A while back I wrote an article explaining that God does not bring calamity.
In response to that article, people keep bringing up Isaiah 45:7, claiming it’s proof that God does indeed bring calamity on us.
It is a fair question. On the surface, Isaiah 45:7 certainly appears to directly contradict what I wrote in that article:
I form the light and create darkness,
โ Isaiah 45:7 (NKJV)
I make peace and create calamity;
I, the Lord, do all these things.
Some say, “See! God says flat out that he creates calamity. So you’re wrong!”
I get what they’re saying. If all someone does is look at that verse without any insight from the rest of scripture I can see where he would come to that conclusion and believe that calamity really is God’s fault.
But here’s the thing. We have to look at any given verse of scripture through the lens of the totality of the Bible. When we draw meaning from a specific passage we should pay attention to the context of those words because context can have a dramatic impact on what those words mean for us today.
Or, as someone wiser than me once said, when you take the text out of context, all you’re left with is a con.
Those words in Isaiah record God speaking to specific people at a specific period of time. This additional information truly matters when it comes to understanding what God is saying to us today. It is critical that we put that verse in context and look at it in the light of the entirety of scripture.
Old Testament Prophecy
God’s promise of calamity in Isaiah 45:7, and in fact all of chapter 45, comes in the middle of several chapters of prophecy spoken directly to Israel and Judah. Then in the midst of all that prophecy chapter 45 specifically talks about king Cyrus.
Cyrus was the king of Persia who defeated the Meads, unified their two kingdoms and in the process created about the largest empire up to that point in history. He also issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the Temple.
One big reason this passage is so significant is because it talks very specifically about the things this king would do and even calls him out by name hundreds of years before he was even born.
Chapter 45 predicts things Cyrus actually ended up doing in relation to the Jews in that day.
Calamity and the Old Covenant of Moses
In the time of Moses the Israelites made a covenant with God. (You might find it helpful to understand the difference between covenants and contracts.)
As I explained in the original article about God not causing calamity, the deal they made with God basically boiled down to the people being blessed if they followed the law and cursed if they did not. You can read through Deuteronomy chapter 28 for an huge list of blessings and cursings in store for the Israelites depending on whether they obeyed the law or not.
By the time Isaiah comes along the Israelites have pretty much blown it across the board. They are experiencing first hand the consequences of their failure to keep their end of the covenant they made with God.
Isaiah 45:7 is one of many verses where God reminds them of His own obligation to hold up His end of the covenant even if that meant calamity was due. Because the Israelites blew it God was bound by that agreement to see that the curses came to pass. That covenant required God to remove His hand of blessing so that the the curses of Deuteronomy 28 would enter into the lives of those bound by that covenant.
Calamity Just Absence of Blessing
When we think about it, curses are simply the absence of God’s blessing. It’s much the same as how darkness is the absence of light or how cold is really just the absence of heat. Heat and light are energy and power. Cold and darkness are the lack of that energy and power.
In much the same way, the blessing God is the power and energy to thrive. The bad stuff that happens in people’s lives is a result of the absence of that blessing. When the Israelites broke the Law, their covenant required God to withhold His hand of blessing, which resulted in the curses we see in Deuteronomy chapter 28.
That was the deal then. Fortunately there is an entirely different covenant in place for us today.
A Whole New Deal Today
When Jesus came along He introduced a whole new covenant. In the book of Hebrews it says this about our new covenant with God.
But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.
โ Hebrews 8:6 (NLT)
Today there’s a better arrangement in place than what the Israelites had in Isaiah’s day. The big reason the covenant we have today is so much better than the previous one the Israelites agreed to is that the results we now get, the blessings and cursings, are no longer dependent on whether or not we keep the law. Instead, as followers of Jesus, what we receive is based on how well He kept the law.
God is not angry at us anymore.
For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us.
โ 1 Thessalonians 5:9 (NLT)
God poured all of his anger and judgement out on Jesus when He suffered and hung on the cross. There is none left for us today. And if there’s no anger or judgement left for us then there is no reason for God to be bringing calamity on anyone today.
Some people will say something like, “well that’s all well and good for people who believe in Jesus. But for those who don’t believe, God is still sending plagues and destruction on them.”
No! He isn’t!
Negotiating for Sodom
Sodom is a name synonymous with sinful depravity. The book of Genesis shares about how God destroyed that city because it was so horribly sinful.
Before that happens, we see God have a conversation with Abraham about it. Abraham points out the problem of destroying the righteous with the wicked. He basically tells God doing so would not be in keeping with His character.
Abraham then opens a negotiation with God. Would God refrain from destroying the city for the sake of 50 righteous people? No. How about 45? 40? 30? 20? What if there are only 10 righteous there?
Nope. God said He would spare the city for the sake of 10 righteous people. That’s as far as Abraham negotiated.
For the Sake of One
However, as we keep reading the account we find something interesting. The angel that goes into the city to get righteous Lot out tells him to run to the mountains. But Lot is frightened and doesn’t think he can make it to the mountains and instead asks to be allowed to go to a small nearby city.
Look at what the angel said to Lot:
Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there.
โ Genesis 19:22 (NKJV)
Apparently, God would not allow the angel to destroy the city if there was even one righteous person remaining there. The angel was not able to do anything until Lot made it to a place of safety.
Keep in mind, this is an Old testament example before the Law and covenant in Moses’ day. God took responsibility for causing this bit of calamity. Even so, the presence of a single rightous person was enough for God to keep His hand of blessing on a place so that it wasn’t overthrown.
Why, then, do believers think that God is overthrowing cities with natural disasters today?
According to the Bible, those who believe in Jesus have the very righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). That makes them even more righteous than Lot was without a covenant. Lot was not born again.
Since Lot’s presence was enough to keep God from overthrowing totally deprived and wicked Sodom, how much more does the presence of a single believer in Jesus hold back God’s hand from bringing destruction on cities today?
Yet we see destruction happening in all sorts of places where believers live today. Therefore God must not be the one causing the destruction.
Plus, on this side of the cross we are in a very different place than Lot and Abraham were back then.
Jesus Paid it All
What many don’t realize is that Jesus paid the price for every sin in the entire world, both for those who believe and follow Jesus and for those who do not. John explicitly says this to us:
He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sinsโand not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
โ 1 John 2:2 (NLT)
John comes right out and says that Jesus covered the bill for everyone in the world. This should make it impossible for us to miss this point. The sins of everyone in the entire world have been paid for. Therefore, God isn’t out collecting debts today. Nor is He bringing calamity on anyone in judgement either.
All the bad stuff that happens in our world is being brought about by other forces such as Satan, and people who don’t know God and His ways. Plus there are the stupid things we do to ourselves, which also cause problems for us.
Regardless, God’s not the one causing all the problems even though a lot of people try and pin the blame for all that mess on Him. (You might find it helpful to read this article that explains a bit more about the judgement of God.)
Church Age
We are in a period of time that theologians call the Church Age. It’s the period of time between the ascension of Jesus at the beginning of Acts until Jesus returns again for His church one day.
Isaiah wrote during a different age and under a different covenant than where we are today.
It is true that God doesn’t change. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. However it is also true that God relates to His people differently at different times.
In the days of Isaiah God related to His people through priests and prophets. Then God resided in the temple building in Jerusalem. Today the Holy Spirit lives inside each believer and communicates directly with each one of us. Jesus is our high priest, so we don’t need another priest to tell us what God has to say.
The covenant in place now during the Church age is very different from how God relates to people in other ages.
In the Old Covenant God was obliged to withdraw His hand of blessing so that curses would come on the people when they failed to follow the law. Now we’re free of those curses because Jesus took them all for us on the cross. Paul said it this way:
For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
โ Romans 8:2 (NKJV)
One of the reasons we are free of that law of sin and death, which is referring to the Old Covenant of the Israelites, is because God is not bringing calamity on us today.
So don’t go blaming God the next time some major disaster happens. And when some preacher says that a disaster is God’s judgment on a group of people for a particular sin know that preacher is very mistakenly applying the Old Covenant consequences in a New Covenant age.
