“Obviously, number one, we don’t know exactly what God is doing. But we do know that there are principles that we can glean from especially the Old Testament,” Idleman continued. “You know the famous verse, ‘If my people, called by my name, humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will begin to heal their land.’”
“Well the context—although it’s for Israel; I understand—but the context is that when God brings, allows pestilence, disease, famine, drought, obviously we could add natural disasters in there,” Idleman said, “‘if my people,’ not Sacramento, not Washington, but if my people turn back to him, [he] will hear their prayers and [he] will heal their land.”
Idleman then referenced “sex trafficking, the porn industry, Hollywood blaspheming God and worshipping Satan,” stating, “There might be consequences to that, folks.”
“So God allows things to wake up his people,” Idleman said, going on to lament that “sadly, the innocent are involved,” including families to whom Idleman is personally connected who have been impacted by the fire.
Idleman expressed that some people question how a “loving God” could allow disasters to happen.
“Well, remember [that] love is only one attribute of God. There’s actually an attribute that the Bible speaks more often of,” Idleman said. “And that attribute is holiness…And he desires a holy people. And when we break that covenant, when there’s all kinds of sin and debauchery and moral degradation on a people, God will allow certain things to wake them up.”
Citing the Old Testament prophets and their declarations of God’s judgment, Idleman reiterated, “There are consequences for our actions.”
Nevertheless, Idelman said that rather than asking whether the fires are God’s judgment on California, Christians should “be asking: What is my position with God? Is my heart right before God?”
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“Because there’s a beautiful word that you won’t hear much in the churches of America,” Idleman said. “And that beautiful word is ‘repentance.’”
