Is the fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 "God's punishment"?

In light of the news about Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 having gone missing while on its way to Beijing, a post has been circulated online, written by Jim Solouki, claiming that this is "God's punishment". Dated 8 March 2014, the post titled "Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, God’s punishment for Islam in Malaysia!" reads:

Greetings True Christians,

I literally just posted on the fact that God hates Islam when the Holy Spirit led me to an article about Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappearing en route to China. Malaysia is a heathen country filled with Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and witch-doctors, and God has allowed this plane to disappear as a way to open they eyes of the Malaysians to the wrong-ness of their ways. It is likely that God allowed their plane to crash into the sea as punishment for the sinfulness of many on the flight.  Unfortunately, many families will experience sadness due to this event, but if the passengers were all True Christians, this plane would not have crashed. It’s as simple as that.

The disappearance of this plane is a punishment from God. .Either God will allow the plane to turn up safely as a way to lead the passengers to Christ, or God will crash the plane into the ocean. If the passengers were willing to be saved and embrace Jesus, then the plane will land safely. If not, the plane will crash and the passengers will be cast into Hell. The Holy Spirit has told me of this fact.

Let us pray that the passengers have made the correct choice and embraced Jesus so that they might land safely.

Yours in Christ,

Jim Solouki

Is the fate of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 "God's punishment"?

"If the passengers were all True Christians, this plane would not have crashed"?

Solouki claims that "if the passengers were all True Christians, this plane would not have crashed. It’s as simple as that." Or is it?

A quick look at the New Testament shows that this is obviously wrong. Jesus Christ Himself, as well as the early church, all suffered in one way or another.

Even Jesus Christ, being without sin (Hebrews 4:15), was  insulted, mocked, ridiculed and ultimately crucified.

Jesus warned His disciples that "[if] they persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (John 15:20). And they did. James was put to death by the sword (Acts 12:2). According to tradition, Peter was crucified upside down. Early Christians suffered intensely for their faith. We read in the Book of Hebrews:

Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated — the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and in holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11:35b-38)

The idea that bad things do not happen to "True Christians" is simply naive and wrong.

Is the crashing of the plane "God's punishment"?

Did God, as Solouki claims, allow the plane to crash as "punishment for the sinfulness of many on the flight"?

Jesus was asked a similar question in Luke 13:1-9:

Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them--do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Then he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?'

"'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'"

Jesus' words are clear. These people are not any more sinful than anyone else. Instead, the focus is on an attitude of repentance, "unless you repent, you too will all perish."

Was Jesus talking about "perishing" physically here, like in a plane crash? No, because as we have already seen above, Jesus and early Christians suffered and died some of the most painful deaths imaginable.

Instead, it the kind of eternal death that Jesus was warning about. In Matthew 10:28:

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

We do not take any delight in the death of anyone, Christian or otherwise, but instead we constantly hope for the salvation of all.

Conclusion

The apostle John wrote in 1 John 4:2b-3a: 

Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.

While it is true that Islam does not recognise Jesus as the Son of God, perhaps the better question to ask here is whether we ourselves recognise Jesus as Lord in faith and repentance. 

All that has happened to MH370 is nothing short of a tragedy, and as Christians, we constantly pray that the Lord will have mercy on the passengers, crew members, as well as their families and friends.