Did God Let It Happen or Did God Cause It?

One of the things I have heard said by Christians is that God doesn't cause bad things to happen to people.  While God may let them happen, He doesn't actively cause bad things to happen to His people. 

I've often wondered about that.  The theory being that God is a loving and merciful God so he would never do that to His people.  To me this is just an extension of the belief in Kumbaya Jesus. 

Take a look at this Scripture and then I'll explain what I mean.

Isaiah 6:8-12(NKJV)

8Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:      “Whom shall I send,     And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

9And He said, “Go, and tell this people:      ‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;     Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’

10    “Make the heart of this people dull,      And their ears heavy,     And shut their eyes;     Lest they see with their eyes,     And hear with their ears,     And understand with their heart,     And return and be healed.”

11Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered:      “Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant,     The houses are without a man,     The land is utterly desolate,

12    The Lord has removed men far away,     And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land.

Now let me set the stage.  Isaiah the prophet was alive and prophesying before and during the exile and captivity of Israel.  Now the people of Israel had been rebelling for quite a while. 
 

It looks like God had simply had enough.  To me it seems pretty clear that God actively took action against Israel.  God actively closed their ears, minds, and hearts so that the Israelites couldn't even repent and be spared.  It appears to me that God had made up His mind and the fate of Israel was sealed.

So back to the question.  How could a loving and merciful God do that?  Fair question but before I answer that question let me pose one of my own.

Are love and mercy God's only characteristics or are there others?  Obviously there are others aren't there?  So why limit the view of these circumstances to these two characteristics?  By doing so I believe we miss the greater richness of who God is.

But let's go a little deeper.  Does God doing this mean and/or prove that He loves them any less? 

What is one of the other characteristics of God?  He is God the Father correct?  And what are one of the responsibilities of a father?  It is to discipline and correct isn't it?  Now when you discipline your kids, does that mean that you love them any less?  Of course it doesn't and neither does God disciplining His people mean He loves them any less.

How about mercy?  I would simply ask, no mater how much you love someone, are there no limits to mercy?  I would suggest that if there are no limits on mercy then mercy looses its meaning.  It is no longer mercy.

One of the other characteristics of God is that He is a just God.  While He gave them 100s of years of opportunity to repent, eventually even God can reach the end of His patience.  Then it is time to administer the punishment.  That is justice.

Remember, these are people who had rejected God's ways.  These were not people following God with all their hearts, minds, and souls.  In that case the punishment is just.  
 

So for me at least, I am comfortable in the belief that yes, sometimes God Himself will come down on His people!