Babylon
It was a sad thing that happened to New York and the United States on the date 9/11/01. But is it really so surprising? Religious leaders have been prophesying about it for centuries. It is prophesied in the Bible, though even the prophets of that great nation failed to recognize what their prophesies would mean in real terms - what was about to happen or why. They continue to prophesy even now, and even as they pray, they fail to recognize that God would never have allowed this to happen to New York if the people had been protected by God to begin with. The spiritual leaders prophesy as though they know what they are saying, yet they do not recognize that it is a part of Babylon that has just gone down.
Babylon is a belief system that thinks it can rise higher than God. It sets itself up to be all-powerful, the "queen", if you will, of all nations. But God knows better. Babylon has been represented in past by a man-made structure, as it was today. The twin towers of the World Trade Center is that representative. Babylonian thinking includes primarily the love of money.
"For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries." (Rev 18:3)
And,
"When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: "'Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!' (Rev 18:9-10)
"In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!" (Rev 18:17)
Did not the two towers of the WTC fall in one hour? The twin towers were symbols of what the secular world thinks it can build in defiance to God, not in compliance. The church which supports it is the spiritual source from which this Babylon emerges. It is the spiritual beliefs of the people that think they can rise above God and remain there. The 'woman' then, spoken of in Revelation 17:18 is New York city, with its financial empire represented by the World Trade Center.
Even now, most do not know that they cannot work for both God and money. You will love either one or the other, but not both. The love of, the hording of, the working for - all these they have been guilty of. It is the same the world over certainly, but for the center of this 'Babylon' to be attacked at its most obvious symbolic structure, is a sign most assuredly that God has not been pleased with her.
According to scripture, it is the beast and the ten horns that will hate her,
"The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled. The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth." (Rev 17:16-18)
It goes without saying that there are many peoples that 'hate' the United States - militant Islamics in this case. But when broken down, it is hard to claim an enemy that is spread out all over the world. Even the US herself has its own share of militants, and some of its own people are behind horrendous terrorist acts within her borders. We saw this at the Oklahoma bombing with Timothy McVeigh. But he wasn't alone. Feelings that create this destruction permeates society.
In the words of Secretary of State, Colin Powel - "The enemy is hidden". So the war will be different than any other war they have fought. The 'enemy' is right within her walls, and able to operate effectively without detection.
The point here is not whether or not terrorists can be found, or fought. It is rather, what can we offer to God to stop the destruction. For you have just read it above - God has agreed "to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled."
If this is what we are looking forward to, then what chance does the United States have? Lots of chance. Remember, it is "until God's words are fulfilled." We must look to find out what exactly those words are, and then change ourselves in the way that God wants us to.The beast will not continue to hold power, when we change in the manner God wants us to.
What we should be Praying for
We have to first find out what God wants us to do - today, right now - before we can know what to pray. Should we automatically ask to win a "war", or to give President Bush what he wants - which includes unusual powers to act, and access to funding that could beak the bank? I doubt it. However, even if you agree that vengeance is the Lord's, and that we should do nothing directly to find and punish the guilty parties, you may still feel that self-defence is necessary, and the President therefore needs more freedom to act.
But in order to avoid seeking vengeance ourselves, the Bible gives us the answers. I am reminded of the story of Hezekiah here. All he had to do when he was surrounded by the Assyrian army, was to ask directly from God himself. Up until that time, he had asked for the Lord's help only by asking his officials to approach the prophet Isaiah. But the Lord wanted something more from him. When Hezekiah went directly to the temple himself, and stated, "you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth." (Isa 37:14-20), the message that came back to him was indeed far more positive. Do you see the difference? The only thing that was needed was for Hezekiah to acknowledge the Lord as his own personal God. Up to that point he had been hesitating.
We can see then that he did what was right before the Lord, by the resulting effects. And what were they? Read Isaiah 37:21-38, especially verse 36, "Then the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning - there were all the dead bodies!"
Tell me - wouldn't this be a lot better a solution than what Bush is proposing? Wouldn't it be a lot more effective and positive a solution than going to such expense, both personal and financial, to get rid of just a few people at the loss of innocent lives also? We have to pray that we be enabled to move closer to God - by moving towards doing everything for love. Perhaps we have to quit supporting churches also, that want ever more wealth for themselves, so to find a church that teaches equality among its members. This would be Biblical. I can't help but think of New York, and the way she used to be. Doesn't God want just the opposite of the two towers that we used to see in the NewYork skyline?
The pouring forth of unity, and willingness to share, is showing up in New York in a way that has never been seen before. Apparently, you cannot walk down the street without people offering you coffee, or food, or asking you if you need help of any kind - which is a stark contrast to the way it was just the day before. This is what God wants! So keep it up and let this change be seen throughuot all the American cities. Be generous and willing to share - treating each other as we would ourselves.
But for now we must pray to know specifically what God wants from us as individuals, and in our individual countries. Each person must stop and think - what is it that God wants from me - so that these horrible things do not happen again. God will not destroy entire buildings or cities if the people within their walls are actively seeking God's will.
Pray for Results
I am listening now to a newscast that is discussing the loss of further life in the 'war'. These spokespeople are willing to accept that there will be loss on both sides. But this is not acceptable to me. They are predicting that the war will be long, and arduous. This is not acceptable either.
Why do they say such things? Is this what they want to happen? We should be praying for a quick and painfree solution instead! It seems to me that these US leaders want things to happen just the way they say, for they keep repeating the words by faith. We must work to counteract their words to ones more favourable for ourselves. Do not let their words stand uncorrected!
We want the results to be quick, don't we? Then don't agree with the Senators and Congressmen that say the opposite. We must speak words that reflect what we want to happen, not what we think will happen. These leaders have to stop saying that the war will be long. They are even predicting a ten or twenty year span, to weed out terrorism. These are not things that we want. So correct them wherever you can. If you want the dog, don't call the cat - so the saying goes.
We want to suffer no loss of life, don't we? Then you and I have to speak words of faith that reflect that. This is another form of prayer. Send your congressmen letters that tell them what you want - not what you don't want. Base it on God's Word, not their words.
Correct your pastors, and preachers, and ministers. Tell them that they have to change, just as well as you - to seek first the kingdom of God. For this to happen we have to change, quickly and in earnest. But some may not be willing to change so abruptly. You will receive only as much as you are willing. Remember, this is a spiritual war we are fighting. We are fighting it behind the scenes, in spiritual force and in words, just as Hezekiah did. This is what is needed from us - to repent - to become the people that God wants us to be. And to pray. He will protect us, and solve our problems for us in miraculous ways, if we just move in the direction he wants us to.
We should not be praying to seek vengeance.Vengeance is the Lord's, and he will vindicate us if we let him. He has promised that, and we can count on it. But we must be willing to give him what he wants in return. We cannot just expect him to do his work, without us fulfilling our side of the bargain. This is the way to fight a spiritual war.
So our prayers (our words) should reflect that which we want to happen. And I for one, want no loss of life. I want protection and forgiveness, and for the Lord to take care of it all. I want a complete transition of the people in Afghanistan, and the factions of terrorist cells throughout the world - the Osama bin Laden's and the Timothy McVeighs. So that there is not just no more hatred, but also so that there is no reason for that hatred. We must look at the solution as a two-way street. Both at ourselves and at the enemy. For the enemy is a symptom of things not being right with God.
A Letter
Following, is an email that my daughter shortly after the attacks on New York. She got it from a clip taken from a Canadian newspaper. My response follows.
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2001 9:24 AM
"TRIBUTE TO THE UNITED STATES"
"This Canadian thinks it is time to speak up for the Americans as the most generous and possibly the least appreciated people on all the earth.Germany, Japan and, to a lesser extent, Britain and Italy were lifted out of the debris of war by the Americans who poured in billions of dollars and forgave other billions debts. None of these countries is today paying even the interest on its remaining debts to the United States. When France was in danger of collapsing in 1956, it was the Americans who propped it up, and their reward was to be insulted and swindled on the streets of Paris. I was there. I saw it.
When earthquakes hit distant cities, it is the United States that hurries in to help. This spring, 59 American communities were flattened by tornadoes. Nobody helped. The Marshall Plan and the Truman Policy pumped billions of dollars into discouraged countries. Now newspapers in those countries are writing about the decadent, war mongering Americans.I'd like to see just one of those countries that is gloating over the erosion of the United States dollar build its own airplane. Does any other country in the world have a plane to equal the Boeing Jumbo Jet, the Lockheed Tri-Star, or the Douglas DC10? If so, why don't they fly them? Why do all the International lines except Russia fly American Planes? Why does no other land on earth? even consider putting a man or woman on the moon? You talk about Japanese technocracy, and you get radios. You talk about German technocracy, and you get automobiles. You talk about American technocracy, and you find men on the moon-not once, but several times-and safely home again.
You talk about scandals, and the Americans put theirs right in the store window for everybody to look at. Even their draft-dodgers are not pursued and hounded. They are here on our streets, and most of them, unless they are breaking Canadian laws, are getting American dollars from ma and pa at home to spend here. When the railways of France, Germany and India were breaking down through age, it was the Americans who rebuilt them. When the Pennsylvania Railroad and the New York Central went broke, nobody loaned them an old caboose. Both are still broke. I can name you 5000 times when the Americans raced to the help of other people in trouble. Can you name me even one time when someone else raced to the Americans in trouble? I don't think there was outside help even during the San Francisco earthquake.
Our neighbors have faced it alone, and I'm one Canadian who is damned tired of hearing them get kicked around. They will come out of this thing with their flag high. And when they do, they are entitled to thumb their nose at the lands that are gloating over their present troubles. I hope Canada is not one of those." * Stand proud, America!*"
This is one of the best editorials that I have ever read regarding the United States. It is nice that one man realizes it. I only wish that the rest of the world would realize it. We are always blamed for everything, and never even get a thank you for the things we do. I would hope that each of you would send this to as many people as you can and emphasize that they should send it to as many of their friends until this letter is sent to every person on the web. I am just a single American that has read this, I SURE HOPE THAT A LOT MORE READ IT SOON."
And in response I wrote,
Taral,
It sounds like the 'Canadian' in this article is suggesting we rescue the US with money, as they have done with others in past. But this wouldn't make sense to a lot of people in poorer countries.
For instance, I think we owe the US our empathy, and our words of wisdom. But to give them more money at this time would be wrong, because they already have the lion's share of wealth right now. The aim was and is "equality", and nothing less. This is basic moral teaching of many religions (including Christianity).
What do you think gives Osama bin Laden the power he has, with so many people willing to follow him into a crusade against the States? It's easy to figure out when you think about it. He lives the 'Golden Rule' everyday, treating others just as he treats himself. He has had lots of money in the past, but he lives in the desert like a pauper. Many people love him for this, and they are willing to die for him, because he proves his love for people through living his life according to this rule - while the US sits high in it's wealth, and does not share in general. Do you want to have lots of money? Then live the Golden Rule. Give to others that have less than you, not to the people who have just as much, or more....So don't get caught in future, as the US has.
Love Mom
Conclusion
What makes the US so vulnerable to men such as Osama bin Laden? It's because she sits up on top of the world and brags about her exploits, being blinded by her love of money - while Bin Laden can see clearly, and names the US as the enemy. US wealth does not bother me, but it does not help for her to brag about her accomplishments and constantly act - through her media - as if she is the only country that counts. It only stirs the pot, and makes the poorer nations hate her. The US has not got a humble attitude as compared with other countries. They call it nationalism. Others see it as arrogance.
Rather than sharing as an equal, the US steps in and helps only when disaster falls, or it becomes otherwise necessary to protect her interests. There is no desire to be 'equal' as Paul instructs us - or to give up her wealth to the poor in order to be perfect, as Jesus taught. She is generous only as long as she doesn't deplete herself too greatly. So who is living as the Bible instructs us to live - to do unto others as we would have them do to us? Is it the US, or is it bin Laden himself with his own people? You tell me.
The twin towers were the most obvious signs of economic prosperity for New York City, and the world over. Does it not make sense that these would be the first targets to be attacked? And what about the Pentagon? This is representative of the military power of the world's strongest and richest nation in the world. These two sites were obviously susceptible to destruction - for the most vulnerable to punishment would be financial in nature if that is where the greatest sin lies in her. The financial district would be the end result of the Babylonian belief system. So what can we spirirtually deduce about the people that were killed or hurt?
Perhaps the people affected by this had been slowly putting money ahead of God in their lives. Or perhaps they had not been asking for protection from God, but expected it from him instead. Was not John the Baptist in exactly this frame of mind, when he was beheaded? Just an idea, but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. It makes the rich man vulnerable to the attacks of the poor, because he does not share equally from his wealth. And so the Lord does not put his protective blanket around him any longer.
© 2002 All Rights Reserved