11th SEPTEMBER 2001 - PERSONAL OBSERVATIONS

by Jacques More

Posted 15th September 2001:

I have been asked by a number of people what my take is on the dramatic events in New York, Washington and the U.S.A by supplying scripture...

When the assassination of Yitshak Rabin the then Prime Minister of Israel took place on the 4th November 1995 I remember asking the Lord what the significance of this was. I desired to know why this had occurred. The impression I received was that this was ''for Jerusalem's sake''.

Now, as regards the 11th September events I have had no such clearcut 'word'. What I do have since, following very little of anything, is what I now wish to share. Various observations and scriptures which may help as it has me to have a possible framework of understanding for what has happened and may happen from now on.

With 'words' of prophecy the Bible is clear that 'we know in part and we prophesy in part' (1 Corinthians 13:9) and also that we should let the prophets speak and then discern what has been said (1 Cor. 14:29). Hold on to the good and let the rest pass (1 thessalonians 5:19-21). With the understanding behind the 'word' that it was for Jerusalem's sake therefore I think the following and leave it for you to weigh up...

My initial reply to a Lady who e.mailed me for scripture was this from Daniel:

Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His and He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with Him . . .

Daniel 2:20-22

This shows that none of what was about to happen was hidden from Him. And the extent of it was also limited by Him for His purposes in the nations.

I Praise God for the many thousands who escaped injury and loss of life. There was time for many to escape... I believe the sacrifice (and all sacrifices cost) of those who are dead and the injured will now play a key role in releasing many others from future harm and injury...

For Jerusalem's sake
For ''Jerusalem's sake'' implies to me that Yitshak Rabin was prepared to give up some part or whole of Jerusalem eventually. This may be why Yasser Arafat the leader of the Palestinian Authority had turned around from being a terrorist to a negotiator and co-operator with Israel. My observation of the attempts at further negotiation in the last 2 years shows a reversal of this attitude by Mr Arafat in seeing that Jerusalem is not negotiable as far as Israel is concerned. Hence the return to condoned and other terrorist attacks by Palestinians upon Israel. No amount of other effort on Israel's part has reduced this threat. This has brought the whole region in the last few months into a state of preparation for war. And various Arab nations have stepped up their involvement. Not least Iraq and Iran. All this has been the context in which the 11th September 2001 terrorist attacks in the U.S. have occurred. The Lord had made clear that Jerusalem was going to be a 'sticking point' in the nations when He said:

. . . I will make Jerusalem a very heavy stone for all peoples . . .

Zechariah 12:3

The immediate 'war' that will now be waged instead after 11th September 2001 is by the combined work of nations against terrorism itself. The only possible avenue for progress by the Palestinian Authority is now no longer to condone the terrorist acts by fellow Palestinians but by truly working with Israel again. And this by leaving Jerusalem off the negotiating table.

Just as God made use of Pharaoh (who had opposed Moses) to cause His name to be made known in the nations, so I believe this event will cause His purposes to come to pass. A comparison is also to be had here with Osama bin Laden and any one who leads others in opposition to God's appointed...

For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ''Even for this same purpose I have raised you up, that I might show My power in you, and that My name might be declared in all the earth.''

Romans 9:17

The enemy is aware of God's long term plans for Israel, he knows for example that:

Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night, Who disturbs the sea and its waves roar (The LORD of hosts is His name): ''If those ordinances depart from before Me, says the Lord, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before Me forever.''

Jeremiah 31:35-36

Since the sun, moon and stars are still there God's purpose in Israel as a nation have not changed. The same can be said for the land of Israel and Jerusalem. Just as the enemy is aware of God's purposes in many individuals' lives, he will use the access he has in the lives of those around them, in an attempt to frustrate, slow down or stop altogether those purposes, so also with Israel. He attempts to use the access he has to the peoples and nations around Israel, in an attempt to frustrate, slow down or stop God's purposes for Israel. This is a part of the warfare going on between Heaven and Satan's kingdom. The enemy wishes to accelerate and bring out of time the Antichrist by raising little ones (1 John 2:18) whether in the correct location, which is within the borders of Iraq presently or elsewhere (cf. my article Not For A Few Centuries). In the process he attempts to cause peace to cease, not just in Israel but elsewhere, which is where all of us intercessors need to be aware and focus.

Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence . . .

1 Timothy 2:1-2 (plus see 3-6)

For the spread of the gospel's sake.

The work of those in authority, the governments, need our particular intercession to accurately work out the justice required to redress the balance.

For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil . . . For he is God's minister to you for good . . . he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practises evil.

Romans 13:3-4

My first thoughts after the event
My initial thoughts following the event went to Jesus' words in Luke. He had just been told of Galileans who had been killed by Roman soldiers under Pilate:

. . . Do you suppose that these Galileans were worse sinners than all other Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in siloam fell and killed them, do you think that they were worse sinners than all other men who dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, no; but unless you repent you will all likewise perish.

Luke 13:1-5

An event like this is a good time to search one's heart, and seek to know one's own motives and heart in one's own life. A time to seek God's face, and return to Him. This I did and became very conscious again of the words in Jeremiah:

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked . . .

Jeremiah 17:9

I for one had allowed a home for pride in my heart again in the last few weeks and was glad for the time of searching and repenting.