By Larry Rosenbaum
For the past two months, I have been writing about the current world crisis as it relates to Christians. Many have asked whether the terrorist attacks were the judgment of God on our nation. When Rev. Jerry Falwell suggested that this might be the case, he was condemned by many in the news media. He quickly apologized for his comments.
It is clear from the Old Testament that God brings judgment on nations. Often, we see God judging Israel for its sins. God used other nations such as Babylon to bring them into captivity until they repented. God also judged other nations such as Canaan, Edom, and Babylon for their sins.
Many of those who founded the U.S. were Christians. Our nation has been a leader in sending missionaries around the world. It has given religious freedom to Christians (and others) to worship God and share our faith with others. It has encouraged religious freedom around the world. Throughout its history, our nation has experienced many religious revivals and evangelistic crusades in which tens of millions of people have been saved.
However, since the time of Charles Darwin, our nation has been in spiritual decline. This decline has intensified since the 1960’s and 1970’s, when the Supreme Court outlawed prayer in the public schools and legalized abortion, among other things.
During the U.S. Civil War, President Lincoln issued a proclamation calling our nation to repentance. It suggested that the Civil War might be a “punishment inflicted upon us for our presumptuous sins.” Such a concept is abhorrent to most Americans today. If President Bush were to issue such a proclamation, he would be condemned by the news media and his popularity would plummet.
Because our nation does not accept the idea of God’s judgment, it hasn’t repented in response to the September 11 attacks. Instead, Americans have given themselves increasingly to immorality. In New York, alcohol use has increased 30% since September 11. In San Francisco, huge billboards with pornographic images have recently appeared on many city streets. Another billboard announcing a new TV show proclaims that “sin is in.” The most common attitude I have found in the people I witness to is “eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.”
If God has in fact taken His hand of protection off our nation because of our many sins, and we refuse to repent, we can expect more terrorist acts. Future attacks could result in millions of deaths. Hopefully, our nation will repent before it is totally destroyed. When Israel was in captivity in Babylon, Daniel repented and sought God for forgiveness both for his own sins, and the sins of his people. It is time that we do the same.
