning to escape perishing forever by repenting in time.
Have you repented?
* R.C.H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Luke’s Gospel