URRICANES  KATRINA AND RITA with their resultant storm surges cut twin paths of destruction across America’s Gulf Coast from Texas to the Florida panhandle.

The damage from the storms was greatly multipLied when the levee separating the city of New Orleans from Lake Pontchartrain was breached, flooding as much as 80 per cent of the historic city that lay largely below sea level.

Some 500,000 people were displaced and uncounted others were left dead as a result of the catastrophe. In some places looting and gang violence occurred before being controlled by the authorities.

Evacuation of the homeless was delayed by both the flooded conditions and lack of initial organization by the various governmental agencies. This caused frustration and discontent among the people.

Some wonder at the timing of this calamity so soon after the U.S. pressured Israel to give up part of the Promised Land.   

The hearts of all true Christians are touched with compassion at the human tragedy, especially with the unnecessary loss of life. However, the Bible does hold out a comforting message to those who have suffered. Jesus spoke of a time when “all that are in their graves shall come forth” (John 5:29).

The key word is “all.” This promise is reiterated by the apostle Paul: “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Corinthians 15:22). The word “all” shows the inclusiveness of the promised resurrection: “all,” whether believers in Jesus or not, will come back to life, including all who lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina.

Rebuilding a City

So vast was the destruction that some wondered how the city could be rebuilt. If it were to rise again, it would be a tremendous task costing billions of dollars adding further strain to an already burgeoning national deficit.

If the city is rebuilt, it must be accomplished in a series of methodical steps. These include:

1.       Planning the operation and amassing the necessary manpower and machinery.

2.       Repairing the breached levees.

3.       Draining the water from the flooded areas.

4.       Razing the existing structures that are too damaged to rehabilitate.

5.       Drying out and cleansing the dangerously polluted ground that would support the new city.

6.       Rebuilding the infrastructure of roads, underground cables, electrical grids, utility lines, sewer system, and everything else needed to support a metropolis.

7.       Restoring the necessary services of police, fire protection, public service, schools, hospitals, and municipal government.

8.       Rebuilding the houses, stores, factories, and ports to make the new city viable.

A Catastrophe of Biblical Proportions

So great was the impact of the storm and the breached levee that many referred to it as being a storm “of biblical proportions.” It was unclear whether they were thinking of such scripturally-recorded events as the flood of Noah’s day, the utter desolation of Egypt by the ten plagues and the drowning of Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea, or to the prophetic battles dramatically described in the apocalyptic writings in Revelation. The latter is more likely.

Revelation does indeed contain prophecies that speak of worldwide catastrophic events. The battles in this book are not to be taken literally, but are metaphoric descriptions of a collapse and destruction of the social order that now prevails.

The symbol of a storm is used by one ancient prophet: “Behold, the Lord hath a mighty and strong one; as a tempest of hail, a destroying storm, as a tempest of mighty waters overflowing, will he cast down to the earth with the hand” (Isaiah 28:2).

This storm of trouble will level the social structure of earth as we know it just as surely as Hurricane Katrina damaged New Orleans and leveled Gulfport and some other cities. Although the Lord is thus spoken of as devouring present society, it is not with a view to its annihilation; it is the first step in rebuilding a new and more equitable state of things for the inhabitants of planet earth.

Using ancient Egypt as representing the present conditions of the civilized world, we read: “And the LORD shall smite Egypt: he shall smite and heal it: and they shall return even to the LORD, and he shall be intreated of them, and shall heal them” (Isaiah 19:22).

This process is described in greater detail in Psalm 90:3-5: “Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.”

Here we see both the justice and the love of God. In justice he sentenced mankind to death—destruction—and in love he promised a resurrection, saying, “Return, ye children of men.” By a flood of judgment he brought man into the sleep of death only to bring him forth as fresh as grass in the morning. Well did the psalmist write, “Weeping endureth for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5).

Psalm 90:6 identifies this “morning” as lasting a thousand years, the same as described in Revelation as when the church of Christ will “live and reign with him a thousand years” (Revelation 20:4). This is the period also known as the Millennium or “Christ’s thousand-year kingdom.”

Times of Restitution

The work of this kingdom is identified as a period of restitution or reconstruction (Acts 3:19-21). As there is a series of progressive steps in rebuilding the destroyed cities of the gulf, so there is a series of such phases in the rebuilding of the world in the “times of restitution.” These include:

1. Leveling the old order so that the new can be built up (Isaiah 40:4; Revelation 21:5).

2. Establishing a framework for the new government by resurrecting the ancient prophets and installing them over his ancient favored people of Israel (Hebrews 11:35-40; Isaiah 1:26).

3. Bringing forth from the dead the residents of this new earth: “all that are in their graves” (John 5:29).

4. Building a spiritual infrastructure by turning man from sin to righteousness (Ezekiel 11:19).

5. Removing the pollutants of the earth and perfecting it so even the desert shall blossom like a rose (Isaiah 35:1).

6. Testing the resurrected human race to determine if they are sincerely committed to righteous living before giving them the gift of everlasting life (Revelation 20:7-9).

Such is God’s great plan for blessing all the families of the earth. And if God plans it, it will surely come to pass.