Floods Because of Sin?

It is not often that the words of a local councillor makes the news headlines, but David Silvester, a UKIP councillor in Henley-on-Thames managed just that last month, but has now been suspended as a result of it.  He faced a barrage of mockery and criticism, after stating that the country had been ‘beset by storms’ since the passing of the gay marriage legislation last year.  He had, apparently, previously warned the Prime Minister that if the government went ahead with the bill, God would punish the country.  The recent flooding, especially in the South of England, has, he claimed proved him right.  Despite the abuse and loss he has suffered, Mr Silvester has stuck to his guns!

    I wonder what you thought of his views.  Maybe somebody, knowing that you go to church, asked you what you thought.  What did you say?  How do you approach the issue biblically?  Because if we believe the Bible is the Word of God and profitable for every area of our lives and every question that life throws up, that is what we should do.  That appears to be what the councillor in question has done, and we should thank God for those in public office who do so, and pray for more like them.

    The Bible teaches the reality of God and his consistent opposition to sin.  It teaches that God reserves the right to punish sin in this world, and will certainly do so when this world is over.  It teaches that societies that reject God, his Word and His law, must expect to experience his judgement.  It teaches too that the weather is under the control of the sovereign God, and sometimes is used by God to punish wrongdoers.  The Bible in both Old and New Testament shows us that marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman, and all sexual activity outside of biblical marriage is wrong. Mr Silvester is absolutely right in his statement of such truths.

    Where we are always on less safe ground is when we try to go further.  God’s ways ultimately are beyond our knowing.  Is the bad weather due to the Marriage Act?  We can’t say for sure one way or the other.  If the floods are a punishment for sin, there are a thousand other sins that God could be dealing with in the UK at the moment.  As a nation we have rejected His Word, His law, the day that he has given us to worship Him, and ultimately and worst of all, His Son Jesus Christ.  Though God is angered by sexual sin, it is not the unforgiveable sin.  There will be men and women in heaven one day who were guilty of such sin (1 Corinthians 6:9-11), but there will be nobody in heaven who has consistently rejected the Lord Jesus. 

    Which is where we have to stop thinking about others and focus on ourselves!  Never mind the sin of others, what about mine?  Do my sins call to God for punishment, or do I know they have been forgiven because I have trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ and his death on the cross? If so, my sins are cast not into a flood, but in the depths of the sea itself (Micah 7:19).

The Best Wedding

It’s hard to remember now the days of only two or three television channels to choose from, isn’t it?  Now we have thirty or forty to choose from even if we haven’t got satellite television as well.  I suppose with the coming of multi-channel television, however, there was always going to be a lowering of quality.  I couldn’t help thinking that as I chanced on a programme on one of those extra channels the other week.

It is called ‘Don’t tell the Bride’.  Perhaps you have seen it, but if you haven’t, it takes as its premise the ludicrous idea of a groom being given total control of his wedding day.  To be on the show, he and his bride have to agree that she will know nothing about the day until it arrives.  The venue for the ceremony and reception, the flowers, colour of the bridesmaid dresses, even the design of the wedding dress itself is determined by him alone.  It’s hard to think that anybody would allow their special day to be organised like that, but with the TV company footing the bill, and the chance for fifteen minutes of fame, it’s surprising how many people agree to it.  Thankfully, I couldn’t imagine Linda letting me choose her wedding dress, but I’m sure she would have looked great walking down the aisle in a Newport County top!

Perhaps one of the reasons why I found it uncomfortable viewing is the fact that the Bible has much to say about the seriousness with which marriage is to be approached.  That is not surprising, because marriage is, after all, God’s idea.  He has given it to us as the basis of the family and of society.  One of the Ten Commandments is given over to protecting its sanctity.  That, of course, is why no politician should be foolish or arrogant enough to think he can redefine it.  Sadly we live in a day when marriage, if it is considered at all, is often treated as a light thing which can be entered upon thoughtlessly, and finished with just as casually.  Maybe television shows like this are a by-product of such thinking.

But then as I watched the programme I thought of something else from the Scriptures.  Marriage in the Bible is often used as a picture of the relationship between God and His people, between the Lord Jesus Christ and the church.  Perhaps Song of Solomon and Ephesians 5 spring readily to mind.  Because of that the last book of the Bible, Revelation, ends with a marriage.  That is because the whole of human history will end with a marriage and a wonderful banquet to follow.  In Revelation 21:2, the church is pictured as a beautiful and complete bride, ready to be joined with the Lord Jesus for eternity together.   The church will be more beautiful and pure than any bride has ever been.  And that too will be all because of the Bridegroom.  He doesn’t just choose the outfit she will be wearing, but provides it Himself, through His sacrificial death. She, that is, the church, will be clothed in His righteousness.  All our sins forgiven and paid for at the cross, we will be covered by His perfection.  That’s the wedding to end all weddings.