“Disaster and the God of the Bible-The poor and the victims are blessed”
September 6th, 2019
Kobe International Christ Church
Pastor Yoshio Iwamura
Theme Scripture: Isaiah Chapter 61 Verse 1“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim goodnews to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners.”<Introduction>
Reality of Natural Disaster
3,000 days has passed since 3.11.1 4,000 people became victims of disasters even only inIshinomaki City Miyagi Prefecture.2 The population of Ishinomaki City is likely to fall down fromthe second to the third in Miyagi Prefecture.3 It was a leading place in the country as a city offishery. However, a restoration from the earthquake and tsunami does not proceed. There is no job
opportunity for people, and the number of shoplifting by the elderly people is increasing.4 They arehungry. They are poor. And they are suffering. Even at the end of 2018, 2,353 victim’s houses areremained inclined.5 Although they moved from the temporary housing to the restoration housing,
they are crying because of loneliness. There is no means for lonely deaths.6 For the people in thevalley of restoration, an apathetic cold air is covering the whole of Japan. Human resources, who
are willing to lead matter of depopulation and regional revitalization, are not enough. In otherwords, the gap with cities such as Tokyo is huge, and we are facing a structural crisis.
The social structure that seeks wealthy life, which is inspired by commercials of TV, the Tokyo
Olympics and Osaka World Expo, does not pay any considerations for unemployment by thedisaster, despair that they are forsaken by a wealth, and poverty.
(1) What the natural disaster is?
In the Old Testament, there are Hebrew words such as, h['r'; rah，@g<n< negeph (7times)，hK'm;
makkah (48 times)，hA'h hovah (3 times), hr'c'; tsarah (71 times), and hp'GEm; maggephah (26 times),etc, regarding on “disaster (calamities, misfortunes, suffering). “'; rah (evil)” appears 345 times
in the Old Testaments. “The tree of the knowledge of good and evil” in Genesis is consisted byh['rb/f towb (good)” and “rah (evil)”. The way of God's intervene in history, “I form the light and“

1 2019. Isinomaki Kahoku. May 31.
2 2011. Ishinomaki Hibi Shinbun. September 11.
3 2019. Ishinomaki Hibi Shinbun. January 23.
4 Iwamura, Y. 2015. Seasonal magazine Shien. No.13. November 3. 4.
5 2019. Japan Broadcasting Corporation. January 24.
6 2019. The Asahi Shimbun. March 11. “Lonely death in reconstruction housing is increasing rapidly. 68 people became to beisolated after moving in last year”.
2019. Kobe Shimbun. March 11. “A spate of lonely death in disaster-affected 3 prefectures”.

1create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the Lord, do all these things”, is done bycreating (Hebrewbara) “peace (shalowm)” and “disaster (rah)”. (Isaiah 45:7)

arB~Alv

Generally, God is hardly accepted as the one who deliver “disaster”. Rather, considering Satan as
the root cause of all evils that have been afflicted humans is the position of the Christian world.7
This theory does not deny the essential of our loving God. I would like you to be reminded that theBible is not dualism all the time. Persian religions such as Zoroastrianism have been influenced by
the history of conflict between good and evil, and the eschatology of the confrontation between Godand Satan, good and evil, light and darkness has always been sweeping the world in all ages. 8However, the devil did not exist from the beginning like a rival who against God. It was “very good(towb)”. (Genesis 1:31) Everything starts with the will of God and comes back to God with its will.

(2) Jesus’s missionary worka. The gospel to the poorAt the beginning of his public appearance in his life, the appeared with the gospel to “the poor”,“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor”.
(Luke 4:18) Jesus stated the word in the context of Isaiah when he read aloud it in the hall, “Today
this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:21) Therefore, he cleared up about what is thegospel that the evangelism by the Western Christianity after the 4th century, giving baptism andincreasing the number of believers are not the core heart. Rather he showed that God became ahollow, humbled and had a poor way of living in the field of unbelievers through him.9
Since God is written as “who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth”, he is the one whostate himself as “down (Hebrew
shaphel <to make lower, sink, drop, humble>)”. (Psalm

lpv113:6)10
Jesus began his ministry to flow Isaiah’s “preach Gospel (Hebrewbasar)” to the “sufferingpeople (Hebrew. anav <the poor>. It appears 25 times in the Old Testaments)” at first.11

rc'B;

wn"['b. “Justice” and “Order”
All ages and places, it is also recorded in other documents beside the Bible that non-Christianreligious people, other organizations and the ancient Orient people also had been supported “thepoor people”.12

7 Lindsey, H. 1975. Satan is Alive and Well on Planet Earth. Word of Life. (Translated by Koutaro Matsushiro)

Boyce, M. 1983. Zoroastrians. Chikuma Shobo. (Translated by Yamamoto Yumiko) This book says, “So it was out of a Judaism
enriched by five centuries of contact with Zoroas- trianism that Christianity arose in the Parthian period”.(141)
9 Kuribayashi, T. 1991. Theology of the Crown of thorns. Shinkyo Publishing. 359.
10 Sakon, K. 1980. Hikukini kudaru kami. Jordan-sha. 40-44.
Honda, T. 2009. Kamagasakito fukuin. Iwanami Shoten. 132-133. “‘The verb shaphel’comes out. The form of the participle in its
inflected form,‘hamshphili’…… I revealed that God's perspective is at a low point.”
11 2017. Sankei Shimbun. January 23. In article of “Discover of the Jewish church where Jesus preached”, it reports that lecturer
Takahiko Yamano, who is a leading researcher of synagogue in Japan and give lectures at the Central Theological College, said
“Jesus drew a line between big cities. He visited small villages and gave his looks at especially the poorest people”.
12 Yamada, T. 1994. Ainuno sekaikan. Kodansha-Metier. 89.
“Protecting from disasters and pandemics, and nurturing and raising children are emphasized as good acts.”
82However, God in the Bible is a little bit different. The relationship between “justice” and “order” isdifferent. Since Constantine the Great [280-337] declared Christianity as a state religion, it has
spread through from the Mediterranean coast.13 Constantine maintained the longest lasting empire
in the world history by its “order”. He took importance in “human rules = the order”, as “Thesepeople honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; theirteachings are merely human rules”. (Mark 7:6-7) Should we live in an orderly manner without
making trouble to others? It is not the justice that you will be forgiven even doing immorality,
injustice act or discrimination behind the scenes.14 God demands each person to do “justice”.
c. Politic and Order
Over a thousand years ago, more before Roman Empire, Israel had been threatened by its
neighboring countries, so they despaired a strong king, leader and the one of ruler. (1 Samuel 8:20)
As a result, their order was restored in Israel. In the course of time, since limited rulers started tocling onto keeping own power, the powerless “the weak and the needy” became neglected andstayed drowning. (Psalm 72:13, 82:4)15 A structure that takes importance on “the order” rather than“justice” has been considered as good.16 However, God in the Bible is not on the side of “oorder”
but the one who stands on the side of the weak and the needy with “justice”. God desired “equity”
and “justice toward an orderly society, which inequity, inequality and discrimination do not cease toexist. (Psalm 99:4)17(3) Biblical thinking that is not dualism
a. God who brings disaster
It is necessary to be careful that the Bible is not a dualism, in order not to make a quick
conclusion. Let’s try not to think simply that God always combines with either “good” or “evil”,“chaos” or “order”, “peace” or “disaster”.18 Sometimes God uses “the wicked”. (Proverbs 16:4) In
some cases, he evaluates “order” than chaos. (1 Corinthians 14:33) Moreover, God is also a god
who brings “disaster (rah)”.19 The earth was shaken by extraordinary natural phenomena. The
structure that respects “order” was shaken. The temple was a symbol of “order” in the first centuryA.D.
It is recorded that “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
The earth shook, the rocks split”. (Matthew 27:51)
b. God’s Predestination
13 Iwamura, Y. 2001. Megusuri. No.34. 1, 9.
14 Arendt, H. Kohn, J. 2007. Responsibility and judgement. Chikuma Shobo. 322. (Translated by Gen Nakayama)
15 Watanabe, H. 2001. Tabibitono jidaini mukatsute. Shinkyo Publishing. 197.
16 Brueggemann, W. 2018. Peace (Understanding Biblical Themes). Kyobunkwan. 196. (Translated by Satoshi Otomo, KaoruMiyazaki)
17 Hendrickx, H. 1994. Social justice in the Bible. Shinseisha. 31, 32. (Translated by Tetsuro Honda)
18 Iwamura, Y. 2001. Megusuri. No.23. 3, 5
19 Iwamura, Y. 2001. Megusuri. No.29. 1, 3-11.

3Jesus’s “will (Greek qe,lhma thelema)” is a plan of God that has been predestinated before thecreation of heaven and earth. Let’s pray in harmony with “your will be done” that the most ofpeople say in the world, for completion of accomplishment of the plan on the earth, humans and thecreatures. (Matthew 6:10).20
In order to complete God’s purpose, unfair order, exclusivity and concept of eugenics must bedestroyed.21 It is not enough to preach only God’s word while ignoring the structure that the poorpeople are less-cared. The action is a prayer.22 God entrusted us with his mission to innovate in away of “your grief will turn to joy”, not by a fanatic social revolution. (John 16:20).
c. Blessed are the disaster-affected poor people in spirit
People, who are poor, sufferings and complimented by disasters, are the one that God put priority
for his choosing. God save people from poverty in an inequality and injustice society, where people
cannot escape from pervasive bullying, sexism23, and non-regular employee. It is promised that
“Oppressed people (anav) will inherit the land and will enjoy unlimited peace.”. (Psalm 37:11
GOD'S WORD® Translation)24 The “evil people” try to keep order, the Christian world that takes
importance on hierarchy and support the power side, and the leaders of religious facilities withtremendous halls, treat “the poor” as “spiritually poor” and force them to the edge of collective
communities, societies and ostracized communities. 25 However, God set free “the sufferers” andgive them peace so they can enjoy freedom.

<Conclusion>
In the temple, Jesus quotes chapter 61 verse 1 of Isaiah, and declared that the gospel belongs to“the poor”. That fulfillment was concluded with the ultimate conclusion in chapter 6 of Luke.
“Looking at his disciples, he said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you
will laugh’”. (Luke 6: 20-21)26
Disaster affected people who are suffering, poor and weak because of natural disasters will besaved. It is because of that they are in the center of God’s will.27

20 Haruna, S. 2018. Kirisutokyo tetsugakujyoron. Kyobunkwan. 37.

He testifies that, “The purpose of the salvation is not save the individual sinners, but to save the world (der wereld), and it is torestore in organic coupling everything in the heaven and the earth under the higher only one”. (weder onder één honfd te herstellenin hum organischen samenhang)
21 Oguma, E. 1998. Nihonjinno rutsusagashi. Hyakusanjyunenno rekishiwotadoru. Yosensha Mook. 16.
“The study of eugenics is based on the idea to improve more the ethnic through the medicine and nutrition. This idea of “improvingthe ethnic” led to the direction of ‘eliminating inferior ethnics’”.
22 Shinmen, M. 2019. “Shin” Kirisutokyo nyumon (1). Sanyobooks. 50-51.
23 Murata, J. 2017. Kirisutokyoto shyakaigakuno aida. Koyo Shobo. 155-156.
24 Iwamura, Y. 1999. Shihen 37henniokeru shikaishyahonto BHSno soui. Asia Graduate School of Theology. 9.
25 Gutiérrez, G. 1985. A Theology of Liberation. Iwanami Shoten. 290-291. (Translated by Nozomu Seki, Keizo Yamada)“Ptoochos is a person who does not have what is necessary to survive or a miserable person who has no other choice but to beg.”
26

Sider, R. 1989. Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger. Seibunsha International. 78-79. (Translated by Eiji Mitachi)

27

Lohfink, N. 2010. Option for the Poor. The Kirisuto Shimbun. 74-77. (Translated by Tomohiro Oomiya)

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