Is God using recent natural disasters to punish humanity?

This is a difficult question. It cannot be answered by simply quoting a Bible

passage. It requires a careful study of God's nature, how He relates to the natural
world, and the link between humans, sin, and nature. These are huge theological
topics that always lead to differences of opinion among scholars. Here are some
aspects of the topic that appear to be clearly present in the Bible.
1. The Link Between Humans and Nature: When God made humans in His image
and gave them dominion over the natural world, He set them apart from the rest of
creation as unique (Gen. 1:26, 27). At that moment a close connection was
established between humanity and nature. Creation was placed under the dominion
of humans; creation's fate was to be determined by the choices and decisions of
humanity. Humans, as God's representatives, were to rule over nature as God
intended. The link between nature and humanity was so deep that upsetting the
moral order of humans would upset the way the world functioned.
Once sin and evil entered into the world everything changed (Rom. 5:12).
Because of Adam's and Eve's rebellion, the rest of the natural world "was subjected
to futility" (Rom. 8:20). Humans and nature now both groan under the burden of
evil and sin (verse 22). But the connection between humans and nature is also for
good. Humanity's redemption includes the redemption of the natural world. Nature
"will be delivered from the bondage of corruption" (Rom. 8:21; cf. Isa. 65:25).
2. God as Creator, Sustainer, and Preserver of the Natural World: The first thing
the Bible tells us about God is that He created "the heavens and the earth" (Gen.
1:1). Apart from God everything else in the universe has to be labeled "created."
This establishes a wide distance and distinction between God and His creation that
is salvaged only through His love and the mediation of His Son.
Creation is by nature finite; only God is infinite. Therefore, God is the one who
sustains the natural world. Left to itself the natural world would break down into
chaos and cease to exist. Nature does not possess life in itself, so it cannot
preserve itself. God through Christ is the one who holds it together and protects it
(Neh. 9:6; Col. 1:17). God not only sustains nature; He also preserves it. The
existence of the natural world is threatened by the presence of evil powers within
God's creation. So God fights against the forces of chaos, limiting their inroads into
the natural world, promising to free it from its bondage to decay (Job 38:8-11; Ps.
107:29; Rom. 8:21).
3. God, Natural Disasters, and Sin: Natural disasters are to be expected in a
world of sin and evil. They are not the exception to the rule, they are the rule. What
is unusual is that there aren't more of them. The "sometimes" presence of natural
disasters tells us that God is still in control, sustaining and preserving nature.
That having been said, the fact that God opposes the forces of evil in the natural
world does not mean that the link between human rebellion and the natural world
has been totally broken. The Bible teaches that human sin weighs heavily on the
natural world, allowing for an increase of evil's invasion into it (e.g., Gen. 3:17, 18;
Lev. 18:25; Isa. 24:3-6; Jer. 12:4). Humans, through rebellion and indifference
toward God, can push Him out of their lives and disrupt the order He created in the
natural world. When that happens God's sustaining and preserving power in the
natural world is significantly reduced. By distancing themselves from God humans
have also strengthened sin's grip on the natural world. The result is chaos and
disorder (e.g., Ps. 104:29, 30). The increase of rebellion, apostasy, and sin in the
last days will result in an increase in natural disasters.
But there is another dimension of the interaction between God and natural
disasters: Sometimes God uses nature to enforce His will on humanity. When that
happens, He usually intends to limit human sin and open new possibilities for His
creatures (e.g., Gen. 6:5-8; Amos 4:6-11). Correctly identifying those particular
cases is very difficult.

My friends are asking me, “Where is God in this pandemic?”

This is a valid question, and we should be able to provide guidance that will
strengthen hope and faith. The question of the coexistence of a loving God in a
world of suffering and evil is complex and difficult, but we have enough in the
Scriptures to guide us.

1. THE COSMIC CONFLICT

The very presence of good and evil, order and disorder, beauty and chaos,
strongly suggests that a cosmic disso¬nance is pulling the cosmos apart in a
conflict of wills. Two powers struggle for control over an originally good creation: a
loving God and Creator and a fallen cherub, one who distorts the character of God
and damages His creation. The former manifests His infinite love for His creation
while at the same time unmasking the powers of evil and working on their final
defeat (Isa. 14:12-15; Eze. 28:12-15). The conflict reveals how seriously God takes
the freedom of His creatures, even when they chose rebellion against Him. Every
evil in the world, including the present pandemic, finds its point of origin not in God
but in God’s enemy (cf. Matt. 13:28).

2. HUMAN RESPONSIBILITY
The extent of evil in the world is often, but not always, connected to human
behavior. God appointed humans to administer this planet (Gen. 1:26), and after
they joined the cosmic rebellion against God, they have contributed to its
deterioration (cf. Rom. 5:12). COVID- 19 has made all of us aware of the fact that
what we eat and do can threaten not only our private lives but potentially those of
the whole human race. We should return to a proper and respectful stewardship of
the planet. It is tempting to blame God for the present situ¬ation, but to a large
extent it is our own doing. Humans, through their words, attitudes, and actions,
cause most of the suffering that other humans experience.

3. GOD IS AT WORK
The reality of God in the resolution of the pandemic is totally ignored by atheists
and secularists. For them, human wisdom, the scientific community, will find a
solution, and the human race will defeat COVID-19. The impression is given that
God is not directly active fighting this virus but that He is a detached observer,
leaving the defeat of the enemy in the hands of humans. In reality, God is
personally involved in the conflict against this common enemy. He places in human
hearts the expressions of care for others that we witness as people perform
amazing acts of kindness toward others (cf. James 1:17). Christians use passages
from the Bible to encourage perseverance in faith and to comfort those who suffer.
God assists politicians, in spite of their selfish interests, in the development of plans
that will contribute to alleviate the economic and social impact of this evil virus (cf.
Rom. 13:1).
Above all, God is directly involved in the develop¬ment of medicines that will
treat the virus and lead to the development of a vaccine. Since all true wisdom
comes from God (James 1:5), it would be correct to suggest that in the cosmic
conflict He works with scientists in laboratories, at their pace and without overriding
their knowledge and skills, to defeat their common enemy. In other words, God is
at work within the community of scientists to alleviate and overcome human
suffering. He uses anyone who is willing to fight against the forces that oppress
human beings. He did it in a formidable way on the cross of Jesus, where He
defeated all evil powers (Col. 2:15). We now wait for the ultimate consummation of
that victory.

While reading the Bible I found this passage: "I form the light, and create
darkness: I make peace, and create evil" (Isa. 45:7). Is God the author of
evil?

Your question is easy to answer, but the issues raised by it are important and difficult ones.
Evil could be morally based on the decisions of free beings that result in the infliction of pain and
suffering on themselves, others, and nature; or as the result of disasters in the natural world.
The question of God's involvement in those expressions of evil has been debated by Christians
for centuries, and I cannot begin to discuss them here. I will simply deal with three aspects of
the problem.
1. Evil Created by God: The English term evil tends to designate moral evil, that is, moral
wickedness. Accordingly, Isaiah 45:7 would be stating that God is the cause of immoral actions
performed by sinful human beings. But the Hebrew term rac has a much broader usage. It can
designate moral evil, misfortune (Prov. 13:17), or harm (Jer. 7:6). In Isaiah 45:7 the context
suggests the meaning "misfortune, disaster." The whole phrase reads "I bring
prosperity [shalom] and create disaster (NIV)." The opposite of "evil" in this sense is peace,
prosperity, personal safety. The issue here is not moral integrity versus immoral behavior but
well-being versus misfortune. The "evil/misfortune" here refers to the bitter Israelite experience
of the exile, and the "peace" to their restoration through the work of Cyrus. The evil God created
was the exile, the destruction of Jerusalem.
In Amos 3:6 the Lord announced Israel's fall through a rhetorical question: "When
disaster [rac] comes to a city, has not the Lord caused it?" (NIV). The idea is that the collapse of
Israel was not the result of the victory of the pagan gods over the God of Israel; the Lord Himself
brought this disaster on His people. God is not the creator of moral evil.
2. Evil as Punishment: God seems to relate to evil in several ways. He can use it to punish or
correct His people. This presupposes a covenant relationship between Him and them. The
Israelites chose God as their Lord, and He accepted them as His people. Faithfulness was
indispensable in the preservation of the covenant relationship. But the covenant itself made
provision for God to bring back His people to covenant loyalty if they violated it. This was to
occur through the covenant curses (Lev. 26:14-45): particular disasters/evils the Lord promised
to bring upon Israel in order to provoke His people to listen (verse 18), to accept correction
(verse 23), to confess their sins (verse 40), to return to covenant faithfulness.
In some cases the Scripture describes God Himself as the agent of those misfortunes (verse
16). At other times God used the evil nature and intentions of other nations to correct His people
(Deut. 28:25). At a deeper theological level the covenant curses revealed that shalom was a
possibility for Israel only within the parameters of union with God in a faith relationship, and that
outside the covenant sphere one would find and experience only chaos, disaster, evil. That God
Himself would bring those disasters upon the Israelites meant that He had not yet totally handed
them over to evil; He had not given them up.
3. Evil as a Consequence of Sin: In other cases God related to evil/misfortune in terms of
allowing individuals to experience the natural consequences of their sins. The principle is stated
in Proverbs 26:27: "If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it" (NIV) (cf. 28:10). We must be careful
not to visualize this phenomenon as a mechanical one in which the wicked automatically receive
back the evil results of their actions and the righteous ones the automatic benefits of their
obedience. It is God Himself who sets in motion the correlation between deeds and
consequences. "Your wickedness will punish you; your backsliding will rebuke you," He says
(Jer. 2:19, NIV); "I am bringing disaster on this people, the fruit of their schemes" (Jer. 6:19,
NIV).
God is not the originator of evil, but He has accepted responsibility for it in Christ. He is able
to use it in the fulfillment of His purpose without being its cause. And He is able to exterminate it
from the universe.

Toward a Comprehensive Answer In attempting to answer the question, from a biblical perspective,
of whether God is responsible for the coronavirus, we have come to the point where a comprehensive
answer is required, taking into account the goodness of God, the reality of human free will, the
Reflections 70, April 2020 3 adventistbiblicalresearch.org actuality of evil in the post-fall natural world,
and the reality of evil itself as depicted in the Bible. How does one bring all these biblical principles to
bear on the problem of natural disasters such as the coronavirus? The Seventh-day Adventist view of the
Bible’s “philosophy of history,” which is commonly referred to as the cosmic conflict or great
controversy between good and evil motif, provides a model with which to correlate the four biblical
principles outlined above. In this model, God is not presented in the Bible as determining everything
that happens in the world. It is therefore premature to conclude, in the face of a natural disaster such as
the coronavirus, that God is responsible for it as a means of punishing sinners. Evil in the natural world
may have causes other than God’s direct action, but in His providential rule over creation He brings all
things to work toward creation’s goodness (Rom 8:28). In addition, the exercise of human free will is
able to bring about evil consequences contrary to God’s desires for the well-being of His creation (Isa
66:4), and Satanic agencies are able to wreak havoc and bring about calamities, including loss of life
through natural causes as in the case of the destruction of Job’s children. This capability on Satan’s part
should not be surprising, since the entrance of sin in the world through Satan introduced decay and
futility into the natural order, such as to make it subject to vulnerabilities. That Satan is allowed to carry
out such evil schemes, albeit within limited parameters, suggests the operation of what appears to be
some “rules of engagement in the conflict.”6 Furthermore, because the central issue in the cosmic
conflict involves God’s character, it appears that the omnipotent God, by self-limitation, curtails His
power to act unilaterally to bring about His desires. The Bible, however, predicts a time when the
controversy will come to an end, sin and Satan will be eliminated, and a new heaven and earth will be
brought into being (Rev 20–21). Then, God’s goodness and love will be vindicated when “sin and sinners
are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast
creation. From Him who created all will flow life, and light, and gladness, throughout the realms of
unlimited space . . . and from the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate,
in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy will declare that God is love