The predominant message emerging from the church in New Zealand in the wake of the earthquake in Christchurch last week is: “God had nothing to do with it.” The minority on the other side of the spectrum claims it’s “punishment” for “Christchurch’s sin and unrepentance” (as one cranky and belligerent blogger put it).

I’d like to humbly submit the idea that it’s just as foolish to flippantly pronounce judgment as it is to flippantly denounce it. Both miss the heart of God and stand in stark contradiction to the Scripture. There is a ‘better way.’

Below are 7 points foundational to the Biblical theology of judgment. These propositions aren’t ‘proof texts’ for the earthquake being judgment. They are general propositions that urge us to resist the temptation to be hasty and brash in our rejection of judgment as a category and God as Judge; a temptation that many believers in New Zealand lack the resolve (or discernment) to resist.

I have no clarity as to whether the earthquake was or was not judgment. We at the Tauranga House of Prayer Missions Base  are being diligent about not speaking into the issue until we do. But I am very clear about the idea that God is a Judge who does judge. And we must discern the unfolding of history through a worldview informed by that objective reality; lest we be swept away by the waves of opinions that now rage in the proverbial sea of the church of New Zealand.

My exhortation is not “the earthquake was the judgment of God” but rather “don’t dismiss the subject of the judgment of God.” Tarry. Wait. Consider. Contemplate. Pray. Listen. Stand (Jeremiah 23:18).

The 7 points, in no particular order:

1. Judgment, at its core, is about God’s zeal to make wrong things right and ultimately “restore all things” (Acts 3:21). To scoff at judgment is essentially to scoff at justice (which share the same root word). The chief objective of judgment is the making of wrong things right. It is as much about the liberation of the oppressed as it is about the punishment of the oppressor. God’s ultimate goal in judgment is to war against His great enemy (sin) giving the greatest opportunity possible for the most amount of people possible to love Him at the deepest level possible using the least severe means possible. The judgment of God is good news. It may not sound like it to you as you read this on your cushy couch on your new laptop in your safe living room. But its the only hope of the 12 year old girl in Thailand being sold right now to a 45 year old pervert who is about to use her as a masturbation manikin for the night. The judgment of God is that little girl’s sole consolation; to which we cry “Haste the Day!”

2. The concept of judgment is consistent between the Old and New Testament. The New Testament gives the subject of judgment as much airtime as the Old; if not more. Jesus Himself was consistently pronouncing judgment; of such intensity and frequency surpassing even the Old Testament prophets (see Luke 19:41-44; Matthew 23; Revelation 2:16, 22; etc). The idea that the Jesus of the NT is different from the God of the OT is unbiblical and incredibly unhelpful. Jesus was the most outspoken herald of divine judgment of anyone in Scripture. To reduce Him to merely a Savior who has rendered the Old Testament irrelevant is unwise. He is a Savior. But this is not in contradiction to the theology of judgment.

3. Temporal judgments will only increase in frquency and intensity between now and the end of the age. In Matthew 24 Jesus called this “birth pains.” Birth pains start far apart and intensify as they become more frequent – until the baby is born; or until the new age is born. If we’re uncomfortable with the idea of God releasing judgment, we’re only going to get more uncomfortable. This is as easy as it will be to casually disregard the message of judgment. This is but “the beginning of sorrows.” Earthquakes are one of the most prominent events in Biblical eschatology. A casual reading of Isaiah and Revelation makes clear the fact that we’re at the beginning of the beginning of a great storm that is mounting on the horizon; a storm that we can’t afford to refuse to acknowledge and prepare for.

4. The cross of Jesus does not make temporal judgments obsolete – it accentuates them. Many suggest that “Because Jesus bore the sin of the world upon the cross, judgment is therefore unnecessary and has been rendered irrelevant.” It’s true that Jesus bore the sin of the world upon the cross. And it’s true that He satisfied the wrath of God and paid the debt we owed. But if we reject the offer to be saved from wrath (Rom. 5:9-10), the One who satisfied the wrath of God on Golgotha will execute it upon us. This is the heart of the Gospel: Jesus bears the penalty for your sins or you do. This is why we read of Jesus pronouncing judgment before and after His death and resurrection. The cross did not dull the blade of divine judgment in history – it actually sharpened it. A casual reading of Matthew (the most judgment and hell focused Gospel) settles the issue decisively.

5. God does not suspend His kind attributes like goodness, mercy and compassion when He Judges. As Tozer said, “God never suspends one attribute to exercise another.” He is the Lion and the Lamb. The Savior and the Judge. We cannot reduce Him into categories just because we crave comfort for our fractured and sin-tainted souls. He is who He is. Many in the land are arguing that “Because God is love, He could not have done this!” Try telling that to Israel. They would respond by echoing the prophets of old who said, “Because God loves you He has done this!” Judgment is not God’s final word – mercy is; unless of course it is scorned. In fact, Biblically speaking, judgment is itself an act of mercy; for temporal judgment has the potential to spare people eternal torment.

6. Historical expressions of judgment are more of a statement about God’s jealousy and love for the redeemed than about His anger and wrath against the reprobate. Eschatologically speaking though, it is the opposite. God will deal decisively with His enemies at the end of the age. But as history unfolds, His judgments are calculated to impact the church more than the unbelievers in the world. This is why Peter said that “judgment starts in the house of the Lord” in 1 Peter 4. This is why Paul explained that the saints in Thessalonica who were suffering persecution were actually experiencing “righteous judgment” because God loved them so much. And this is why the writer of Hebrews says that we’re to welcome the judgment and discipline of God because it proves we are beloved sons and not “bastards” (see chapter 12). The 7 letters to the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 make this abundantly clear: Jesus judges and “chastens” the church because He “loves” her (Revelation 3:19). 2 Thessalonians 1 lays it out with profound clarity: God uses sinful men to persecute the church (which Paul defines as “righteous judgment”) until Jesus “appears in flaming fire” to judge those sinful men and to be “adored by the saints.” Judgment is first calculated to purify the church and later to punish the wicked who contributed through their sin.

7. God uses various different agents and instruments to exercise judgment. In Noah’s generation it was a flood. In Elijah’s, a drought. In Hosea’s, Assyrian military invasion. In Joel’s, a locust plague. In Jeremiah’s, Babylonian concentration camps. In Jesus,’ Roman siege. The point is that the Lord can, does and will continue to use the rage of Satan, the sin of man and the “groaning of creation” (Romans 8:22) to serve His cosmic purposes. To say that something is an act of judgment doesn’t at all imply that other agents weren’t involved; its to say they were instruments. Consider the predicament of Jeremiah’s message: “God is using sinful Babylon to judge us.” Rebellious men and demented demons were involved, but God was on the throne governing the unfolding of events. While many are currently attempting to get God off the hook, He’s comfortable remaining on the throne.

This crisis has galvanized the church in the land of New Zealand in her offense towards a God who judges and bolstered her in her rejection of judgment as a historical and theological reality. This is the crisis beneath the crisis. And if it doesn’t trouble you, you aren’t paying attention.