GN Commentary: September 11, 2009 - Terrorism and the Bible

Will there be more terrorism here in the United States? What does Bible prophecy have to tell us?

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What Lies Ahead for America?
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Where Was God?
If God is all powerful and all knowing, the source of all that is good and kind and right, how could He allow evil human beings to snuff out the lives of people who have done them no harm? Why would He allow such things?

Video Transcript

Like me, you probably remember where you were on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. I was in a motel in Portland, Oregon, where I was presenting some classes at a seminar for Church leaders. I woke early that morning, and for some reason did something I wouldn't normally do at that hour of the day: I switched on the TV, and was horrified to see a CNN reporter standing in front of a camera hastily set up in a New York high-rise, nervously explaining that an airplane had flown into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Minutes later, another hijacked plane slammed in to the second of the twin towers, in full view of millions across the country.

The experience of witnessing this monstrous terrorist attack was numbing. I didn't want to talk much that day, not even to close friends. For the first time in its history, the continental United States—the land of the free and the home of the brave—was under attack, this time not from a national foe, but from some evil, faceless enemy.

The lives of more than 3,000 unsuspecting people were snuffed out that day: people of all races, national origins and religious faiths. The sight of those two twin towers crumbling in a giant mountain of dust, debris, and death cast a long shadow, one that's with us still these eight years later.  

Since then there have been multiple attempts at terrorist attacks on the United States: a man attempting to blow up an Atlantic airliner with explosives in his shoes, an alleged attempt to destroy the Brooklyn Bridge, an attempt to blow up the New York stock exchange, plots to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, FBI offices and other buildings, and an attempt to blow up a fuel line running through a residential neighborhood in New York City, which would have caused a massive death toll, and triggering an economic catastrophe.

All foiled...at least so far.

But will there be more terrorism here? What does Bible prophecy have to tell us?

Millennia ago, God inspired His servant Moses to list the curses that would come on His people if they rebelled against Him. In the "cursings of the covenant," found in Leviticus chapter 26, the first substantive word in the list is "terror." That's in verse 16 of that chapter. One of the first penalties for a people's rebellion against God is the appointing of "terror." Does that sound familiar?

In another part of the Bible, we read of the good news. A man of God, in the time of King David, wrote "You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day" (Psalm 91:5). He went on to express a wonderful promise of divine protection: "A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you... Because you have made the LORD, who is my refuge, even the Most High, your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, nor shall any plague come near your dwelling" (Psalm 91:7-10).

Divine protection—for those who have the courage to bring their lives into line with the mandates of almighty God.

What happened on that fateful Tuesday eight years ago wasn't the end of the matter. History has a way of repeating itself. But next time around, will you be prepared?  

For GN Magazine, I'm Ralph Levy.