Nature… and the Authority of the Lord
History is strewn with thousands of examples in which God utilized nature as a General might use artillery to judge a disobedient culture. The original intent of nature was to establish blessings for the needs of mankind and the animals of the field (Psalm 104) But there are many who prefer the athiezed version of nature… that nature runs of its own accord and seemingly has a mind of its own. People don’t generally think further concerning the apparent movements of nature, especially when those movements of nature appear to conform to the timely precision of a God who is Just, visiting His judicial anger upon disobedient society.
Death
Before anyone decides to ignore the record outbursts of nature all across the globe or… simply decide to believe nature is a force “left to itself” they might wish to reconsider: No matter who you are, no matter what you do, no matter what you achieve in life, you will face that force of nature called Death… YOUR death, not to put too fine a point on it. Musing philosophically or “finding religion” on your deathbed is not the time to figure out if there is a more to nature than simply its power.
God’s Word is replete with testimony upon testimony that God sends nature on one of two courses. 1) A Blessing for the inhabitants of the earth- food, mineral wealth, rain, etc. or 2) A Destructive Judicial Sentence sent by God’s throne to punish disobedience to God’s Holy Laws.
From the days of Noah and the Flood sent to destroy an evil generation to the days of Pharaoh, God has visited oppressors and rebels in many ways forcefully and directly, including His use of nature.
In Acts 27 the Apostle Paul is shipwrecked but not before we learn the Judicial Lessons concerning God’s use of nature.
Christ assured Paul His Word would be fulfilled and that this violent series of storms and misfortunes of nature could not override that Word.
Paul’s protection was guaranteed, judicially. By judicially, again, it is meant that God’s Throne has settled the issue for Righteousness. All things in heaven and earth are made to serve the Righteousness of Jesus Christ. Church clamors for “revival,” what we really need is a “revival” of the word “Righteousness.” Christ is called the Lord our Righteousness (cf Jeremiah 29).
All throughout Scripture nature is presented as a series of Blessings (though still subject to the Fall) for an obedient society. It is NOT ENOUGH to simply speak of our own individual graces and gifts. The Bible addresses society many hundreds of times as a focus of Christ’s mediation – See I Timothy 2: 1-7; The Book of Jonah; Psalm 107, with the Church of the Lord as the focus of Reformation within society. Nature will always be made to obey the Lord in judging evil throughout society (Joshua 10, Ecclesiastes 12
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