On the 3rd of February 2025, the past week’s heavy rainfall has led to floods and landslides in Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia.
Many have died. Even more have been evacuated from homes submerged in water or destroyed in landslides.
My name is Terence, and I’m your host for the Daily Monsoon, a podcast where I connect current events to matters of faith.
There are quite a few Bible passages that come to mind.
The most obvious one is Noah, his ark and the great flood. Reading from Genesis 7:17-19
The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed so mightily on the earth that all the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.
We could talk about how people did not believe Noah’s warning of impending doom. We could also talk about the science behind the Noah story. Did it really happen?
But I don’t want to talk about Noah’s ark.
Another Bible passage you might recall is Jesus’ parable of the house built on the rock. Let me read from Matthew 7, hey this is also chapter 7, 24-27:
“Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
As we see the devastation of the floods, we can fully appreciate the power of the waters. And we can talk about how we need to hear Jesus’ warning to avoid building our lives on shifting sand.
But I don’t want to talk about Jesus’ Parable.
The reason why I don’t want to talk about Noah’s Ark or Jesus’ Parable is because of where it situates those who experience the flood. If you are a flood victim, I don’t think it’s appropriate to speak of God’s judgment on the unbelieving people of Noah’s time. People need compassion, not implied judgment as if they lost everything they owned because they were wicked.
It’s the same for the people in Jesus’ parable. Those who built their houses on the sand lost everything, while those who built their houses on the rock stood firm. It would be a terribly wrong interpretation and application to suggest that flood victims today lost everything because their faith in Jesus was absent or lacking. Jesus was telling a parable. We need to interpret that passage as a parable, not a judgment call.
Before I move on, I am not saying that there are no deep truths in Noah’s Ark and Jesus’ Parable for us to unpack. And hearing what God has to say in both passages may be the best thing for you today, whether you are a flood victim or not.
I just thought that it is natural for those of us who have not lost anything in the heavy rains to be quick to give thanks to God, which is a good thing, and also, more dangerously, a teensy, weensy bit of us thinks that it is right for us to safe.
That somehow there is something in us, of us, that makes us more deserving to be dry. We do not say this out loud. We think God blesses us because we are good.
That’s why I think it’s good to read Luke 13:1–5. Even though it does not speak of a flood, it does speak to those who witness disasters from a distance. Luke 13:1-5:
There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Allow me to change what Jesus said to localise it for us today.
And Jesus answered them, “Do you think that these Australians were worse sinners than all the others, because they suffered in through the floods? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise suffer through the floods. Or those who perished in the landslides in Indonesia: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
This is a passage that I keep close because it keeps me humble. I still give thanks to God, as I said, it is the right to give thanks to God, but I remind myself God blesses us not because I am are good but because he is good.
Someone could ask, “How could God be good if he allowed such suffering and death to so many? If God is good and almighty, there would be no flood or landslide. It would be a small matter for him.”
Do you realise something? We have moved from judging flood victims as wicked to judging God the Creator as wicked.
Let me change the accusing tone to an open-ended question so that we can explore rather than shut the enquiry down by presuming God’s guilt.
Can God still be good when he chooses not to prevent disaster and death?
The Christian says, “Yes”. Getting to that “Yes”, can be a life-time journey filled with pain and doubt. But the Christian can get there, through other Bible passages. Let me share one. It may do very little for you now, or it may come to you as if the heavens had opened up. But it is passages like this that help us make sense of what happens in our lives.
Let me read from Romans 8:35–39:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
My prayer is that all, whether the people in Hollywood who went through fire, or whether the people in the jungles of Borneo who went through water, all will know the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
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