The September
11 terrorist attacks on America continue to weigh heavily on the minds of most
Americans. How wonderful it is for those who have been saved by the blood of
Christ that we can face tragic events like these with the knowledge that our
eternal future is secure in our Father’s hands (John 10:29)!
Many people are
asking questions such as “Where was God in all of this?” “Why did He allow it
to happen?” “Can any good come out of all this?” While wrestling with such
questions, my thinking has taken me down several different roads. All of the
articles in this issue relate to our attempts to learn God’s lessons for us
from the terrorist attacks.
1. Perhaps God
has allowed the attacks on America to reflect back to us our own attitudes and
behavior. These ideas are explored in “Reflections from the Towers.”
2. A parallel
might be drawn between Osama bin Laden, the presumed mastermind behind the
terrorist attacks, and the ancient Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Three times
the LORD referred to Nebuchadnezzar as “My servant” (Jer. 25:4-9; 27:4-7;
43:8-13). The LORD used this godless, God-hating (Dan. 3:14-20) monarch to
bring the nation of Israel to its knees (2 Ki. 24,25; 2 Chron. 36). When that
work was complete, God brought Nebuchadnezzar himself to his knees (Dan. 4:32).
Is it possible that bin Laden, who has no love for the God of Christians, has
been raised up by God to be His “servant” to scourge a nation that is
increasingly turning away from their God and His Son Jesus Christ? If this is
so, then we surely can count upon the Lord Himself to bring bin Laden down …
but not until He has first brought America to its knees. Two articles help us
to learn more about King Nebuchadnezzar.
3. The lesson
Jesus gave to the people concerning the collapse of a tower in Siloam may apply
as well to the collapse of the towers in New York City. The enclosed gospel
tract, “The Twin Towers,” examines this connection.
4. A Christian
woman recently asked my wife and me how the events of September 11 tied in with
biblical prophecies concerning the end times. Her particular reason for asking
this question was to find out whether she should quit her job and spend the
rest of her days until the Lord’s coming ministering the gospel to the unsaved.
Isn’t that neat? Would that we all had such a love for souls! Actually,
Scripture does not give us any specific events—wars or otherwise—that help us
to predict when the rapture (that is, the Lord’s coming for His people) will
occur. The article, “The Second Coming of Christ,” discusses this point. Any
decision as to giving up our regular employment in order to devote our lives to
the gospel should be made, not with respect to events around us, but with the
firm conviction that it is the Lord who is calling us to do so.
Meanwhile, all believers are called upon to “do the work of an evangelist” (2
Tim. 4:5); there is much that we can do during our coffee breaks, lunch hours,
evenings, weekends, and retirement years for the Lord. Let us redeem the time (Eph.
5:16).
5. If we were
called upon to give counsel to the families of the victims, what would we say?
“Counseling the Grieving and Hurting” makes a few suggestions.
6. The recent
events serve as a poignant reminder of the brevity of life and the suddenness
of death. The following hymn expresses it well:
Life at best is very brief,
Like the falling of a leaf,
Life the binding of a sheaf,
Be in time.
Fleeting days are telling fast
That the die will soon be cast,
And the fatal line be passed,
Be in time.
Time is gliding swiftly by,
Death and judgment draweth nigh,
To the arms of Jesus fly,
Be in time.
Oh, I pray you count the cost,
Ere the fatal line be crossed,
And your soul in hell be lost,
Be in time.
May the Lord
help each of us as we talk to others about these tragic events and what they
may mean. May we be given wisdom from above to provide answers from the Bible
to peoples’ questions.