09/11 a wake-up call

Ten years ago, I repeatedly hear the question raised, "where was God in all of this? where was God on 9/11 when the planes crashed into the twin towers in New York, the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania? My answer then was the same as it is now: God was in the precise place on 9/11 that He was on the day before and the day after. He was on His throne then and continues to be on His throne now because He is the Lord God omnipotent who reigns. He reigns day in and day out in consistent manifestation of His immutable sovereignty. God is immutably, unchanging, even though people and cultures continually change.

We are like Habakkuk, who, in his consternation over the fact that God used a foreign power to chasten His own people, stationed himself in a watchtower, demanding an answer from God as to how He could allow such wickedness to prevail. Unlike Habakkuk's reaction when God answered that question in His Holy Word, our lips do not quiver, our legs doe not shake, our bellies do not tremble, nor does rottenness enter our bones (Hab. 3:16). Rather than repent in dust and ashes before a holy God, we continue to shake our fists in His face, demanding a more benevolent providence from His hand.

Any nation that seeks to supplant God's sovereignty with its own is doomed. Is is doomed to failure, destruction, and insignificance. 

Many things have changed in the last ten years, but some have not. Saddam Hussein is gone, but terrorism is still here. Osama bi Laden is dead, but there still is no peace in the Middle East. Islam has grown exponentially in the West, but it has demonstrated again and again that it is, in fact, not a religion of peace. Its symbol today is the symbol it has had from its beginning - the scimitar or sword. This symbol stands in vivid contrast to the Christian faith. Islam has a theology that glorifies conquest; Christianity has a theology of the Cross. In Islam, it is still a virtue to slay the infidel, and this virtue is sought by suicide bombers around the world. But in God's sight, it is still a virtue to love our enemies and to pray for those who deceitfully use us.

My fear is that we haven't learned very much from 9/11. On 9/11, then years ago, more babies (American Citizens) were destroyed (murdered/in terror) in the wombs of their mothers than people were killed in the terrorist attack in New York. That destruction continues to this day. The greatest attacks on the sanctity of life come not from al-Qaeda but from those who destroy their young. God will not continue to tolerate any nation that practices that culture of (monstrous) death and barbarism.

What is most tragic is that when we were given a wake-up call ten years ago (to repent and trust in Christ) on 9/11, we pushed the snooze button and went back to sleep. 


Dr R C Sproul  - invest in Tabletalk Magazine it may be more valuable to your soul that all your Holiday presents this year.