TRUTH AND TERRORISM
Can we Fear no Evil
When we Live with Death and Destruction?
By
H. S. Vigeveno
CONTENTS
1. The Evil Force of Terrorism
2. What Terrorism has Wrought
3. What is the Truth?
4. The Question of Faith and Deliverance: Psalm 91 and Hebrews 11
5. Examples of Truth over Terrorism: Joseph, Daniel, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Paul
6. “I am the Truth” - Jesus
7. How can we Fear no Evil? - Psalm 23
8. My Story
9. Questions on the Sovereignty of God
10.. What is the Way? Faith, prayer,the way of Jesus,the Spirit, action, hope
All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are from the NIV and TNIV.
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1. THE EVIL FORCE OF TERRORISM
“Attack on America” blared every television channel on September 11, 2001, and for days thereafter, as the news media went all out to tell the story of terrorism in New York and Washington, D.C. The horrific destruction caused by three hijacked planes with innocent civilian passengers, flown at full speed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and toward the Pentagon in Washington (the fourth plane crashed short of the target in the countryside in Pennsylvania) was the most evil attack on American soil in our history. There were few who would debate the issue. This was worse than Pearl Harbor.
We may never know where those two planes heading into Washington were aimed, since the Pentagon may not have been the actual target, but speculation has it that the White House and the President’s plane, Air Force One were the objective. Had they reached their goal, the physical, emotional and spiritual damage these civilian aircraft turned into explosive weapons would have caused would have been even more ghastly. As it is, the images displayed on our television sets for weeks, and the terror of those planes blowing themselves into smithereens and exploding with full gas tanks (since they were flying from the East coast to the West), left the impression of a shocking and scary surrealism on all who saw them around the globe. This was no Hollywood epic. This was for real.
The casualties were in the thousands. Innocent people. Women and children. Human beings alive one minute, dead the next, who never had a chance as the planes crashed and skyscrapers crumbled. They were blasted off the earth in a moment of fear and flame and devastation. Digging afterwards through all the debris which had crumpled, compacted and piled ten stories high was slow and painstaking, since human remains were buried in the rubble. But very few bodies were ever recovered alive. As the days went by, so hope died and hopelessness set in among the firemen, the police, the medical personnel and all who helped around the clock, through the sometimes falling rain, amid the continuous stench and smoke. The fires smoldered for days.
For those of us who have seen other destruction in other times, there is no question: this ranks among the worst acts against human beings. Not necessarily in the number of lives lost, but the way they were lost, and the deliberate nature of the attack in a time of peace. Like the continuous bombing of London in World War II, and the deliberate destruction of Rotterdam by German bombers in a five day war in Holland. Like the unprovoked attack on American soil at Pearl Harbor. Or the wars we fought in Korea and Vietnam. Only the aftermath of Hiroshima with the widening effect of death and deformities can compare in some measure. The fact remains that the terrorism on New York and America stands apart as a singular and appalling evil.
Why this sudden attack? There have been other acts, but not as insidious and vicious as this one. What precipitated this one? What happened and why? What was the cause for such an outburst of aggression in a time of peace on a peaceful people? What was the reason for this deliberate assault, planned for months in advance, and put into effect to strike terror in a nation hardly prepared for a stab in the back. Why choose the one nation in the world that has mercifully aided many other countries? We are a people who have already over a period of history dedicated ourselves to alleviate suffering everywhere, to help in times of crisis, to offer financial aid as well as to provide food and social services wherever there is global need and wherever pain and human suffering spread? What made these terrorists strike down a caring and compassionate country, dedicated to doing good and eager to advance the cause of freedom and justice?
If we consider ourselves on the side of truth, freedom and God, believing in peace and justice, then the terrorists are our enemies. They are not on the side of our God. Surely they do not have the same goals we set for ourselves. It follows therefore that if we are in the service of God, they are in the service of an evil force. That may sound like a simplistic conclusion, but there is no in-between. It is the old battle of good versus evil.
But the problem of terrorism is far more complicated than that. Those who are determined to defeat the people of the Western world, who fight against freedom and democracy also believe in God. In Allah. They also believe they are serving their God. They also believe they are carrying out the will of God. In fact, they do not see us advancing freedom and justice at all. They only view us as their opponents in the struggle (“jihad”) for good against evil. In their eyes we are “the unbelievers.” And this is their justification for violent attacks. Who are their enemies? Any people who do not dedicate themselves to serve and advance the holy religion of Allah, that is how they understand their objective.
To those whom we call terrorists [who do not see themselves as terrorists], we have placed ourselves on the side of good and relegated them to the evil side. But the fanatic followers of Allah firmly believe they are on the side of good, and that we are the evil enemy, the unbelievers in their God. They believe in and work for the annihilation of all those who are against their holy efforts.
It is necessary for us to understand that terrorists everywhere are not mainstream religion. Nor are they considered by those who are the worshipers in Islam as worthy representatives of their faith. The religious leaders of Islam have denounced the fanatics as inhuman and evil, and they also have turned against the extremists. American Muslims plan to aid us. The majority and true followers of Allah are peace-loving people who believe in justice and freedom too. This same thing is true in many religions. It is not fair to lump terrorists and believers together in Islam just as we cannot group together the Nazis with all Germans, or the KKK with all Christians. Furthermore there are extremists in Christianity with whom most Christians do not wish to be identified, like the “Protestants” who have been fighting the religious wars in Ireland for many years!
The nations of the world are lining up on one side or the other. The world is rapidly dividing into two camps. One side considers itself good, which turns the other one into the opposite - evil. The problem is that both sides believe they are protecting and forwarding the cause of righteousness, and they are never the evil aggressors! And here is our dilemma.
Not that this is anything new. It has been true ever since the beginning of time. Rarely have barbarians thought themselves to be barbarians, or considered the civilized nations as good. They always advance their own cause for country - with violence. Wars have been fought in the history of the world from the beginning of civilization. In fact, the years of war vastly outnumber the years of peace. During both of the World Wars in the twentieth century, no matter on which side any nation fought, everyone believed that they were just and right. Every country was firmly convinced that they had a claim to whatever territory they were fighting for and whatever people they were methodically and deliberately destroying.
Now the fight for territory is no longer the prime concern. There is a major shift in our world. Terrorism is far more interested in the cause of good against evil, in the fulfillment of an ideological dream. Terrorists unflinchingly believe that they must bring an end to all those who oppose their God and their faith. If they view themselves as an evil force, the problem would be instantly solved. But that is not about to happen, nor can we who are their enemies persuade them to abort their position. That is too simple a solution. It is as senseless as trying to put out a hydrogen bomb with a fire extinguisher. Since they believe themselves to be a just and righteous force, the issue of terrorism is far more complicated.
Who is right? Is terrorism the evil force, or are those rich people living in a comfortable America and any other so-called free nations who do not adhere to the true faith the real unbelievers and the enemy? But first we need to take another step back for a moment. We need to ask the question whether terrorism is something new in the world? Has this never happened before in the history of the world? Is the fight of good against evil something singular for the twenty-first century? Of course not! The moment you put the question this way, you have your answer. The issue of good against evil is as old as the world, and perhaps even before the creation of the world. It goes back to the conflict between God and Satan.
Please understand that I am not hereby calling our enemies Satan. Even though they believe that they are our enemies and consider us to be of Satan, I am not indulging in name calling. To bring up God and Satan so early in the game is for the purpose of illustration, a look behind the scene played out in our world, just as we read in the early chapters of the book of Job.
The war between God and Satan began on earth in the garden of Eden, but as some scholars believe, it all started in the heavens when Satan wanted more than he was given. The problem was, according to the Bible, that Satan became proud of his power and wanted the same dominion as God. Equal authority for Satan was not possible. God put an end to it and removed him from the heavenly realm.
Satan didn’t stop when he lost his place above. Immediately upon the creation of the world, Satan entered the peaceful garden and tempted the man and the woman God had created. The devil succeeded. He has been running wild in the world ever since. If there is one question that cannot be argued in the history of human existence, it is the question of evil exploding all over the world. That has been true from the beginning.
Therefore, in one sense of the word, the battle against terrorism is not new. We are facing the same, old combat of good versus evil. But this time the confrontation is not confined to one locality. It has turned world wide. What we fear now is that terrorism can strike anywhere, anytime, with any force, in any manner, shape or form. The options are wide open and our defenses are weak. Nor can we avert disaster everywhere, just as when a dam bursts the waters will flow in every direction. What has begun as the hijacking of civilian airplanes turning them into weapons of destruction, can easily escalate into the use of bombs, germ warfare, biochemical weapons, missiles and nuclear destruction on any sight, any place, any country, any “enemy,” any time, anywhere. All “unbelievers” have become the target, and we are unable to defend ourselves against every possible conspiracy.
The problem is accelerated by the fact that terrorists believe they are fighting not for any evil force, but for the holy truth of Allah. It is therefore necessary for us to keep and hold onto our understanding of truth. If we give into their world view, their ideology, their point of view, we are finished. We may as well say goodbye to freedom, democracy, justice and peace. And we will lose everything, including our lives in the process. So the denial of God or truth is not an option.
Then, what can we do? Anything? We need to understand first and foremost that we are not engaged in a territorial war but in a larger, ideological conflict. This is not a clash with a group we can simply call the enemy, because they turn around and call us the enemy. Nor can we label them the evil force, when they believe we are the evil force and passionately affirm that they are involved in a righteous and sacred cause.
Destroying all terrorists will not succeed either, just as it is impossible to kill all the rats [no comparison intended] in the world. You may poison a few rats, but you won’t eradicate them all. Nor is it possible with all the pesticides at our disposal, that we can rid the world of nasty pests. We may succeed in rooting out and killing some terrorists, but there will be others, since it is unlikely that their ideology and faith can be shattered by destruction. But they cannot obliterate our faith either.
What then? Justice? Bring them to justice? Yes, unite all the nations of the world and find and root out all these terrorists. Then bring them to a fair trial before pronouncing judgment. Let them plead their case and their cause, just as we allowed the Nazis to express themselves in the Nuremberg trials after World War II. If they understand that they must accept responsibility for the havoc and killing, then there can be a just judgment. That is the best the world can hope to accomplish.
But no matter what we achieve with such trials and whatever the resulting punishment, not even the taking of a life for a life is able to compensate for the loss of those whom we loved, who were brutally and mercilessly massacred.
Not that this latest ferocious attack on America is the first and only one. There have been previous strikes against our embassies, buildings, ships, and centers that have taken innocent lives from our midst, but this latest menace was deliberately aimed at New York and Washington. And it won’t be the last. There have been terrorist actions during the long history of the world, although this latest one has struck a nerve center in the free world. There is a right way of dealing with evil, but we may never complete the task. That is why it is important to realize what we are up against. The problem of evil will never be resolved until the Lord finally limits the power of the devil and puts him away - forever!
From the beginning of human history evil has been operative in the world. Consider the time when Jesus came and began his ministry. He was clearly aware of evil and made several references to the insidious work of Satan. Jesus was tempted for forty days in the wilderness and immediately took a stand against the tempter. He answered every sinister temptation thrown at him by the Devil with a quotation from Scripture. He relied on the word of God until Satan gave up the attack, only to return again later to test Jesus.
It almost seemed as if evil won the victory over Jesus when he suffered upon the cross. But it was not to be. The resurrection of Jesus brought a resounding defeat to the worst that Satan could do, for after death he had no further power.
But something else happened to Jesus during his ministry that makes us raise our eyebrows. Why did some of the religious leaders accuse Jesus of being possessed of the devil? How could they actually believe that this good man whom some thought to be a prophet was actually in cahoots with Satan? These holy men who believed they were the guardians of the true faith in God, stooped low in their slander of Jesus! How could anyone accuse him of evil? These super religious types did not like what Jesus was saying and doing, and charged him with being of the Devil rather than of God! How could this be so?
I bring this up from the Bible because the terrorists have called us, their enemies, evil. That was exactly the point of the spiritual leaders of old who opposed Jesus. So in a way of speaking, name calling today is nothing new either. We ought not be surprised.
Let me be clear. In no way do I want to compare what happened to Jesus with what is happening to us! We cannot put ourselves on the same level with the Son of God, who came into the world for our salvation. I am using the slander against Jesus only as an illustration. My point is that if evil forces spoke through religious leaders (who did not consider themselves evil!) to identify Jesus as a devil, then those same evil forces can also work through terrorists who call any of their opponents “Satan.”
So there is nothing new here! It only raises this question: “Who is speaking the truth?” The Bible provides the answer if we will hear it. Jesus, who declares himself the Savior of the world, speaks the truth. More than that, Jesus is the truth. Our belief in the revelation of Jesus Christ brings us to the conclusion that the religious leaders of that time were mistaken. They were in fact, on the side of evil, although they themselves never thought so! According to Jesus they were under the influence of Satan. This is what Jesus said of those holy religious leaders: “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. Yet because I tell you the truth, you do not believe me!” (Jn 8:44)
Dare we conclude that those who sincerely follow truth and light and work for peace and justice and freedom are not the enemies of civilization after all? Are therefore not evil? This ought to be obvious: The true God, our Creator and Redeemer, can never be on both sides of this conflict. God cannot fight against God. Therefore we must conclude that one of the sides in this present conflict is not of God.
Someone must tell us the truth. “The world sits quietly wondering, pondering, waiting for God, for Truth to speak. Judgment hangs heavily upon the hearts of the creatures of earth. It is the end of things, the end of the world as we knew it.” (Eileen Ran, San Diego Union, September, 2001) But before we tackle the important question of truth, let us consider what terrorism has accomplished. Has terrorism changed the world, as some pundits affirm? Let us turn next to the question of “what terrorism has wrought.”
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2. WHAT TERRORISM HAS WROUGHT
September 12, the day after the attack on America, was my regular day for tennis. I play with three other men, but I was not sure whether I was in the mood to play tennis or whether my buddies would show up, so I called one of them. Yes he was coming, he said. We did play that day for our physical exercising. As I walked on the court one friend greeted me with, “Armageddon!”
He has a limited understanding of the Bible, but he likes to engage me in small talk. I don’t mind that, but I don’t think I’m making much headway with him. His philosophy is petrified. “I don’t think so,” I said. “Armageddon!” he repeated. That’s all he wanted to tell me. It was probably the only word that expressed the anger and horror he felt because of the malicious, hostile acts we experienced in the West. “No, this is not Armageddon. That’s still to come.” He walked away, then turned around and it almost sounded as if he was swearing at me: “Armageddon!” He wouldn’t let it go.
It’s strange how our conversations have changed in our country! Strange what subjects we now talk about, and what others we seem to avoid. For one thing we have become conscious of good and evil, forces and powers, causes and issues. Even my tennis buddy likes to assign everyday happenings to either God or the devil. There is no question about it. Terrorism has a rippling effect.
The explosion of those planes shattering the skyscrapers is but the beginning of a network of disruption. The manner and the suddenness by which our loved ones were taken from us will forever scar our memory even if we did not know any of them personally. And for those who lost loved ones, the pain and the emptiness is unbearable. How can we forget those innocent people who had no warning of their atrocious, brutal end by such dastardly, violent means? How can we ever forget the horrendous evil that removed them as if their existence had no value? It is painful to inquire what may have actually happened to the victims in their last moments. There were stories of the slitting of throats of women! Our minds refuse to play back the fear and terror of their undeserved, unjust and cruel extermination.
We must battle with the injustice of it all. It was not fair. It was not right. It is incredible that anyone can be snatched from the earth without warning and without cause. That cannot be of God. But then every murder, every cold blooded killing, every crime committed against another human being is not honorable. It is unwarranted and unjust and totally evil to take the life of another, because that life is the most valuable possession everyone of us has. You can take away my possessions and harm me as a person, you can steal my freedom and rob me of my rights, but when you destroy my life, you take from me the one thing I value the most. To murder and kill is the most awful act you can do to me, because you end my right to existence as a person. You end my right to be.
Human life is cheap, they say, but you don’t believe that when it comes down to your life, do you? Nor dare we ever cheapen the right to life for anyone. “What good will it be for a person if he or she gains the whole world, yet forfeits his or her soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for his or her soul?” (Matt.16:26) This is a question Jesus raises. The value of each person outweighs any compensation the world can offer.
It is unworthy of life on this planet to kill another human being! The living will always remember their loved ones. We cannot forget those who have perished, especially if their death was unjust and undeserved. We will live with the memories, and we will never really be the same, because we agonize over inhuman acts of evil and terrorism.
“No man is an island, entire of itself.
Every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main;
If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less,
As well as if a promontory were, As well as if a manor of thy friend’s or of thine own were;
Any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind;
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.” (John Donne)
Anyone’s death diminishes me! That is the rippling effect of terrorism, probably the most distressing and heart rendering of all. And we have witnessed the fallout everywhere in the world. It is doubtful that the terrorists could have foreseen this outcome of their deliberate destruction. To put it simply, there is fear of today and fear of tomorrow. Fear of what will happen next. Fear of when it will happen. Fear of how it will happen. Fear of where it will happen. Fear of what may happen. Fear of the unknown. Fear of swift destruction. Fear of who will be the next victims, where, when and how. And why is terrorism so active in our world? And on and on and on and …..
We do not feel safe any longer. Anywhere. Where can we move to avoid the spread of terrorism and not come under its influence? Leave our cities? Withdraw from civilization? Find a remote little place in a sparsely populated region, somewhere no evil can reach? Is there such a hiding place? Is there even such a possibility? Will a nuclear holocaust not destroy the most remote areas? Can chemicals not poison the air and the water and spread the plague and pestilence everywhere? Is there any place we can escape, and if so, for how long will we be safe there?
Perhaps we have not yet followed our fears this far, but like it or not fear is growing on earth. A recent survey indicates that 60% of Americans are afraid of flying. That number may grow and not diminish. Obviously the airlines are already feeling the pinch. Thousands of workers have been laid off, many flights have been grounded or cancelled and air traffic has been cut down drastically. Hardly could the terrorists have foreseen that their hijacking may force some airlines and related industries into bankruptcy and extinction.
We now fear that terrorists will seize small crop-dusting planes and spread poison gas everywhere. Fly low over the countryside and emit the poisons into the air over the fields to be carried far and wide into the cities and centers where people will slowly expire, following terrible illnesses and misery. The victims may not even become aware of what has hit them until it is too late, for there will be no cure for the poisons in their system, no way to stop this dastardly work.
But not only will the airlines be brought to their knees, industry will too. The economy may. Tourism is already suffering. People are not booking future tours and trips. They do not want to fly or cruise on ships in strange waters. Hotels in many places have empty rooms, restaurants are desperate for business and theme parks seem hollow without the usual laughter and excitement. Even the curious and the pleasure seekers are staying home.
The economy is being affected everywhere, and the experts are not sure of the future. Markets are down all over the world and there may be a world wide recession. Who is able to prophecy prosperity? Can the economy recover? Will we ever return to a normal life, a good living? There will be more layoffs in industry and the loss of jobs will increase the need for welfare. And what will the world look like when poverty, hunger and suffering accelerate and hopelessness screams at us everywhere? What will happen when there are no more supplies or means to stop the spread of evil? What is the future of the world?
Is it possible that the events described so vividly in the book of Revelation can come true after all? Are they about to be fulfilled? Will the horsemen of the apocalypse ride on the scene with “power to take peace from earth, and to make people slay each other?” (Rev.6:4) Will one third of our vegetation and one third of nature be devastated by plagues and brutality and terrorism? Are the forces of evil about to have their day before the coming of the kingdom of God? Is my tennis buddy right when he greets me with, “Armageddon?” Does he have a handle on coming events?
I doubt that the terrorists are able to foresee all these rippling effects, but this is something they hope for - the destruction of the unbelievers and their way of life. They would like to put an end to what the free world stands for. They are in a holy struggle for what they believe is their just cause, for their object is to win the world for Allah. That is why they must call us “infidels,” and consider themselves to be the true believers. That is why in their minds we worship a false god and are idolaters, and they are the followers of the only right religion.
But something else has resulted from the attack of terrorism. Our return to faith. We have also solidified around the flag. We have united as a people. We have turned to God in the midst of the crisis. We have reaffirmed our faith in God and filled our churches. We have attended services, memorials and prayer meetings, confirming that we are people of faith. We have turned to the only Source of hope in a time of mounting despair. We have prayed even when we were unable to see our way clear through the rubble and the refuse.
And that is one thing the terrorists could not predict. We have come together as a people, even with our different denominations and belief systems. We have held high our American flag as a symbol of unity, and rallied with song after song about freedom and justice and country and truth. And underlying our patriotism has been our religious faith, filling our churches and cathedrals with worshippers who have humbled themselves before the Almighty to ask for mercy, seeking comfort and guidance and help.
That is not something anyone expected to happen. But it has happened. It may be that the faith we are showing is not very deep, but it has made us ask who we are and why we are here and what life is about. If there is one good that has come out of this crisis, it is our renewed seeking for God, lifting prayers to the Almighty that we may do what is right and just and good. We pray for divine power to stem the tide of terrorism in the world. And by our faith we affirm that we need Someone greater than we, whom we call “God.” We are keenly aware that we have come from the hand of God, our Creator, “for we are his offspring. In him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)
Since that faith in God is deep and real, we know we must take up the cause of good against evil. It is as simple as that. This is the inevitable result of those who in times of crisis return to their roots. They find the way to action that seeks to do justice, honors the truth, and serves the right.
In our return to God and belief that God has revealed himself in the Bible, we may actually discover the book of Revelation as a hope-filled book. Yes, Revelation describes terrible destruction before the end of history. Yes, Revelation affirms that there will be a battle of Armageddon before the coming of the kingdom of God. Yes, there will be a final confrontation of the forces of evil against the good, of Satan against God. The last and ultimate battle will finally spell the end for all who oppose the Lord God Almighty.
But what is the true ending? Is Armageddon the last word? Destruction and war? Not at all. Armageddon means that the curtain comes down on human history, but the book of Revelation does not conclude with Armageddon. The final vision is of the Holy City coming from God out of heaven, bringing in the new era: “God is with us.” Everyone is invited into the City of God, the saved, the forgiven, the justified, the children of God. The end is victory and peace, joy and love, glory and the presence of God. With Christ forever and forever. Without evil! Without Satan! In the kingdom of God evil cannot enter, terrorism cannot destroy and nothing can overcome the power and the glory of God.
Nor is there an ending to that joy! Everything we ever dreamed of, hoped for, wish for, visualize or imagine will be forever. This is, after all, eternal life. This is home. But until then we need to plow through the aftermath of terrorism. How can we understand what has taken place in our world? How can we prepare for whatever may happen next?
Let's probe a little deeper into the question of truth. How can we be sure of the truth? What is the truth? How can we be certain of anything after these ferocious attacks? What can we reasonably believe? We may be raising the same question Pilate asked when Jesus stood before him. “What is truth?”
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3. WHAT IS THE TRUTH?
It is human nature to ask “why?” We want to know why something happens. What is the reason for it, if there is a reason? There must be a cause. What is the cause? Why and how did the terrorists succeed in precipitating so much havoc and ruin, willfully destroying many lives, and leaving behind a horrible, dirty mess to clean up - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually?
Why did this happen to America? We see our nation as a stabilizing force in the world, working for the good of people, wanting to bring peace to all, to alleviate suffering, to provide lend lease aid, to help and heal and work for the good of all. We have fallen short in assuming the role of the Good Samaritan for the world, and we have not always succeeded like a benevolent Santa Claus, but how could an evil force strike terror at the heart of our proud culture in New York city and Washington, D.C.? Why did this happen?
The answer we have heard from our enemies is that we are an evil nation and we deserve all this. In their minds we have ruled the world by our wealth and oppression, and we are the enemies of all they believe and worship. We may listen to their point of view, but we cannot and will not accept their interpretation of good and evil, right and wrong.
So, what is the truth? What seems equally disturbing are voices in our own culture that sound a lot like our enemies. These are the voices of some Christian leaders who equate the terror strikes with the judgment of God upon our culture. The reason why we have been attacked in New York and Washington, according to them, is because we are guilty sinners. We have not honored God in our culture. We have lived for money and pleasure and enthroned sex. We have been plagued by drugs, alcoholism and pornography, and we have neglected the worship of God. That is why God is bringing judgment on the free people of the world. Terrorism is the evidence of the hand of God upon America.
When you consider what such leaders as Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson are saying, it sounds very close to what the terrorists believe! Both Christian leaders and terrorists seem to equate the evil attacks with divine judgment. Syndicated political cartoonist, Scott Stantis, pictures Jerry Falwell in Arab dress and calls him “Osama bin Falwell.” Written across the cartoon are the words, “God has punished America for its sins!” (Mr. Stantis actually put three exclamation marks, but one is enough.)
I, and I'm sure there are many Christians, abhor what these "Christian" leaders in America are saying: That we deserve the judgment? That we are a God-forsaken people? That we are receiving the just punishment for our national and personal sins? That we have worshiped all the wrong idols in our culture and turned our backs on God? I certainly agree, we are not perfect. True, as a nation we have worshiped false gods. We are certainly guilty of sin. But to draw a line from our imperfections to the judgment of God and imply that the attack on America is a deserved punishment for our sins is not acceptable, since many worship and honor God in our culture. We may not actually qualify as a Christian nation, but there are millions of honest, sincere and good Christians in our country.
So, why do these spiritual leaders make such statements? Because they believe them! And because they consider themselves to be prophets like prophets of old in the Bible. After all, those prophets of Israel sounded the note of judgment time and time again. That is why modern day prophets attempt to speak like them. And since the prophets of Israel were rejected more often than they were received, since they were persecuted and stoned because they dared to preach judgment and destruction for the sins of Israel, modern day Christian prophets expect criticism and opposition also.
There is no question about this. The prophets of Israel never did win popularity contests, since they fearlessly pointed out what was wrong in the land. They did warn people about the coming judgment and alerted them of the consequences of forsaking God. This is why self-proclaimed, modern leaders take their comfort from those of old and care little for what others think. They speak out for God!
But are they really? Is the situation similar today to what it was then? I’m not altogether sure about that. It is easy to jump to the conclusion that something is “the judgment of God.” But how do we know? Is it true, or is that only our interpretation? In the light of what we are witnessing in our nation as people return to God, as they lift prayers for mercy and deliverance, pray for truth and righteousness and peace, can we conclude that the attack on America is the judgment of God?
I don’t think so. Let me illustrate this with a story from the Bible, found in the book of “First Kings” chapter twenty two. Two kings of the nation of Israel, Jehoshaphat in the south and Ahab in the north, must decide whether they will make war with Syria. They call on the prophets and ask them for their words of wisdom. The leader of the prophets, Zedekiah puts on a physical demonstration, and assures both kings that the Lord wants them to proceed against Syria. The Lord will bring them victory. These prophets know that this is what the kings want to hear, and that is why they encourage the crusade.
Then Jehoshaphat turns to Ahab and asks if there are any other prophets in the land? He seems overwhelmed because the ‘prophets’ are in agreement. “Yes, there is,” Ahab tells the king, “but I don’t like him.” “Why not?” “Because he never says anything good to me. He always prophecies evil.” “Let’s send for him anyway,” answers Jehoshaphat. When the messenger finds the prophet Micaiah and informs him that both kings want to see him, he tells Micaiah what the other prophets have already forecast. “You'd better say exactly what the others have all agreed on,” he adds. “They are predicting success for the kings when they go up against the Syrians.”
Micaiah shakes his head. “As surely as the Lord lives, I can only speak what the Lord tells me.” So Micaiah appears before the kings. But he is compliant at first: “Attack and be victorious,” he parrots. “The Lord will give the Syrians into your hand.” Ahab sees through him. He is not satisfied. Does Micaiah preach the word of the Lord? Or is he merely repeating what the prophets have spoken? “How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the Lord?” the king bellows.
Now Micaiah becomes serious. “I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd.” King Ahab turns to King Jehoshaphat: “See? I told you he never prophecies good about me, only evil.” Then Micaiah decides to explain himself. He wants to clear the air. Why do his words from the Lord contradict the advice of the other prophets? Who is the true prophet and who is false? They cannot all be right, but there they all stand before the kings. It is a tense moment. “Hear now the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing around him. And the Lord said, ‘Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to death there?’
One suggested this and another that. Finally, a spirit came forward and said, ‘I will entice him.’ By what means:’ the Lord asked. ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.' ‘You will succeed in enticing him,’ the Lord answered, ‘Go and do it.’ So the Lord has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The Lord has decreed disaster for you.”
Then old Zedekiah couldn’t take any more. He became red in the face with anger, walked over to Micaiah, slapped him across the mouth and sneered: “So tell me, which way did the Spirit from the Lord go when he went from me to speak to you?” Micaiah answered in a low voice: “You will find out on the day you go to hide yourself in an inner room.” A classic confrontation between a true prophet and a false one!
So, are they right who prophecy doom for America and call us to account for our sins? Are they right who announce that our punishment is deserved? Or are these modern day prophets dead wrong, as false as Zedekiah and his bunch who foolishly encouraged the kings to go into battle? History did provide the answer in Scripture. King Ahab was killed in the battle of Ramoth Gilead and Israel was defeated, just as Micaiah had prophesied. And what about Zedekiah and the false prophets? They would soon enough realize their folly with the shameful defeat of Israel. They tried to hide in a room to avoid calamity and in that hiding place they would discover what they had been aware of all along, that they were pretenders! They had not received the call to be prophets of God. That small, inner voice convicted them. Call it conscience. Call it heart. Call it ‘of God.’
Falwell and Robertson and other leaders have enjoyed visibility, popularity and support. They have generated millions of dollars for their causes. But financial support and popularity is not a criteria for truth, nor is it a confirmation that they are true prophets! They may believe what they believe, but the truth is that they have not the Spirit of God! We learn from Scripture that there have always been true and false prophets. They have often clashed, even when the true prophets did not always come out vindicated. The fact is that true prophets of the Lord were often persecuted and rejected. Some became martyrs and endured terrorism. Meanwhile false prophets flourished for a time and enjoyed the applause of multitudes. But just as for Zedekiah, the end comes with a thud just as the house on the sand is swept away by the tides and winds. Then the false prophets will discover what always bubbled below the surface of their bravado speeches. But then it will be too late.
What is the truth? Judgment on sin? A wake up call? Or has this ruin and destruction come upon us because of a brutal attack from of terrorism? Simply as the result of plotting and planning by fanatics? Just that and no more? If we seek the truth in this situation, don’t we also need to consider recent outpouring of prayer and devotion to God? Is it possible that we experienced a mini revival in our nation? Why are churches and other public places filled with people who express faith and hope in God? They may not be fully clear about what they believe, but there is something that moves them to seek the Lord while he may be found, the Almighty, the Sovereign Lord. And if that is of the Spirit of God, we need to recognize and ponder this after those evil attacks.
Will these prayers be answered? Time will tell, but it looks like there has already come an answer in the attitudes and actions of people. Our emphasis is not so much on pleasure and escape, fun and frivolity, but on what we need to do and how we are to stop the onslaught of terrorism. Our emphasis is not on “let the good times roll” or “business as usual,” but on the power that is needed and the action that must be taken to bring the terrorists to justice. In a word, our task is more focused and we are more serious. This is no time for playing games.
That is why these prayers are having an effect. They will produce long range results. We experienced a resurgence of faith following the second World War, a resurgence that - according to historians - lasted at least ten or more years. Perhaps after this evil crisis there will come a long lasting and widespread change. Perhaps we may see an upturn for good and a shutting down on evil.
I know this is not the way some Christians look for in the world! They study the prophecies of Scripture and conclude that the world needs to get worse before it can get better. Even Jesus spoke about “an increase in wickedness” in the last days. People “will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world.” (Matt.24:12; Luke 21:26) For some people it seems that the quicker it gets bad, the sooner it will get good! That is why modern doomsday prophets not only rejoice when things get worse, but they receive some perverse pleasure from the evils perpetrated on humanity!
Can this be of God? Is this the purpose of prayer? Do we have things right side up, or are they upside down? Are we moving forward or backward? The logic of “it ought to get worse before it gets better,” cannot be substantiated by what we know about the nature of God. How can we believe in a holy, righteous and loving God who desires to see evil intensify and prosper, before he makes his final statement? Does it not grieve the Lord when human beings are wiped out for no good reason, and evil does its insidious worst? If God is love, he must be deeply affected and moved.
Once you are willing to consider the nature of the loving, merciful, holy God, you will begin to realize why God answers our prayers for healing, forgiveness and compassion. How do we know God answers our prayers? We can see it in those new attitudes, the positive approaches, the determination and purpose and in doing good works, as well as in the pursuit of freedom and peace. For that is exactly the spirit we are beginning to notice emerging from the rubble and ashes of New York city. Truth is power. It is the power of faith.
But there are other questions we are also asking. Can we really trust in God in our world, especially when destruction and death rain down on us? Can we now turn to a God who seems to have been absent during all this outpouring of evil? Is there a God who cares about us? Is there a God who is in control? and if so, then why does God not do something? Why does God not interfere? Why did God not prevent those planes from smashing into the towers? Where is the evidence for a God who rules the universe?
Where are the promises of God? Are there any benefits for believing in God? What does it mean to hold to the truth? Will we be protected and kept safe because we trust in God? And if so, how? And if not, why not? Will we be delivered like Daniel from the lion’s den? Or will we taste death like the martyrs in the Coliseum of Rome? If we believe in the promises of God, what went wrong in New York city and Washington, D.C.? Surely those modern day prophets who proclaim that calamities are a punishment from God, are not right after all. They preach also that faith leads to salvation and provides deliverance for us, yes, a certain security! It is to this question of faith and deliverance that we will need to turn next.
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4. THE QUESTION OF FAITH AND DELIVERANCE
Psalm 91 has been a favorite of many generations. It is one of the most recognizable psalms. If one single theme runs through this comforting, strong statement of trust and repeats again and again, it is the theme of protection. God will keep us safe, God will deliver us, God will keep us secure! There is no question about that. All who put their trust in the Lord will be sheltered! We can be sure of the goodness of the Lord. Doesn‘t scripture assure us of that? : “Underneath are the everlasting arms.” (Deut.33:27)
When I looked again at Psalm 91, I realized that the entire psalm contains the theme of God’s care. That is like the famous four notes at the start of Beethoven’s fifth symphony. Dadadadum! (Three of those notes are actually the same.)
I plan to intersperse a few observations after each verse: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. If we dwell in the safe place, the shelter of the Lord, we are secure, at rest. No dread. No disturbance. In the shade we receive the cool comfort of God.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” God is a refuge for us, a sanctuary, a shelter. We need not be afraid. Since God also is like a fortress with the bridges drawn up, there is no access to the stronghold. Protection against the enemy. All I need do is to believe and trust. I must not doubt or be troubled in my heart.
Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. Surely! No uncertainty here. Surely salvation. No questions asked. Nothing lost. Don’t worry about a trap laid for you. There are no mines in the fields. You can walk with safety - everywhere. No bombs will explode. No poison gas will go off. No epidemic will strike. No deadly disease will lay you low, no plague will overcome. Rest assured. No matter what happens, you are safe in the hands of God.
He will cover you with his feathers and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. You will be covered, protected as in the harbor. It is a refuge. Always safe because of the mercy of the Lord. Don’t forget that God remains faithful, even though we may not. You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by night. No fear. No darkness. Not even terrorism. No enemy attack! No arrows fly by night, no bombs dropping from the sky, no missiles aimed at your city, no bullets intended for you!
Nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. No pestilence, no pests. Nothing to dread whether on land or at sea. Surrounded and sustained by the peace of God that passes understanding. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. The divine promise assures you that even though thousands may be wiped out, anyone who trusts in the Lord will be kept safe.You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. Look around you and see for yourself. The wicked will fall and be no more. The false prophets will perish with the others. No one can escape the judgment of God. The righteous will flourish, but the wicked will meet their doom. Ultimately divine justice will triumph.
If you make the Most High your dwelling - even the Lord, who is my refuge - then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. You are encouraged to put your trust in God. That’s enough. You don’t need to hide in a cave. There is no place that will save sinners from the inevitable, but for God’s people no disaster will demolish your dwelling, since you are always secure with God. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. The angels are God’s guardians, to keep you in times of danger. They will deliver you and lift you out of peril. You are sheltered in their hands. No accident will cause you harm.
You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. Two of the most fearsome animals on earth will have no power to hurt you. Neither lions will maul you nor snakes poison and crush you. Don’t worry. They won’t come near you. “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him. I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.” Love, faith and hope are three qualities that remain. The love of God is greater far than pen can write or tongue can tell. Trust and obey, for there’s no other way. Hope till the end for deliverance comes from a rescuing God. “He will call upon me, and I will answer him.I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.” God answers prayer. God is not absent but present, even when there is trouble and terror. Can it be true? Again we are assured of our salvation. All who love God and trust in him know that God is for them. And here is always the promise not only of long life, but of eternal life.
And now our questions pile up. Did the martyrs and saints who lost their lives fail to qualify for the protection of God? Did none of the victims of terrorism who were swiftly and brutally killed meet the conditions of Psalm 91? Did all those who were massacred fail to place their trust in the Almighty? Were the innocents who have suffered unjust punishment not worthy of the promises of God? What of all those who perished while believing in God’s salvation? Protection? Did they lose their security?
How many times have we raised these questions? Why do bad things happen to good people? What can we expect from the promises of God? What can we believe in the Bible? Or do we need to take most of the promises with a pinch of salt? Are we dreaming when God gives us assurance, or are we projecting when we dare to believe that God is for us day and night? Why do we sing “A mighty fortress is our God,” when what we really believe is, “The things you are liable to read in the Bible, it ain’t necessarily so.” (Gershwin) Is our trust in a mighty fortress just rhetoric? Is there a word from God for our generation? Psalm 91, yes or no? What can we believe?
Surely these are disturbing questions. They are always raised in an evil time, no matter what catastrophe, adversity or inexplicable ruin clobbers us. And it is even more true when it involves people we love, someone who is humble and kind, genuine and caring, someone who trusts with childlike faith in God. How can a beautiful person, a child or a trusting youth be humiliated, violated, attacked, destroyed, burned or killed without the security of the word of God?
What is the point of believing in God, if there is no assurance? What is the point of trust and hope, if there is nothing to hope for? Why do some Christians still pray for traveling mercies before they start out on a trip? Any trip, anywhere, any time, and they ask that God will protect them and then bring them home again also. Does this prayer work? But what if they meet with an accident or disaster? Does this mean God has forsaken them? What then is the message of Psalm 91?
Commentators, theologians, ministers and many others have pointed out that this psalm insists on certain conditions. Even Jesus made a comment to that effect a thousand years after the psalm was written. It happened during his temptation by the Devil. This scene may have played out in his imagination, as the tempter transported Jesus to a high place, which some believe to have been the temple in Jerusalem. A large crowd has gathered to watch, as Jesus stands high above them. The Devil now suggests that Jesus jump. [Even as some people jumped from the burning twin towers in New York to avoid being engulfed by the flames. They chose the lesser of two evils, a quick death falling from a sky scraper, over the torture of being burned alive.]
The Devil now quotes the protection clause from Psalm 91, God “will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” By emphasizing the Bible, Satan expects to persuade Jesus that he can count on divine protection. The Bible says so and God promises it. Jump and survive. Walk away and show the folks a miracle. Then they will rise up and follow you anywhere. And you won’t have a broken bone in your body, because you can trust in the goodness of God. “I am only quoting the Bible to you, mind you. It is written.”
Jesus answers with another Scripture. “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’” (Matt.4:7) Your quotation is taken out of context, Satan. God is not to be tested. That is not the kind of relationship I have with my Father in heaven. No, this simply will not work. Jumping for the sake of miracle is not a miracle. If I leap from this height, I will be crushed because I do not expect a safety net on the ground beneath.
But what is Psalm 91 telling us then? What is the meaning of deliverance and protection? Yes, there are certain conditions. Trust and believe. Do the will of God. Don’t think you can put the Lord to the test by doing something stupid. Don’t walk out in front of a speeding truck. Don’t park your car on a railroad track. Don’t even try to dismantle a live bomb, if you have not been trained and know nothing about what you’re doing.
These conditions are clear, but what if a believer meets the conditions? What if someone trusts and obeys and has genuine faith in the salvation of the Lord? What if a person truly fears the Lord and worships no other gods? What if someone accepts the promises of Psalm 91, and humbly prays for protection? What if a Christian is also merciful, does justice and lives a life of service to God and people? Was there no one on those four hijacked planes that crashed into steel and concrete and perished in the unbearable heat of those fires who could fulfill the conditions of this psalm? No protection? No promises? No deliverance? No security? No, that cannot be so.
Others interpret Psalm 91 spiritually, not literally. And maybe they have a point. For surely good people have failed to be delivered. They died of terrible plagues and diseases, were tortured and maimed and perished under piles of dirt, rubble and debris not just in New York but throughout history. How many countless others have been shot down by the arrows that fly by day and night? How many suffered atrocities in prisons and concentration camps or were brutally killed with weapons of war?
And maybe our only answer lies in this, that protection and security are not always physical, but are certainly of a spiritual nature. Maybe that doesn’t answer our questions for now, but it can be spiritually helpful. To believe that the evils of the world cannot pry us loose from the loving, powerful hands of God, means that we cannot forfeit our salvation. Life eternal is God’s gift to us, and that can never be removed! The gift and the promises of God cannot be deleted.
Death is the most, the very last that terrorism can do to you. Evil can do no more. But according to Scripture, resurrection always follows death. Without exception! According to the authoritative teaching of Jesus, “all who are in their graves will hear the voice of the Son of God and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” (John5:28,29)
I suggest that we now take another approach to the subject of faith and deliverance announced in Psalm 91. I may even propose that the eleventh chapter of Hebrews [about faith] can become a commentary on that psalm. Certainly it provides another point of view. Hebrews 11 is known as the faith chapter in Scripture. It’s all about the accomplishments of numerous Bible heroes, men and women who lived by faith. Faith is the one factor that unites them. They believe, no matter what. They press through every test, every ordeal and still continue to honor the Lord. The summation of their lives clearly illustrates what is meant by such faith.
In the telling of their stories, the author of Hebrews tackles the question of faith and deliverance. Squarely. Deliberately. Openly. What shall we make of their salvation? Do people of the covenant-keeping God experience deliverance? Do they feel secure? Can they count on the divine promises? Are there special guarantees?
Hebrews 11 opens majestically with a definition: “Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” Faith can mean that much! Faith is far more than a feeling, a mood or a sentiment. It is being sure, confident, certain, convinced, without entertaining doubts. It is being positive and satisfied and content even though we can never actually see this hope! Yes, faith is the assurance of things we cannot perceive with our senses. Faith trusts in the invisible God. That is why the faith of Moses is described as perseverance “because he saw God who is invisible.” (Heb.11:27) But isn’t that a contradiction? Perhaps so. You cannot visualize the invisible. Or is that something you can do by faith? That is the quality and merit of spiritual faith.
This line up of heroes dips way back to the dawn of history, even to Abel, the son of Adam and Eve, who worships the Creator with a sacrifice he prepared by faith. We then meet another prehistoric character named Enoch whose only claim to fame is that he walks with God. That’s all we know, but his walking is a life of faith. And then comes along old Noah who believes the word of the Lord and prepares for the coming flood in the heat of the desert. Because of his faith, he and his family are delivered from world wide disaster.
Then we hear about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, all of whom are extraordinary examples of faith, even though they were ordinary and imperfect human beings. Because of their faith, God is not ashamed to be called their God. And on and on go the stories of Joseph and Moses and Joshua and even a most unlikely candidate who seemed to have three strikes against her - a woman, a foreigner and a prostitute named Rahab, who made it into this select group because of her faith in God.
Suddenly the writer realizes that if he continues like this, he will run out of space. He cannot possibly recount all the stories of the holy Scriptures, so he asks a question: “And what shall I more say? I do not have time to tell of…” After Gideon, Samson, David, Samuel, the prophets, and so on, who were all rescued from terrorism, enemies, evil, lions, swords, death and more, he finally stops. No time or space to continue on like this, rolling out a bunch of heroes who did great exploits in the name of God, who believed and were victorious, delivered, and saved because of their faith.
And then he comes to a sudden stop. There is a change of tone. Suddenly one word leaps out of the text and arrests us. What is he is leading up to? That word is: “Others!” (verse 35) Others? Yes, others! Who are these others? They are not given names: they are no-names! We know who the heroes are from Abel and Abraham on down, but suddenly we are confronted by a bunch of others. Who are these strangers? Why are they not named? What did they do? What did they accomplish?
They didn’t accomplish anything, so it seems. They did nothing spectacular. No, something went terribly wrong. Something bad happened to these others: "Others were tortured and refused to be released…Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned, they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword.” (Heb.11:35-37)
Stop! These are also heroes and heroines? Of faith? How can that be? They don’t belong on this same listing with the victorious ones who accomplished great things! These no names shouldn’t be included with the famous. They didn’t make it! They were not delivered! They were not saved from torture and death! So how can these others be recognized with people of faith when they were not rescued?
That is the real question that pops out of the book of Hebrews in chapter 11. For if you count all these others who didn’t make it, you will discover that they are about the same in number as those who received divine protection. But this bunch of no names was certainly not safe, not delivered. They were not provided security. They were sent to a terrible end, they became martyrs of the faith, and some of them were rounded up by their enemies, put to death in concentration camps, shot in the back of the head as they were forced to kneel down in the dirt. “The world was not worthy of them,” dedeclares the Bible. (verse 38) It certainly was not. The world is not worthy of any who perished in the holocausts of history and in the violent attacks of terrorism.
And then appears the conclusion to this faith-chapter, like a fanfare of trumpets “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.” (verse 39) Commended for their faith? But they were not delivered, they were not protected! Even when they carried Psalm 91 in their pockets. The promises certainly failed them all. They did not taste victory over their enemies. They were sadly defeated, and they were lost. They were wiped off the face of the earth, but to our great surprise, here they are listed with the victorious people of faith.
Why? Because they are also saved! They too are delivered! That is the point. They did not experience God’s rescue operation in the world, but they surely belong with the people of God. And even though it looked as if God provided no protection for them, the Lord God did not turn his back on any who lost their lives or went down in flames, just as the Father did not turn his back on Jesus while he hung on the cross. But neither did the Father deliver the Son from that painful and torturous ordeal. Therefore the no-names failed to inherit earthly promises, but the promises of heaven have never been denied them!
So, finally, verse 40 explains why. Because “God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” That is why they did not received the promises then. But now they have them, and we must remember that the sufferings of this life are not worthy to be compared to the glory which is to follow. So, the final deliverance is not here but there. The final victory is not now but then. The promises are not yet but they will surely be fulfilled by the covenant- keeping God. And that is the ultimate assurance of faith.
Faith does not necessarily imply there will always be deliverance in this world - but surely in the next - salvation and eternal life. It may sound like a small comfort when everything is lost by those whom we love, but it is actually a very large reassurance, since time ever moves and passes quickly, while eternity is forever. And then to make the case even stronger, the writer of Hebrews continues his theme of faith in what is actually the next chapter:
“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses.” (Heb.12:1) Notice something important here. This cloud of witnesses includes both the names and the no-names! It makes no distinction between those who were miraculously delivered and those who suffered without being rescued. The protected and those unprotected, the secure and the insecure. All of them witness to us by their faith!
And this implies that we need to do something in our response to God: “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Let us follow in their steps and always live by faith in the ultimate salvation of God. In the meantime we are to trust no matter what happens, whether it rains or shines, whether the storm breaks over us or passes us by.
But there is something else here in conclusion, which turns out to be more important than anything we have heard so far. It almost seems as if the writer tells us to forget about those people of faith, because someone else is to be considered. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (verse 2) And this means simply that Jesus is the true example of faith. Jesus is the primary one for us to follow in our earthly pilgrimage. Jesus only!
But what is it about Jesus that we ought to pay attention to? His life? His teaching? His good works? Of course all of the above, but here comes the surprise (verse 2): He endured the cross! Realize what that means. Ponder that sacrifice of love. The Father above and the Son below and a cross on which to die. Jesus was not delivered from torture and trial, from shame and humiliation, from pain and suffering, from evil and death! Not delivered? Not rescued? Not protected? No!
That is God's message for people of faith: “Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful people, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.” (Heb.12:3) If the Son of God who lived a perfect life of beauty and truth and light endured such a unjust, undeserved and horrendous ordeal, what does this tell us about faith and deliverance? The example of Jesus’ suffering ought to make us stop and reconsider what it means to trust in the living God! The loving God! We need to turn our eyes upon Jesus and ponder the meaning and purpose of faith.
Faith and deliverance. There is deliverance. Even Jesus, who all during his life expressed complete confidence in his heavenly Father, endured the shame of the cross. And yet he was able to bear all the agony for the joy set before him. What joy? Not in this life. In the next. Not now, but then. He was certain of that joy that awaited him in his Father’s house. He was assured of the hope of resurrection and eternal life, and it sustained him as he breathed his last. This is faith and the sure hope of promised deliverance!
Now that we have explored this all important question of faith and deliverance, we want to consider some people of faith from Biblical times, who have handled adversity, danger and the onslaught of evil in unusual ways. We turn next to some remarkable examples in Scripture of those who triumphed over the evils of terrorism by faith in the God of truth.
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5. EXAMPLES OF TRUTH OVER TERRORISM
In the Bible we discover many remarkable stories of people who came to grips with terrorism. Not only did they survive attacks of evil, but they learned from their experiences to commit their lives to God. With the guidance of the Spirit of God they achieved outstanding recoveries and often emerged from their ordeal as better persons, with renewed faith in the Lord. It is right for us to affirm that they did conquer terrorism with truth.
Joseph
One of the most incredible stories in the Bible which is told in some detail in Genesis (chapters 37 to 50) is the story of Joseph, the eleventh son of the twelve sons of Jacob. (Jacob, the heel holder who grabbed the birthright and blessing from his twin brother was marvelously changed through an encounter with the angel of the Lord, and his name became Israel, which means a prince with God.)
Joseph was Jacob’s pride and joy, because he was the firstborn of his beloved wife, Rachel. But the problem was that Joseph had ten older brothers, since Jacob was married to sisters, both Leah and Rachel. That’s a long story in itself, and it was not Jacob’s doing. The sisters’ father manipulated Jacob and gave him both his daughters to marry. In reality, to be favored was no favor for Joseph because he had to cope with ten jealous, older half brothers. His mother, Rachel, was unable to have children early in her marriage. Only Leah was able to have children for many years, until finally Rachel had Joseph and then Benjamin.
As Jacob spoiled and favored Joseph, his brothers were infuriated and became resentful with envy. Joseph didn’t help his cause along when he showed up a couple of mornings at the breakfast table and spilled out his dreams. Those dreams pictured Jacob and all his family bowing down before this kid Joseph, of all people. Yes, Joseph’s brothers and their father and mother too. The brothers were incensed. Their resentment went through the roof.
One day when Joseph was sent into the fields by their father to look for his brothers, they seized the opportunity. First, they threatened him and lowered him deep into an abandoned well. They were about to leave him there to die. But then one of them came up with a better plan. Watching a passing caravan, the older brother thought they could get some money out of it, if those gypsies might want to buy a slave. They rescued Joseph out of the pit, sold him to a caravan of Ishmaelites for about $100 for each brother. In the meantime they had removed and captured the coat of many colors which Jacob had given to Joseph, dipped the garment in some goat blood, and planned to head home telling their father the sad story of Joseph being killed by some wild animal.
Sold as a slave to the Ishmaelites was no picnic for Joseph. There was already tension in the land between the descendents of Ishmael and Jacob [Israel], a hostility that would carry forward into the twenty first century against Israel by the people of the Middle East. But Joseph did not last long in the hands of the Ishmaelites. They also saw an opportunity to make money and sold him to an Egyptian government official. Joseph was probably in his late teens when he found himself in a foreign country among a people he didn’t belong to and whose language he couldn’t speak.
His boss soon began to take notice of Joseph, and it was not long before Joseph was put in charge of all of Potiphar’s affairs. He was placed over the other servants. And someone else took notice of the handsome Joseph. Potiphar’s beautiful and vivacious wife seemed to have a lot of free time on her hands. She made it very clear to Joseph that she was more than interested in him, and according to the Bible, she tempted him every day. Here was a handsome young man now in his early twenties, away from his family, alone in the big city, alluringly invited into the arms of a loving and willing woman.
Joseph resisted her because he lived by this one truth: God was the Lord of his life and he had determined to be faithful to God. Even though he was no longer in the promised land. Even though he had been betrayed by his brothers. Even though he had been sold into slavery. Even though no one else was watching him. Even though he was all alone in Egypt. Joseph said to her: “How can I commit this sin against God?” "God will not care,” she brazenly answered. That did not persuade him. Joseph ran out of the bedroom for his life. When Potiphar arrived home, his wife turned the story around. She blatantly accused Joseph of attempted rape. Joseph was thrown into prison without a trial, where he would remain for seven years! Seven years without parole and no visitors. Until his thirtieth birthday.
Consider the cruelty, the injustice, the unfairness, yes, the terrorism that Joseph endured. Sold by his own brothers - and they even lied about his death to their father. Standing up to temptation against Potiphar‘s wife, only to be accused by Potiphar and sent to prison without a defense lawyer or a trial. Left to rot in jail in a foreign land where he had no friends, where no one came to visit him and not one person cared about him. He was judged as a despised Jew and convicted of raping a married Egyptian woman..
What went on in Joseph’s mind as he sat alone in his cell, day after day? What thoughts crossed his mind when he realized the spite and vindictiveness that brought him to this misery behind bars? And where was God all this time? The God of his fathers? The God whom he served and believed in? The God whom he trusted? The God who let him down? The God who gave him dreams of greatness in his youth, but who never fulfilled them in this stinking prison? The God whom he obeyed by resisting temptation, but who now rewarded him for his courage with seven years of loneliness and misery and suffering?
What in the world happened to Joseph during those years when terrorism seemed to have won the battle? Day after day Joseph had all the time in the world to nurse his bitterness and resentment. It would have been easy to become hostile and angry. But would the strength of character prevail in Joseph? Would he still retain his faith in God? Would Joseph hold on to his dreams? Would Joseph, if he ever emerged from this evil incarceration still be able to honor the God of his fathers?
There was a glimmer of hope for Joseph as the warden of the prison promoted him among the prisoners. He received the responsibility of keeping others in line and used his gifts of leadership even in this troubling facility. And then he interpreted the dreams of two fellow prisoners, who happened to have been Pharaoh’s servants, a former butler and a former baker. Joseph decoded their dreams and asked the butler to put in a good word for him, when he resumed his position before Pharaoh. But the butler simply forgot about Joseph. Like everyone else. Joseph had no advocates anywhere. Not for two more years!
Then Pharaoh himself was disturbed by his dreams and the butler finally mentioned Joseph, and remembered him back in that prison. So Joseph was summoned to the court, where he interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, and was awarded the position of prime minister in the land. Finally he had arrived! He was put in charge of the economy to prepare for the famine predicted in Pharaoh’s dreams, a famine that would engulf the Middle East.
During those sparse years people traveled from all around the Middle East to buy the supplies laid up in Egypt for these hard times. Among those who appeared before the prime minister were Joseph’s brothers! They did not recognize him. After all, they presumed him to be dead or long gone. Besides, Joseph looked like an Egyptian, was dressed like an Egyptian, and refused to speak Hebrew to them although he understood his brothers perfectly well. But when they bowed down before him, he realized in a flash that his God-inspired dreams were actually being fulfilled.
Joseph now put his brothers to a number of tests to see if they had changed, and when he was satisfied that they would not betray one another, and that they would not abandon Joseph’s younger brother Benjamin, he revealed himself to them. They were shocked to discover that Joseph was alive, and now they were even more fearful of what he would revenge himself on them! But then they heard Joseph’s philosophy of life. Then Joseph revealed to them how he had been able to cope with all the evils that dogged his steps after being sold into slavery. And they also heard how God had become real in his life. “God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God.” (Gen.45:7,8) Not you, but God. The invisible God. The unseen God. The true God who is only comprehended by faith.
But that was not the end of the story. Joseph sent his brothers back to the land to return with their father and the remaining family. So Jacob and his son Joseph were reunited in Egypt, and Joseph settled his family on some of the choice land near the Nile. Jacob lived another seventeen years. After they buried Jacob’s body back in the promised land, the brothers sent a message to Joseph. “Your father left these instructions before he died. I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.” The brothers then entered the court and threw themselves on the ground before Joseph. “We are your slaves,” they cried out.
Seventeen years had gone by! Joseph had already forgiven them, but they had not accepted that forgiveness in their hearts. They did not believe it was real. Terrorism still controlled them. Truth had not conquered terror, in spite of Joseph’s insistence that he had not only forgiven them, but that he had wiped the slate clean. He restored them as his own kith and kin when he offered genuine, complete forgiveness. Wasn’t that enough? Now, seventeen years later, a new concern flared up! “But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done.’ And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.” (Gen.50:16-21)
The victory of truth over terrorism was undeviating and permanent. Joseph was a person of faith. God had always been real to him, and God was the Lord of his life. Consider this: after everything Joseph endured, he never lost his faith! In spite of all the terror of evil that battered him, he declared: ”You intended harm, but God intended good.” To accept your life in this light is the victory of faith.
Daniel
Only one other Biblical character received greater notoriety in a foreign land than Joseph. He is known as Daniel, who became the prime minister for four emperors in three different empires. No other Jewish leader ever gained such prominence and so much celebrity status.
Daniel was born in the land of Israel as a member of the royal family. In his teens he experienced the most awful thing that could have happened to his people, the destruction of Jerusalem and the leveling of the temple of God. That magnificent temple, constructed by king Solomon, was turned to rubble and debris, because evil forces invaded the land and destroyed everything of value. The army of Israel suffered utter defeat with a great loss of lives and the promised land was plundered and devastated. Daniel, along with members of his family and friends, were all taken as captives to Babylon. The Babylonian empire was centered in the land which we now know as Iraq, and the empire stretched far beyond the borders of Iraq. There Daniel and his friends learned a new language and received an education.
But then something happened similar to the turning point in Egypt much earlier in the time of Joseph. The emperor, Nebuchadnezzar, dreamed a dream that truly scared him. No one could interpret the dream because the emperor refused to tell his wise men what the dream was about. If they were so all wise as they claimed to be, he reasoned, let them disclose to him his dream and interpret it. When they failed the test, Nebuchadnezzar ordered that they should all be put to death, and that included even the students in training like Daniel and his friends.
When Daniel heard about this, he realized he was not ready to die. Surely the purpose of God was not to be served by his removal from his homeland, sending him to an early grave in a hostile foreign land. He asked his superior to get him the opportunity of appearing before the emperor. He got it. After a night of prayer and meditation, God revealed to Daniel not only the content of the dream but also its interpretation.
Nebuchadnezzar was impressed by Daniel’s wisdom and made him prime minister of the Babylonian empire. In time Daniel would witness to the dictator about the Lord God of Israel who interprets dreams. But not until the proud dictator went stark raving mad. During that sickness Daniel and others covered for the mighty ruler as they ran the government, and after some time the affliction was lifted from Nebuchadnezzar. It was then that the autocratic ruler acknowledged the greatness and justice of the Lord God.
The son of Nebuchadnezzar, Balthazar, followed his father to the throne of the empire, but he was not ready for the task. He liked women and good times and drinking parties, and all of that became his undoing. At a festive bash which the king threw in the capitol while a thousand guests were drinking and carousing with prostitutes, a hand appeared ominously near a wall. The music stopped. The dancing stopped. The partying stopped. Everyone looked wide-eyed at the hand writing on the wall.
Then Balthazar summoned the wise men and ordered them to explain what was written. They couldn’t do it. However his wife, who had not attended the party, told him about Daniel. Balthazar was so ignorant of his father’s cabinet, that he had not even heard of the prominent Jewish leader, but he summoned him now. Daniel interpreted the handwriting on the wall and warned the king of coming judgment, whereupon Balthazar made Daniel his prime minister. But his position would only be for one day, because that night the empire was overthrown and Balthazar was killed.
Darius, conqueror from the Medio-Persian empire ascended the throne. He honored Daniel from the beginning of his rule. He appointed 120 governors over the vast empire, with three superior officials over them. Daniel was one of these three. But “Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators by his exceptional qualities that Darius planned to set him over the whole kingdom.” (Dan.6:3) But this so infuriated all the officials and governors that they conspired against Daniel. They were determined to destroy him. They urged the emperor to pass a law that only he was to be consulted, and that the emperor alone could give guidance and authority. Darius was so flattered by this request that he immediately made it official. Anyone who sought counsel of any other god or other source would be thrown into a den of lions!
The lion’s den was a dreadful and gruesome punishment. These beasts were kept hungry so that they would torture and devour their victims in a very short time. The new law was personally aimed at Daniel who kept on praying to God. Daniel was not about to call a halt to his life of faith, for God was the strength of his life. He realized what horror lay in store for him if he continued to pray. And that is exactly what happened. Darius had written the law and he was powerless to break his own edict. He issued the order and went personally to talk to Daniel before his torture. “Your God whom you serve continually will rescue you from the lions,” the king affirmed. Perhaps Daniel may have answered (it is not in the Bible), “That may be easy for you to say, O King, but you are not being thrown to the lions.”
They forced Daniel into the den and sealed the opening with a great stone. The king returned to the palace and refused to eat dinner. He also gave the order that no woman was to be brought to his bed. He spent the night in prayer to the Lord God of Israel! Early the next morning the king hurried to the lion’s den. “He called to Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’”
Yes, it was true! Daniel had been kept safe all night long, rescued by the angel of the Lord. He was set free from the lion’s den, “because he has trusted in his God.” It was then that Darius the emperor issued a declaration to all people in the countries of his vast empire: “I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonder in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions.” (Dan.6:16-27)
Daniel had a profound influence on yet another emperor from another empire! Following the death of Darius, Cyrus the Persian gave authority to Daniel the Jew with good results all around. Daniel was able to influence the dictator to let the Jews return to their land. Eventually Cyrus gave permission for them to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.
No other figure in the history of Israel had such a wide impact on three empires and their dictators as did Daniel. Not only did he hold positions of great power, he was able to witness to his faith in the living God. He testified in spite of the hardships and trials in his life. Removed by force from the security of his land and his people, seeing the destruction of the proud city of Jerusalem and the holy temple, living under violent emperors who more than once could have easily ended his life on earth, Daniel held on to the faith of his fathers and trusted in difficult circumstances in the Lord God of Israel.
Daniel even continued a life of prayer in spite of the terror that haunted him. Surely, he illustrates the power of truth over terrorism.
Jeremiah and Ezekiel
These two prophets lived close to the time of Daniel, but their influence was nowhere near the international fame that Daniel received. In fact they are best known as two great prophets in Israel with a message from the Lord. When Jeremiah was called by God he learned that he would encounter violence and terrorism. There was no question about it, but he was assured that those who were against him would not prevail in the end. He started his preaching while Jerusalem was still the capitol, and the temple stood proud in the holy city. But people did not like his strong messages of doom and threatened him with imprisonment. If he did not end these outbursts of “thus says the Lord,” he would be intimidated with capture and death. Jeremiah went into hiding and asked a scribe to write down his prophecies and take them to the king.
After hearing a few lines read from the scroll, the king grabbed the parchment, cut it up and threw everything into the fire. Jeremiah wrote a second scroll, this time with additions and more warnings. The chief governor of the temple, who was also a priest, put Jeremiah into solitary confinement. It was the first of four visits the prophet was to make into the dreaded, top security jail. Actually the Babylonian emperor, Nebuchadnezzar, heard about Jeremiah’s fate when his armies sacked Jerusalem. He gave orders for the prophet to be released, and Jeremiah was given the choice to come to Babylon or stay in the recently demolished land of the Jews. He chose to remain.
How did Jeremiah meet terrorism? He was the subject of persecution. His punishment was an inordinate amount of time not only in prisons, but chained and mistreated. He did not always accept his trials well. Read the writings of Jeremiah and you will discover that he is not afraid to express his melancholy moods along with his obvious depression. “Cursed be the day I was born! And may the day my mother bore me not be blessed.” He goes so far as to blame God for his misery: “O Lord, you deceived me, and I was deceived; you overpowered me and prevailed.” Those are extremely strong words! It sounds as if Jeremiah cannot lift himself out of the pit he is in. The wreckage seems to be beyond repair.
“I am ridiculed all day long; everyone mocks me. The word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach. I hear many whispering, ‘Terror on every side! Report him! Let’s report him! All my friends are waiting for me to slip, saying, ‘Perhaps he will be deceived; then we will prevail over him, and take our revenge on him.” Terrorism was doing its dirty work. Jeremiah has been defeated. Evil has gained another victim.
But it is not to be. After a long sentence in solitary confinement, where he endured unjust and unfair punishment for preaching the word of the Lord, and only for preaching the word of the Lord, Jeremiah opens the door to his spirit and lets us take a peek. Here is the inner strength that will gain him victory. Here is another triumph of truth over terrorism. “But if I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. Sing to the Lord! Give praise to the Lord! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked.” (Jer.20:7-10,13,14)
Ezekiel lived also during the siege of Jerusalem. But he was transported to Babylon where he married and was allowed to write his book. It seems that Ezekiel read some of the prophecies of Jeremiah, but he wrote in a different style. He shares images and visions and applies these to human situations. Perhaps the most famous of all Ezekiel’s images is his description of the valley of the dry bones. (Eze.37) “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones.”
What valley was this? Where was it? Ezekiel knew that Jeremiah had written about a valley of slaughter: “Beware, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the valley of Ben Hinnom, but the valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room.” (Jer.7:32)
The valley of Slaughter is near Jerusalem where recent battles left bodies strewn all over, just to rot there and decay. Now, according to Ezekiel, his prophecy is about this valley filled with human remains, with dry bones. “I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, ‘Son of man, can these bones live?’ I said, ‘O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.’”
Human bones, of course. The result of terrorism and war. Mass killings. Murder and massacre. Bones, swept up with the debris and refuse of the city. Left to putrefy without a decent burial. And they had been there for a very long time, because these bones were completely dried out. The drier they were, the less hope they offered. Who or what could help such bones? What could give them life? For all intents and purposes, this was the end of the line for them. All that remained for these bones was a decent burial. Since everything seemed to be finished for these bones, so it was for the people of God in Babylon. Can these bones live? O Sovereign Lord, you alone know.
There is no hope outside God. There is no power that can reverse the evil of terrorism. Our only hope is in God. “Prophesy to these bones and say to them, ‘Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will put breath in you and then you will know that I am the Lord.”
God is the God of the possible. That is the message of the prophecy of Ezekiel from this horrendous valley. Hope for the hopeless, even though the people of Israel have given up hope. They are feeling lost, and no wonder: “Our bones are dried up and our hope is gone.” But God has a different word! God gives a revelation of truth. Once again, truth will win the battle against terrorism. “O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them. I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your grave and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord.” This is the word of the Lord. It may be the most hope-filled image from the Bible! To be able to bring life from death can only be the work of God, who brings resurrection out of the tomb. It is accomplished by the breath, the spirit of God. The word for ‘spirit’ is also the word for ‘breath’ in the Hebrew. No wonder that this valley of dry bones has spoken to millions of the faithful for centuries. It reveals the ultimate victory of truth over terrorism.
The Apostle Paul
The gifted, outspoken evangelist, missionary, and "church planter" in the Roman empire, encountered opposition, persecution and rejection, imprisonment, shipwreck, stoning and [yes] terrorism. He summarized his experience in a letter to the Corinthians. The following are excerpts from Second Corinthians, chapters 4 & 6, the J. B. Phillips translation:
This priceless treasure we hold, so to speak, in a common earthenware jar - to show that the splendid power of it belongs to God and not to us. We are handicapped on all sides but we are never frustrated. We are puzzled, but never in despair. We are persecuted, but we never have to stand it alone. We may be knocked down but we are never knocked out! Every day we experience something of the death of the Lord Jesus so that we may also know the power of the life of Jesus in these bodies of ours. We are always facing death, but this means that you know more and more of life. Indeed we want to prove ourselves genuine ministers of God whatever we have to go through - patient endurance of troubles or even disasters, being flogged or imprisoned, being mobbed, having to work like slaves, having to go without food or sleep.
All this we want to meet with sincerity, insight and patience;with genuine love, speaking the plain truth, and living by the power of God.Our sole defense, our only weapon, is a life of integrity, whether we meet honor or dishonor, praise or blame. Called ‘imposters’ we must be true, called ‘nobodies,' we must be in the public eye. Never far from death, yet here we are alive, always ‘ going through it’ yet never ‘going under.’ We know sorrow, yet our joy is inextinguishable. We have nothing to bless ourselves with, yet we bless many others with true riches. We are penniless, and yet in reality we have everything worth having. These little troubles (which are really so transitory) are winning for us a permanent and glorious reward out of all proportion to our pain. For we are looking all the time not at the visible things but at the invisible. The visible things are transitory. The invisible things are permanent. We have to live by trusting God without seeing Him.And now let us take one giant step forward to the prime example of truth over terrorism - Jesus Christ - and what he said about “truth.”
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6. “I AM THE TRUTH” - JESUS
Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God, who came from God to save us. The salvation he brings is not only for Christians, but is in fact for all the world, “for God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) The Son was sent by the Father. Jesus made numerous references to his “coming to earth from heaven.” It is obvious from his words that we are dealing with someone who is an extra-ordinary person. Jesus became a human being, became what the Bible calls flesh: “The Word was made flesh.” This eternal Word existed from the beginning with God, and actually is God. (John 1:1,14) At a specific time in history and through the natural birth process, the eternal Word became flesh. The Bible also puts it like this: “God is with us.” (Matt.1:23)
It is impossible to explain the uniqueness of Jesus of Nazareth who combines in his being the nature of God and humanity. He was born in Bethlehem of a virgin, and his coming is a visitation from on high, the singular appearance of God in the world. He lays aside his power and glory and limits himself while he is on the earth. Jesus refers to the miracle of his coming often, and insists that he has been sent by the Father. He is from above and not from below. He enters like the manna from heaven that fed the nation of Israel in the wilderness, but is adamant that this bread from heaven can feed us until we want no more. He is the bread of eternal life.
Jesus is also resolute that he remains in constant communication with the Father. This relationship means that he does always what pleases the Father. He works only the works of God. He speaks only the words that the Father wants him to speak. Therefore Jesus is able to assert that he is the light of the world. He is the way out of our darkness and does more than point us to the light. He is the light we are to trust and follow, in order that we may become children of the light.
Jesus affirms that he is the truth. He does more than point us to the truth as if truth exists somewhere outside of him. Rather, to know him is to know the trut - and as we receive his teaching,we come to know and do the truth. Jesus announces that he is the good shepherd. That means that Jesus is the Lord, since “the Lord is my Shepherd,” has guided Israel for centuries.
Is it any wonder then that if we believe Jesus is the Son of God, he will insist that he is without sin? Is it any wonder that he invites people to examine him for any shortcomings? Is it any wonder that Jesus is willing to hear charges against him, accusations, and judgments because there is nothing which he cannot back up with a blameless life? When we think about the meaning of his teaching, we realize that Jesus is in a category all by himself. None of us are anywhere near blameless or “without sin.”
And it is all this teaching, all this uniqueness, all these claims, all this proclamation that gets him into trouble after all. It seems that very few people really understood Jesus, very few remained his loyal friends, very few who followed him continued to the very end. Jesus experienced every possible evil during the short years of his ministry. The storm gathered force in his first year and increased in intensity until it exploded with violence during his trial and crucifixion.
The rejection of Jesus started in the first months of his preaching. His immediate family decided to interfere with his work. They expected him to come home for a rest and leave what he was doing, but he refused. He would not take a weekend off. There was also a violent reaction when Jesus returned to his home town of Nazareth. They asked him to read from the Bible in the worship service. He did so, closed the scroll and announced that the prophetic Scripture he had just read is being fulfilled - right here and right now. In their village.
The people in the synagogue became furious. They realized he had declared himself as the Messiah. They became more than furious, they were aggressive. They forced Jesus out of the sanctuary and through their village to a nearby precipice. They were yelling and shouting and pushing and shoving and expected to throw Jesus over the edge. He stopped, faced them, looked straight at them but never said a word. And the people parted like the Red Sea as he walked away through the fanatical but silenced mob.
It was the French scientist and devout Christian, Blaise Pascal, who once said: “I assert that if all men knew what each says of the other, there would not remain four friends alive.” Jesus knew what they were saying about him, because people did not accuse him behind his back. They threw it all in his face, all those stories gossiped about town, that he was born out of wedlock. Nothing good could ever come from that stupid, little hick town of Nazareth anyway. He could not really pass for a holy man of God, a prophet or someone devout, because he liked to party and was a fun-loving drunk. And a glutton too. If you want to know the whole truth, they blamed him as being possessed by demons and certainly not by God!
That was probably the most serious attack leveled against Jesus. To call the Son of God of the devil is not only the ultimate insult, but it is the blasphemous rejection of God, the Father, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ, our Savior! Jesus stood up to all this abuse and defamation. And if they really meant to intimate that he was healing and casting out demons by the power of the Devil, Jesus had this to say:
“How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself that kingdom cannot stand. But if someone enters into a strong man’s house and binds the strong man, then he will be able to plunder his house. Realize therefore, that it is by the power of God that I cast out demons. (Therefore) the kingdom of God has come to you.” (Mark 3:23-26) Jesus countered terrorism with truth. No power fights itself, so there must be two forces at war, one against the other, good and evil. Therefore, by the power of God I cast out demons!
Jesus was not shielded from insult, evil and abuse. Even though he was rejected for his ministry, even though his teaching was disparaged and his witness scorned, Jesus never gave up. Never “threw in the towel.” He kept on healing people on the Sabbath, although it led to further hostility. He announced the forgiveness of sins to a poor paralytic and was ridiculed for blasphemy. He offered love and received hate. He spoke truth and was accused of lying. He sowed mercy and harvested judgment. He offered salvation and reaped a cross. Misunderstood, rejected and rebuffed during three short years, terrorism had its day. But in the end evil could not overcome Jesus. Even death could not hold him down. Christ burst the bonds of death and came forth from the tomb!.
Why all this evil and terrorism? Why all these attacks on the Son of God? How is it possible to cause the Son of God so much harm? He was good, kind, compassionate, merciful, caring, and possessed every decent quality. He was everything we dare to hope for in anyone. For once the world was visited by One who came ‘from above,’ who exhibited by his life, motives and attitudes, by his works and words and actions what we call ‘the good life.’ He wanted to be known as “the Son of Man.” This title “Son of Man” refers to the Messiah, but it can also mean - what a human being ought to be, a real person, an ideal person, a model human being!
On occasion the terrorists were ready to throw stones large enough to kill him. Once they brought a woman caught in the act of adultery and asked Jesus what he suggested should be done with her? They tried to trap him, because they expected Jesus to free her and announce her forgiveness. If he had done so, he would have flaunted the law of God. On the other hand if he pronounced judgment on her, according to the law this meant her death right then, and they already had the stones in their hands to kill her. But no one had the authority to take another life without the consent of Rome. Jesus would have been in deep trouble with the police. Jesus steered through these shark-infested waters by inviting anyone without sin to throw the first stone. They were soon convicted by their conscience - all of them - and dropped their rocks on the spot and walked away.
In other situations, whenever people were ready to throw stones at Jesus and kill him, Jesus avoided terrorism. Why were they so incensed? Because Jesus behaved as if he was more than a human being! He claimed to be “one with God,” and that was considered blasphemy against the holy God. Jesus escaped from evil, fanatic opponents more than once. But not at the end. One of his apostles betrayed him to the authorities. Once in the hands of both religious and political leaders, he was questioned, accused, slandered and slapped around. He was beaten with instruments of torture, crowned with thorns, sentenced to die and forced to carry a cross in the narrow streets of Jerusalem, enduring ridicule, blasphemy and more abuse. The walk was humiliating for Jesus is treated as a criminal! He serves as a warning to all that “crime does not pay.”
At the place of crucifixion, this offender is laid on top of a cross and stripped naked except for a loin cloth. Some think that the Romans did not allow him the dignity of a covering. He is offered a medicated drink to dull the pain, but Jesus refuses pain killers. Nails are driven through his hands and feet and he is roughly lifted up on a cross, exposed, exhausted and disdained in great pain. Those who have gathered to see the spectacle will not leave him alone. There are three criminals dying on three crosses, but all the abuse is heaped on the central cross. “If he is the Christ, let him now come down from the cross and convince everyone. But (ha, ha) that is not something he can do, is it? So he cannot possibly be a prophet. We knew that all along.”
The unnatural position of the body on the cross makes every movement painful. Breathing becomes a problem. The victim must press himself up where the nails have pierced his flesh simply to breathe, while the pain continues to be excruciating. But unless he makes the effort to lift himself, he will be unable to take a breath into his lungs. And so the process continues, the lifting and the sagging in ever-growing torture, until the dying one crucified is so damaged and spent that it is impossible to exert one more effort. In that final, tormenting moment Jesus willed himself to end the suffering. And so he dies of asphyxiation.
And this happens to the Son of God? The Savior who has come for the salvation of the world? The humble, quiet, loving, caring, merciful Jesus, the man of peace, who embodies righteousness and truth? The holy one who gives only goodness to all who ask for his touch? Jesus has entered the world, defenseless and not contesting, only to be tortured and to suffer a barbaric, bloody end!
Even if we could begin to understand the physical pain, we can never grasp the mental anguish or the spiritual ordeal Jesus endured. Some insight will come to us when we sort out feelings of misunderstanding, rejection or condemnation, but we have not yet been nailed to a cross. Nothing in our experience can match the intensity of Jesus’ death and suffering. Yes, and torture. How can we empathize with Jesus who hung under threatening skies, while those for whom he gave his life maintained a cold indifference? No one comes to his aid. Not one. What thoughts course through the mind of Jesus as his friends - and apostles also - abandon him to suffer alone and forsaken?
He dies to save a world that does not want to be saved! He forgives sins, but we don’t want his forgiveness! He brings peace, but no one seems to care. He assumes a heavy load, but no one understands. Who can enter into this tragedy that is taking place here, outside of the city of Jerusalem? “He is despised and rejected of people. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid as it were our faces from him!” (Isa.53:3) The terrible ordeal of Jesus when evil forces close in on him is terrorism against the innocent! It is undeserved, unjust and incomprehensibly cruel.
Christians believe that what happened to Jesus should have happened to us! We are the guilty ones, not he. We are the sinners, not he. We are in the wrong, not he. We deserve to die, not he. We ought to suffer for our sins, not he. We ought to be condemned, not he. We ought to be judged, not he. Jesus was innocent, guiltless, holy, just and righteous, and we are not. Jesus is the Son of God. Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” (John 1:29) The innocent, sacrificial, slain lamb dies in our place.
And if that is not enough, we affirm in our creeds that Jesus descended to the place of the dead, where he should never have to enter. Jesus did not deserve to die and he did not need to experience hades, where the dead are awaiting the judgment. There the Lord endured three days of separation and agony in the place of the dead. That is something we can never describe because none of us has been there as yet. We are still in the land of the living. It was there, from the underworld that Jesus rose to life! His is the ultimate victory, the resurrection and the triumph. The death of death. Truth triumphs. The king returns. The kingdom will come. Now there is no more that evil can do, nor is there anything that terrorism can destroy. Not after the end of death and hades. Resurrection is the victory over all acts of terrorism.
In his life, death and resurrection, Jesus reveals that truth triumphs. Evil can never be victorious. The evil one played out all his cards against the Son of God and lost. Terrorism can do no more damage. At the end of our story looms the Lord Jesus Christ who says: “I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One. I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever. And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” (Rev.1:18) The good news in the last book of the Bible makes it clear: “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all the people of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.” (Rev.1:7)
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7. HOW CAN WE FEAR NO EVIL?
The twenty third Psalm has comforted and sustained millions of people for centuries. It is read and quoted at many occasions and helps us along the way to the end of our existence. Especially at the end. The images are so peaceful, so reassuring. Even in the face of terrorism, Psalm twenty-three continues to be cited to reassure and strengthen us. And it is peaceful. It is comforting. The fact that the Lord will bring us to still waters to refresh our spirits, that he will lead us into lush, green pastures to feed our souls, what can top these images? That is why we turn to this ancient, reliable song of faith to be drawn closer to God.
Even the picture of the restoration of our soul is helpful. No matter how far down we may have slipped, no matter how acute is our discouragement or despair, to be energized, renewed, lifted up, and given hope is like a breath of fresh air. When our weary souls are renewed, we can start over and persevere once again. To know the Lord will guide us is a consoling and cheering truth. We certainly need direction in our troubled and disturbed world. We need to discover the right way, God’s way, the guidance from above.
So all these images soothe and help us. But in spite of the beautiful, calming language, this psalm does not shirk reality. It is established squarely in life as it really is. It may be written with the realization that terrorism is an evil force in our world, and that danger lurks all around. Psalm twenty-three is a word from God against the backdrop of our fearful existence, because David, the author, recognizes dark, evil forces behind those peaceful images.
“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.” The reality of death, the haunting certainty of the curtain that will come down for everyone of us, the realization that every breath we are allowed to take is temporary. That brings us to attention. The inevitable moment when we cannot inhale our next breath will surely come, and our existence on earth will be suddenly over. The valley of death awaits, even though we may still be allowed to linger beside the still waters or wander through green pastures.
“I will fear no evil.” So I live with danger, with fear, with terror, with evil, with wrong, with crime, with inhuman acts, with condemnation, with judgment, even in a world where “the evil one” as Jesus refers to Satan, roams around like a roaring lion. Satan is the source of all darkness, and yet in the presence of God we need not fear evil. God is stronger than Satan, and the tempter will be defeated. Without God we cannot be saved from sin. We can only be delivered by the One who is the Almighty.
We also find ourselves confronted by enemies, but they are not a cause for fear. We turn to God: “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” The reality is that we have enemies. There are those who wish our destruction and demise. “We will put out their eyes,” screamed a quotation from the terrorists less than three weeks after the attack on America. Why do they consider us unbelievers and enemies and become our opponents? Our only crime seems to be that we are Americans or Christians or Jews. The people targeted by the terrorists are singled out because they belong to a certain nation or group or religion or race. We are hated for what our enemies consider our crimes. Yes, we have enemies who can strike us down at any moment. They have enough extremists who are willing to die to destroy the peaceful existence we enjoy in the twenty-third Psalm.
What, then, is the meaning of the table God will prepare for us in the presence of our enemies? A table for what? A table for discussion, diplomacy or reasoning? A table for justice, for settling issues? Can something good happen at this table? Will we join our enemies around a peace table? Can a peace table actually work? And is it possible at the end of the peace process to clear away the papers from that table and bring in food to share a meal together? When ancient tribes made a covenant, they agreed to keep the promises they had worked out in their deliberations. Could this possibly be the meaning of the image in this Psalm? And how will God prepare such a table for us? Dare we hope for peace that will end the name calling and confrontation and therefore the violence and devastation? Can we actually turn sworn enemies into friends?
Who has answers for these questions? Are we dreaming? Or will this be reality when the issues that divide the two camps, who are both supposedly serving their God, are clearly drawn? So, what is meant by these metaphors about a table that God will set in the presence of our enemies? Dare we look on this promise as a message of hope? Whatever we may think of Psalm twenty-three, we can never forget that it takes very seriously the backdrop of reality: death, evil, fear, terrorism and enemies. But if we have heard that authentic note, we will receive the message of comfort and truth.
The opening line of Psalm 23 screams like a bold headline: “The Lord is my Shepherd.” No matter what happens to me, no matter what forces are arrayed against me, no matter what temptations assail my soul, only the Lord God of Israel, the divine Redeemer, the Sovereign King of the universe, the Almighty One will be my Shepherd. I will place no other gods before God. And I, like a sheep who does not have much sense and is prone to wander, I insist on going my own way. But I can do nothing better than to take the Lord as my Shepherd to keep me on the narrow road that leads to the eternal kingdom..
As soon as I have made the conscious choice that the Lord will be my Shepherd, then “I shall not want.” I will not be in need. I will be taken care of. I need not desire things, since the spiritual resources that truly matter are supplied by the Lord. Yes, the Lord will provide my daily bread. I can ask him for it. Every day God will supply my necessities, whatever these may be, and I will be satisfied. If I still have unfulfilled desires, I must ask myself whether they are really necessary? Or can I become free and exist without them? When the Lord is my Shepherd, all my essential needs will be supplied! This means that I have learned to be content, whatever my condition may be.
My needs will also be met when the Lord “makes me to lie down in green pastures.” I will be at rest, for I will be fed. The picture of sheep eating contently in green pastures is unqualified. They do not wander away through dry deserts, which sheep are likely to do. Contentment for us spells out as physical, emotional, spiritual peace - in everything. Comfort in the green pastures is where God provides inner strength. The God of all comfort makes guarantees that will be fulfilled. Jesus adds this promise: “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” (Mt.11:28) Rest from our labors brings us the freedom to enjoy those green pastures.
“He leads me beside still waters.” Not only does the Shepherd give me rest but also refreshment. When we approach the waters we will drink and be spiritually satisfied. “If anyone thirst, let that person come to me and drink,” is the offer of Jesus. (Jn.7:37) All who respond to this invitation experience a quieting of the spirit, the assurance that comes from the presence of God. Still waters can be spiritually refreshing.
“He leads me in the paths of righteousness for his Name’s sake.” Guidance and direction help me on the road to righteousness. We will walk in the light of truth and justice, love and compassion, mercy and peace. Jesus demonstrates the right way to walk in his holy life. We can do nothing better than to turn our eyes upon Jesus and learn from him about the narrow way which is another way of imaging the path of righteousness.
And that is the secret of proceeding with courage through the valley of the shadow of death. With trust in God. We are certain that the Shepherd of Israel whom we have chosen as our Guide, will lead us all the way. “Your rod and your staff they comfort me.” The guiding rod of God gently prods and teaches us how to follow God‘s direction. How to proceed. What to do. Where to go. How to live. How to settle peacefully with our enemies. How to subdue our fears. How finally to make our way through the valley of the shadow of death to our eternal destiny.
“You anoint my head with oil.” Not only is that experience refreshing and renewing, it is a blessing from the Lord. When our head is touched and treated, we become aware of how much he cares! This unction is not my doing but God‘s. The good Shepherd demonstrates that he wants to encourage us in our daily lives. His care and attention is a touching gesture of love and mercy and kindness..
Sometimes all this attention and comfort from the Lord becomes almost too much! The presence of the Lord is more than I can take - even “my cup overflows.” Life is good! God is good. God is near! God is blessing! God brings comfort. God gives me hope. His promises are an assurance. No words can express the wonder of the love of God or describe his mercy and grace, the joy of the forgiveness of sins, the confidence of being accepted into the family of God and invited to become a child of the heavenly Father! And there is also the assurance of being called a brother or sister to Jesus! Sometimes the joy of the Lord exceeds human limits. Yes, even our cup overflows.
“Surely…” Here is even more confidence. More certainty. More conviction. Surely! I do not have any doubts. I am persuaded, I have been won over and I know the meaning of being blessed. Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have become absolutely convinced that there is nothing in the world, nothing above or below, nothing in the past or present or future and no power from above or below that can separate us from the love of God, which comes to us through Jesus Christ.
This is our conviction: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” We do not find it easy to confess this truth every day. There may be times we believe, but then there are days when we don’t believe it can be true after all. And yet this psalm is the testimony of someone who is frail and weak and human like us. David writes these words because he knows them to be true. He speaks from his own experience of the Lord. He has faced death and evil and terrorism and enemies, but he perseveres every day in that commitment of his life - the Lord is my Shepherd. That is why by faith it sounds so solid and true - goodness and mercy will follow us every day of our lives!
Goodness and mercy - like two dogs herding the sheep, guarding them against enemies and also keeping them from straying and becoming lost. The goodness of the Lord is symbolized by one of the dogs, the mercy of the Lord by the other. This is a recurring theme in other Psalms where goodness and mercy are bound together. For instance, “The Lord is good, and his mercy endures forever.” (Ps.100:5) Goodness and mercy will strengthen us until we reach the end of the way. And then? Then, there is even more assurance!
“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord - forever.” Absolutely convinced. Completely certain. I will dwell because I will be home! This is the homecoming for the children of God. Of this we can be sure. When we arrive in the house of the Lord, our stay will be permanent. This is forever. It is very difficult for us as long as we are on this side of the divide to comprehend this promise. All we can do is to believe God, to trust his eternal word, to accept the promise until that day when we will experience eternal life with the Good Shepherd. We will dwell in that house.
With this assurance we will fear no evil. Read and meditate on this magnificent, wondrous psalm. Feast on it line by line. Call on the Lord as your Shepherd. Renew the relationship day by day. Accept the promises. Experience the peace and comfort. Walk in the presence of the Lord even in the face of adversity, disaster and terror. Remember always that God is with you and for you, especially when evil forces heighten their attack and your enemies assail you, when you encounter terrorism and violence.
From somewhere I remember the last words of a poem that describes our journey in life. The author says that we will be kept safe all the way, but at the end of the road - safest of all. Because love casts our fear, there is no fear for those who believe they are always in God’s hands. No fear when we are certain to Whom we belong. With the Lord is my Shepherd, confidence grows. By faith. All the way home.
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8. MY STORY
At this point I want to share a little of my bout with terrorism. There is a parallel between my story and the attack on America in 2001, even though my story will take us back into World War Two. What parallel, you may ask? America was attacked because we are Americans, or rather we are citizens of the free world. All civilians who were killed as the hijacked planes struck the skyscrapers in New York had committed no other crimes! They were not on trial for any misdeeds, except that they were citizens of the free world. Most of the 3000 were Americans, but they included hundreds from other countries. Their only offense was one for which they could never be charged. They were not guilty of any transgressions. When a person is born in one country or another, of one race or another, they are not responsible for their coming into the world. Life is the gift from our parents and surely most of all a gift from the hand of our Creator God.
I was born a Jew in Europe, and this was my only crime. In the eyes of the Nazis, from whom I escaped, there was no need for a trial: I was guilty. Guilty, because of my birth. For no other reason. I had no right to a trial before a judge or jury. In the eyes of the Nazis I deserved to be arrested and would have been shoved into a boxcar, transported to a concentration camp in the 1940s. I deserved to be battered and beaten and tortured until I would be gassed in an oven or shot in the back of the head while kneeling in the dirt in front of a wall.
The only crime of six million who were exterminated was that of being born of the wrong parents at the wrong time in the wrong place. The same thing is true of terrorism in the twenty first century. The casualties are Christians, Americans, Jews and everyone else who belongs to the free world. In the eyes of fanatic terrorists, all are doomed. They have already been pre-judged for their faults and condemned. The forces of evil, both then and now, have begun an all out struggle which now is being called a just and holy war!
Growing up I was made to feel inferior about my birth and heritage. I don’t know why. Is this common among Jews? Perhaps. Are many Jews ashamed of their birth? Is the sense of guilt ingrained? If so, why is this true? We did not choose our parents, nor our ancestors, nor the country or continent, nor the year or the time of our birth! My parents informed me that we descended from the Safardic Jews from Portugal. Safardic Jews were considered well educated by other Jewish groups. The philosopher Spinoza was a prominent Safardic Jew..
In the seventeenth century my ancestors found refuge in the Netherlands during the widespread persecution in Roman Catholic countries. The Netherlands was Protestant and opened its doors to all. My family settled in Amsterdam and some became diamond merchants. My father was born in Amsterdam. He had a mind of his own and wanted to become an actor in the Dutch theatre. My mother was born in Berlin, Germany, of very proper, old fashioned parents. She attended the university and earned a Ph.D. in psychology before they married. But her parents could not accept my father‘s acting career. They insisted that he leave the stage and change to an honorable business, before they would consent to the marriage. My father became a business man, and the marriage went forward.
I was born in Berlin, but since my father was a Dutch citizen, the children were considered Dutch citizens as well. This turned out to be in our favor later when we left Europe! When I started elementary school the reality of living in Germany became real to me. First and second graders mocked me and persecuted me because I was Jewish. Nazism was already so powerful in 1933 that enthusiasm for the fatherland had trickled down to every level. Even six and seven year old German boys knew they were white, pure and racially superior. They discriminated against all who did not belong to the Arians, and I came home telling stories of harassment, insults, chases and fights at the school grounds. The teachers did nothing to stop this.
Hearing this, my mother insisted that we leave Germany. We moved to Holland. The seven years I lived in Holland were among the happiest of my life. Incidentally, my parents were not religious. There was no Jewish food in our home, we did not attend the synagogue, we did not observe Jewish holidays. Nothing distinguished our family from other non religious families. My parents emphasized what really matters: to live a moral, ethical life. They followed the teaching of a devout Hindu teacher who would influence their thinking for years to come. So we all became vegetarians because the teacher opposed killing of any kind, including animals. We did eat most everything else such as eggs and dairy foods, but nothing that had been slaughtered.
Not far from us, near Amsterdam, lived my mother’s younger sister. She had also left Germany because of the Nazis. I remember her as a friendly, happy and pretty brunette. My aunt was my favorite relative, because she allowed me to roam in her kitchen where I discovered lunch meats like salami and liverwurst and wanted to try them. So my mother had to give permission for me to eat meat at her sister's house. I was allowed to indulge myself at my aunt’s house and went there often! Little did I realize when we left Holland, that I would never see my favorite aunt again!
When Hitler marched into Austria and annexed that country in a matter of days, my father became concerned about events in Europe. He had witnessed the rise of Nazism in Germany, and now he became alarmed by the war-like stance of Hitler. That is when he began to take decisive steps to remove our family from the Netherlands, as soon as possible. We would go to America.
Members of our family ridiculed him. Family and friends tried to argue him down. Not one of our relatives believed Europe was in any danger. Many thought that Hitler was just making a lot of noise, but would soon be gone. Even Mr. Chamberlain, the British prime minister, received assurances that Hitler would never start a war. My father was considered an alarmist, and besides, Holland was a neutral country. Not one of my relatives on my father’s or mother’s side made any moves to leave Europe!
It was not until 1989 after my mother’s death (my father had passed away in 1977) that I discovered two remarkable documents. They were German papers from Potsdam, a suburb of Berlin, near where we had lived. Needing to obtain passports to come to America,my parents needed signed release papers from Germany, because my mother was still a German citizen. Passports could not be issued without those papers, and we could not have entered the United States. I found these papers, one for my father [who lived for some time in Germany] and one for my mother, dated August 24, 1939, signed by Nazi officials! Without these releases, we would not have been allowed to leave Holland.
In October, 1939, as Hitler invaded Czechoslovakia, we boarded the Dutch ocean liner for New York. This ocean crossing was to be one of the last trips for this ship. She was sunk by the Germans during the war. In May of 1940, Hitler invaded Holland and conquered the country within five days, while brutally bombing, reducing the large city and port of Rotterdam to rubble.
We landed in New York and I was probably the only thirteen year old in New York wearing knickerbockers. The teasing I received really bothered me, and eventually I was able to convince my parents that I wanted to “grow up” and wear long pants too. We drove across the country in a Ford and believed that we would run into and be shot at by cowboys and Indians in Texas. After all, this is America, isn’t it? We three children in the back seat were convinced we would see Indians aiming bows and arrows at us, as we drove the long, empty roads of Texas. "The wild west" turned out to be anticlimactic.
Besides, my sisters and I had to learn a new language. My parents placed us in a boarding school, where we had no choice. Every teacher taught in English and all the kids spoke English and we had one semester to "get it." When we returned home again, our parents announced we would only and always speak English.
Six months after turning 18, I was drafted after being thoroughly invstigated [since I had been born in Germany after all] and I chose to enter the U.S. Navy. While serving in the Navy I became a U.S. citizen in Hawaii as our ship anchored near Pearl Harbor. On one of our trips during the invalsion of Okinawa, we transported troops to fight on that Japanese island. We dropped anchor and for several nights I found myself taking a landing craft with troops ashore as guns blazed all around in the darkness. We knew they were shooting over our heads from shore to the ships, and from ships to shore. One night a Japanese suicide plane diving toward our ship missed us and plunged into the water between us and a hospital ship, its intended target!
It was during these days that I started to wonder about the meaning of life. What was I doing out here in the Pacific? What would happen to me if I died? What was the purpose of my life, if there was a purpose? Is there a God? Does God take any notice of us? I wrote to my parents, asking for help. They sent me religious literature based on Hindu and Buddhist philosophy, but nothing clicked. I did not find answers to my questions. I also read the scriptures of Hinduism and Buddhism. It occurred to me to explore Judaism. After all, I really know nothing of that religion. In spite of all my searching, the meaning of life eluded me. God, if there is a God, is far away and must be hiding somewhere. As far as I was concerned, God is not knowable and seems to be unapproachable and unfriendly.
When I was honorably discharged I gave up my religious quest. Soon after that I married a Christian girl. We had been dating for five years. “Why can’t you find a nice Jewish girl?” my parents asked me, even though we were not practicing Jews. I didn't realize that was an issue. We were married by a Christian minister, but that didn’t bother me because I was not religious and she was. At least she had been.
Six months into our marriage my wife had a spiritual experience. It changed her and renewed her faith in Jesus Christ. She became concerned about me. I was not a Christian. To put it bluntly, she told me that unless I accepted Jesus as my Savior, I would not go to heaven. I was a sinner and would go to hell. For someone who knew nothing about religion, words like sin, salvation and hell can be very threatening! They were for me. I didn’t like her religion. Besides I thought I was living a good life as a moral person. But my wife did not let up. After several months I decided to attend church with her. Only once, I thought. That was enough. But it was not. Not for her. So I started to study the Christian religion. After all, I had investigated other religions, why not give Christianity a try?
My wife’s grandfather was a student of the Bible. He was willing to start a Bible study with me, but as the weeks went by, I felt worse rather than better. I searched the teachings of Christianity - but sin, salvation and Jesus seemed like a foreign language. I felt more and more frustrated. I was getting nowhere, at least that is how it looked to me. After some months I decided that I had given Christianity enough of a chance, and wanted to stop.
I explained this to her grandfather: “I feel like a sinner, but what good does that do me? Feeling this way doesn’t give me salvation. I can’t believe in salvation because I have not experienced it. I don’t understand the Bible, and I don’t know God. I don’t believe in Jesus. I don’t know what else I must do to become a Christian, but I don’t want to study any more. I don’t believe what you are teaching me. I’m finished with Christianity.”
The old man was not disturbed. “I’d like to ask you three questions,” he said. And I agreed. So he started in: "First of all, do you believe Jesus is the Son of God?” “I know the Bible teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, but I don’t believe that. I’ve tried, but can’t make myself believe it. I would like to believe in Jesus, but I don’t. How do you believe something when you can’t believe it?” That was my answer.
He looked down at his Bible and then went right on. “Here is my second question. Do you believe Jesus died for your sins?” “No, I don’t. I know you believe that Jesus died for our sins, and the Bible teaches that, but I can’t believe it either. I would like to believe, but I don’t believe."
He was still unperturbed. “Now the third question. Do you believe that Jesus rose from the dead?” “Same answer. I want to believe the resurrection, but I don’t. How do I believe something I can’t believe? It’s like trying to do a pole vault jump when you don’t have a pole.”
Then he asked me if I would be willing to say a prayer. Prayer was not a part of my life. Oh yes, I had taken walks in the hills and “talked” in the direction of heaven, but I never received answers. So, we got down on our knees. That was a first for me. After he prayed, I made a feeble attempt. I don’t remember what I prayed, but when I rose from my knees, I told him: “I believe. I believe in Jesus Christ." That’s all I could tell them, but I was convinced I now believed. I don’t know what made the difference. I don’t know how I went from disbelief to faith. It had to be of God. There was conviction within. I was accepted. Somehow I believed and was saved by the Lord.
A few months after my conversion, God called me into the Christian ministry. The assurance of this call was not something I could put my finger on either, but I knew it was not just my idea. I entered seminary and was ordained as a Presbyterian minister. For the second half of the twentieth century I served as a pastor in a number of churches, and also as a part-time evangelist, preaching in churches, conferences and in many denominations. I broadcast over radio on secular stations in the Los Angeles area and recorded hundreds of spot announcements which were played nation-wide. I wrote seventeen books, two of which sold over a million copies each. Some were translated for mission fields in other languages. I never kept count of the people whom I had the privilege of counseling individually or as couples, but it's in the thousands.
This is the reason I have shared my story with you: after many years in ministry something struck me, like lightning: The life I have been given in freedom in America is only possible because I have escaped from terrorism, the holocaust and Nazism. I had been snatched away from a terrible fate and freely given an opportunity at life! Becoming a Christian in my twenties became a reality only because we physically moved away from the curse of Nazism. My whole life, with every opportunity for Christian service and ministry is the result of a miraculous, timely move to freedom and America. I have been spirited away from terrorism in Europe, from the violence that annihilated millions of innocent people.
Many years after the war the consequence of my father’s leadership swept into my thick skull. I owe my life to his foresight and courageous action. He saved his family from the holocaust, and somewhere in this picture I discovered the providence of God! What would have happened to me had we remained in the Netherlands? I can never really think about that. That is too troubling a process to reflect on. I cannot bring myself to follow where that road would lead! I have only seen pictures of concentration camps. I have never even visited a camp. But one thing I know. The fate which befell all Jews (and others) could have been my fate too. Every Jew had to register in the Nazi occupied countries. Why? For being Jewish. Even if only one parent was of Jewish descent, even if only a trace of Jewish blood appeared in one’s ancestry, that was sufficient to condemn.
I heard that the Nazis proceeded with German precision. They checked on everyone. No one was lucky enough to be passed over. They rounded up the condemned and shipped them off to concentration camps everywhere in Europe. It made no difference whether they were rich or poor, young or old, intelligent or poorly educated, strong or weak, sick or well. Every Jew had to be exterminated. Only a handful escaped. Some were rescued by kind-hearted citizens, often Christians, who sacrificed and kept them hidden in basements or attics, maybe for years! Had they been discovered for hiding the damned, their punishment would lead to a similar fate. But these rescuers were willing to jeopardize their own lives. Had I remained in Europe, the odds for my survival would have been next to zero. I would never have reached my sixteenth birthday.
Some years after the war I heard what happened to members of our family. We knew that a few had managed to escape from Holland in those five days of war. One uncle and his family became fugitives in New Zealand. One grandmother came to live with us for a while in California, before returning to the Netherlands after the war. Another uncle miraculously kept ahead of the invading armies moving through Belgium and France. He and his family eventually arrived in the USA. His children and grandchildren live in America.
One of my mother’s sisters had no means of escape. She took their two little girls to a Christian servant and begged her to take the girls. They did. She and her husband found another Christian family and lived in an attic. Her husband died, and my aunt emerged from the attic hunchbacked because of the low ceiling. Her daughters and their families still live in Europe today, but the war experience deeply scarred their lives.
My favorite aunt had no means of escape. The authorities arrested her and her intelligent husband. They were transported in cattle cars to a concentration camp, where they were separated, subjected to degrading humiliation before being gassed. Their four year old daughter was snatched away by a Christian neighbor, with whom she lived for the duration of the war. Years later my wife and I visited Dolly in the Netherlands. My wife commented that she is the most winsome and fun-to-be-with member of our family. Dolly grew up to be very like how I remember her mother.
The same fate could have befallen us. As this truth dawned, it had a strange effect on me. I now realize that I am living on borrowed time. I am alive because of the grace of God. I have escaped from death, and with this awareness my life began to take on new meaning. I cannot explain the feelings of gratitude that bubble up whenever I think of what my parents accomplished! I have also thanked God for his guidance and deliverance of our family, even though my parents, in spite of my witness, did not become Christians.
But my faith in the providence of God has grown. Every day of my life is a gift of God! Every opportunity of ministry has been made possible by the mercy of the Lord. My freedom to proclaim good news is the direct result of escaping the Nazis. That is the reality. But how can I be truly grateful when millions have perished? How can I want to proclaim good news, when God has allowed the bad news, the slaughter of millions in the holocaust who suffered and died? How can I square faith and redemption from God in a fallen world where terrorism and violence and evil continue to harass, plunder and destroy?
Where was God for the millions who died? Where was God for those who perished in the attacks on America? Why does God not stop all the brutality and barbarism? Why is destruction and annihilation permitted to increase in the world? And how can I speak of grace and mercy for myself when I cannot affirm the same deliverance for millions who were cruelly and unjustly murdered? Everything is at stake when we ask these questions. If there is a God, where is God? Is God sovereign? Does God have power and also love? How can God be omnipotent and yet allow the world to writhe in suffering and pain? How can we affirm an all-knowing and loving God, in the face of the cold, calculated elimination of innocent men, women and children? I have seriously wrestled with these questions. I believe there are some answers. In the following chapter I will discuss what we can believe concerning the sovereignty of God.
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9. QUESTIONS ON THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD
Is it really possible to believe in an all powerful God? Is that a make-believe in the world as we know it? Can we pray to a God who seems to have turned his back as evil spreads and explodes all over the earth? Is there a God who actually cares about human life? Is there a God who hears our prayers and answers them? Is there a God who is in control, or is that only a dream? Is God sovereign, omnipotent [which means] all powerful? And if we pursue these questions at all and attempt to affirm faith, why doesn’t God do something about the violence and slaughter and hatred and sin in the world? Why does God not interfere with terrorists who plan to destroy all that they consider evil and Satanic in civilization? To put it simply, why did God not prevent those planes controlled by terrorists from smashing into the towers in New York?
But there are many other questions. Where is the evidence for a sovereign God who is supposed to be in charge of the universe? How can a Hitler arise and extinguish millions of Jews in a atrocious, vicious massacre? How can one fanatically obsessed man plunge civilization into a world war and thereby becomes responsible for the slaughter of twenty five million people!
How can someone like Joseph Stalin succeed as a dictator and order (according to reliable sources) the extermination of another twenty million of his own countrymen? These men, women and children had committed no crimes, were accorded no trials, but were simply shipped off to labor camps, and after being ruthlessly slaughtered, were dumped into mass graves.
Although the numbers in the attack on America are not in the millions, the fear and horror has already spread, so that the whole world is on edge, anxious about future threats of violence and more mass killings. So, how near to the end are we? Does Armageddon loom on the horizon?
Examine the history of human life on earth and consider the brutality and carnage, the slaughter and savagery of war after war. The instruments of torment and torture, of cruel, foul and vicious destruction, of butchery, maiming and beheading without the least care about human life.
How can anyone preach a gospel of love in a world where the devil seems more active than God, where drug lords and underworld bosses rule as they become filthy rich and live luxuriously, while mayhem and sadism have become common? How can we proclaim a faith in a just, holy and loving God when terrorists plan to destroy the fabric of civilization as they sow seeds of fear, despair and hopelessness? How can we believe in the kingdom of God in a world where the evil empire controls and corrupts ordinary people, and where streets, homes, gatherings and public places are no longer safe?
It does not require a Ph.D. to ask, “where is God?” And even if this God exists, why does he permit all this carnage? All the injustice and indecency? All the wickedness and wrong? How is it possible for the world powers to proceed down the spiral of evil, even when the sovereign God is supposed to be in control? Has the world simply slipped out of the hands of God like a slippery bar of soap?
So, if God is sovereign, why does God not demonstrate his power in his world? Pronto! Now! Stop the spread and onslaught of evil! If God is love, why does he not show us his compassion and give us just one expression of caring and goodness? As the American poet, Archibald MacLeish, put it:
“If God is God, he is not good. If God is good, he is not God.”
Our evil world provides very little evidence of the goodness of God. Why is it that we witness few deliverances and less miracles and no more angelic appearances? Questions like these have stopped many intelligent people from placing their faith in God. They may still believe, vaguely, in some sort of God, and may even attend worship services or pray from time to time, but they will not put their confidence in this absent Lord. As for the promises of God, where are they? As for faith, what can we believe after all? Some of us may want to have hope, but we feel hopeless!
I know a little of what this is about. I was in darkness in my life for some time. I wanted to believe but I could not. I certainly would have liked to put my trust in the Lord, but I could not see or feel any reason for it. I’m a practical person, and for me things have to make sense and work, or I cannot accept them. Show me or at least win over my mind, and then I can be convinced.
One of the apostles, the one whom we call “doubting Thomas,” had a similar problem. He resisted the idea that Jesus was alive again after his tragic death on the cross. It took Thomas some time to give Jesus a chance to prove himself, and when the risen Jesus confronted him, he did come around to believe in Jesus and the resurrection. Jesus put it to him like this:“Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (Jn.20:29)
I am one who needs to view the evidence as well. I like to see a demonstration of good versus evil, the power of God destroying the works of the enemy. I have witnessed some instances of good over evil in spite of my own questions. Not many confirmations perhaps, but enough to convince me. According to Jesus, there is a greater blessing not for those who believe because they see, but for those who can believe without seeing! Maybe we need to ponder these words about trust, since faith is the result of our response to the revelation of truth. God discloses that he is the sovereign Lord - in resurrection from the dead - and when we take that on faith, we can believe in the omnipotent (all-powerful) God.
Consider when on one occasion God made himself known to Abraham. Abraham became fearful even terrorized, but God’s presence calmed him. God revealed himself as the Almighty to Abraham, even though there was no obvious demonstration of divine power. That was to come, but Abraham was not given any evidence. God only asked him to believe. And Abraham did.
Centuries later when Jesus lived on earth, the names and faces had changed, but the plot was strangely familiar. Raw power, cruelty, injustice and hatred were everywhere in the world, just as they are today. Some methods of torture and death were gruesome, and people were also killed in mass. Human life was cheap. Slaves were treated as second class citizens. The Babylonians, Assyrians and Greeks had built empires on violence and conquest, and now the Caesars, often despots and dictators, controlled and advanced the Roman empire. Rome used instruments of torture, hanging bodies on crosses, burning them on stakes and throwing defenseless people to ferocious animals for sport.
This was the situation when Jesus lived among the oppressed Israelites. It is remarkable that Jesus never touched on the violence and brutality of the Roman world, although he was surely aware of it. He knew that one day he would be forced to submit their atrocities and monstrosities. In spite of this Jesus expressed a deep and abiding faith in God. Over and over again he made it clear that in spite of the abominations on earth, his Father reigned supreme on the throne of the universe. According to Jesus not only did his Father rule, but He was the Almighty one, fully aware of the terrible evils in the world. Jesus believed so completely in the Father’s sovereignty that he shared that belief with his disciples on many occasions.
For example, shortly after king Herod viciously beheaded the great prophet, John the Baptist, the news of that foul murder reached Jesus. The messengers who brought the news informed Jesus that Herod was planning to kill him next. Jesus remained unperturbed.
“Go tell that fox, ‘I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day - for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!” (Luke 13:32,33) Jesus was absolutely convinced that God is in charge of the world. No earthly king could move against Jesus unless the Father allowed him. Jesus was positive about that. Nothing could happen to the Son without the consent and will of God.
When we read this about Jesus in the Bible, it is clear that his trust in a sovereign God is not demonstrated by visible proof. People could no more determine the power of God in those days as we can now. But Jesus was able to penetrate behind the façade - by faith. He saw the invisible. He knew the reality. He convinced his followers of the providence of the Almighty God.
However, the world didn’t demonstrate any of that providence or heavenly rule. Herod reigned with evil intent and no one could oppose his authority. Babies were killed in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth, and then the prophet John who had been sent from God had his head chopped off. Furthermore, the Romans were the supreme masters of the world and they carried out whatever they pleased. No one could resist their authority, and the Jews bowed down under the load as a subjected people. In that first century Jesus preached the power and presence of God and lived his life with steady faith and assurance. He trusted that the time and manner of his death were in the hands of his Father, and not in the power of the ruling authorities.
And then the time came. Jesus knew when he had been betrayed and committed himself in agonizing prayer to the will of God. When the betrayer, Judas, entered the garden of Gethsemane with soldiers, Peter picked up a sword, missed badly but sliced off one man’s ear. “Put your sword back into its place, for all who draw the sword will die by the sword,” Jesus told Peter. Then he added: “Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matt.26:52,53) God is on the throne of the universe! Right now! Yes, even at this terrible moment when evil dictates, Jesus holds fast to the truth.
God is fully aware of this troubling moment in history. He is not ignorant of these events, nor does God need commentators to broadcast the news. And that means when Jesus hangs on the cross, God possesses the power to interfere, but chooses not to do so! This is the faith of Jesus in this critical moment of his personal suffering.
Translate all this into our century. Is God knowledgeable about the attack on America? Of course. But God does nothing. God does not destroy terrorism and bring an end to it, so that an era of peace can begin. The kingdom of God is not yet! But we are not to conclude that [a] there is no God, or [b] that God is powerless, or [c] that God does not care.
We cannot arrive at these conclusions from a lack of evidence. Jesus never reaches a negative position. Jesus holds true to the righteousness and holiness of God, no matter what! Even when he must stand on trial before the all powerful Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Jesus is not ready to capitulate. His life is about to be crushed and snuffed out, but his faith is still in his heavenly Father. Pilate reminds the silent Jesus of the facts: “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
But Jesus does not question the sovereignty of God when he answers, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.” (John 19:10,11) The Father is Lord of the universe. The Father is in control, even though the Son will die in agony on the cross, and will not be delivered.
Think about that a moment. Since the Father loves the Son even more than any parent has ever loved his or her child, the Father wants to deliver his Son from anguish and pain. Love desires to do what it can to bring healing and salvation. The heart of God is moved to do something! But what we see at the cross of Jesus is the opposite: the Father holds back his power and controls his feelings. He does not deliver his only beloved Son. God resists acting on his compassionate love for his Son!
On the cross Jesus will raise the question “Why?” Why is there no deliverance? But his life will not end with that question. Jesus experiences the silence of God as he is dying, but his questioning ends. He needed to ask why God had forsaken him, since he always benefited from the presence of God. Theologians explain the absence of God because of the sacrifice of Jesus. He was carrying the sin of the world as the Lamb of God. As he experienced the weight of the sin, the absence of God troubled his mind.
But shortly after the questions, his trust returns. His spirit is calm, even though the love of God is still being withheld. The Father does not rescue his Son, but Jesus expresses his faith with his dying breath: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) Father, I know you are here. I believe in you. I know you care. I know you love me. I give myself to you. And this is how Jesus dies - with faith and commitment.
But there is even more to it. Jesus will now enter the realm of the dead. There in hades [the place of the dead] he has the confidence that he will not be forsaken. He trusts that he will rise from the dead even on the third day, like Jonah after his ordeal in the big fish. Then he will bring the message of hope and victory to his disciples.
Times have changed. The world may be different, but the issues are the same. And we either believe in God, or we do not. We either trust in the power and sovereignty of God or see only the spread of evil. We believe in the love of God or live in fear of the spread of terrorism. Jesus teaches us by his example, that no matter what happens, we are to trust our heavenly Father. To believe in the power and in the love of God. Both - power and love. God rules on the throne of the universe although it seems as if he is silent. God will have the last word, and that last word will be triumphant. The world will come to the end, the books will be opened and there will be a judgment. The kingdom of God will come. This is the fulfillment of the promises of God.
The last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, emphasizes the sovereignty of God during times of terrible persecution of Christians in the Roman empire. That book is also a testimony to their faith, when they lived in a hostile environment and encountered brute force and violence. Where was their God anyway? What was their God doing? Did God care? How could they trust in a God who seemed to hide away in the heavens? Jesus had ascended to heaven, and where was their help?
That is why the book of Revelation pictures God on the throne of the universe, with Jesus beside the Father still in control of events on the earth. This was the message the early Christians received from God in the Roman empire. Simply this: even while evil and terrorism overwhelmed their world, God would have the last word. At the end of history God will be triumphant, his Kingdom will come and righteousness and truth will prevail eternally.
As we read the book of Revelation, this becomes the promise for us as well. We may see doom and destruction portrayed on our television screens. We may hear of typhoons and earthquakes, plagues and diseases, as “the four horsemen of the Apocalypse” usher in times of desolation and despair. Seals will be opened, trumpets will blow and bowls will spill judgment on the earth, but in spite of all the evils we can see God and the Lamb on the throne!
The Lord is in charge of all that happens. As the judgments begin and are poured out, the Lord remains on the throne where he is continuously worshiped by the host of heaven. And that means that even during the worst catastrophes, we can put our trust in God. God will have the last word. God’s victory will spell the end of evil and the undoing of the Antichrist.
Oh, yes, the Antichrist seems to have great authority on the earth. He unites the nations of the earth, even enemies and hostile powers. He is able to end all factions and divisions, and will for a short time curb the sadistic desire for destruction and obliteration. But not for long. The reign of the Antichrist is short. The proud, earthly city of “Babylon“ is temporary. Like a prostitute, she will meet her doom. The battle of Armageddon is won by the Lord, and the city of God which is the holy bride of Christ will descend from the heavens and will endure in purity and truth.
All this symbolism provides us with a clear and obvious message: The Antichrist is not the Christ. The city of man is not the city of God. Armageddon means the end of the conflict between good and evil. There can be only one God who will reign forever and ever. The sovereignty of God is affirmed from Genesis to Revelation in the Bible. God who created the heavens and earth is in control of his creation. Always was, always will be. Having given his creation freedom of will, God allows us to choose, but there will be an end to it.
By faith saints, reformers and believers have put their weight down on the sovereignty of God throughout history, in spite of everything. Although we cannot see the invisible God, we can believe in his power and love. We can chose to live in hope, since that hope is built on the revelation of Jesus Christ. Our lives are in God’s hands and so is our death.
But how can we do it? There is a clue as the author of the New Testament book of Hebrews, written to Jewish Christians, brings together a list of the people of faith. This is what he says about Moses: “By faith he left Egypt….he persevered because he saw him who is invisible.” (Heb.11:27) But how do you to that? How do you see the invisible? By faith. And this means vision where we cannot envision anything! The apostle Paul made a similar observation. “We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Cor.4:18) Where is God? Above? Beyond the sky? In the heavens? But how can we see the unseen? The answer is the same. Only by faith! Not physically, of course, but spiritually speaking.
There remains one final question about truth versus terrorism. The last question is, what now? What shall we do? Can we do anything? Is there a way? When Jesus tells us that he is the truth and the way, what does he mean? What is that way?
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10. WHAT IS THE WAY?
“I am the way and the truth and the life.” [John 14:6]
Perhaps we can interpret these amazing words of Jesus this way: I am the truth, believe me. I am the way, walk me. I am the life, live me. But how do we live by faith and walk the way? What is this way? How can we follow on this road as Christians with all the raw evil and terrorism? Years after September 11, 2001? When the shock has worn off and the painful reality has set in? After our anger has died down but our fears have multiplied? The pain has lessened but the horror has become nearly unbearable? Our prayers have been said but where are the answers? So, now that the going is tough, how can the tough keep going?
Jesus who declares with authority, “I am the truth,” also announces, “I am the way.” Surely this means that since we are to do the truth, we must follow his way. We need to ask for guidance, learn from him and follow his example. So Jesus wants us to believe him, walk him and live him. Jesus will lead us from darkness to light, out of fear and horror into a life of integrity and righteousness. Just as he taught us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
It is a narrow way, not broad and easy as we have already discovered. Not narrow in the sense that it only contains negatives and restrictions, as if this is a program of denial and limitations. But narrow in the sense that we seek the will of God for direction. Narrow in discovering what Jesus would have us do, and how we are to act in any given situation. What is the way of truth and love and light and justice and peace and goodness? What is the way of the Lord?
Obviously this implies we are not to turn off on side roads of wickedness, hostility or meanness, nor wander into the tempting fields of lies, sinful desires and self-indulgence. Many roads will entice us, but the narrow way will lead us into the kingdom of God. In fact, in those early Biblical times before we were called Christians, we were known as the people of the way! So, what is the way? Let us consider a few answers.
The Way of Faith
We have already mentioned the roll call of men and women in Hebrews 11. These people whose names have been culled from the Scriptures, as well as others who are not named, form an impressive gallery. The one thing they have in common is a life of faith in God. They believe God no matter what might happen. They look “forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” They persevere because they “saw him who is invisible. They were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God.” And they achieve all this because they chose “to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time.” (Heb.11:10,16,25,27) They are the people of the way! This narrow way of faith becomes a conscious and deliberate choice to trust God in spite of adversity, rejection, trouble, suffering or attacks of evil. This faith is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” (Heb.11:1) Whatever we face in the world, both now and in the future, can only be overcome by placing our confidence in the Lord.
There is an incident in the life of Jesus when he illustrates the way of faith. Jesus and his disciples are in a boat on the lake of Galilee when a storm arises. It is no ordinary storm for the gospel writers describe it as “a furious squall.” (The story is in Mark 4:35-41) Some of the apostles who had been fishermen were well acquainted with sudden blasts that could stir up the waters, as the winds came through the mountains from the north. They dealt with many a storm on this lake, but this one was so scary that even the experienced fishermen feared for their lives.
Meanwhile, Jesus is asleep at the stern. Not even the tossing and heaving of the ship nor the water spilling into the boat can wake him up. He is exhausted from his ministry. So a couple of the men wake him up, forcefully, because they fear the worst: “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” Suddenly the unspeakable happens and they are amazed! Jesus gets up and actually addresses the wind and the water! In that moment, the wind dies out and the waters calm down, so that their boat just floats gently along. The terrifying storm has vanished.
But that is not the point of the story. A miracle happens, yes. But who is this man who has the awesome power to control nature? As his friends ponder that question, Jesus turns to them and asks, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Have no faith? What has faith to do with this? What kind of faith is he talking about? When the storm is raging and you are about to go down, how can you be expected to have faith? When you feel your life is endangered in that very moment, what does it mean to believe then? How can you trust God when circumstances point in the other direction? Oh yes, it is possible to have faith when the waters have calmed down and the storm has passed. That’s not a problem. But Jesus expects his disciples to have faith before peace settles in, while the storm is still raging! Does that mean Jesus wants us to have faith in God no matter what happens to us?
The answer is “yes.“ It is much easier to believe after we have been delivered, but not before! But now the report from the lake of Galilee closes with the disciples wondering who Jesus is, and from where has he received this power to control the forces of nature? Not bad questions to ask. They will guide us down the road to faith. It is possible to believe in God after the resurrection of Jesus, but it is far more difficult to trust while his Son is dying on the cross. And yet Jesus himself demonstrates faith not only at the resurrection, but on the cross as he gasps for air with every breath.
On either side of Jesus, criminals have been strung up on crosses, condemned men who had not met Jesus before. They were sentenced to die for their crimes. One of the thieves who silently observed Jesus during this ordeal and heard his words from the cross, suddenly believes! Everyone else seems to have lost faith. Even all the apostles except John are nowhere to be found. Now this convict addresses him with faith: “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus turns to him in agony and obvious pain: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:42,43)
Jesus has not lost his faith. Not even when the powers of evil have struck blow after blow. Not even when he is exhausted and writhing in agony. Not even when he knows the end is near. Jesus will not be delivered. He will not be rescued. He will die. Everything he has given in life and ministry will come to an end. Finished are the good works and the healing and the mission. Finished is his service and devotion and love. Everything finished! And still Jesus has faith! He talks to his Father. He believes he will be in paradise. He promises this guilty man hanging next to him that he will absolutely be with God! Faith will not die though everything is finished. And Jesus asks us: “Do you still have no faith?”
The Way of Prayer
Faith is strengthened by prayer. Prayer is our attempt to connect with the God of revelation and truth. If our human halting cries for help did nothing for us, prayer would have ceased long ago. We would have given it up as useless. But prayer has persisted as communication with God because Jesus has shown us the way. It was said of Brother Lawrence, a simple man who is considered one of our spiritual giants, that his prayer was “nothing else but a sense of the presence of God.” The devotional classic which Brother Lawrence left us is entitled: “The Practice of the Presence of God.”
When his apostles asked Jesus to teach them about prayer, he gave them what we know as “The Lord’s Prayer.“ (See Matthew 6:9-13.) Here we find direction through the prayer Jesus taught his followers. The prayer begins simply: “Our Father.” Prayer establishes a relationship with God, whom we are encouraged to call “Father.” That is a daring start. God is our Father, in the same way as the Lord is my Shepherd. He cares for us and everything that follows in this prayer depends on this relationship. If you have a problem with the word “father” because of an earthly father who was abusive, cruel, violent or a bad example, it may be necessary to substitute another word. Creator or God or Lord are all possibilities, even though none of these sound as personal as a parent. If it is at all possible, think of opening your prayer addressing the heavenly Father who is far more loving and caring than any human (sinful) parent.
The first part of the Lord’s prayer is all about God. It is not about us. We acknowledge the greatness of God, and that prepares our minds to realize who we are and to whom we belong. “Our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed by Thy name.Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” God‘s throne is established in the heavens. When we direct our thoughts to God, we are aware of the sphere where God dwells. For all we know, God’s sovereignty is perfect in the universe, except here on earth where evil opposes his reign. That is why we pray for his will to be done here as it is being done in heaven!
It’s not our name, but the name of God that is to be glorified. God reveals himself when He says, “I am.” This means that God is a Person and exists (I am). Not that we can make the name of God holy, for that name already is holy. We pray that we will not degrade the name by our actions.
We also acknowledge that the kingdom of God exists in the heavens, though it is hardly recognizable on earth. We pray that the kingdom will come to end the reign of terror and the spread of evil. We live in a dreadful world where people kill and destroy and evil romps, and that is why it is necessary to pray for the kingdom to come. Of course something better is in store for us. Of course we can expect this promise from our Father. Our prayer acknowledges the sovereignty of the holy God of all.
And now that our attention has focused on God, we may begin to ask for ourselves. We pray as members of the family and keep saying “we,” “us” and “our.” “Give us this day our daily bread.” We admit our dependence on God. Life’s necessities are supplied by God. But is it right to pray to the great God of the universe about our petty needs, even a slice of bread? Is the eternal God concerned with my puny concerns? If you doubt the interest of God in every day matters (and who has not doubted) consider the coming of Jesus into our world. He leaves the vast expanse of heaven to enter the confines of earth. He even limits himself to a small country for a very short time, reaches very few people, and even then considers each one by one!
So you can see that every day concerns can be brought to this God who cares. You need only ask that your needs be supplied on this day. Not even tomorrow. [Any parent who refuses to listen to the smallest requests of a child is not a caring parent.] Bread, not cake, is a necessity. And so is the spiritual bread we need as well.
“And forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” An ancient prayer of Apollonius says, “O ye gods, give me the things which are owing to me.” Some people pray that way. They believe God owes them something, and they are willing to collect! God is not indebted to us, we have blown it and need to ask for forgiveness. Only God's mercy makes it possible for us to enter a relationship with our Father. We also need to forgive others if we want to be forgiven. It is important to understand the sequence: [1] we are forgiven because of the sacrifice of Christ, but [2] we are also forgiven when we absolve those who have offended us. Forgiveness is first inwardly received, then outwardly demonstrated. When we accept forgiveness for our sins, the grace of God produces the means whereby we forgive those who have sinned against us. A man once said to the reformer John Wesley: “I never forgive.” Wesley replied, “Then I hope, Sir, that you never sin!”
“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” This can be translated, “let nothing become a temptation to me.” (Helmut Thielicke) Life is dangerous. Temptations are everywhere. We are never safe, unless we are safe in God. Have we not learned from experience that anything can become a temptation? And once we give in to our desires, we separate ourselves from God.
In the original language this prayer reads, “Deliver us from the evil one.” Jesus personalizes evil and reminds us that the source of all temptation is the tempter who operates in the darkness. Jesus exposes him as the liar, the murderer and deceiver of the whole world! That is why we need to pray for deliverance, for God alone can help us overcome the power of Satan.
The ending of the Lord's Prayer, which has been added in many traditions, is a doxology of praise, from the first book of Chronicles, 29:11: “For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” So, this is the ground we stand on. To God belongs the kingdom, the power and the glory. One day when the world will end, the kingdom will come. That is why after we have asked for bread, forgiveness and deliverance, we again ascribe all honor and glory to God, our Father.
The Way of Jesus
But how is Jesus the way? Or, put the question like this: how did Jesus live? What was the secret of his life with God? What did he show us by his example? These questions will lead us to a fresh examination of the gospels which paint pictures and tell stories about Jesus and how he lived. Each gospel story is a personalized account of his life, death and resurrection, and what do we learn about the way from the gospels? For one thing we hear invitations from Jesus: “Come unto me all you who are burdened and heavy laden. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. I have come to seek and to save what was lost. I have come so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” (Mt.9:13; 11:28; Lk.19:10; Jn.9:39)
Jesus reaches out to all who know they have fallen short and who ask for forgiveness. They will receive the mercy of the Lord! That is why he heals and helps people and never attaches a spiritual price tag to a deliverance. His good works and words make us curious to discover who Jesus is and why he has come. Jesus lives out the love of God. That is his way.
There is both a bright and a dark side in his words. For the proud and self-sufficient who may talk about God but do not "walk the talk," there is judgment and condemnation. For all who repent and believe the kingdom has come!. But all who think they are good enough, or religious enough and want to do it their own way, will ultimately discover they’re not included after all. They may knock on the door, but it is closed and locked. On the other hand, the bright side of his invitation reveals and glorifies the Father. This is the way of Jesus. “I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” (John 8:28,29)
How can anyone make these claims unless he is the Son of God? Only the One sent by the Father has knowledge of the Father. Anyone else is a pretender, a fake, a liar. But Jesus makes it clear that communication continues between the Father in heaven and his Son on earth, because he is the truth, the way and the life. Therefore our goal in life is to fix “our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.” (Heb.12:2) His way needs to become our way as we follow him.
The Way of the Spirit
Jesus is not with us in the flesh any longer, but near the end of his life he revealed how the Spirit of God would come to guide his followers. Jesus tells us he is the truth, so also the Spirit of God “will guide you into all truth. He speaks only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will bring glory to me by taking form what is mine and making it known to you.” (John 16:13,14) The story of the early church is the story of the Holy Spirit working through the faithful, with Christianity spreading rapidly in the empire. In those days Christians were known as the Way. (Acts 9:2) What started with a hundred and twenty in a room, probably reached a million by the end of the first century, because the Spirit of God is the power behind the evangelism, mission and service of the early Christians.
The Holy Spirit also produces fruit in people of the way. What kind of fruit? “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such there is no law.” (Gal.5:22,23) We cannot produce fruit, only the Spirit is able to grow it and form it. Nor does all the fruit appear at once. It takes time to ripen. None of our virtues come with ease.
Love. There are many kinds of love in the world, but this is about the love of God, a love we do not deserve or earn. We are unworthy of his grace but this love [agape] needs to grow in us, so that we may love not only friends and neighbors but even our enemies. Human nature cannot produce that which is the fruit of the Spirit.
Joy. We can be happy and have a good time, but joy is more than that. It is the product of forgiveness from a merciful God. Because we have been accepted in the family of God, joy is result of this grace. We are to share “the joy of the Lord” freely, but it is never in our power, because joy is also Spirit-fruit.
Peace. Peace, like joy, comes by believing you are forgiven and accepted. Peace calms our spirits and touches our hearts and then it will give value to our relationships. The ability to become a person of peace comes from the Spirit. When you are at peace within yourself, you will be a peacemaker.
Patience. We all want to have patience, but it takes time to grow this fruit. It helps to believe that no matter what, God is on the throne - no matter what is happening in the world. Patience is the outgrowth of faith and also comes from the Holy Spirit. You know you have it when you overcomes stress and tension and have learned to wait for promises to be fulfilled.
Kindness and goodness are part of the fruit of the Spirit that strengthens relationships. Kindness to others instead of judgment and goodness instead of evil for evil will make a difference. Someone has said that we cannot give away goodness and kindness. They always come back to us!
Faithfulness is impossible without the Holy Spirit. On a long drive you need to stop at the pump and fill up your gas tank from time to time. That's true for faithfulness. It requires fill ups of perseverance. “Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.” (Benjamin Franklin)
Gentleness is surely Spirit fruit. With time gentle men became “gentlemen.” That didn’t happen all at once. A hostile person looks for a fight or a quarrel. A gentle spirit aims for consideration and mercy. “Your gentleness shall force, more than your force move us to gentleness.” (Shakespeare)
Self control. A friend of mine admits that years ago he was undisciplined, unorganized and a procrastinator, but over the years the Spirit of God has been at work in him. “You should see me now,” he tells me, and he is right! The fruit of self-control is definitely showing in his life. Let us not be satisfied with one or two pieces of fruit. This cluster of Spirit-fruit will ripen to integrity and righteousness if we pray and believe and "walk with God."
The Way of Action
We have traveled this far without even asking, what can we do by way of action? Yes, we need faith and prayer, to follow the way, to be guided by the Spirit, but how should we cope with the problems in the world? “When you find a fork in the road, take it!” says Yogi Berra, the oft-quoted former New York Yankees catcher [baseball]. What action now? How are we to walk and "live" the way? I admit that may be the toughest question to answer. Probably because there is no one answer. One size does not fit all. You can pray about it. You can trust God, but how can anyone tell you what to do?
What are the implications of the words of Jesus that the Holy Spirit will guide you into all truth? Should you get into politics? Science? Medicine? Teaching? Human service? Become a missionary? Volunteer your skills and serve? Become a positive influence in your family? With friends? In your community or country? Perhaps yours will become a ministry of prayer? As you pray about action, God will make things clear. Believe God when you ask for guidance. Pray for the Spirit. Expect fruit.
But is that all? No. We can also succeed together. When people decide to work for justice or peace or change or serve together, they accomplish more than when they go solo. Often it is true that one person’s vision leads many to action. So ask, what is our objective? What do we hope to achieve? Can we succeed in our battle against terrorism? Can we put an end to evil powers that threaten the free world? Is that too much to expect? Is that an impossible goal? Why? Why not? The old conflict of good versus evil goes back to God against Satan. In the days of the kings in Israel, almost 900 years before Christ, the prophet Elijah challenged people to choose between the false god “Baal,” and the Lord God of Israel. Today we must choose between the God revealed in Jesus Christ and the god served by terrorists. Should one declare war on the other? It is obvious that both sides cannot belong to the same God!
This much is clear from the Bible. God is in conflict against all that would destroy his creation: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” (1 John 3:8) It didn’t look that way at the cross of Jesus or when the limp body was placed in the tomb. Had God‘s mission failed? Then Jesus rose from the dead and triumphed over Satan - the victory of life over death. This fight is not yet completed, for we live in a world of conflict still. But at the end the battle of Armageddon will conclude everything:“But the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet. The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. And the devil who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” (Rev.19:20-22; 20:10) That is the script! That is how evil will come to an end. The Devil and all his cohorts are finally doomed to hell.
Since we know the end of the story, we are armed for the clash between truth and terrorism. Whatever God wants you to do, do it in the confidence that you are on the side of truth. The climax of history will be a glorious victory. It will bring peace. It will be joy. Even if we lose loved ones or our own lives, eternal glory awaits us - for all God’s children. Jesus gives us certainty: “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and will not be judged, and has crossed over from death to life.” (John 5:24) From death to life! The words of Jesus Christ. And that is worth taking whatever action God leads everyone of us to do.
Finally, the Way of Hope
Can we live in hope? Are we able to reach the goal? Can we confidently follow a vision? Are we to expect victory? Yes, we are and we can. We serve the Lord who knew his way out of the tomb. He is alive. He has ascended to heaven. He is on the throne with the Father. He will return to establish the everlasting kingdom of God. He will absolutely put an end to all tragedy and misery, killing and dying, evil and abuse, suffering and injustice, and yes, terrorism! “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with people and God himself will be with them and be their God.’ Anyone who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be your God and you will be my children.” (Rev.21:1,3,7)
Christians on the way are a people of hope! “We rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” (Rom.5:2,5) Hope is illustrated in Scripture by an anchor. Just as we are unable to see the ocean floor where the anchor holds, we cannot make out where the anchor of hope has landed. But we can be certain that hope holds fast to the promises of God. Hope steadies us when we are rocked by winds of adversity, and knocked about by waves of terrorism, but we know our anchor holds! For this battle against terrorism come words of hope from the poems of G. Studdert-Kennedy, a 20th century Christian.
“I know not why the Evil, I know not why the Good, Both mysteries remain unsolved, and both insoluble. I know that both are there, the battle set, and I must fight on this side or on that. I can’t stand shivering on the bank.
I bet my life on Beauty, Truth and love, Not abstract but incarnate Truth, its very self made flesh, Love realized. I bet my life on Christ, Christ Crucified. Behold your God!
My soul cries out!
He hangs serenely patient in his agony, and turns the soul of darkness into light. So through the clouds of Calvary, there shines His face, And I believe that Evil dies, and Good lives on, loves on - and conquesrs all. All war must end in peace, for God is love. Such is my faith, and such my reasons for it. And I find them strong enough. And you? You want to argue? Well, I can't. It is a choice. I choose the Christ!"
The way is the way of faith and prayer. The way is Jesus.
The way is the fruit of the Spirit. The way is action and hope.
I am the way, walk me. I am the truth, believe me. I am the life, live me.
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