I had a few more thoughts regarding 9/11 that I wanted to get out.
On Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, I watched a documentary about how people responded to 9/11 from a spiritual perspective. There were some that grew closer to God through the tragedy, and many that became bitter and turned away from their faith. The ones that turned away just couldn't seem to get good answers to the questions they were asking about what happened that day and why.
I am of the strong belief that we should always use the bible to inform our world-view. That way, we can at least hope to understand the world around us as close as possible to how God sees it since He made it. Otherwise, it's just guesswork. The scriptures provide a firm foundation on which to understand not only the world around us, but how God interacts with the world.
So, what does the bible say about 9/11? Here are two thoughts.
1. There is the story about the tower of Siloam. In Luke 13:4-5 we read:
"Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem ? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
We see here that, perhaps not a complete parallel to 9/11, but we see Jesus speak to a common misconception among the Jews that "bad things happen to bad people." We still believe this today, but we call it Karma. While it's generally true that living a righteous life leads to long life and goof fortune, Jesus points out that meeting an untimely demise, through any circumstance, is not as important as the state of your soul BEFORE you perish.
2. God is angered when innocent people are murdered. While I do believe that God seems to have shown our country special favor throughout history, I do not believe that America is God's new chosen nation, even though our country does do much in the name of good. And while we ought to remember the people that lost their lives on 9/11/01, we also must not forget that we are also a nation that has made legal the right to murder innocent human life. When you consider that more people are murdered through abortion every single day in this country than were killed on 9/11, it makes me wonder how long will God hold his hand in judgement. I'm not saying 9/11 was God's judgement for abortion, I'm just trying to make a point that we might be asking the wrong question.
Psalm 106:38-40
"...And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with the blood. Thus they became unclean in their practices...
Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people."
I share this passage knowing this was specifically talking about Israel. Just because our's is the idol of 'convenience', the point can be made that God abhors violence to innocent children, and also we see that His righteous anger can be provoked.
So, are we asking the wrong questions?
Instead of asking, "how could you let this terrible thing happen?" we might instead praise Him for continuing to show mercy and grace toward sinful people, including ourselves.
Most importantly, instead of shaking our fist at God demanding to know why this or that happened, we should consider whether or not we are ready to meet Him.
On Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011, I watched a documentary about how people responded to 9/11 from a spiritual perspective. There were some that grew closer to God through the tragedy, and many that became bitter and turned away from their faith. The ones that turned away just couldn't seem to get good answers to the questions they were asking about what happened that day and why. I am of the strong belief that we should always use the bible to inform our world-view. That way, we can at least hope to understand the world around us as close as possible to how God sees it since He made it. Otherwise, it's just guesswork. The scriptures provide a firm foundation on which to understand not only the world around us, but how God interacts with the world.
So, what does the bible say about 9/11? Here are two thoughts.
1. There is the story about the tower of Siloam. In Luke 13:4-5 we read:
"Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem ? I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
We see here that, perhaps not a complete parallel to 9/11, but we see Jesus speak to a common misconception among the Jews that "bad things happen to bad people." We still believe this today, but we call it Karma. While it's generally true that living a righteous life leads to long life and goof fortune, Jesus points out that meeting an untimely demise, through any circumstance, is not as important as the state of your soul BEFORE you perish.
2. God is angered when innocent people are murdered. While I do believe that God seems to have shown our country special favor throughout history, I do not believe that America is God's new chosen nation, even though our country does do much in the name of good. And while we ought to remember the people that lost their lives on 9/11/01, we also must not forget that we are also a nation that has made legal the right to murder innocent human life. When you consider that more people are murdered through abortion every single day in this country than were killed on 9/11, it makes me wonder how long will God hold his hand in judgement. I'm not saying 9/11 was God's judgement for abortion, I'm just trying to make a point that we might be asking the wrong question.
Psalm 106:38-40
"...And shed innocent blood, The blood of their sons and their daughters, Whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; And the land was polluted with the blood. Thus they became unclean in their practices...
Therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against His people."
I share this passage knowing this was specifically talking about Israel. Just because our's is the idol of 'convenience', the point can be made that God abhors violence to innocent children, and also we see that His righteous anger can be provoked.
So, are we asking the wrong questions?
Instead of asking, "how could you let this terrible thing happen?" we might instead praise Him for continuing to show mercy and grace toward sinful people, including ourselves.
Most importantly, instead of shaking our fist at God demanding to know why this or that happened, we should consider whether or not we are ready to meet Him.
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