On Wildfires, Judgment, and Compassion
As I write, we are a week into the LA wildfires and the official containment level is still under 20% in most of the breakouts. The political/media class has exploded with finger-pointing and pontificating while the fires still roar. Surely, short-sighted political decisions have had disastrous consequences. LA saved $17 million in the fire budget last summer, but the reduced revenue from property taxes alone will cost the city much more. After all, scorched building lots piled high with debris cannot be taxed at the same rate as multi-million-dollar mansions.
These fires will go down in US history on the same level as the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire. It is difficult to fathom that 100-150 years later, with our advanced technology, we are dealing with city fires with equal levels of destruction.
But for anyone who acknowledges the existence of God, there is the question that everyone thinks but dares not utter aloud.
Is this fire the judgment of God?
It’s an incendiary question for several reasons. It seems insensitive to talk about God’s judgment when so many people are suffering so deeply. Amid the emotion, hurt, and anger, even asking such a question sounds like “you are getting what you deserve.” Such comments are not helpful or constructive in the midst of a life-and-death crisis—even if there is an element of truth.
The question also raises hackles because it mixes God’s corporate and personal judgments. If I were to say that this is God’s expected judgment upon a State that has consistently, in its government and in its culture, defied the God of heaven, it could come across very differently than I intend. To the hurting individual, it sounds like I am saying that they, personally, are being judged. Many good, even godly, people are suffering right now.
Acts of God do not preclude compassion for the people who are suffering as a result. We ought to have empathy, and compassion, and extend help to those who suffer regardless of why they suffer.
So, let’s approach this question carefully.
Warning should precede judgment.
In the Old Testament, God sent prophets to warn of impending judgment. He did this with Israel and the nations around. The first 40 chapters of Isaiah accomplish this purpose. God was warning Judah about the coming exile under the Babylonians. In the case of Jonah, the warning was heeded and the crisis was avoided. Believers have an obligation to declare the warnings of God before the tragedies strike. That way, when the disaster comes, everyone will know why it has come.
Comfort should accompany judgment.
Beginning with Isaiah 40, God sends a message of comfort to those who would be living under the judgment brought upon them by their fathers and grandfathers. It is a message of hope to people suffering under judgment for sin.
Comfort, yes, comfort My people!” says your God. “Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her, that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned; for she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.”
The passage ends with some of the most hopeful words of all scripture.
He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.
Comfort should be without partiality. Some of the most expensive homes in our nation have burned in this fire. James 1:1-13 condemns showing partiality to the rich while despising the poor. However, despising the wealthy in their time of need because they are wealthy is also partiality. It is part of the craven selfishness that often drives how we interact with people. We are friends of the rich when we think we can get something from them, but have little compassion for them when they suffer and need help from us.
Our problem, as spokesmen for God in our culture, is when judgment comes and we have been negligent in warning. If we told them so beforehand, saying “I told you so” when trouble comes is unnecessary (and unkind).
What do we do now when it is too late to warn?
Repent. That is what we must do. Humble ourselves and repent because the guilt is with us as much as anyone else. The ministry of warning is an obligation; it is not optional.
Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. When I say to the wicked, ‘You wicked person, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak out to dissuade them from their ways, that wicked person will die for their sin, and I will hold you accountable for their blood. But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved. (Ezekiel 33:7-9)
Is this 2025 LA fire judgment of God? Yes. Clearly. How can we see it any other way? God has a way of making His actions understood when they happen. Those who are willing will receive that message, and those who continue to harden their necks will reject it.
Meanwhile, repentant believers must be humble, and circumspect, and continue to show compassion for the hurting, regardless of the cause.
The audio version of this article is here: On Wildfires, Judgment, and Compassion