The disasters that God sent upon Israel were all meant to bring the people to repentance so that they would return to God. Though these disasters would have appeared as natural phenomena—famines, drought, destruction in war—in reality they were all sent by God. He was in complete control of these events. We can confirm that the disasters were sent by God on account of the I language used in verses 6, 7, 9, 10, and 11. The Lord was behind all the disasters that fell upon Israel.

The people of Israel did not respond to these disasters in a manner that was appropriate. They had forgotten the covenant. Therefore, they did not realize that these disasters were covenant curses—curses sent by God with the purpose of bringing repentance. This is clear from the refrain found at the end of verses 6, 8, 9, 10, and 11: Yet you have not returned to me.

Naturally, we tend to think of disasters as signs of God’s wrath and displeasure and there is a sense in which this is true for all people and especially for Israel. Living after the fall of Adam and Eve, our world has been cursed and, thus, we experience the beginnings of judgment even now. For Israel under the old covenant, disasters were always a consequence of covenant disobedience. However, we should also realize that these disasters can be seen as a testimony to God’s love. The Lord disciplines those whom he loves. He sends these disasters because he wants Israel to return to him. He does not want to bring final destruction on his people; he wants to enjoy relationship. He wants them to return to him.

We experience all sorts of hardships in this life. Economic problems, relationship problems, struggles with sin. But God is at work in all these things and by his Spirit he wants to use them to make us as Christians grow. The wrong response to trouble is to blame God and ask him to make all problems go away. The right response is to recognize that God might seek to teach us something. Perhaps something in our life that needs to change. This need for change should not surprise us, since the Holy Spirit seeks to renew us in the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).