2001.09.1.13 A Spiritual Perspective On The Attacks In The USA On 11 September 2001 Created by James3 on 7/20/2019 8:42:39 AM A Spiritual Perspective On The Attacks In The USA On 11 September 2001
BIBLIOGRAPHIC INFORMATION
ABSTRACT: This article was written thirty six hours after the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon but is only being released now as it was necessary to publish the articles which have preceded this to provide the spiritual context for readers to adequately comprehend the basis of certain statements made in this article.
The article evaluates from a military / security and engineering viewpoint some of the unseen factors in the events at the World Trade Centre. It then evaluates things that were not seen from a Biblical perspective. It is pointed out that virtually all the residents of Europe and the United States are descended from the tribes of Israel exiled hundreds of years BCE and that the Muslims are in large measure descended from Ishmael, Abraham's first son. The focus of conflict is therefore between the son's of Abraham in accordance with Scripture.
This is placed in context with the reality that the USA is defacto the leader of the "Christian" world. It is noted that innumerable atrocities have been committed in the name of "Christ" since the earliest centuries AD ranging from the "Crusaders" to the Nazi holocaust and that there are substantial grounds for Muslims to hate Christians. The need for "Christians" to own the sin's of their own and previous generations in diverse areas and repent, seek forgiveness and adjust their conduct, is suggested as the most pressing requirement to avoid a world war!
In particular, it is noted that "Jihad" is a "Christian" concept, developed during the crusades and that until we grasp and accept this fact we will fail to understand the real issues. Having said this, it is noted that Islam also has massive doctrinal and historical error, not least of which is that, as a consequence of the conduct of "Christians", they cannot accept Yahshua Messiah as saviour. It is stressed that the events of 11 September were judgment by Yahweh and that a Scripturally appropriate response is required in order to avoid further judgments.
It is noted that the real enemy is Satan and that, until all parties recognize this and turn their energy to fighting Satan, by seeking Yahweh's truth and applying it in their lives, this situation will never be brought under control. The battle is for the souls of men and spiritual control of the earth with men as the instruments in the battle. It is suggested that if the President of the United States will lead his nation in repentance and seeking reconciliation it will be possible to usher in lasting peace!
AUTHOR: James Robertson
PUBLISHED BY: ETI : End Time Issue Ministries LIST: 1A1: Teaching
PUBLISHER: James Robertson
DOCUMENT TYPE: Spiritual Analysis
ISSUE DATE: 24 September 2001
PRIMARY SUBJECT: Spiritual perspective on events in the USA Secondary Subject: Things that are not seen
KEY WORDS / KEY PHRASES: spiritual events, prophecy, judgment, New York, United States of America, World Trade Centre, things not seen
KEY VERSE OF SCRIPTURE: 2 Corinthians 4:18 "while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (NKJ)
SUPPORTING ARTICLES: No specific article
PREVIOUS ARTICLES IN SERIES: 1A1.01.09.02 - to - 1A1.01.09.12
NEXT ARTICLE IN SERIES: A proposed spiritual strategic response to the events of 11 September will, Yahweh willing, be released shortly.
DECLARATION: I James Alexander Robertson hereby testify before Almighty Yahweh that i have prayed over this document and that i am satisfied that the message is Scripturally correct and in accordance with the Word AND Will of Yahweh at this time it is my understanding, by the Spirit, that this document is about 87% as Yahweh would have it.
I acknowledge and accept that i will be judged for any false statements made by me knowingly or unknowingly and ask Father Yahweh now in the Name of Yahshua Messiah Adonai that should there be any such errors He judge me in this life that i may come to repentance and not be judged in the life to come.
PRAYER: Father, in the Name of Yahshua Messiah, if there is anything in this document that is not according to Your Word or Your perfect will please prevent it taking root in the heart of the reader and let all that IS according to Your Word and Your Will take deep root in the hearts of all who read it.
SUMMARY
Refer abstract.
END TIME / GLOBAL CONTEXT
This article was written on Thursday 13 September, approximately thirty six hours after the attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon.
It represented the essence of what the writer observed during the attacks and in the first twenty four hours after the event and concentrated on a number of critical spiritual factors.
After completing the first draft at about 19h00 on Thursday 13 September, it became apparent that much of what was discussed in this article would be extremely difficult for readers to grasp without proper contextualization of many of the statements made. Accordingly, i was impressed by the Spirit to place this article on hold and was progressively given another ten messages addressing a variety of specific issues.
This morning (Monday 24 September), eleven days after writing the article, i was impressed that it was now time to issue it. After reading the article i realised that barring a few details regarding casualty count, specifics regarding passenger involvement in the fourth aircraft which crashed in open countryside and an enormous amount of detail regarding the tragedy itself, the investigation, the prime suspect and his country of residence, etc. Not very much had changed from a spiritual perspective.
The most important additional information by far was the photographs revealing the presence of Satan throughout the destruction of the World Trade Centre and the prophetic word confirming this and providing more detail, as reported in article 1A1.01.09.06 "Satan's Presence At The World Trade Centre - Confirmed in Photographs" (20 September 2001).
The second most significant additional information was a report indicating that this was the NINTH (nine being the number of judgment) "worst of it's kind" event in the U.S.A. in ten years, the other eight being "natural" disasters including storms and earthquakes. This was reported in 1A1.01.09.05 "A Message Linking Disasters In The USA To US Policy Toward Israel" (19 September 2001). The implication of the number nine was given by the Spirit of Yahweh to be that if the USA FAILED TO REPENT after the World Trade Centre collapse and other attacks, the next judgment, to be given within months, would be orders of magnitude MORE SEVERE! This was reinforced in the article 1A1.01.09.07 "Public Stands Against Israel" (20 September 2001) which provided evidence of significant Wall Street Stock Market movements in association with negative US Foreign policy actions toward the Nation of Israel.
Various prophetic statements, the most significant of them recorded on 11 September 1991, TEN YEARS EARLIER TO THE DAY, were reported in the article 1A1.01.09.11 "The Foundations Of The Earth Will Rock And Other Prophetic Messages" (23 September 2001) This article also included reference to Revelation 18 with a word from the Spirit of Yahweh that the events of 11 September WERE NOT the fulfilment of Revelation 18 but were a FINAL WARNING of what would follow if there was not repentance!
The third most significant information was reported in article 1A1.01.09.09 "Abortion -- Another Factor in Understanding the Events of 11 September 2001" (23 September 2001) which revealed that approximately 25% of all pregnancies in the USA were being aborted and that the District of Columbia (where Washington is located) and New York City had respectively the highest and second highest abortion rates in the USA with DC aborting one pregnancy to every live birth and New York aborting 849 pregnancies per thousand live births. The harsh bottom line was that the statistics indicated that it was probable that considerably more children were aborted in New York in the month preceding the collapse of the World Trade Centre than there were people killed in all the events of 11 September 2001. Given Yahweh's harsh statements in Scripture regarding sacrificing children to Molech, this, alone provides a massive basis for judgment.
The message 1A1.01.09.02 "Satan Is Winning The Battle Hands Down: What Are YOU Going To Do About It?" (14 September 2001) stressed the point that the enemy AND the battle were Spiritual and NOT physical and that Satan was the real enemy. It was pointed out that no matter how one looks at the world today, Satan is currently winning! The need for believers of all denominations and persuasions to STOP fighting amongst each other and focus on the REAL enemy, was stressed!
The article 1A1.01.09.04 "Vital Spiritual Principles Required To Understand What Was NOT Seen In The Attacks On The USA On Tuesday 11 September 2001" (19 September 2001) provided an in-depth spiritual technical analysis of the Spiritual factors behind the situation from the perspective of understanding the depths to which mankind has sunk in the last six thousand years and the multi-dimensionality and extreme complexity associated with seeking "all truth". This provided a basis to understand the need for believers to:
“believe the best of our neighbours AND our enemies!”
The article 1A1.01.09.08 "America --> Afghanistan --> the World What to Do?" (21 September 2001) reported an article speaking harshly against the unseen enemy and an article by an American Afghan stressing that bombing his country would only increase the desperate conditions of his countrymen AND provoke widespread Muslim aggression against the United States. The potential for World War 3 to commence at any time was noted, as was the potential futility of conventional armed force attacks on Afghanistan.
The article 1A1.01.09.10 "Yom Kippur -- Day of Atonement An End to Terrible Days" (23 September 2001) referring to the Day of Atonement which occurs from sundown 26 September to sundown 27 September or sundown 27 September to sundown 28 September (depending on which calculation of New Moon is accepted as valid). That is in two or three days from date of writing. The association of the Day of Atonement with repentance on the one hand and with historical major attacks on the Nation of Israel on the other, suggests the possibility of a major Spiritual and possibly physical event commencing on that day. While heartfelt repentance by the President of the United States would be the BEST POSSIBLE EVENT, the outbreak of a world war cannot be excluded.
The article 1A1.01.09.12 "Some Good News About The World Trade Centre Disaster - A Miraculous Deliverance!" (24 September 2001) reported the miraculous escape of a man who was working an estimated twenty feet from the POINT OF IMPACT of the second aircraft to hit the World Trade Centre. Through repeated appeals in the Name of Jesus, he managed to progressively and miraculously make his way through seemingly insurmountable obstacles to escape the building with only minor injuries!
This provides a vital context to the overall picture. Yahweh IS able to deliver ALL who call on His Name, IF we will trust Him and walk in faith and seek His Kingdom and His Righteousness. The experience of this man and even MORE MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE CAN BE THE EXPERIENCE OF EVERY HUMAN ON EARTH IF THEY CHOOSE TO ACCEPT YAHSHUA MESSIAH AS ADONAI AND TO CALL ON THE NAME OF YAHWEH!
This article clearly highlights the CORRECT COURSE OF ACTION FOR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE WORLD - TURN TO YAHWEH YOUR MIGHTY ONE WITH ALL YOUR HEART, MIND, SOUL AND STRENGTH AND HE WILL DELIVER YOU!
The article that follows is presented as it was written on 13 September with minor grammatical and typing corrections but no content or timing changes in order to afford readers a better perspective of the manner in which the writer saw the issues that were NOT SEEN in the thirty six hours immediately following the tragedy.
It is hoped that those who have read the messages that have preceded the publication of this message will be able to fully grasp the significance of certain key statements regarding the need for repentance, etc more fully than would have been the case had they received this article eleven days ago.
IF YOU HAVE NOT READ OR AT LEAST SKIMMED THE PREVIOUS ARTICLES, please be aware that some of the statements that follow are LIKELY to seriously challenge and possibly provoke you. IF this happens, please review the previous articles, as referred to above, in order to gain insight into what is presented here.
A SPIRITUAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE ATTACKS IN THE USA ON 11 SEPTEMBER 2001
INTRODUCTION
In quick succession on the morning of 11 September 2001, 17 days before the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur), four domestic airliners in the United States of America were hijacked.
The first two were flown into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the third into the Pentagon, Headquarters of the US Military and the fourth crashed in open countryside. Subsequently the World Trade Center collapsed with a loss of life which, based on information supplied regarding likely occupancy at that time in the morning, is likely to run to between 5,000 and 20,000 people in addition to the passengers and crew of the aircraft and the hundreds of fire fighters and policemen who were in the buildings trying to contain the blaze.
As i was watching the early phases of the tragedy unfold live on CNN we received a phone call from someone on our email list asking if this event was "in the Bible". Two days later, this article is, in a sense, an answer to that question.
As i continued to watch press coverage over the two days following the start of the tragedy, i increasingly came to see the spiritual dimensions of what happened and this is the central theme of this message. Once more, as in the recent article "The Evangelism Iceberg in 2001: Strategic Objectives Of The Kingdom Of Yahweh" (reference 1A1.01.08.11 dated 21 August, 2001), it became apparent that we should look to the things which are NOT seen to understand what has happened AND how to respond to it. This articles seeks to present our impressions.
THE EVENTS: WHAT WAS SEEN
What was seen was straightforward:
1) Four aircraft were hijacked.
2) The first two were deliberately flown into the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York.
3) The third was flown into the Pentagon.
4) The fourth crashed in open country with subsequent reports seeming to suggest that the pilot, rather than die at the hands of others heroically chose to take his plane down where there would be least loss of life.
5) The upper stories of the World Trade Center were engulfed in fire and subsequently the entire complex collapsed with massive loss of life. It currently seems likely that between 5,000 and 20,000 people will have died but it is debateable whether the true death toll will ever be known.
6) Following the disaster numerous reports started to link the destruction to "Islamic fundamentalists".
7) Much of the United States ground to a halt as all airliners were grounded, large buildings were evacuated and the US President moved around the country in the wake of concerns for his safety.
8) A massive clean up operation is underway and massive investigations are taking place to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice.
As MASSIVELY TRAGIC as the whole event certainly IS, the basics of what happened SEEM quite clear, BUT ARE THEY?
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 states "16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. 17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, 18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." (NKJ)
In the following sections some of the things which are NOT seen will be discussed.
THE THINGS THAT WERE NOT SEEN FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE NATURAL MAN
A Military / Security Perspective
With the writer's background as a retired military commander, some things seemed to stand out in terms of what was NOT seen:
1) There was NO indication of ANY military preparedness for any such eventuality, not even the fourth plane was intercepted by military aircraft.
2) It seemed that NO ONE had considered the possibility of some form of suicide aircraft hijacking to attack the World Trade center, even though it had to be one of the most obvious targets in the world and despite decades of suicide bombings in the Middle East and numerous suicide aircraft attacks by Japanese Kamikaze pilots during the Second World War.
3) It seemed that NO ONE in the USA had ever thought it necessary to create a secure, bullet proof, entrance controlled safe haven for the pilots of commercial aircraft, despite numerous hijacking's around the world, despite these being a feature on El Al aircraft.
4) It was widely reported that despite major concerns about domestic security in the United States a decade ago, allegedly, none of the recommendations had been followed because of COMMERCIAL objections.
5) There were a number of reports that statements emanating from certain hostile fundamentalist groups had, for some months, been suggesting some intensive attack on the USA was imminent, yet it appeared that there had been no material response to these statements.
So, what was seen? A distinct failure to anticipate something which, with the benefit of hindsight, should have been reasonably foreseen.
This is not said to condemn anyone, simply to make the point that a few basic steps COULD have prevented the tragedy IF the possibility of this type of scenario had been anticipated and taken seriously. The sad reality is that no matter how hard the most sincere and committed people attempt to cover all the options, in practice the potential for error is considerable. The permutations are just TOO great and the financial and logistical implications are probably insurmountable. One of the advantages of terrorism over conventional warfare is that the perpetrators are NEVER constrained by the financial, political, moral, ethical and other limitations imposed upon Governments and corporations of the target nations. Terrorism is effectively infinitely flexible and variable. Sooner or later, committed, fanatical terrorists, particularly those who are willing to sacrifice their own lives, WILL achieve a notable success.
Apart from anything else, the limited capacity of the average "man in the street" to tolerate high security measures and the inconvenience and costs that accompany them, is far lower than the capacity of the fanatical terrorist to endure hardship to accomplish his objective.
The conclusion?
Unless a fundamentally different approach is used, the United States, or any other nation for that matter, will NEVER be able to completely secure against this sort of attack.
The question MUST therefore be, WHAT IS THAT ALTERNATIVE?
In subsequent sections the writer will endeavour to offer such an alternative.
An Engineering Perspective
From the perspective of the writer's background as a Civil Engineer with some research experience in the field of fire prevention and protection in High Rise Buildings in the mid 1970's there were some other things which were NOT seen.
1) It was reported that the designers of the World Trade Center had stated that it was designed to take the full impact of a Boeing 707 and, based on the very limited movement of the towers it would seem that this report was accurate - from a structural point of view - no critical structural damage appeared to follow the two impacts.
2) However, presumably because no one ever considered an aircraft laden with fuel for something like four to six hours flying full across the continental United States flying into the buildings, it seems that no one considered the fire implications.
3) The buildings will, in simple terms, have comprised structural steel frames encased in fire protective coatings. These coatings were unlikely to have been designed for such an impact coupled with such a massive explosion and the resulting fire. Finally the heat of the blaze had to soften the structural steel to such a degree that the weight of the stories above would buckle the columns and the impact of the upper stories on the lower stories would cause progressive collapse of the entire structure.
It is almost certain that the fate of the buildings was sealed at the moment of impact and the collapse was unavoidable!
4) Given this observation questions will, inevitably, be asked as to why fire fighters and police were sent up the stair wells, thus placing more lives at risk AND substantially reducing the traffic flow for people fleeing the building. There was NO evidence that anyone realised that the buildings were bound to collapse.
5) Irrespective of the previous point, the magnitude of the fire was such that the potential for those on the upper floors to ever get down, even after days, was probably low to non-existent. Yet there was NO evidence of any attempt to evacuate people from the upper stories by helicopter. An observation helicopter took video footage of people hanging out of windows, presumably to try and escape the unbearable heat, and others jumping, presumably because there was no other way. Yet, at NO time was there any evidence of any attempt to bring in helicopters to evacuate from the roof. Admittedly a highly dangerous and possibly impossible exercise.
6) BUT the most dramatic thing that was not seen was that the towers BOTH collapsed completely linearly down their center lines. Given the asymmetrical nature of the aircraft impacts and the resultant explosions and presumably, at least to an extent the resulting fires, it would have been seemingly quite possible for one side of the damaged buildings to give way before the other. If this had happened then the top of the tower would have started to tilt, immediately the centre of gravity of the upper stories started to move outward the towers would have started to bend and it seems QUITE possible that the towers could have progressively keeled over sideways spreading debris over thousands of feet TO THE SIDE of the site and, in the process, potentially crushing numerous other buildings AND killing tens of thousands more people!
To me THAT IS A MIRACLE!!
I cannot help but wonder if the Angels of Yahweh did not encamp around that building to prevent it falling sideways?
>>> COMMENT - subsequent information showed that the top of at least one tower DID start to topple but as far as i can determine the sideways collapse that should have happened did not occur, thus reinforcing the above point dramatically - Yahweh DID intervene to contain the loss of life! <<<
As with the security and military perspective, from a natural point of view, what did not happen is critical - NO ONE anticipated the possibility of such an event, EVEN at the time the structure was designed and no one seriously considered themselves to be at risk as tenants in the upper stories and no one in the surrounding buildings seriously considered themselves to be at risk of lateral collapse. But surely, even at a probability of a fraction of a percent, there had ALWAYS been a probability of some extraordinary event that could cause such a tragedy. Again, this is not said to condemn anyone, mistakes have been made, mankind will, presumably continue to attempt to build towers that reach up to heaven, as in Genesis 11:1-9 but, surely also, there will ALWAYS be a minute but finite probability of an event beyond the realms of what is considered possible.
Again, unless a fundamentally different approach is used, the occupants of high rise office towers and, particularly, those which reach up into the heavens, will ALWAYS be at risk, even if only to the extent of a very small probability of occurrence.
LOOKING AT THE THINGS THAT ARE UNSEEN FROM A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE - ISHMAEL VERSUS ISRAEL
As reports of investigations continue to point to "Islamic Extremists" / fundamentalists, as the United States effectively declares that it is at war with whoever perpetrated this terrible act of murder and many who might have been expected to have something to do with supporting such attacks go to some length to distance themselves and express support for the United States, possibly more out of fear of MASSIVE retribution than out of any particular moral concern, one thing seems certain, ISLAM WAS INVOLVED!
BUT various reports indicate this is a battle between the "civilised democracies" of the world and others who are labelled as "evil". On the face of it, that is exactly what it is, certainly our entire moral fabric of society MUST oppose such faceless acts of terror on defenceless civilians, but, such acts of terror have been perpetrated for centuries, it is only the scale of this event which is SO DRAMATIC. The basic principle of what was done in New York, i omit the Pentagon since it WAS a military target, is the same whether it is a lone civilian gunned down in Israel, Ireland or anywhere else or whether it is the thousands killed in the current situation.
Once the USA and other, so-called "civilised" nations compromised on the first terrorist attack, whether in Israel or elsewhere, the die was cast for this one.
Sadly, however one looks at it, an event of this magnitude in the USA eventually had to come. UNLESS a completely different course of action was adopted!
Perhaps the most jarring BUT most important video footage shown on TV over the past 48 hours were the scenes of Palestinians rejoicing in the streets of Jerusalem shortly after the attack. What WAS noticeable was that these seemed to be ordinary men, women and children, truly overjoyed that their "enemy" the USA had been attacked in this way. Those were NOT highly trained fanatical soldiers trained to hate from birth, they were ordinary men and women, like you and i!
IF we have eyes to see, SURELY we must see something terribly wrong about that? NOT that they are rejoicing over such tragedy but that they ARE rejoicing over such tragedy! To understand this statement you may need to read the article "Interpreting Bible Prophecy for This Season" (reference 1A1.01.02.04, dated 09 February, 2001) which makes the point that many things in Bible prophecy are not what they seem to be but are what they are prophesied to be. Yahshua did not conform to the expectations of those who executed Him in terms of how the Messiah should come, so they killed Him, THUS fulfilling Bible Prophecy!
In a similar but unrelated way, the Palestinians, Arabs and other Muslims who expressed various views to the effect that the USA was to blame for what happened are both completely wrong AND completely RIGHT! It depends how we look at these things!
BUT, if nothing else, WE SHOULD ALL ask ourselves HOW people who, i am sure if they were visited privately in their homes, would seem to be much like you and i, could rejoice in the streets over such a terrible tragedy! There MUST be a reason and IF we can determine that reason we might be able to make this problem GO AWAY PERMANENTLY!
BUT, if we speak harshly, regard them as barbarians and direct our hurt as hatred toward them, WE WILL REAP a bitter harvest!
What has this all to do with the Bible?
Simply put, what we see are the children of Israel and the children of Ishmael facing each other in bitter hostility!
The Arab people are, in simple terms, the descendants of Abraham's first son, Ishmael, not exclusively so, but in broad terms the son's of Ishmael plus a spectrum of other descendants of Abraham form the root of the Arabic nations and, more importantly from a Spiritual perspective, the root of Islam.
The British, American and European people are, according to substantial evidence, the descendants of the children of Israel who were exiled from the northern Kingdom of Israel, or Sammaria as summarized in 2 Kings 17. There is considerable Scriptural, prophetic, historical and genetic evidence that most of Europe and therefore the U.S.A., descended from the exiled ten tribes in the dispersion. For more information visit the "Your Arms To Israel" web site at http://www.yourarmstoisrael.org or the Union of Two House Messianic Congregations website at: http://www.2house.org.
Thus we see that the battle here is drawn between the son's of Ishmael and the son's of Israel!
Consider Genesis 16:1-16:
"1 Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. And she had an Egyptian maidservant whose name was Hagar. 2 So Sarai said to Abram, "See now, Yahweh has restrained me from bearing children. Please, go in to my maid; perhaps I shall obtain children by her." And Abram heeded the voice of Sarai. 3 Then Sarai, Abram's wife, took Hagar her maid, the Egyptian, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan. 4 So he went in to Hagar, and she conceived. And when she saw that she had conceived, her mistress became despised in her eyes.
5 Then Sarai said to Abram, "My wrong be upon you! I gave my maid into your embrace; and when she saw that she had conceived, I became despised in her eyes. Yahweh judge between you and me."
6 So Abram said to Sarai, "Indeed your maid is in your hand; do to her as you please." And when Sarai dealt harshly with her, she fled from her presence.
7 Now the Angel of Yahweh found her by a spring of water in the wilderness, by the spring on the way to Shur. 8 And He said, "Hagar, Sarai's maid, where have you come from, and where are you going?" She said, "I am fleeing from the presence of my mistress Sarai." 9 The Angel of Yahweh said to her, "Return to your mistress, and submit yourself under her hand."
10 Then the Angel of Yahweh said to her, "I will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude." 11 And the Angel of Yahweh said to her: "Behold, you are with child, and you shall bear a son. You shall call his name Ishmael, because Yahweh has heard your affliction. 12 He shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him. And he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren."
13 Then she called the name of Yahweh who spoke to her, You-Are-the-Elohim-Who-Sees; for she said, "Have I also here seen Him who sees me?" 14 Therefore the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; observe, it is between Kadesh and Bered. 15 So Hagar bore Abram a son; and Abram named his son, whom Hagar bore, Ishmael. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore Ishmael to Abram. (NKJ)
First notice that "the Angel of Yahweh" speaks AS Yahweh and that Hagar speaks to Him as to Yahweh. Notice particularly that in verse 13 "she called the Name of Yahweh who spoke to her". The "Angel of Yahweh" is the physical, manifest presence of Yahweh in the form of a man, in other words, Yahshua! Thus, Yahshua appeared to Hagar AND gave Ishmael his name! Note that Yahshua AGAIN appears to Hagar in Genesis 21:17-20 and in verse 20 it says that "Elohim was with the lad". There are VERY FEW people in Scripture to whom the Angel of Yahweh has appeared once, let alone twice, we do well not to speak ill of such people! Yet, the "Christian" church constantly speaks ill of Hagar and Ishmael and condemns Hagar as an adulteress, even though she was legitimately and scripturally Abram's concubine. Since Christians habitually refer to Ishmael as illegitimate or a "bastard" WHEN HE WAS NOT, and have done so for thousands of years, we should not be particularly surprised when his children hate us!
Notice also that in verse 10, the Angel of Yahweh (Yahshua) states that HE "will multiply your descendants exceedingly, so that they shall not be counted for multitude." That is a SUBSTANTIAL blessing!! Ishmael IS ALSO BLESSED for Abraham's sake! Just as Israel is blessed through the people of Europe and PARTICULARLY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!
BUT notice also verse 12 "He shall be a wild man; his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him". That appears to be a reasonably accurate perspective of Islam (the children of Ishmael) viewed from a European (Israelite) perspective! The MORE SO in the context of the events of 11 September 2001!
It seems to me that ONE OF THE CRITICAL FACETS of responding to the events of 11 September 2001 is that the truth regarding the parentage of the people of Europe, the United States, and elsewhere, MUST be proclaimed so that the people of those nations, and PARTICULARLY the people of the United States recognize that there is a VERY DIFFERENT perspective to this situation than first appears.
It seems that ANOTHER critical response MUST BE to recognize that the people of Islam ARE LEGITIMATE HEIRS of Ishmael and therefore BLESSED BY YAHWEH AS WELL!!
With this, WE NEED TO REPENT OF CALLING OUR BROTHER AN ILLEGITIMATE BASTARD!!
ANOTHER FACTOR THAT IS UNSEEN - CENTURIES OF PERSECUTION AND POGROMS AGAINST ARABS AND ISLAM
In the aftermath of the attacks in the United States, i received a number of emails, some rather vehement, regarding the atrocities and making some rather unpleasant judgments on the Muslim people and Islam generally!
The fact that some of these came from people who purport to be "Christians" and some even came from people who claim to be "Messianic Believers", is deeply disturbing, Yahshua commanded us to "LOVE YOUR ENEMIES".
Matthew 5:43-48 states "43 "You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' 44 "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 "that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 "For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 "And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 "Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." (NKJ)
Until the nations, such as the United States, which are, according to demographic statistics, largely "Christian", apply the commandments of the man / God they claim to follow and seek to become like Him, HOW CAN WE EXPECT OTHERS TO TREAT US LIKE BELIEVERS IN YAHSHUA MESSIAH!!
The Muslims know full well what Yahshua taught. They regard Yahshua as the greatest prophet and apostle that EVER LIVED, they reject "Christians" in part BECAUSE WE DO NOT APPLY THE TEACHINGS OF YAHSHUA AND WE TOTALLY PERVERT THE COMMANDMENTS OF YAHWEH!!
There have been numerous articles posted on this list over the past eighteen months regarding the apostate state of the "Christian church", the massive doctrinal and practical errors, the wrong treatment of Jews and Muslims, etc, etc.
UNTIL THOSE WHO CLAIM TO BELIEVE IN YAHSHUA MESSIAH STOP PERVERTING HIS TEACHINGS AND STOP PERVERTING THE TORAH OF YAHWEH, we have no business pointing fingers at ANY other group! It is time for us to judge ourselves and start removing the BEAMS from out of our own eyes. It is ALSO TIME FOR REPENTANCE for the sins of our forefathers in terms of perverting Torah, perverting the teachings of Yahshua, etc. The massive spiritual carnage resulting from the false, pagan, doctrine of enforced monogamy, discussed in detail in the article "The Wrath of Yahweh for The Church Today: The Judgment for Adultery Part 2" (reference 1A1.01.08.10, dated 16 August, 2001) is one of the MOST FUNDAMENTAL REASONS why Muslims cannot accept "Christianity" and it is keeping billions of people from saving knowledge of Adonai Yahshua Messiah!!
As an aside, the highly provocative statements made during the Tom Green trial regarding men who have more than one wife CANNOT have done anything to endear the USA to those among the Muslim millions who hold Torah to be the ultimate authority!
IF the United States truly wants to respond constructively to the events of 11 September 2001, one of the things that MUST be rectified is the removal from the Statute Books of all the wrong legislation which defies Torah.
All of the above MUST be considered in conjunction with the atrocities against Jew and Arab alike perpetrated by the "Christian Crusaders" and others acting in the name of "Christ" during most of the last two thousand years.
JIHAD IS NOT A Muslim CONCEPT, OR EVEN AN ARAB CONCEPT, IT IS A CHRISTIAN CONCEPT!!
It was the Crusaders who adopted "convert or die" as their basic "evangelistic" device. Jews, Arabs and others were savagely and brutally beaten and murdered in the name of "Jesus Christ" throughout the centuries! Until modern Believers recognize these atrocities, committed in the name of "Jesus Christ" and REPENT PUBLICLY with obvious conviction and bring forth fruits worthy of repentance WORLD WIDE, we have NO PLACE condemning the Muslims for what went on in New York on 11 September 2001. In their eyes we are the devil incarnate and we have only our forefathers and our lack of heartfelt repentance to blame!!
Please understand, i am NOT saying that what happened on 11 September 2001 was acceptable, ONLY THAT IT WAS INEVITABLE and that more violence and particularly massive military violence against Muslim groups WILL NOT SOLVE THE PROBLEM!! It will ONLY MAKE IT WORSE! Yahweh has appointed repentance AND RESTITUTION for those who sin and it is high time that those who have been privileged to receive the truth of the Good News of Yahshua Messiah, start to behave like Yahshua AND do what He commanded us to do!! Love our enemies, do good to them that hate us, repent of our sins and ask forgiveness and BRING FORTH FRUIT OF REPENTANCE!!
ANOTHER UNSEEN FACTOR - WHERE ISLAM ACTUALLY CAME FROM
In my journey through life in recent years, praying constantly for Yahweh to bring the people that He wants into my life and take the people that He does not want in my life out, i have met, by divine appointment, a number of people from groups that "Christians" love to hate. Amongst others, i have met a number of Muslim men and women.
What has been consistently noticeable about ALL that i have met is a level of commitment to the Word of Yahweh that far exceeds ANYTHING i have found amongst any "Christians" OR Jews that i have met. Consistently these people have been courteous, gentle and without the aggressive pride that so frequently characterises those who call themselves by the name of "Christ". They know FAR MORE about Yahshua Messiah than most "Christians", they read the Holy Scriptures, particularly the Torah (five books of Moses) which they call the "Tawratt", Psalms and Proverbs regularly and regard them as inspired. They recognize ALL the books regarded by Christians as inspired as being inspired but hold the current versions to be corrupt, which in fact they are, even though not necessarily in all the areas that Muslims have been told they are corrupt. They acknowledge Yahshua as the foremost Prophet and Apostle of Yahweh that has ever lived and do not deny the works that He did! BUT they dispute various claims made for Him by His followers today.
If you have the opportunity to speak to a knowledgeable Muslim, you will find that if you ask the right questions, he will point you to innumerable errors in "Christian" doctrine and in most cases he will be right in nearly all of them!
This is NOT to say that Muslims are perfect. They have their own major doctrinal errors, in some degree in response to the same factors which make it impossible for Jews to observe much of the Torah in terms of ordinances, etc. BUT, on balance, it is the writers observation that the Muslims have NO MORE error than those who call themselves by the name of "Christ", THEY JUST HAVE DIFFERENT ERRORS. And, because the errors are different, they are clear to us, BUT, AGAIN, it is time for us to remove the massive tree trunks out of the collective eye's of those who call themselves by the name of "Christ" AND those who call themselves "Messianic".
Referring to the language that was being bandied around on TV on Tuesday 11 and Wednesday 12 September, careful investigation will reveal that the vast majority of people who apply the label "Muslim" to themselves are, like the vast majority of people who apply the label "Christian" to themselves GOOD PEOPLE! That is, they are peace loving, they are trying to live "good" lives, even if since they do not have an in depth knowledge of Scripture and rely on men to teach them, they CANNOT AGREE on what a "good life" actually is.
They have life styles we don't understand, because we have probably never tried in the same way that we have life styles they don't understand. If there is a major difference, it is probably that, on balance, they live their lives closer to Torah than the majority of "Christians" and they have a MUCH greater reverence for "Allah" which is approximately the Arabic name for Yahweh, certainly no further from Yahweh than "the LORD" is far from Yahweh!
To understand better the current situation, we need to look at where Islam came from.
To do that, we must understand where "Christianity" has been.
In simple terms, for most of the last two thousand years, "Christianity" has been so totally apostate and in the depths of pagan heresy and every evil work that it has not in any meaningful way to the rest of the world been recognizable as having anything material or significant to do with the Creator of the Heavens and the Earth!!
By about 200 AD, less than 200 years after Yahshua had died so terribly on the stake, the main balance of influence or power in the body of people who claimed some form of allegiance to Yahshua Messiah, already by then called "Jesus Christ", was resident in Rome. By 600 AD the Roman "Church" was almost certainly the dominant player in "Christianity" and had systematically eliminated virtually everything that could possibly be eliminated that in even the vaguest way suggested that "Christianity" had Jewish roots.
The Sabbath was changed to Sunday, Yahweh's form of marriage was abolished and enforced statutory monogamy was imposed together with pagan slave rings as "wedding bands". All known Hebrew and Aramaic manuscripts were destroyed, etc, etc. There is plenty of documentation available for those who are interested but, in simple terms, a very substantial proportion of the apostate teachings of Christianity, many of which remain to today were firmly in place. Over the years, during the "Dark Ages" more and more apostate heresy was introduced, torture of Jews, pogroms, etc were prevalent. This same demonic poison flowed through to the Holocaust of the Second World War and remains firmly embedded in anti-Semitism in many Europeans who unknowingly deny their birth right. The history of "Christianity" is a bloody, sordid and horrifying tale of the most terrible evils imaginable. On the spiritual front, these evils remain in large measure unchecked despite the seemingly respectable facade of "Christianity" in the last few decades!
Through all of this, Yahweh has maintained a remnant of true believers but, even they, have in large measure been seduced by the magnitude of the corrupt teachings with which they have found it necessary to co-exist!
HOW DOES THIS RELATE TO ISLAM?
This sordid history of "Christianity", is, as far as has been shown to the writer, THE PRIMARY REASON FOR THE EXISTENCE OF ISLAM!!
Yahshua Messiah came and died FOR THE SINS OF THE WHOLE WORLD, 1 John 2:1-2 states
"1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Yahshua Messiah the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." (NKJ adjusted)
The believers who remained after Yahshua was caught up into heaven to sit at the Right Hand of the Father were commanded in Mark 16:15 "... "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature." (NKJ)
By 600 AD what was being preached was totally corrupt AND it was not being preached to all the world and every creature!!
ENTER MOHAMMED, A RIGHTEOUS PROPHET OF YAHWEH!!
At this point, the "Church" was so corrupt and so far off track that Yahweh found it necessary to send ANOTHER Prophet to speak correction, to warn of the errors of the Jews and the Christians "the people of the Book" who each, in their own ways were FAR OFF TRACK!
Yahweh spoke through Mohammed for some time. Whether at some point Mohammed deviated into some degree of error OR whether those who wrote down what the prophet said corrupted some of his statements is to a point irrelevant. YES there ARE errors in the teachings attributed to Mohammed, BUT it is highly debateable whether they are any worse than the errors in the teachings the modern church attributes to "Jesus Christ". In particular, the "Church" has been singularly UNSUCCESSFUL in preserving a complete set of original manuscripts in the original Aramaic and Hebrew and, by all accounts, the Muslims have been MUCH MORE DILIGENT in preserving the teachings of Mohammed. In reality, the "Church" went out of it's way to DESTROY the Aramaic and Hebrew manuscripts and the Spirit of Yahweh declares that even in this day there are manuscripts locked away deep in the vaults of the Roman Church, that is why there are 66 books in the "Christian Bible". 6 being the number of "man", 666 being the number of the "Beast", thus revealing that MAN HAS TAMPERED WITH THE SACRED WRITINGS!
IF the "Christians" had been faithful with what they were called to do, it is possible that Yahweh would not have sent Mohammed, but, because WE AND OUR FOREFATHERS FAILED OUR SAVIOUR, Yahweh had to send another man to another nation!!
It is HIGH TIME THAT WE RECOGNIZE THAT MOHAMMED WAS A PROPHET OF YAHWEH AND REPENT OF ALL THE SLANDEROUS STATEMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN MADE AGAINST HIM IN THE NAME OF CHRIST. Truly, "Christians" are guilty of touching Yahweh's anointed!
Therefore, at the very least it behooves those who call themselves by the name of "Christ" or by the Name of Messiah, to acknowledge that "surely they (the Muslims) are more righteous than we!"
IF we do that and repent of our wicked ways, publicly, internationally and with real conviction bringing forth fruits of REAL repentance, there is a possibility that the evil that is purposed against the "Christians" whom Muslims JUSTLY REFER TO AS INFIDELS, can be averted!
YET ANOTHER ASPECT OF THE UNSEEN : JUDGMENT BEGINS IN THE HOUSE OF YAHWEH!
The article "The Wrath of Yahweh for the Church : Why Judgment is Coming on the Church Today" (reference 1A1.01.01.01, dated 04 January, 2001) sets out in some detail the basic principles of Judgment in this life and subsequent articles, particularly "The Wages of Sin" (reference 1A1.01.03.06, dated 11 March, 2001) and "Poverty in The Church of Yahshua Messiah" (reference 1A1.01.03.07, dated 11 March, 2001) address this in more detail. Numerous articles on the End Time Issues List have, over the past eighteen months addressed innumerable areas of modern doctrine which are in total violation of Torah and have set out in detail how this constitutes "Iniquity" or "Lawlessness", refer article 1A1.01.08.07 "Iniquity = Lawlessness = Torahlessness" dated 14 August, 2001 in particular. The article, 1A1.01.09.02 "Are You REALLY Saved", dated 13 September 2001 spelt these issues out in even more robust terms.
The critical Scripture in the context of this point is 1 Peter 4:17-18 "17 For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of Yahweh; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of Yahweh? 18 Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"" (NKJ adjusted)
The message on "The Wrath of Yahweh for the Church" spelt out the manner in which Judgment comes in this life, what the Scriptures are, what the procedures are in the Court of Heaven and the extent to which repentance and a return to Torah based doctrine was VITAL to serving Yahweh to overcome in this age. The two subsequent messages relating to "The Judgment for Adultery" and the series of messages relating to the levels of fornication in the world and the church, posted in April 2000, together paint a bleak picture of the massive levels of apostasy and resulting almost universal sin in both the Body of Believers AND the World at Large. Sin that Yahweh lays at the door of those who have been called to preach the Good News of Messiah Yahshua TO ALL THE WORLD and to EVERY CREATURE but who have been faithless and have concentrated on fighting one another and perpetuating their errors and doctrines of demons!
The article "The Evangelism Iceberg in 2001: Strategic Objectives Of The Kingdom Of Yahweh" (reference 1A1.01.08.11, dated 21 August, 2001) painted an even bleaker picture of the terrible spiritual state of the World Today with the Spirit of Yahweh indicating that ONLY 1% OF ALL PEOPLE ON EARTH, would inherit the Kingdom of Yahweh IF the World were to be judged today and most of THESE would be scarcely saved!
Other alarming statistics include 500 million so-called BELIEVERS who will NOT inherit the Kingdom of Yahweh as a consequence of sexual and other related sins associated with the heresy of enforced monogamy and all the associated false doctrines regarding virginity, adultery, marriage, divorce, etc that accompany it. A further approximately 500 million who apply demographic labels indicating "Christianity" in some form or flavour who are NOT EVEN BELIEVERS in the sight of Yahweh. 5% of the total population of the world already BEYOND salvation having lost their salvation or blasphemed the Set Apart (Holy) Spirit of Yahweh. A total of ONLY 6% of ALL who have believed in Yahshua Messiah, mostly believers in Jesus Christ would, if judged today, inherit the Kingdom of Heaven! And, furthermore, Yahweh has indicated that before the battle is over, by shortly after Passover 2003, one third of ALL people on earth will have lost all hope of Salvation!
The context of this is the massive battle that is currently being waged in the heavenlies by Principalities, Powers, Thrones and Dominions of darkness directed at preventing Satan being cast into the Bottomless Pit for a thousand years.
The attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center is ONLY PART OF THIS BATTLE, it is the battle in the Heavenlies that we must focus on IF good is to come out of the terrible loss of life and the massive trauma - how many children have lost one or both parents? - how many elderly are left without any support? - how many died without every hearing the Good News of Yahshua Messiah preached accurately and without pagan corruption? - how many, IF ANY of all the thousands who died, will inherit the Kingdom of Yahweh on the Day of Judgment? These are TERRIBLE AND ALARMING QUESTIONS which those who claim to have a personal knowledge of Adonai Yahshua Messiah MUST CONSIDER!! AND then we MUST ACT ON THE CONCLUSIONS WE DRAW!!
To return to "Judgment must begin in the house of Yahweh", firstly, let us recognize that, in many respects, the United States of America has for some time, been the standard bearer for faith in Adonai Yahshua Messiah. This was a standard at one time carried by the United Kingdom and Yahweh blessed that Nation to take the Good News to all the World and, in the process, the world wide British Empire came into existence. In time, the baton was passed to the United States of America and, today, the baton remains with the USA. But, for some years the USA has been dropping the baton! They have abolished prayer and the Bible in Schools, they have legalised a diversity of acts that are contrary to Scripture, they have LARGELY FORGOTTEN THEIR CALLING.
The Word of Yahweh is quite clear:
Psalm 34:7 states "The angel of Yahweh encamps all around those who fear Him, and delivers them." (NKJ adjusted)
Isaiah 54:17 "No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of Yahweh, and their righteousness is from Me," says Yahweh." (NKJ adjusted)
Deuteronomy 28:7 ""Yahweh will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways." (NKJ adjusted)
THEREFORE, PROVIDED THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA FEAR'S YAHWEH AND OBEYS HIS COMMANDMENTS, Yahweh will protect them and events such as those of 11 September 2001 CANNOT HAPPEN!
By the same token, referring to judgement beginning in the House of Yahweh, we must also recognize that Yahshua, Himself, said in Matthew 10:29-34 "29 "Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father's will. 30 "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 "Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. 32 "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 "But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. 34 "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword." (NKJ)
This passage contains a number of vital truths that most "Christians" tend not to accept. Firstly, Yahshua says that He did NOT come to bring peace! Secondly, He states that those who deny HIM on earth, He will deny before His Father in heaven. Thirdly He tells us that NOT EVEN A SPARROW, let alone a Boeing 757, falls to the earth apart from His Father's WILL.
People in the USA need to accept that while they deny Yahshua by prohibiting prayer and Scripture reading in Schools and the other actions they have taken to deny Yahshua, they cannot reasonably expect Yahshua to take their part in heaven. Therefore desperate cries to "God" and prayer and moments of silence, as sincerely as they may be offered CANNOT BEAR ANY FRUIT while the Nation denies it's Saviour!
All those around the World who witnessed the tragic events of 11 September 2001 need also to understand that NONE of what happened could have happened without Yahweh's express consent!! A judgment AND sentence were necessary for those aircraft to be hijacked, for them to be flown into those buildings and for the people who were on the aircraft and in the buildings to be present at the time AND for those who died to die and for those who lived to live!
The article on "Yahweh's Wrath for the Church" goes into the Judgment process in some detail and provides Scripture, but the core elements, as evidenced in Job and elsewhere is that Satan is the prosecutor who roams the earth seeking whom he MAY devour (1 Peter 5:8). When he finds sin, which is not difficult since it is in large measure his demons and fallen angels which are instigating sin, AND when Satan considers the person concerned to warrant some effort to attack, Satan will then come, as "the accuser" or prosecutor to bring charges against the person, people, nation, corporation, etc that is guilty of the sin. Where possible, that is where the person is a Believer AND has brought a sacrifice of repentance, Yahshua WILL, as the Advocate (1 John 2:1) bring a pleading on the basis of His Sacrifice on the Stake (cross) and plead against sentence. However, IF the guilty party does not have a basis for clemency and IS guilty, the Father will pass sentence in accordance with factors such as spiritual maturity and knowledge and Satan will then generally execute the sentence. In certain circumstances, refer Job again, Yahweh will draw Satan's attention to a particular individual and may even command Satan's agents to take action, refer 1 Kings 22:20-22 and 2 Chronicles 18:19-21.
For what happened on 11 September 2001 to occur there had to be MASSIVE JUDGMENT AGAINST THE USA, it's people, the airlines concerned and at least some of the corporations who were major tenants of the World Trade Center as well as against the owners of the building! The events of 11 September 2001 COULD NOT HAVE HAPPENED except there was MASSIVE CORPORATE SIN on the part of the people of the United States of America.
This does not necessarily mean that the people who died were any more sinful than those in the rest of the United States, refer Yahshua's statement in Luke 13:4-5 which has a chilling relevance to the present situation "4 "Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? 5 "I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish."" (NKJ)
It is VITAL for the well being of the people and Nation of the United States of America AND FOR THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, that the President, Government AND People of the United States of America humbly seek Yahweh with a Broken Spirit and a Contrite Heart and TRULY repent of their wicked ways and turn their hearts and their NATION to seek Yahweh with ALL THEIR HEARTS, ALL THEIR MINDS, ALL THEIR SOULS AND ALL THEIR STRENGTH!! If they do, Yahweh will SURELY answer them and protect them as He did in times past, BUT if they do not, then surely greater judgment and destruction will follow, no matter how forcibly they retaliate against the perpetrators of these terrible deeds.
A FURTHER UNSEEN FACTOR - PROPHECY FULFILLED?
In the aftermath of the tragic events of 11 September 2001, i received an email which quoted the following passage of Scripture:
Revelation 18:1-24
"1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. 2 And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird!
3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury." 4 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 "For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 "Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. 7 "In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.'
8 "Therefore her plagues will come in one day-- death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Yahweh Adonai who judges her. 9 "The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, 10 "standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come.'
11 "And the merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise any more: 12 "merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and scarlet, every kind of citron wood, every kind of object of ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron, and marble; 13 "and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and bodies and souls of men. 14 "The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all.
15 "The merchants of these things, who became rich by her, will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, 16 "and saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple, and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls! 17 'For in one hour such great riches came to nothing.' Every shipmaster, all who travel by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea, stood at a distance 18 "and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, 'What is like this great city?' 19 "They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing, and saying, 'Alas, alas, that great city, in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! For in one hour she is made desolate.'
20 "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!" 21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, "Thus with violence the great city Babylon shall be thrown down, and shall not be found any more. 22 "The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you any more. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you any more, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you any more. 23 "The light of a lamp shall not shine in you any more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you any more. For your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. 24 "And in her was found the blood of prophets and saints, and of all who were slain on the earth." (NKJ)
While it appears that NOT all of this prophecy could apply to the situation in New York, the scale of devastation portrayed in the prophecy is MUCH GREATER, but there DOES appear to be some form of prophetic foreshadowing associated with the events of 11 September 2001.
The question that all nations EVERYWHERE have to ask themselves but, perhaps, no nation more so than the United States of America and possibly no City more than New York, is whether this prophecy is referring to THEM. Certain statements made in interviews regarding New York being THE COMMERCIAL CAPITAL OF THE WORLD and no other City having more global commercial influence, the writer cannot comment on, BUT, IF they are correct, then this prophecy portrays a CHILLING FUTURE for New York City!!
BUT, it must be remembered that, in all things, Yahweh is merciful, longsuffering and full of compassion Psalm 78:38-39 states "38 But He, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity, and did not destroy them. Yes, many a time He turned His anger away, and did not stir up all His wrath; 39 For He remembered that they were but flesh, a breath that passes away and does not come again." (NKJ)
THERE IS TIME FOR THE UNITED STATES TO REPENT, there is time for New York to repent, there is time for the people of the United States to repent, there IS TIME FOR BELIEVERS EVERYWHERE TO REPENT AND TURN TO YAHWEH BUT THERE IS NOT MUCH TIME!!
The message of 11 September 2001 MUST SURELY BE - REPENT AND TURN TO YAHWEH WITH ALL YOUR HEART, MIND SOUL AND STRENGTH for the days of judgment are at hand!
THE SPIRITUAL DICHOTOMY AND PARADOX
Another aspect of the events of 11 September 2001 and of all that is written above is the apparent paradox, viewed from a "Western Democratic" perspective, of what is written in this document.
There was no doubt in the minds of European and American leaders and ordinary men in the street that the United States represented GOOD and the perpetrators of this attack representee EVIL. This line was clearly drawn by both the President of the United States AND the British Prime Minister, amongst others.
Reference was made to "The Free World", "Democracy", etc. Terms which, collectively, portray the United States as a nation of good people savagely attacked for no reason by a group of fringe extremist fanatics who act in ways which are devoid of "good" and which are totally opposed to "freedom", "democracy", etc.
That there appear to be restrictions in many countries of Asia that we of "Western" descent do not understand is certainly true. Whether from the perspective of those who have lived all their lives in those countries these restrictions are good or bad is less clear. Certainly there ARE reports of terrible excesses in certain situations, BUT, at the same time, it is unclear just how extreme these actions are in practice.
What DOES seem clear is that most Muslim nations DO apply laws which in MANY respects ARE CLOSER TO TORAH than in Western nations and, particularly, in the areas of marriage and sexual conduct there are MUCH HIGHER standards of Torah application.
BUT, again, this is, in large measure looking at the things that are seen!
What about the things that are unseen?
The reality is that the world, today, is engaged in the final phases of a massive spiritual battle to cast Satan into the Pit for a thousand years. It does not look like much because at the moment SATAN IS WINNING HANDS DOWN!! 99% failure rate of people who will NOT inherit the Kingdom of Yahweh would be VICTORY by man's earthly standards! Right now Satan is dominating the people of Yahweh, the majority are in such deception and error that their prayers are effectively without effect and Satan is doing pretty much what he wants to in the lives of most people, believer and unbeliever alike. BUT, as set out in the document on the "The Evangelism Iceberg in 2001: Strategic Objectives Of The Kingdom Of Yahweh", Yahweh IS INTENT on changing the status quo radically and dramatically in the NEAR FUTURE. Yom Kippur is just around the corner, to be followed by the Feast of Tabernacles. These are dates typically associated with action by Yahweh.
In the Spirit realm both sides are drawing battle lines for a massive conflict, the events of 11 September are JUST A FORETASTE of what is coming.
BUT, they may be some of the FEW VISIBLE events!
The battle is for the souls of men and for SPIRITUAL CONTROL of the earth!
Therefore, much of the battle will be fought with spiritual weapons, prayer, preaching and teaching truth, chesed (covenant love), etc.
One of the things that Satan will CERTAINLY seek in the aftermath of 11 September 2001 will be to focus everyone ON THE THINGS THAT ARE SEEN, while he gets on with the battle in the Spirit realm.
The more this tragic set of circumstances results in high profile visible and tangible action, the MORE PLEASED SATAN WILL BE. He will have achieved his objective.
BUT, if the President of the United States will grasp the nettle of the issues raised above, lead his Nation in repentance, forgiveness and seeking reconciliation between the two son's of Abraham, HE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD FOR THE BETTER AND GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS A MIGHTY MAN OF VALOUR IN THE SERVICE OF ALMIGHTY YAHWEH!!
CLOSURE
It is hoped that this article has consolidated your understanding of the events of 11 September 2001 and that a clear perspective of the appropriate spiritual courses of action for believers, the United States President and people and the world at large, is beginning to crystalise.
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