Attack on america


On the morning of September 11, 2001, two planes hijacked by Islamic terrorists toppled the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, a third struck the Pentagon, and a fourth crashed in Pennsylvania.


I would like to make a few comments about what has taken place from a biblical perspective—as I see it.


Goal of Terrorism


Our President has declared war against terrorism, which means a sustained effort against Islamic militants worldwide. The goal of terrorism is to create terror to alter behavior—especially our support for Israel. I heard these words several times after the attack: “Why not drop support for Israel and they’ll leave us alone?” No, that’s exactly what terrorists want. This attack on America will be a test of our commitment to Israel. If we fail the test I believe we will lose God’s blessing on our nation. We are living in the greatest period of prosperity in America: it began shortly after World War II. I would not at all be surprised if this extraordinary blessing is due to our blessing the Jews: we helped the survivors of the holocaust and have supported the State of Israel since its founding in 1948. is it a coincidence that the greatest period of prosperity in america parallels our help and support for israel? I believe we have tapped into the promised blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant: “I will bless those who bless you” (Gen. 12:3). Terrorism, therefore, is an attack on our foreign policy toward Israel and on our future blessings from God. We need to tell the terrorist world we are and will continue to be pro-Israeli.


Primary Target: the Abrahamic Covenant


In the war against terrorism we must remember that the primary target of satan, the ruler of this world, is the abrahamic covenant. The only thing standing between Israel and the eradication of Israel is the United States. Satan must, therefore, attack and terrorize us, hoping to change our foreign policy toward Israel. But how can he attack a nation that God is protecting? And how can he weaken a nation that God is blessing? Simple. Change the blessings to cursing: “the one who curses you I will curse” (Gen. 12:3). No one can curse a nation that God is blessing: Balaam found that out (Num. 22:12, 17–18; 23:8). It’s my belief that, if Satan can alter our policy toward Israel through Islamic terrorism, he would weaken us by cutting us off from the promised blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant. He may then be successful, he thinks, in mobilizing the enemies of the Jews to eliminate Israel.


It appears that god has richly blessed us so we can protect israel. Israel has been under divine discipline for over 1900 years for disobeying her covenant with God—and is still under discipline now (see Lev. 26 and Deut. 28). Does Israel live securely in the land? (Lev. 26:5) Do they have peace in the land so that they may lie down with no one making them tremble? (Lev. 26:6) Are they the head or the tail? (Deut. 28:13) Clearly, God is not willing to bless Israel as much as he would like because she still rejects her Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth, and prohibits evangelism. I believe God is using the United States to protect his people—and we need to tell the terrorist world we will continue to protect Israel.


Prophecy and the Armageddon Campaign


We who believe in biblical prophecy should not worry about our war on terrorism increasing tensions in the Middle East and igniting the Armageddon Campaign. If Muslim nations and Russia are drawn militarily into the conflict, which many students of prophecy believe will occur during the Armageddon Campaign, so be it—it’s going to happen someday. don’t let a fear of escalating the middle east conflict undermine our policy of going after islamic militants. We will never be safe as long as they’re free. We should have the attitude of Jesus, who, knowing from prophecy that Judas would soon betray him, did not try to prevent the betrayal—he in fact sped it up so he could die at the time decreed by his Father (compare John 13:18 with 13:27).


Moment of Silence


A moment of silence is a concession to religious pluralism and to the liberal establishment. People are free to bow in a moment of silence if they wish, but most Christians choose to pray. Our government is wrong on two accounts here: (1) for making us a pluralistic society in the first place by allowing the immigration of people who worship other gods so that we are no longer one nation under God—a situation that is slowly costing us our Christian freedoms, and (2) for secularizing our society by removing such Christian activities as prayer from public schools and public meetings, the public display of the Ten Commandments, daily devotions on government property, and Senate Rule 3 that since 1884 has required Senators to say “so help me God” in their oath of office—all in the name of a Separation of Church and State. What good is a moment of silence? Why not pray to an almighty God who can do something about it?


Policies That Have Tied our Hands


Our policy against assassinating foreign leaders is an executive order made twenty-five years ago by President Gerald Ford. As a result we have repeatedly condemned Israel in the past year for targeting high-ranking leaders of terrorist organizations. We need to review and change this policy: assassination of foreign leaders is a legitimate weapon of war in the Old Testament (Ehud, Judges 3:15–23; Jael, 4:17–22; Samson, 16:23–31). This policy has again surfaced for review:


Sen. Shelby Calls for Policy Change

Updated:†Sat,†Sep†15†8:48†PM†EDT By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - The war on terrorism should include a freer hand to assassinate foreign enemies and hire more unsavory covert operatives, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee said Saturday.

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said there's little difference between targeting an enemy in a bombing raid and trying to kill him with a hit squad.

The bombing would be legal while a hit squad would be banned by a 25-year-old presidential order prohibiting foreign assassinations.

President Bush needs to review the presidential ban that was signed by former President Gerald Ford, Shelby said in an interview.

Unsavory covert operatives would be needed to infiltrate terrorist groups, he asserted.

"If you're dealing with terrorists you have to get down with the lowest common denominator of humanity," Shelby said. "It's just like the FBI did with the Mafia. This is a dirty business. This is a lethal business."

"If we knew Osama bin Laden was in 'X' city and we did a massive bombing, fine. What's the difference in sending in an assassination team?"

Shelby was chairman of the intelligence committee until Democrats took over the Senate this year.

Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., the current chairman, has said a review of the assassination policy was not a top congressional priority, and he has not reached a conclusion on whether it should be changed.

Since the assassination ban is set by executive order rather than legislation, Bush could modify or eliminate the directive without congressional approval.


Our Hedge of Protection May Be Down


We have had nearly 100% protection from foreign attack for two-hundred years—and we have taken it for granted. But that protection abruptly ceased with the attack on the World Trade Center. Why? It makes you wonder if our hedge of protection is down. The Bible tells us that people (Job 1:9–12) and nations (Num. 14:9) have a hedge of divine protection around them that cannot be penetrated without God’s permission. One of the covenant blessings promised to Israel for obedience was to live securely in their land (Lev. 26:5–6). We are not regulated by the Sinaitic Covenant today, but I believe gentile nations are similarly blessed or cursed depending on their obedience to God (compare God’s punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah, Gen. 18:20–32; Jer. 23:14, and the Canaanites, Gen. 15:16; Lev. 18:24–30; 20:22–24; Num. 14:9; Deut. 9:5; 18:12). If so, then future terrorist attacks on america may depend on whether our country returns to god. And, the success or failure of our war on terrorism may depend on our country returning to god. I certainly hope God hasn’t given us over to seven years of terrorist attacks as in the Book of Judges—until we return to Him. If so, we can expect more attacks, and we won’t be able to prevent them. If we are under divine discipline now, our war on terrorism will not be successful: We won’t be able to find and knock out terrorist leaders and we may have large losses of ground forces trying. Remember the cycles of national discipline in the Book of Judges (e.g., Judg. 6:1–2, 7–8, 14). God can strengthen or weaken these terrorist groups. We as Christians need to not only pray but many of our brothers and sisters need to return to God.


National Day of Prayer and Remembrance


the national day of prayer and remembrance in the national cathedral on friday morning, september 14, 2001, may be the most significant religious event of our lifetimes. Our highest government leaders—senators, congressmen, generals, and cabinet members—were given an opportunity to hear the Word of God from Jewish, Roman Catholic, and protestant leaders as well as the Gospel of Jesus Christ from an aging and frail Billy Graham. They heard all that’s necessary to return to God and to be saved. They were told to humble themselves before God; they were confronted with our need for God’s help; they were presented with the importance of prayer and God’s Word; and they were given the gospel—all at an ecumenical service called by our president. I believe President George W. Bush will go down in history as the greatest president since Abraham Lincoln because he is consistently seeking God’s guidance before making important decisions, asking Christians to pray for him, regularly assembling for worship in church, openly supporting the churches of our land, and seeking God’s blessing on his presidency—all of this publicly to God’s glory. I believe in return God will bless his presidency with great success. He does not seem to worry about public opinion polls: he just does the right thing even if unpopular and leaves his chances of re-election up to God. Our God can give him such success and popularity that he could easily be re-elected.


I was amazed at the awesome power of the presidency to organize a nationally televised worship service for the most powerful people in America and for every American—to give them a chance to reflect, to repent, to be saved, or to be revived.


It would be naÔve to think that the horrible events we have just witnessed will spark a national revival. I hope they do, but the sobering question is: how much worse will it have to get before we turn back to god—before our leaders and people cry out to him for security and peace?


One final observation: the national day of prayer and remembrance sent a message to the terrorist world: our god is greater than your god. They attacked us in the name of Allah; we called upon our God, Jehovah, to protect us and to help us defeat them. it was a challenge: let’s see whose god is more powerful!