Does God really send judgment on nations?

If you have listened to television evangelists you might be led to believe that every 'natural disaster' or war or economic upheaval is God's judgment on some nation.

Is that true? Is every downturn of the economy an indication of God's displeasure with the people of any given country? What about the decline or failure of a business - is that God's judgment? What about a harsh dictator or an inept democratic government that brings ruin, or disastrous foreign or domestic policies? Are these all indications of God's judgment?

Does God do that? Would God do that? Has God ever done that?

Let's look at that last question first...it appears that God has, at the least, been blamed for some of that, if you take the Old Testament writings literally and seriously. If you believe that prophets were more than just a grouchy bit of commentary on their culture and times...then there might be something to viewing the calamitous end result of evil or inept decisions by people and their rulers as Divine justice.

Whatever approach you wish to take, there is a certain progression of restoration that is written in Joel (2:12-32).

Joel was quite possibly the earliest of the Old Testament prophets - maybe even before Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah. Some scholars have tentatively dated his ministry as early as 845-791 B.C. Those scholars would put him at the beginning of what they call "The 1^st period" of Jewish prophetic ministry.

Whatever Joel's time period, his ministry theme was not unique to him. After the 'judgment' of Divine justice has visited, if people change (called 'repentance') there is hope for restoration and blessing.

Would God allow the judgment of Divine justice to bring calamity on the innocent as well as the guilty? Would the judgment of Divine justice fall on women and children and the infirm and elderly along with those who 'numbered the people for war' and caused inequities and oppression?

It seems that it has always 'rained on the just and the unjust.'

Perhaps we could understand this lesson from calamities, whether the result of evil or inept or natural causes - there is 'cause and effect' in this world and 'attitude is everything!'

Perhaps in the eternal scheme of things it is more important how humbly we come out of calamities than whether or not the one or ones who brought it on us are adequately punished. 

Perhaps a reason for the long history of humanities' calamities has something to do with the continued vanities of greed, power and cruelty. Those are evils that always bring calamity - whether in the 9th Century B.C. or today; whether in the eastern hemisphere or the western.

There will ultimately be Divine justice. "God is not mocked, whatsoever a man sows - that shall he also reap." So, does God do that or does mankind do that to himself? Does it matter?