Katrina: Natural Disaster or Divine Judgment?
Published Friday, 02 September 2005
by William P. Welty, Ph.D.
There’s an old American proverb that goes like this: If you throw a rock into the middle of a pack of dogs, the one that yelps is the one that got hit. Something along that train of thought has been bouncing all around the internet this past week. It seems a whole pot load of folk are linking Hurricane Katrina to the disciplinary judgment of God on the United States due to president Dubya’s backing of the evacuation of Gaza last month. Here’s a sampling of stuff about that….
Standing with former Presidents Bill Clinton and George H. W. Bush, President George W. Bush discusses the plans to help people affected by Hurricane Katrina in the Oval Office Sept. 1, 2005. While these men were actively involved in the negotiations to divide Israel’s covenant land the United States experienced nine of the ten costliest insurance events in U.S. history; six of the seven costliest hurricanes in U.S. history; three of the four largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history; nine of the top ten natural disasters in U.S. history ranked by FEMA relief costs; and the two largest terrorism events in U.S. history. – White House Photo by Paul Morse. Uh, oh yeah, and thanks to Bill Koenig and wife….
On Chance vs. Nature
As any ol’ Calvinist will tell you, there ain’t no such thing as chance. The word “chance” doesn’t even appear once in the original languages of the Bible. Like my rabbi friends tell me, “coincidence” is not a kosher word.
The closest thing to the idea of a “chance” event you’ll ever find in the Bible—and it’s still a zillion miles away at that—is a comment by those lovable ol’ Philistines of Samuel’s day.
Those of you who read the Tanakh regularly know the story. The ark of the covenant had been captured by the folk who had been occupying Gaza. Oops. I meant Philistia. My mistake. All of this happened several millenia before President Dubya and Mr. Sharon took office…
Uh, anyway, back to the story.
The Philistines were enjoying a wonderful time being visited by the wrath of God. I won’t take the time right now to exegete the passage in detail, except to say that I’m totally convinced that the good Lord showed a remarkable sense of humor when he afflicted the Philistine idolatrous priests and leaders of their people with hemorrhoids as an inducement to surrender the ark of the covenant back to the Israelis. Think of the Philistines gaining a pain in the ass because they were being a pain in the ass to Israel and you won’t be far off the mark…
But I will note that when the Philistines sent the ark back to Israel, they put it on top of a cart that was pulled by an ox that had been forced to abandon its young. The Philistines decided to put the God of Israel to the test as they sent the cart off to Israel: If the ox turned one way, reasoned the Philistines, the disasters afflicted on them would be considered to have come from the judgment of God. If the ox turned another way, they would consider the disasters to be only “natural” events.
The ox opted for the “this-was-from-the-hand-of-God” route.
Samplings from The Freeman List
Bernard Shapiro publishes The Freeman List and The Maccabean Online, internet compilations that arguably may be called the finest digests of all things Israeli. The man’s daily emailings—uh, make that many times per day emailings, if I’m going to be really honest—include essays by some of the finest minds around the world.
In just one of his emailings this morning, Bernard Shapiro included a cross section of communications from both the Jewish and from the Christian communities situated around the globe, all of which commented on the opinion that the disciplinary hand of God is at work in the destruction wreaked on New Orleans, Louisiana this past week. Here’s a sampling of what Mr. Shapiro published:
“No question that they are directly related.”…DC
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On August 15, 10,000 patriotic Jews were expelled from their homes and made refugees in their own country. This was done to fulfill the dictates of the US-sponsored Road Map to Peace.
There are approximately 6 million people in Israel.
10,000 divided by 6,000,000 equals 0.00167
Two weeks later, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in the southern United States, and laid waste and complete desolation to the City of New Orleans. New Orleans has a population of 500,000. US News agencies are openly calling those displaced by the hurricane “refugees.”
There are approximately 300 million people in the United States.
500,000 divided by 300,000,000 equals 0.00167
Coincidence?
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Bernard, one of our intercessors had a vision of this disaster about two weeks ago. She was unable to sleep after that having seen all the destruction. As she saw the vision she knew that it was coming in because the Jews were removed from Gush Katif. We shared it with all of our intercessors across the states, so none of us were at all surprised.
Our President and Condi Rice are treading on very thin ice right now. All of our people, Fair Havens Missions, who are all across the states, knows that this came as a result of our national leadership touching His Land and the apple of His eye, the Jews. This is also payback for speaking a Palestinian State in to existance, and for all the pressure applied, and the arm twisting and threats behind the scenes. As we have all watched this we are seeing a parallel between the two situations, incident for incident, only here on a much larger scale. We are all writing both President Bush and Condi Rice calling for them to repent while there is still time.
Bernard it just tears our heart apart when we even think about what has been done to your people. We have sent thousands of dollars to Christian Friends of Israeli Communities to buy security and emergency medical equipment for some of those communities that they are destroying. We have done the same to help with the Aliyah. I have lost track of the number of Jews we have helped to bring in to Israel from the FSU. And then see our very own President take an axe to it all. I just want you and your people to know that we are so sorry for all that they have done to your people. We would have given anything to stop it or even now to reverse all that has happened.
Thanks for listening,
Pastor Myrna Middleton
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I believe wholeheartedly that Katrina is a direct result of the expulsion of the Jews from Gaza.
I warned Bush when he first came into office to not make the same mistake that his Dad did to the Jews or he would go down in history shameful and possibly bring judgement on America as he now is doing.
Bush’s three most influential religious advisers are strong proponents of Replacement Theology and that is why he thinks he can treat Israel the way he does.
Bush started out somewhat right in what he was doing until he stood with the enemies of Israel and declared that the Holy Land would be divided. I said then to my wife that everything that he was doing was fixing to go south on him as it has.
Such as the Abu Graib prison scandal , no WMD’s etc. and now when the expulsion of the Jews from the heart of the Holy Land was completed God stood back and let Satan deal a severe blow to lives and the economy in the Gulf. Isn’t it strange that where the storm hit is in my opinion one of the worst if not the worst dens of sin in the U.S. . It seems that those states had their economy tied completely to the rewards of Satan (Gambling) and now what you hear most the Politicians moan about losing 500 thousand dollars a day from gambling taxes. (When will people look up to God?)
With blessings and prayers for Israel,
Rev. John D. Shook
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Two More Views from the Christian Community
You’ll recall that in our Islam Commentary for 1 September, (just yesterday!), I noted that Bill Koenig runs an international internet news agency called WorldWatchDaily. Mr. Koenig has written and published a fascinating book entitled Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel. The thesis of Mr. Koenig’s work is that natural disasters that have struck the United States of late, including Hurricane Katrina, are a direct result of the judgment of God on America due to its stupid and self-destructive Middle East policies. What’s fascinating to me about Koenig’s work is that the book has been out for some time now. And his historical records go back to the administration of President Goerge Bush, Sr., which began back in the 1980’s! Here’s a reminder of what Koenig’s web site says about the book:
Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences
of Dividing Israel
By William Koenig – 384 pages
America is now experiencing the consequences of Middle East policies, which have been opposed to God’s Word and to the preservation of His covenant land. Ever since the Madrid Conference of October 1991, the United States participation in Israel’s destiny has been flawed when put in context of Holy Scripture. The event of September 11, 2001, was a national wake-up call.
If the US continues to sponsor the Road Map, affirming a “land for peace” approach, America can expect to experience the further lifting of the Lord’s protective hand in an even greater measure.
“I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” (Joel 3:2) It is a fact that Israel’s very existence is in grave danger, because of our nation’s sponsorship of “land for peace” plans, which have led her to the brink of war.
What is happening in the world, and especially in the Middle East, these days is truly remarkable. But then again, Bible believers shouldn’t be surprised, because the Old Testament prophet, Zechariah, pre-warned us about these times over 2,500 years ago.
In Eye to Eye – Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel, the book documents what happens the same day or within 24 hours of Israel being pressured to divide her land. Here are a few examples found in these pages:
There were 29 record-setting catastrophes or major events during President George H. W. Bush and President Bill Clinton’s presidencies.
There were 24 record-setting catastrophes or major events during President George W. Bush’s first 42 months in office.
There were eight periods of disruption in the United States following the 9-11 terror events from October 1, 2001 to January 9, 2004 when President George W. Bush attempted to divide Israel’s land.
Europe began experiencing its hottest summer in 500 years and record-setting weather the week the Quartet’s Road Map was delivered in 2003.
There were 31 major suicide bombings in Israel from December 1, 2001 to November 10, 2004, that occurred at the same time President George W. Bush or one of his top-level staff and/or one of Israel’s top officials were working with the U.S. on either a cease-fire agreement, a peace deal, publicly stating Israel’s approval of a Palestinian state, or Israel was about to evacuate property.
The book also documents what happened to previous American Presidents (beginning with the Presidency of Richard Nixon to the present) and Middle East leaders who were actively involved in the Middle East peace process during their time in office and/or afterwards.
Eye to Eye is a profound example that the God of Israel is very serious about His covenant land and that those who continue to pressure Israel to divide her land will experience even greater consequences.
What do these major-record setting events have in common?
Nine of the ten costliest insurance events in U.S. history
Six of the seven costliest hurricanes in U.S. history
Three of the four largest tornado outbreaks in U.S. history
Nine of the top ten natural disasters in U.S. history ranked by FEMA relief costs
The two largest terrorism events in U.S. history
All of these major catastrophes transpired on the very same day or within 24-hours of U.S. presidents Bush, Clinton and Bush applying pressure on Israel to trade her land for promises of “peace and security,” sponsoring major “land for peace” meetings, making major public statements pertaining to Israel’s covenant land and /or calling for a Palestinian state.
Are each one of these major record-setting events just a coincidence or awe-inspiring signs that God is actively involved in the affairs of Israel?
In this book, Bill Koenig provides undeniable facts and conclusive evidence showing that indeed the leaders of the United States and the world are on a collision course with God over Israel’s covenant land.
“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem” (Zechariah 12:9)
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Yesterday I also noted that Koenig isn’t the only person who’s been writing of late about the connection between American-based catastrophes and abandonment by U.S. foreign policy of its support of Israel’s right to hegemony over Ha-Aretz. I also reprinted an essay by John McTernan that was published in March, that had this to say:
“In the Crosshairs of Judgment?”
by John McTernan
In October of 1991, former President George Bush (Sr.) put the United States directly in a confrontation with the holy God of Israel. It began with the Madrid Peace Process, which was a plan for Israel to give away parts of the covenant land for peace. The plan included Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
At the exact time President Bush was initiating the Madrid Peace Process, the Perfect Storm developed in the North Atlantic and came 1,000 miles the “wrong” way and sent 30-foot waves smashing against the President’s home in Kennebunkport, Maine! When the President returned from Madrid, he went to Kennebunkport to oversee the rebuilding of his damaged home.
From this day until the present, awesome destructive events have hit the United States on the very day our government has pressured Israel to divide the covenant land. Powerful earthquakes, hurricanes, massive flooding, raging forest fires, incredible tornado storms, the September 11 attacks, and stock market crashes have occurred precisely on these days. The two most destructive events in U.S. history, Hurricane Andrew and the Northridge Earthquake, both occurred at the exact time Israel was being pressured by the United States to divide the land.
These disasters can be viewed as warning judgments to bring to the nation’s attention that we are on a collision course with the God of Israel over His covenant land. There have been over 60 incredible events to hit the U.S. since the beginning of the Madrid Peace Process. These occurred during the terms of Bush (Sr.), Bill Clinton and the current President Bush. It does not matter to God if the President is a Democrat or Republican. When the U.S. pressures Israel to divide the land, the warning judgments occur.
Every time Yassar Arafat came to the United States for the purpose of dividing Israel, awesome events happened. These disasters took place at the exact time he was in the United States. Arafat would bring a curse with him. Between September 1993 and November 2001, Arafat visited the U.S. 14 times. On the very days he came, three hurricanes hit; one awesome tornado storm; President Clinton’s sex scandal broke; record flooding; record forest fires; four stock market crashes; and one plane crash killing 265 people.
The warning judgments have continued right up through the beginning of 2005. In August and September 2004, four hurricanes struck the state of Florida. Within a six-week period of time, Hurricanes Charlie, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne slammed into Florida. Never in history had four hurricanes hit one state like this. The hurricanes hit the west coast, east coast and panhandle of Florida. It is estimated that the combined damage from the hurricanes was $40 billion.
All of these hurricanes had an Israel connection. In early August 2004, President Bush sent envoys to Israel to help Israel withdraw from the settlements in Gaza. The President was putting enormous pressure on Israel to withdraw its citizens from Gaza before the November election. Israel was being asked to evacuate 23 settlements while 25 counties in Florida were declared disaster areas. A great irony was the President’s brother was governor of the devastated state!!
Hurricane Charlie hit on August 13, at the very time the President was pledging one billion dollars to pay for the evacuation of Jews from Gaza. At this same time he was also approving disaster relief to the tune of $3.9 billion for Florida. The newspaper headlines at the time read: “Jews to Evacuate Gaza,” while the next day the headlines were: “2.9 Million to evacuate Florida!” The pressure the U.S. was placing on Israel over Gaza was being multiplied 1,000 times in America! This was all happening simultaneously.
When President Bush made his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination to run for a second term as President, Hurricane Frances was slamming into Florida. On August 31, under pressure from the U.S., Israel agreed to increase the size of the Gaza evacuations. On this very day, Hurricane Frances increased to an awesome Category 4 and 2.8 million were advised to evacuate Florida.
On September 14, Israel began to set up procedures to evacuate Jews from Gaza. There was talk of armed resistance in Gaza and potential civil war in Israel over the evacuations. On this day Hurricane Ivan slammed into Florida. The hurricane did $10 billion in damage. As the hurricane approached, several million people had to evacuate from an area that included New Orleans to the west coast of Florida. Ivan even came ashore on the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
President Bush gave a major foreign policy speech to the U.N. General Assembly on September 21. In his speech he had the following to say about Israel:
“Israel should impose a settlement freeze, dismantle unauthorized outposts, end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people, and avoid any actions that prejudice final negotiations.”1
On this day, Hurricane Jeanne began to turn toward the U.S. The hurricane was traveling east-northeastward, but turned to head directly west toward Florida. Jeanne would weaken but hit Florida on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. All four of the hurricanes hit at the exact time the U.S. was putting enormous pressure on Israel to evacuate Jews from Gaza. The pressure the U.S. put on Israel resulted in $40 billion in damage, thousands of homes destroyed or damaged, billions in lost crops and millions of people evacuated from their homes.
On November 11, Yassar Arafat died. Mahmoud Abbas was elected to replace Arafat in January 2005. Immediately, President Bush sent congratulations to Abbas and said the road map to peace would go forward. The President’s road map meant Israel was to give up covenant land to a Palestinian state. He even invited Abbas to the White House.
Like Arafat before him, Abbas continued the call for the destruction of the State of Israel. On December 30 he was hoisted on the shoulders of Zakaria Zbeida, a notorious terrorist who Israel was trying to locate and arrest. On December 31, he called for Israel to withdraw to the 1949 border, and said he wanted Jerusalem as the capital.
He also declared the right of Palestinian return to the land of Israel which would destroy the nation. And, on January 4, he declared that Israel was the “Zionist enemy.”2 In his victory speech, Abbas said that the election was “a victory for Yasser Arafat and the entire Palestinian people.” He added, “The small jihad (holy war) is over and the big jihad has begun.”3
Even with all these statements, the President still invited Abbas to the White House and claimed the road map for peace was going forward. In the past, such action brought disasters upon the United States and this time was no different.
The President said:
“The United States stands ready to help the Palestinian people realize their aspirations…. We look forward to working with him and the Palestinian people to address these challenges and to advance the cause of Middle East peace consistent with the vision I set forth on June 24, 2002, of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.”4
While the Palestinian elections were taking place and the President was praising Abbas and even inviting him to the White House, awesome storms were striking the western section of the United States. According to William Patzert, NASA climatologist, the western U.S. was experiencing its worst weather in 119 years. Heavy rains in California were triggering killer mudslides. And there were snowfalls in Nevada of up to 19 feet.5
The storms were not limited to California. Along the Ohio River, hundreds of Ohio and West Virginia residents had evacuated their homes and stacked sandbags. The river was nearly four feet above flood stage in Ohio and was about seven feet above flood stage in West Virginia. The incredible rains have caused alarm among meteorologists because of so many rivers near flood stage at this time of the year. This could set the stage for massive flooding in the spring.
At the very time the President was inviting Abbas to the White House and talking about the road map to peace, the U.S. was being hit with the worst weather in 119 years. On the front page of the January 11, 2005 USA Today the following headlines were prominent— “California Rocked by Storm” and “Bush Offers to Meet Abbas.” If all this happened when Abbas was merely invited to the White House, what will happen if he actually steps foot on U.S. soil?
Is the United States in the crosshairs of judgment? You decide.
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Notes:
1“President Bush Speaks to the United Nations General Assembly,” (speech transcript, September 21, 2004) accessed 1/25/05 at http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2004/09/20040921-3.html.
2Charles Krauthammer, “Arafat’s Heir,” Washington Post, 1/7/05, p. A19.
3Khaled Abu Toameh, “Abbas’s First Victory Speech,” Mideast.Jpost.com. Accessed 1/25/05 at http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename:JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid:1105240992348&p=1101615860782.
4From William Koenig, “Koenig’s Eye View from the White House” (newsletter), January 14, 2005. Accessed 1/26/05 at http://www.watch.org/resources/newsletters/koenig-11405.html.
5Ibid.