September 11, 2001
Who should we blame? Why did it happen? Such
a horrible act. So much evil, so obvious. Such a tragic shame.
Of course, we must blame the deceived, intensely evil, depraved, twisted
minds of those who conceive of unthinkable acts, carry them out, and those who have prior
knowledge that such immorality is imminent, yet choose not to warn.
As the worst of criminals, they deserve the worst punishment government
can deliver. God will follow with eternal punishment without repentance.
Absolutely.
Should we blame God?
| Amos 3:6 When a trumpet sounds in a
city, do not the people tremble? When disaster comes to a city, has not the LORD caused
it? |
This same question is touched on here.
It is not simple, it is difficult- until you look at the entirety of scripture in which to
appropriately interpret the truth.
| Isaiah 5:1 I will sing for the one I
love a song about his vineyard: My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. 2 He
dug it up and cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a
watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good
grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit. 3 "Now you dwellers in Jerusalem and men of
Judah, judge between me and my vineyard. 4 What more could have been done for my vineyard
than I have done for it? When I looked for good grapes, why did it yield only bad? 5 Now I
will tell you what I am going to do to my vineyard: I will take away its hedge , and it
will be destroyed; I will break down its wall, and it will be trampled. 6 I will make it a
wasteland, neither pruned nor cultivated, and briers and thorns will grow there. I will
command the clouds not to rain on it." 7 The vineyard of the LORD Almighty is the
house of Israel, and the men of Judah are the garden of his delight. And he looked for
justice, but saw bloodshed; for righteousness, but heard cries of distress. |
It seems Almighty God will take away His protection when
His people depart from Him. Yes, the U.S. is not Israel. The U.S. did choose
to say "In God We Trust" and claims to be a 'Christian' nation. Shouldn't
we expect the same discipline upon His Christian children when they stray?
| 1 Corinthians 11:31 But if we judged
ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are
being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. |
Well, we also know that Almighty God is the source of love.
When we see His part in this horror, how will it make sense?
God loves us. When we stray, in order to return us to Him, to guide
us into a relationship with Him, to give us eternal life, He will correct us, getting our
attention by adversity (since that is all we seem to respond to). Similar to a
father punishing his child who has done wrong, God punishes us in a way to help us obtain
a fear of God and a desire to change our ways.
Given that, shouldn't we blame Him? No. He is not the author
of evil. He gives example after example
in the Old Testament where he both punishes evil enemies and His people when they
stray. If He didn't love us, He wouldn't have protected us as long as He had.
He would not have allowed a measured attack on our country. One if not 2 (or even
more) planes failed to make it to their destination. Why? God's providence
and mercy.
Why did the others make it to their destinations and why did the
passengers in Pennsylvania die? You won't like the answer.
It was not because the people in those buildings or planes were worse than
the rest of us.
| Luke 13:1 Now there were some present
at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their
sacrifices. 2 Jesus answered, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners
than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3 I tell you, no! But unless
you repent, you too will all perish. 4 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?
5 I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." |
The scripture immediately following the above prophetically
shows what happens to the fig tree that fails to produce fruit. It is destroyed by
the planter. What kind of fruit is our country producing? Love of money and
ignoring God as revealed in the scriptures, sexual immorality, abortion embraced by our
government and our people, recently embryonic stem cell research, and on and on.
There is a good comparison to help see the truth. Many Christians
correctly understand that it wasn't just Pilate who was responsible for Christ's death on
the cross. It wasn't just the Jewish leaders, Judas or Herod. It was only by
Christ's choice that He was tasting such a horrible death and torture. Why?
Christ loved us. He chose to do that because you and I sinned and this was our only
hope of salvation.
So, who else should we blame? Ourselves.
As Christ would not have needed to die for us if we had followed God's
commandments, the people who recently died were unknowingly giving their lives, partially
because of our own sin. Their lives certainly could not give eternal life to us but
at the same time, their lives became a wake up call that God is displeased and that we
need to repent. Many will be saved through the renewed interest in God. From
this standpoint, actually the most important standpoint, we see God's love through this
act of pure evil. He allowed this because He cares for us.
If we had kept ourselves clean, God would not have taken down the hedge.
He wouldn't have needed to in order to call us to Him, if we had not strayed.
Thank God He does care for us enough to discipline us. If you doubt that
there was a hedge, just think how much we will lose now and how much better it was before.
The question then becomes not why them, but why wasn't it me who had to die?
Americans who righteously declare that God is with us in this battle need
to rethink their position. If we neglect our own personal and national
repentance, we insure further disciplining from our Almighty God! That means
(probably many) more of us and our families will die. If we do as He says-
| John 14:21 Whoever has my commands and
obeys them, he is the one who loves me . He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I
too will love him and show myself to him." |
| Isaiah 66:2 Has not my hand made all
these things, and so they came into being?" declares the LORD. "This is the one I esteem : he who is humble
and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. |
From this standpoint, if we repent and then
go after the enemy, God likely will bless this decision and the outcome.
Christians! Do not point fingers at the homosexual sinners until you
stop your own divorces, purchase of pornography, etc. Do not complain about abortion
when you choose to not put the issue on top, where it belongs. Stop putting commerce
and consumerism ahead on God's Sabbath day. Pray for repentance and then for others
to repent. Reach out to those hurting.
The unfortunate people who have died became great heros as their deaths
help bring revival and countless souls will be saved. Their deaths become meaningful
and God takes what was meant for evil and uses it for good (Genesis 50:20).
If no revival comes...I'd rather not think about it. Who could we
turn to then?
Copyright © 2001, Dio, Inc.
mailto:diojqa@dutyisours.com
Dio, Inc.
P.O. Box 1811
Pelham, Al 35124
