Is Sandy Divine Judgment?

A monster storm as seen from space

"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 21:25-26

From floridatoday.com: "Words like catastrophic, historic, life-threatening and even "worse than Katrina" are all being used to describe the ferocity of oncoming Hurricane Sandy, now forecast to make landfall late Monday night or early Tuesday morning somewhere along the New Jersey coast."

If weather forecasters are correct, Hurricane Sandy is going to cause some very serious damage to America's Northeast coast before it's done. How much damage is this storm going to cause? AccuWeather meteorologist Mike Smith said this: "I expect the total damage (including loss to the U.S. economy) to be worse than Katrina."  He reports that Sandy may cause more than $100 billion in damage.

If Smith's estimate is even close to accurate, Sandy will become the most damaging hurricane in U.S. history. Keep in mind that though the Northeast coast has experienced hurricanes and powerful Nor'easters in the past, it has never experienced a storm this bad. If Sandy delivers the devastation that it's predicted to bring, this hurricane will have a negative impact on America's already weak economy that's teetering on another recession. America's financial hub is located in New York City and a damaging storm could shut down Wall Street for days causing some serious damage to both the U.S. and the world economy.

Why has the United States been experiencing with increasing frequency such devastating storms as this one in recent years? Last year, Hurricane Irene struck the Northeast coast causing an estimated $15.6 billion in damage. In 2008, Hurricane Ike caused an estimated $29.6 billion to parts of Texas and Louisiana. And in August 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the city of New Orleans, causing an estimated $81 billion in damage. That city still hasn't completely recovered from the effects of that monster storm.

You may recall that Katrina struck New Orleans just days after President George Bush coerced Israel into relinquishing the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians who proceeded to turn that territory into a base to launch terror and rocket attacks against the Jewish state. I believe that Katrina was God's divine judgment against the United States for forcing Israel to turn over her land to a sworn enemy. Through the ancient prophet Ezekiel, the Lord pronounced judgment upon the nations that would divide up Israel's land and give it to her enemies: "In my burning zeal I have spoken  against the rest of the nations, and against Edom, for with glee and with malice in their hearts they made my land their own possession so that they might plunder its pastureland." (Ezekiel 36:5)

Certainly, when anyone suggested that Katrina was God's divine judgment against the U.S. for strong-arming Israel into relinquishing land to the Palestinians, they were soundly condemned as ignorant, backward religious fanatics. That's a logical position that atheists and agnostics would take against those who attributed Katrina to divine judgment. But even many church leaders and ministers took the same position and condemned those who suggested that Katrina was God's punishment on America.

If Katrina was indeed divine judgment against America for her betrayal of Israel, then what is Sandy all about? Sandy's about three things: (1) America's desecration of traditional marriage through President Barack Obama's promise to repeal DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) that was signed into law by President Clinton in 1996; (2) America's increasing legalization of gay marriage; (five states that will be impacted by Sandy--Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New York and New Hampshire--have legalized gay marriage while New Jersey has a bill pending in its legislature that would legalize gay marriage if passed) and (3) America's increasing betrayal and abandonment of Israel under Obama. Obama has not only treated the Jewish state with contempt, he encouraged his State Department to leak a classified Israeli military document that revealed the Jewish state's plans to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities.

And so, as with Katrina, many will mock and ridicule those who ascribe Sandy to God's judgment upon America for her sinful behavior and cavalier attitude toward Israel. Some will blame Sandy on "Climate Change" or "Global Warming", as if devastating storms and erratic weather never occurred before in history. But those who know God's will and understand His hatred of sin and evil, will understand what this storm is all about. No, not every hurricane, tornado, blizzard, ice storm or earthquake is God's divine judgment. They are a part of life and they've been happening since the dawn of history.

But these types of storms have a special meaning. They are wake up calls from God to a world that has become desperately wicked and morally depraved. But, is anyone listening?