Question - Amos - Disasters

Can we assume that the current worldly disasters are a direct result of God’s judgment or just because we live in a sinful world?

In short, I think that the disasters we see are both a result of living in a sinful world and God's judgement. In addition, they are meant to point us back to God. What we cannot do is make a call on whether a particular event is one or the other, just as we cannot make a call on whether a particular event is related to a particular sin. We can only know these things if God tells us.

The disasters sent by God and described in Amos 4 were to be seen as warnings of the need to repent and turn back to God because of the judgement to come (we read several times that they did not return to God, vv6,8,9,10,11).

In the NT, Jesus speaks of the disasters that will occur in the end times or last days, that is, the period between his first and second comings. These are signs that we ought to expect the end at any time and so stay awake as well as turn back to God (Mark 13:28-37). This, I take it is what we are experiencing.

We are not in a position to make a direct link between a particular sin and a particular punishment or judgement, that is, we cannot say that this event is God's response to that sin, unless God tells us. In the OT there are many instances of specific judgements as the result of specific sins (eg Assyria's invasion and destruction of Israel). In the NT, the apostle Paul is able to declare that the sickness and death the Corinthians were experiencing was a direct result of their behaviour towards one another (1 Cor 11:30), or God's judgement on Ananias and Sapphira, was also a direct result of their behaviour (Acts 5).

George