When things like cyclones and tsunamis and earthquakes kill thousands in Myanmar, Burma, Thailand, and China, humankind debates the goodness and sovereignty of God. 
Many claim there is no God because of such disasters. Others claim that it is simply the natural result of sin and the fall of humankind. Some say it is the work of the devil. And yet others say it is the judgment of God.
I think we should ask ourselves, “What is the judgment of God and how should we respond to it?” I believe all the answers lie in the Bible.
In the Old Testament, the people of God’s promise were the Israelites. God made several covenants with them. Among these were the covenant with Moses in which God promised that if they obeyed Him they would be blessed and if they disobeyed they would be cursed. These judgments were always about drawing people to a deeper relationship with God. In fact, every place in the Old Testament where it speaks or warns of God’s judgment you can know that God is saying to His people, “I must be true to my word, a word that includes blessings and curses, and because of your disobedience curses must come upon you. Please turn from your wicked ways and toward me so that I can restore our relationship and bless you and enable you to be a blessing to others so that they too can have a relationship with me!” All the acts, words and warnings of judgment in the Old Testament are simply calls to repentance and truth and to intimacy with God. Rather than see the Old Testament as bloody and cruel, one can see every single judgment as God’s loving cry to His people to repent.
Additionally, God told King David unconditionally that he would always have a son on the throne. In 2 Samuel 7 you see what is known as the “Davidic Covenant,” where God told David, through the prophet Nathan, the following: “Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.”
Unfortunately, the Nation of Judah believed that they could do anything and have no fear because of God’s promise to David. They didn’t fear any of the prophecies that Jeremiah brought that destruction was coming. They believed that the Davidic covenant meant that the physical temple would never be destroyed and that they would always have a physical kingdom under the leadership of a son of David. In response to this Jeremiah brought the word of the Lord:
Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, ‘We are safe’-safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the LORD.
The people still refused to repent. And, as a result, Babylon descended upon Israel and ultimately, after continued disobedience, Jerusalem was destroyed. All of this was consistent with what had been prophesied. God was faithful to His Word, as He always is, and His Righteous Mercy and Justice flowed over the people. The Israelites were greatly confused by this and began to question who they were and what Jerusalem’s destruction meant in light of the word of God.
Now, interestingly, Edom wasn’t attacked by Babylon at the same time as Judah. Edom, of course, was the land of the Edomites, the people who descended from Jacob’s twin brother, Esau. Edom always hated Israel. When they saw Israel fall, they laughed and rejoiced at Judah’s downfall. And it is in this context that we see a very interesting principle with regard to God’s judgment. God calls a prophet, Obadiah, to prophesy to Edom. Look at what God says of Edom in Obadiah 9-12:
Your warriors, O Teman, will be terrified, and everyone in Esau’s mountains will be cut down in the slaughter. Because of the violence against your brother Jacob, you will be covered with shame; you will be destroyed forever. On the day you stood aloof while strangers carried off his wealth and foreigners entered his gates and cast lots for Jerusalem, you were like one of them. You should not look down on your brother in the day of his misfortune, nor rejoice over the people of Judah in the day of their destruction, nor boast so much in the day of their trouble.
Here we have God proclaiming judgment over the Edomites for rejoicing at Judah’s downfall. Remember that Judah’s downfall was God’s righteous judgment over them, but He still doesn’t countenance another looking down on one who is judged by God. He proclaims that Edom is like Babylon simply by standing by aloof when Judah was destroyed. Edom is being judged for judging Judah, even though Judah clearly deserved God’s judgment. Even when God judges another, we are still commanded to love and bless, and Edom failed miserably at loving Judah. We do well to remember that all of God’s love and mercy, and all of God’s justice was displayed and made complete at the Cross.
Thinking of all that Obadiah means in the context of appropriate attitudes of the Church toward some segments of society and parts of the world reminds me of the doxology of Romans 11, a beautiful passage of Scripture.
For God has bound all men over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all. Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 11:33-36
I just have to wonder if we are being a bit presumptuous when we try to determine all the answers as to why a tragedy like the Chinese earthquake happens. At the end of the day we need to give God glory and trust Him completely, offering Him our entirety. Even if any such tragedy is God’s righteous judgment, something that we often wouldn’t have any ability to discern, our response should be to love and aid the ones who have been judged. And we need to be ready always to speak of our faith and God’s glory in response to those who would accuse God of wrongdoing or not being loving. He has demonstrated that He is worthy of our trust by the Cross. No other religion in the world has its God coming to earth to die to set His followers free. The Cross is the greatest miracle ever known. All the mysteries and paradoxes of God are resolved at the Cross.
So, I believe we can look at all aspects of God’s judgment and see love and mercy.