What does the Bible Say about Mothers Murdering Children?

 (Part Four in a Series on the Fifth Commandment)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

In this article:
What is happening?
How could such things happen?
What does the Bible say about murdering children?
Biblical Examples
What does this mean for the future?

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Mark 10:14

What is happening?

There is something happening now in our society which has rarely happened in the history of the world. It is certainly not unknown, or unprecedented, but in the history of civilization it is extraordinarily rare. It may be more well known among uncivilized (or under civilized) societies, but that it is happening in what was once a civilized, Christian nation, like the United States of America (and others), is heartbreaking. What is happening is that there seems to be a trend recently of mothers murdering their children in cold blood.

Recently there was a trial of a woman in the U.S. who confessed to strangling her three young children, but which ended in a mistrial. It should have been an easy conviction, as evidence showed that she planned the murder, and conspired to get her husband out of the house while she killed their children. After the trial it was revealed that eleven of the jurors wanted to acquit her of murder (likely by reason of insanity), but only one juror would not be persuaded nor bullied into joining that decision, but held fast that it was not beyond reasonable doubt that the mother was guilty of first degree murder. During the trial, groups of women organized public protests advocating that the mother should be excused for murdering her children. Since the mistrial was declared several more women have also killed their children in the following few weeks.

How could such things happen?

What is more sad than all of this, is that this is not at all surprising to anyone who has been paying attention! Over 20 years ago I observed that the leading cause of death in the United States was abortion – the murder of children. In 2002 (the latest year that information was available when I wrote the 2005 article) there were 1,300,000 abortions. Since 1973, when the Supreme Court illegally made abortion “legal” in all 50 states, there have been over one million abortions each year on average. This has continued, even after the Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. The problem with the Dobbs vs. Jackson was that the Supreme Court did not ensure that all unborn children of U.S. citizens were protected from murder.

What this means is that every year, for over 53 years, a million mothers have murdered their children. This does not mean that each of these million mothers are different people – many of them are repeat offenders. Also, not all of these murdering mothers are willing participants. It is well documented that a fair number of abortions are coerced by the fathers of the unfortunate children (boyfriends or husbands to the child’s mother). The Abortion Industry (as it is called) has repeatedly shown that it does not care about whether the women who seek their services are raped, abused, enslaved, or are otherwise molested, as long as they get paid. Nevertheless, what this shows is that there are tens of millions of women in the United States alone who have murdered their children. 

I must also recognize that not all of these women advocate for allowing abortion and infanticide. Many women have repented of this wickedness and found forgiveness in Jesus Christ, and others have also recognized that what they did was wrong, and should not be done. Yet, that probably still leaves tens of millions of women (and others) who refuse to repent and think that they have every right to murder their children, either before their birth or after. This happens because murder is such a horrible sin that, when someone commits murder they will go to great lengths to justify it to themselves. Since these people convince themselves that they had good reason for murder, they cannot admit to themselves or others that it was wrong – because to do so would be to admit that they are as wicked as other murderers, but murderous desires lead to murder, unless reversed by repentance and trust in God through Jesus Christ.

What does the Bible say about murdering children?

Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these." Mark 10:14

In Leviticus 18:21 God told the Israelites, “Do not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech, for you must not profane the name of your God. I am the Lord.” I am sure that at the time the Israelites thought that this was one of the easiest commandments to keep. After all, what kind of a person would even consider killing their children, much less, offering their dead children to a false god like Molech? Such things are absolutely unthinkable for any godly person. The idol, Molech, was created to give parents a way to get rid of their children which would ease their guilty conscience (and maybe make some money for false priests during hard times). You can read an article I wrote here about how the ancient practice of child sacrifice corresponds to similar practices in our society. Yet, God knows the wickedness in our hearts more than we do, and when the tribe of Judah fell into the practice of child murder (after God had already destroyed the Kingdom of Israel for doing the same thing) God condemned them, saying, “They built high places for Baal in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to sacrifice their sons and daughters to Molech, though I never commanded, nor did it enter my mind, that they should do such a detestable thing and so make Judah sin.” (Jeremiah 32:35) This practice was a large part of the reason why God sent the Babylonians to conquer Judah, destroy Jerusalem, and take the survivors as slaves in exile to Babylon.

God also demonstrated that He values the lives of even the most humble people, though the world may think they are expendable. In Exodus 22:22-24 God says, “Do not take advantage of a widow or an orphan. If you do and they cry out to me, I will certainly hear their cry. My anger will be aroused, and I will kill you with the sword; your wives will become widows and your children fatherless.” The consequences of taking advantage of the lowest in society (whom some might consider “burdens”) was that God would raise up enemies against them who would kill the men so their wives would be widows, and their children orphans. 

We should be aware that all that is going on does not escape the notice of God. In Deuteronomy 10:17-18 God tells His people, “The Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes. He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing.” This was both a blessing and a curse (as these are frequently joined together in Holy Scripture). It was a blessing because God would protect His people if they fell on hard times or experienced disaster. It was a curse if the people disobeyed God and took advantage of the weak in society – then God would punish the wrongdoers. 

Biblical Examples

God tested Abraham, but did not let him kill his son. Yet, God did not spare His Son, but let Him be sacrificed  to save us from sin and death.

Abraham and Isaac
There are some examples in the Bible of the murder of children which can give us instruction. The first one is in Genesis 22 where God uncharacteristically tells Abraham to kill his son, Isaac, as a sacrifice to God. Abraham does not openly question God, but prepares to do as God commanded him to do. The New Testament book of Hebrews explains to us that, because God had already promised that Isaac would be the ancestor of a great nation and many kings, Abraham trusted that if he did as God commanded, God would raise his son from the dead so that Isaac could fulfill what God promised. Here we should note that God did not allow Abraham to kill Isaac, but called to him to stop when the knife was in his hand ready to do what God told him to do. 

This story is in contrast to its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. God would not allow Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac, but God offered His son, Jesus, as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, and did not stop it from reaching its fulfillment. Isaac was likely an unwilling sacrifice (though he apparently did not fight Abraham, nor seem to hold any hard feelings against his father later in his life), but Jesus was the perfectly willing sacrifice. God did not force Jesus to sacrifice His life against His will, but made it clear in the Holy Scriptures that He wanted Jesus to freely offer His life in payment for the sins of the world, so that we may be forgiven and rescued from sin and death. Because Jesus loved God perfectly, He was willing to do what God wanted, and let sinful men put Him to death. In doing this, Jesus offered His innocent life to pay for the sins of the whole world, and God accepted His sacrifice, so that all who believe in Jesus have full forgiveness of all their sins, and full salvation through Him.

Pharaoh’s Command to Kill Baby Boys Before the Exodus
In Exodus 1, we are told that a Pharaoh in Egypt came to power who forgot about Joseph and why all the Israelites were living in Egypt, and saw them as a potential threat. He feared this, even though the descendants of Israel had been living in Egypt for 400 years, they had done nothing against their Egyptian hosts. The King first commanded the Egyptian midwives to kill the male Israelite babies they delivered, so that they would not grow up to be a military threat to Egypt. The midwives did not obey this command because they were in the business of delivering babies, not killing them. Only in the past 50 years or so have doctors and nurses become active agents of murder instead of healing. 

The oppression and murderous commands of the Pharaoh led the Israelites to cry out to God to send them a deliverer. God heard their prayers, and sent them Moses. When the Egyptian midwives failed to do as the Pharaoh decreed, he commanded all Israelite baby boys to be thrown into the Nile River to be drowned. Moses’ mother complied with the letter of the law by putting her baby in the river, but she placed him in an “ark” made of woven reeds, and waterproofed with tar or asphalt so it would float, and he would not be drowned. Pharaoh’s daughter found the “ark” and took pity on the child, and adopted him as her son, though she knew that he was from an Israelite family. Moses was the deliverer whom God sent to lead the Israelites out of Egypt toward the Promised land of Canaan, though he would not accomplish this until he was 80 years old.

The Tenth Plague in Egypt

God called Moses to lead the children of Israel out of slavery to the land He promised to give to Abraham

As a counterpoint to the Pharaoh’s command to kill the Israelite baby boys, when God sends the plagues on Egypt in Exodus 7-12, the tenth and final plague was that God killed all the firstborn of men and livestock in Egypt. However, God spared the firstborn of the Israelites by having them sacrifice a male lamb or goat without blemish and put the blood of the sacrifice on their doorposts so that God would pass over their homes when He came to kill the firstborn of Egypt. There was death in every household in Egypt that night, but none of the Israelites died because God accepted the lambs as substitutes for the firstborn of the people. This caused Pharaoh to send the Israelites out of Egypt, and was God’s main salvation event of the Old Testament. 

The tenth plague and Passover showed how God would save all people by the coming of the Messiah, or Christ. Jesus would be the substitute who would die for the sins of the whole world, so that everyone who believes in Him would be rescued from sin and death, just as the Israelites in Moses’ day believed in God and did as He directed. Here we see God’s justice. As Egypt’s Pharaoh tried to subdue God’s people by killing their children, God came to rescue His people. The Pharaoh of 80 years later, suffered defeat and the loss of his firstborn son in the plague, along with every household in Egypt. God showed that He has mercy on His people, and, although He is patient (wanting all sinners to come to repentance and be saved), He is not unwilling to bring vengeance on those who persist in evil. When God does act in this way He is always just and right in His actions. When it seems He is slow to act, it is not because He is uncaring, or unable to do anything, but it is because He is patient and merciful.

Prayer for Vengeance in Psalm 137
The Psalmist’s lament in Psalm 137 is a difficult one for many people, because in this Psalm, the writer is praying that God would bring retribution on the Babylonians for their conquest of Judah, the destruction of Jerusalem, and the many thousands of people killed in that war. Though God had enabled the Babylonians to do this, they did not acknowledge God, nor do it for God’s glory, but did it for their own glory. The Psalm ends with the writer praying that God would bless those who take the Babylonian children and “dashes them against a rock.” (Psalm 137:9) It sounds cruel, but those taken into captivity likely had witnessed the Babylonians doing just that to their children, and the Psalmist is only asking for similar justice to be done – no worse than what was done to them. God answered their prayer later when the Persians conquered Babylon, and God moved the Persian king to let the people of Judah return and rebuild Jerusalem. God did this so that His promises to Abraham, Jacob (Israel), and David would be fulfilled, and the Messiah would come from their descendants in the land that God had set aside for it to happen there. 

Jesus loves the little children

Herod’s murder of infants in Bethlehem
We see another tragic mass murder of infants in Matthew 2 when King Herod heard about a sign proclaiming the birth of a future king in Judah. Though the child was less than two years old, Herod was so paranoid that he ordered soldiers to kill all the children in the Bethlehem area under two years old. This story parallels closely the story of Moses and the Exodus from 1,500 years earlier. Also, as the person of Jesus is a greater savior than Moses, so also is the salvation won by Jesus greater than the freedom to which Moses led the people of Israel. Christ’s salvation is for all people who trust in the true God for salvation, not just one small nation on earth. 

What does this mean for the future?

In Biblical history, when there is a mass casualty event involving children, it is often associated with God’s judgment against idolatry, wickedness, and violence. Such things only happen in times of great apostasy and rebellion against God, because a godly society would treasure and protect their children, and such things would not happen. Such tragedies as: abortion, infanticide, mutilation and abuse of children for the sake of sexual fantasies, and more, all show us that we live in an era of great apostasy and wickedness. This calls for likewise great repentance and a swift punishment of all who carry out and support such evil. 

If Christians are unable to address and correct the evil, then God will find someone else to do it. However, as Judah was apostate in the times of the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, and God empowered the pagan Babylonians to carry out His justice, we see that the cure may be worse than the disease – though God does work everything out for good for those who love and trust in Him above all things. If Western Christian nations cannot turn back to Christ, and bring to justice those who murder and mutilate children, then God could very well empower Islamic Jihadists to conquer and enslave Western nations and bring a temporal order. The “cure worse than the disease” in this is that Islamic Jihadists in the past two centuries have adopted a Marxist Gnosticism which is much more radical than many eras of past Islamic conquests.

There have been times in history when Christians have lived with a fair bit of autonomy under Islamic rule. However, much of radicalized Islam these days is much more extreme. Although a conquering Islam would bring a semblance of order in what is now a chaotic world, and would forbid societal evils such as sexual perversion, general infanticide, abortion, and several other plagues endemic to Western Marxist Liberal Progressivism, such a government would harshly persecute Christianity and all other religions. It would also enslave all women and girls under strict Sharia submissive rules, and mandate universal general conversion to the false religion of Islam, with severe penalties for all who refuse to submit. 

The Holy Family is an image of God’s relationship with His people.

Such a future is not necessarily imminent. No one knows except God, alone. Such things are likely to happen in the very last days before Christ’s return, however. These days may not be those days. It could be that a general repentance and return to Christ may mean that several generations may still live under God’s grace, and many more will be added to the number of blessed Christians who find salvation in Jesus Christ. Either way, now is the time for repentance and prayer, trusting in Jesus alone for our forgiveness and salvation. 

The world seems hell-bent on destruction, and Christians should not get caught up in the chaos – neither in going along with the world’s apostasy, nor in reaction against it. Jesus Christ is Lord of all, and He has already won the victory. We dare not panic, lest we lose sight of Jesus Christ and His salvation. All that is left is for history to play out as it must. As for Christian believers, we should continue steadfast in the True Faith, no matter what else is going on in the world, as we await our salvation in confident, patient trust that Jesus will rescue us from all harm and evil, and that all things will work out to the glory of God – our savior and redeemer.

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Articles in this series:

You Shall Not Murder

The True God Cannot Murder

The Opposite of Murder

Related Articles:
Why Does God Condemn Unbelievers to Hell?
A Biblical Argument for Self Defense
Anger
Why Christians Condemn Abortion but Support the Death Penalty
The Good Samaritan
Is it Easier to Heal, or to Forgive?
Christ Has Done All Things Well
The Promise of Christ in Water And Light
Modern Molechianism
“Let His Blood be on Us and on Our Children”
The Passion of Christ
The Slaughter of the Innocents
Friends and Murderers
The Promise of the Rainbow
The True Story of a Terrorist Turned Christian
The Morality of War
Rejecting the Survival Instinct
The Leading Cause of Death in America

 

The Opposite of Murder

(Part Three in a Series on the Fifth Commandment)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

Jesus restored life to the daughter of Jairus after she had died. (Luke 8:40-56) Photo of woodcut from Valparaiso University Chapel

The opposite of death is life. What is the opposite of murder? If murder is the taking of life, then the opposite is the giving of life. Can you give life to another? A father and mother do give life to their child, and that is truly a great gift from God in so many ways. This is the opposite of murder, but that is a one-time event. What if that child loses his life or has it taken away? Can anyone give him his life back, or give him new life? Such a thing is impossible in this world. Once your life is gone or taken away, it cannot be returned or restored. This is why the sin of murder is considered so evil, and why the sin of murder is different than most other sins.

Martin Luther’s explanation to the Fifth Commandment in the Small Catechism says, “We should fear and love God that we may not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need.” This shows us that there is more to keeping the Fifth commandment than simply refraining from murdering your neighbor. God also requires that we help preserve and protect our neighbor’s body and life. Luther got this from several places in Scripture, but it is taught most clearly in Christ’s Sermon on the Mount where Jesus taught, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” (Matthew 5:21-22) Here Jesus shows that God’s concern for life isn’t just a sharp distinction between life and death, but is much more involved. We must help our neighbor whenever we can. When God confronted Adam’s son, Cain, about the whereabouts of his brother, Abel, Cain replied, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Cain was the elder brother, and should have been watching out for his brother and keeping his life protected, instead he murdered his brother (more on this in an upcoming article in my Biblical Vignettes on Murder series). We all should keep our neighbor’s life safe from harm as we are able (pun intended).

Jesus never committed murder, and He also did even more in the positive sense to obey God’s command against murder. When Jesus began His ministry and revealed Himself as the Christ (Messiah), the Son of God, He also began to miraculously heal many people from all kinds of afflictions. Jesus healed the lame, and those suffering from all kinds of illnesses. He restored hearing and sight to those who were deaf and blind. In doing this, Jesus not only showed His divine power as God in the flesh, but He showed great love and concern for the life and well-being of all kinds of people. Jesus also raised several people back to life who had died. This is definitely the opposite of murder.

Jesus Restored life to Lazarus after he had been in the grave four days. (See John 11)

During His earthly ministry Jesus restored life to several people who had lost theirs. Jesus restored life to the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:40-56), the widow’s son in the town of Nain (Luke 7:11-17), and Lazarus of Bethany, who had been dead four days when Jesus called him out of his grave (John 11). In all these ways Jesus actively obeyed the commandment against murder, and fulfilled God’s Law.

Jesus didn’t stop there, however. It still was not enough for Jesus to restore health and life to a few sinners who had lost theirs. Every one of those people whom Jesus healed and raised from the dead also died later. These miracles were temporary solutions, but that wasn’t all Jesus did for us. He did much more. Jesus wanted to provide a permanent solution and cure for sin, sickness, and death, so He offered His life to God, the Father, in payment for the sins of the world. Because Jesus is the beloved Son of God who is sinless and perfect in every way, God, the Father, accepted the sacrifice of Jesus as full payment for the sins of all people of all time. By giving His life as payment for the sins of the world, Jesus also destroyed the power of death. Death is the ultimate consequence of sin, but Jesus died to pay for the sins of all people. Since the price for our sin has already been paid, we no longer have to die. Yes, there is still temporal death, which is a consequence of sin, and which must come to all sinners (except for those still alive on earth when Jesus returns on the last day), but this temporal death is now only temporary. In Acts 3:15 Saint Peter preached to the Jews after Christ’s resurrection, and told them that Jesus was the “author of life” – referencing His divine nature as God, the creator of all things, including people. The irony of Peter’s post-resurrection sermon wasn’t just that they killed the “author or life”, but that the “author of life” willingly gave up His life to redeem the lives of sinful people such as those who killed Him.

Since Jesus has overcome sin and death, when Jesus returns on the last day He will raise to life all people who have ever died on earth – from the first person to die, Abel (Son of Adam and Eve), to the last person to die before Christ’s return. This resurrection will not be temporary, like the raising of Lazarus (and the others), but it will be an eternal resurrection. For all who believe and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins the resurrected life will be a glorious life in paradise as God’s beloved children – adopted back into the family by Christ. For all who reject and despise Jesus and His work and gift of forgiveness and salvation for them, their resurrected life will be an endless hell of torment, suffering, and pain. Jesus paid for the sins of all people and provides salvation for all as a free gift, but those who reject the gift through unbelief do not benefit from it at all through their rejection. I believe a large part of the torment of the damned is that Jesus gave them forgiveness and eternal life as a free gift, and they rejected life in favor of death (their remaining torment is that they continue to hold on to their sin and hate God, though He is holy and completely good – so they are stuck with sin and death forever by their own choice).

We cannot give life and healing as Jesus did, but we can do what we are able to help preserve and protect our neighbor’s life. We can start by praying for our neighbor’s good welfare (including our enemies). We can also speak up to defend our neighbor against those who would harm them. Also, if we are able, or have special training, we can give aid and comfort to those whose life and health are endangered.

Another depiction of Jesus raising Jairus' Daughter from the dead. See Mark 5:22-24, 35-43

Jesus is the opposite of murder because He is the source of life, the salvation of those who are dying and those who are dead, and the giver of life everlasting. In John 5:19-21 Jesus taught, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.” Jesus shows the nature of the Triune God as a loving God who desires the forgiveness and salvation of sinners so much that He would become incarnate as a man, and live and die to pay the price of death for sin so that whoever believes in Him would not perish in their sins, but would have eternal life in paradise with Him. This is not just a temporary opposite of murder, but a permanent life – the eternal opposite of murder, and the opposite of all death. Through faith in Jesus we will be restored by Him to be what God intended us to be (i.e. sinless and holy) to live an eternal, life without sin, suffering, and death.

“The Jews gathered around (Jesus), saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered, ‘I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:24-30) Jesus gives life because He has paid the price to redeem all sinners. This is the perfect opposite of murder, because through His life and death, Jesus undoes the effects of sin and death. Jesus then freely gives forgiveness of sins through faith, and gives eternal life to all who listen to His voice and trusts in Him for forgiveness and salvation. Jesus does this because Jesus is equally God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and it is God’s will that we trust in Him and are saved from our sin to live forever with Him.

There is so much more in the Holy Bible about God’s work as the opposite of murder that this article could go on for many pages, but I will deal with some of them in later articles in this series.

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Articles in this series:

You Shall Not Murder

The True God Cannot Murder

Related Articles:
Why Does God Condemn Unbelievers to Hell?
A Biblical Argument for Self Defense
Anger
Why Christians Condemn Abortion but Support the Death Penalty
The Good Samaritan
Is it Easier to Heal, or to Forgive?
Christ Has Done All Things Well
The Promise of Christ in Water And Light
Modern Molechianism
“Let His Blood be on Us and on Our Children”
The Passion of Christ
The Slaughter of the Innocents
Friends and Murderers
The Promise of the Rainbow
The True Story of a Terrorist Turned Christian
The Morality of War
Rejecting the Survival Instinct
The Leading Cause of Death in America

 

The True God Cannot Murder

(Part Two in a Series on the Fifth Commandment)

by Pastor Paul Wolff

God Gave the Ten Commandments so we would know what is good and right.

You will sometimes hear atheists asking a rhetorical question which goes something like, “If God is so good, then how can he allow so much suffering and death in the world?” They may give some example of a situation where a number of innocent people were killed by evil people, or they will more likely mention a “natural disaster” or an “act of God” where many people die through no fault of their own, or of anyone else. These questions assume that God is unjust in allowing such tragedies to happen, or that God is unwilling or unable to stop evil, or that somehow God is the cause of such evil, and so is evil himself. Atheists love to ask such questions because they assume that God is evil, and they are good and holy. They assume this because they are the ones judging God and imagining that they find Him guilty. This way of thinking also absolves them (though only in the delusion of their own thoughts) of their murderous desires, thoughts and actions. If people think God is guilty of murder then they will feel free to do the same.

In truth, the One, True God cannot commit murder. The only true God is the Triune God – One God in three persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit. It is important, however, to understand that murder is the unjust taking of life. God may take someone’s life, but He is always just and righteous in doing so. Since God is the creator of everything and everyone He makes the rules which we must follow, and since He is the redeemer who paid for the sins of all mankind we know that God’s rules are good and are for our benefit. God is not the origin or source of sin and evil. Some of God’s good angels fell into sin and became demons first, and one of them lured Adam and Eve into sin through wicked temptation. As our creator and redeemer, God is intimately involved in the life and death of everyone who has ever lived in the history of the world, and all who will ever live to the end of the world. Yet, it is against God’s nature to commit murder. This is why God gave us the Fifth Commandment (as Lutherans, and most other Christians, count the Commandments), “You shall not murder.” God gave us this commandment because He does not murder, and so that we also would not murder. 

Sinful people commit murder because, since the fall into sin, our nature has been corrupted, and it is now in our nature to murder. God did not create people to murder, nor has God ever murdered anyone. God created Adam and Eve in His image, which meant that they were holy and pure and immortal, as God is. However, when they rebelled against God they corrupted their nature with sin, and brought condemnation and death on themselves, and all their descendants. Once people rebelled against God, they were no longer holy, pure, nor immortal. In this way murder (and every other sin) is “natural”, though that doesn’t make it right. The “natural” nature of sin (including murder) actually makes it wrong.

Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, including murder.

God had warned Adam and Eve that the penalty was death for disobeying God’s simple command. He said, “You must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.” (Genesis 2:17) Once they broke God’s good, simple command, God was justified for putting sinners to death. Yet, God had mercy on Adam and Eve, and out of love He did not put them to death the day they rebelled against Him, as He could rightly have done, but instead, He promised to send them a savior who would rescue them (and their descendants) from their sins and make everything right again. That promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve lived a good, long life (for sinners – though it was infinitely shorter than it would have been had they never sinned against God) and they brought life into the world through their children. Though, Adam and Eve’s first born son also became the first murderer. Cain’s murder of Abel showed clearly that the corruption of sin is something we all inherit from our parents, going all the way back to Adam and Eve.

It is not God who murders ever, it is always people. Even when God does bring about the immediate death of someone it is always justified, since death is the result of sin, and we are all sinners. Life is a gift from God which we don’t deserve, but it is something which He graciously gives to us for a time. The reason there is so much sorrow and tragedy in the world is because of our sin, not because God is cruel and unjust.

God sent Adam and Eve out of Eden so they would not eat of the Tree of Life and live forever as sinners. But He also promised Salvation through the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

In a strange way , temporal death is a blessing from God, and not a curse, even though it is a result of sin. Living forever in sin is just about as good a definition of hell as anything else, though the true hell is much worse than life in this sinful world, because in hell there is no hope of rescue or relief or salvation. In this life God gives us all good gifts (even to all evil people), and there is always the possibility of salvation, so this life is not hell, even on our worst day. Remember that in the account of the fall into sin in Genesis 3, God put Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden after their fall so that they would not eat of the tree of life and live forever as sinners. This was done out of mercy, but God also promised to send a savior as the “seed” of Eve who would redeem them of their sins and “crush the head” of the serpent whose lies led them into sin and death. This promise was fulfilled in the life and death of Jesus Christ. Everyone who repents of their sin and trusts in Jesus to save them has the salvation which He won for them in His life and death. All who believe in Jesus are saved from sin and death, and we do not need to fear death, because we know that even if we die there is life and salvation in Christ when He returns to fulfill all He has promised.

Some may wonder about God’s judgment of the world in the great flood where only eight people in the whole world survived out of a population which could have been as many as one million. Did God murder a million people? The answer is no. God is holy and His judgments are just and right. God is our creator and He sets the rules. If He says, “Obey my commands or die” then we are condemned if we disobey the good rules that He created us to keep. When we die it is our own fault for disobeying the good commands of God. God does not murder. God is slow to anger and merciful (See Exodus 34:6-7). He forgives all who repent, but when stubborn people refuse God’s mercy, His anger is inescapable. When God kills, it is always righteous. We may not like His decisions, but no one can rightly accuse God of murder, especially when God is holy and innocent, and we all are sinful and murderous. We are even less able to accuse God of murder and wrongdoing when God provided for the free salvation (through faith) of all murderers and sinners through the life and death of Jesus Christ. Those who are so bold as to falsely accuse God of murder are selfish idolaters in the highest degree. (For more information on this subject, see my August 2017 article “Why Does God Condemn Unbelievers to Hell?”)

Jesus taught Nicodemus about who God is and what He has done to save us all from our sins.

When anyone dies God is there to receive their soul, and to judge the state of that soul. If that person is a believer in Christ who belongs to God and has received forgiveness through faith in Jesus, then that soul rests in heavenly peace until the resurrection of all flesh. If that person is an unbeliever who has rejected Christ, then that soul lives in torment until the resurrection of all flesh. God is not capricious or cruel. God, Himself has provided forgiveness and salvation for all people. There is no reason why anyone should be condemned. If anyone is condemned to eternal death and torment, then it is because of their own choice to reject Christ’s forgiveness. Jesus said in John 3:18 “Whoever believes in [God’s Son] is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

This is all a matter of faith. This does not mean that there isn’t plenty of evidence of God’s mercy, forgiveness, and love; but our corrupted sinful nature is often blinded to God’s goodness, professing to think that we are righteous instead of sinful. Thus, we have to deny our fleshly desires which think that God is cruel or evil, and trust in God’s Word that He is merciful and forgiving, and the redeemer and savior of sinners. God’s nature and love are only revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures. Each of us only knows God as we know Him through His Word in the Holy Bible. Those who reject His Word do not know God, and cannot know Him as He truly is. This is why we all ought to treasure the Holy Scriptures as God’s Word, and read and study them daily – so that we can know God’s love and trust that “… in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) God is not cruel and cannot murder. God is the living God who gives life and forgiveness to us who are dead in our trespasses and sins.

Jesus teaches that the devil is the “father of lies” and a “murderer from the beginning.” John 8:44

I should note here that false gods do commit murder. You may ask, “How can a false god, who doesn’t exist, murder anyone?” The answer here is that it isn’t the false god who murders, but those who invent and perpetuate the mythology of the false god. Some false gods are created weak so that they can be manipulated by the people to do what they want, and so it gives the impression that they have power over “god”. Yet these false gods still murder because they lead people away from their salvation in Jesus, because all who trust in false gods have rejected God’s salvation in Jesus, and they are lost and condemned. Other false gods are created to make them seem impressive and powerful. Sometimes the more frightening and powerful the false god seems, the more control the religious leaders have over their people. Some false religions have the concept of a “holy war” where the religious leaders assemble armies to murder their neighbors and take their possessions. All this is done in the name of their god, but the effect of it is that when it is successful the religious leaders gain wealth through stolen goods, property, and slaves. Wherever false gods allow murder you will find murderers. 

I have found that people always try to be like their God, whether it is the true God or false gods. If people think their god is peaceful and kind, then they try to be peaceful and kind. If their god is a blood-thirsty tyrant, then they become tyrants and murderers. When false gods lead people to murder, this is from the devil. Since the devil hates God and all those whom God loves (i.e. you and me), he uses his lies to turn people into murderers to kill people and cause chaos and bloodshed. This is total wickedness. If one can be objective it is easy to see that false gods are more like the devil than the true God. The trouble is that it is hard to be objective where our belief in God (or even a false god) is concerned. Jesus shows us what the true God is really like. Jesus never murdered anyone, but instead healed people who were sick and injured, and He raised several people from the dead. This is the opposite of murder. (See my article on The Opposite of Murder.)

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Articles in this series:
You Shall Not Murder
The Opposite of Murder

 
Related Articles:
Why Does God Condemn Unbelievers to Hell?
A Biblical Argument for Self Defense
Anger
Why Christians Condemn Abortion but Support the Death Penalty
The Good Samaritan
Is it Easier to Heal, or to Forgive?
Christ Has Done All Things Well
The Promise of Christ in Water And Light
Modern Molechianism
“Let His Blood be on Us and on Our Children”
The Passion of Christ
The Slaughter of the Innocents
Friends and Murderers
The Promise of the Rainbow
The True Story of a Terrorist Turned Christian
The Morality of War
Rejecting the Survival Instinct
The Leading Cause of Death in America

 

The Symbolism of September 11, 2001 and God’s Judgment and Mercy

by Pastor Paul Wolff 

Disclaimer: Unlike my other articles in this blog, this article is not the Gospel truth as revealed in the Bible. This is my own interpretation of the events of history, and should be read as such. I could be right, or I could be wrong. There is no way of knowing from the Scriptures. This is not an interpretation of Scripture, but an interpretation of history. Discriminating readers should be very careful to distinguish between the two. Yet, I present these ideas here for contemplation and discussion, and as a call to repentance and to trust in God’s mercy in Christ Jesus. 

(All photographs by Pastor Paul Wolff)
 

One of the last photographs of the World Trade Center before the attack on September 11, 2001 This is a photograph of a photo on display at the 9/11 Memorial Museum

I remember hearing an audio clip of a speech where President John F. Kennedy noted that everyone in his generation remembered where they were when they first heard about the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. This became ironic when President Kennedy was assassinated on November 22, 1963. The generation who were adults in 1963 had a similar reaction – they remembered where they were when they heard the news. In our generation the day was September 11, 2001. 

Twenty years ago today (as of the day this article was published) I was a pastor at a Lutheran Church in Detroit. It was a beautiful late summer day in Detroit with a perfectly clear blue sky and not a cloud in the sky. The weather was exactly the same as we saw on television in New York City. Our Lutheran school was beginning the day with a chapel service for the students and staff. Most Lutheran schools hold their chapel services on Wednesday mornings, and we usually did, too, but that year there was some scheduling conflict which caused us to hold the chapel services on Tuesday mornings. I did not lead the chapel service that day, but it was led by the school principal. I was sitting in the back of the church during chapel when the school secretary came and whispered in my ear that airplanes had crashed into the World Trade Center Towers in New York. I asked, “Both towers?” When the answer was “Yes” I knew immediately that it was no tragic accident, but was a terrorist attack. 

On Tuesday September 11, 2001, nineteen Muslim terrorists simultaneously hijacked four airplanes in the Eastern United States and flew (or attempted to fly) them into significant buildings to murder and cause terror among the freedom loving people in the United States, and around the world. Those of us who are old enough to remember will never forget that day. It was such a shock that wicked people would do such evil things to cause so much senseless death and destruction against innocent people. Like the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, our nation was not at war with anyone, but someone was at war with us. The man who planned this wickedness in 2001 was Osama Bin Laden, the son of a Saudi construction magnate. 

These watercolor paintings are from New Yorkers answering the question, “What color was the sky on 9/11?” From this we see that subjective feelings cannot be trusted to give an accurate representation of the truth.

Bin Laden had also been the guiding force behind a bombing eight years earlier in a failed attempt to destroy one of the World Trade Center buildings in New York, though he had escaped justice. In the investigations of the 2001 attacks it was discovered that Bin Laden chose his methods and targets specifically for their symbolism as well as their murderous and destructive potential. The hijacked airplanes were from United Airlines and American Airlines, both of which symbolized the United States of America. The targets chosen were the twin skyscraper towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon building in Washington D.C., and another Washington target which was most likely the White House or possibly the Congress building. These targets were also chosen for their symbolism. The World Trade Center was the symbol of American business and wealth. The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States military, and symbolizes the military strength of the United States. The White House or Congress buildings symbolize the political power of the United States. Thus, in these three coordinated attacks, Osama Bin Laden was attacking the political, military, and economic power of the United States. 

However that was not the only symbolism at work on that day of evil and destruction. Osama Bin Laden intended to cause equal chaos and destruction in each of his targets, but he was only partially successful, and that has symbolic import from another perspective. One of the most shocking things about the attacks of 9/11/2001 was that we in America now felt vulnerable. Because of our geography we are distantly separated from Europe and Asia (and Africa, if any African enemy would ever desire to cause us harm). The great oceans of the Atlantic and the Pacific keep us far away from most foreign enemies and have done very well to protect us historically. The one exception before 2001 was December 7, 1941, and that attack was not on the North American mainland, but on a Naval base in Hawaii in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. However, the attack on Pearl Harbor brought out the hidden strength of the still developing United States. It is common military wisdom that says that a nation cannot win a war by fighting on two separate fronts. In World War II, Germany, despite its great power, was stretched thin by fighting on a western front against England and France, and an eastern front fighting against the Soviet Union. However, once the United States entered World War II, we did not just fight a war on two fronts, we fought a world war against Germany in Europe, and another against Japan in Asia, and were instrumental in victories against both. The victories of World War II gave us a sense of invulnerability that was hardly questioned until 9/11. Yes, there were Cold War fears of an attack by the Soviet Union, but the threat of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) successfully prevented either country from ever directly attacking the other (though it didn’t stop both from fighting proxy wars). The MAD threat had kept us safe from our most obvious enemy, but the Soviet Union fell in 1987 due to the unsustainable nature of Socialist Communism. The attacks of 9/11 showed another level of insanity and evil that few had thought possible. 

The other perspective of symbolism that I mentioned above is God’s perspective. I am not talking about the god that Osama Bin Laden would have given credit for the limited success of his terror plans. The Allah of Islam is a false god created by a man who wanted to steal other men’s wives and daughters for himself, and to steal their wealth as well. The Allah of Islam has no real power and is no threat, except what Jihadists may do in his name. The true God is the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three persons in one God. He has real power, and is truly in control of all history. God had protected the United States and given us great power and success, such as had not been seen since the Roman Empire, but the events of September 11 showed that God was beginning to withdraw His protection from the United States, at least partially. In looking at the events of 9/11 I can also see symbolism in how God allowed Bin Laden to accomplish some of what he intended, and in how God caused him to fail. 

Plaque commemorating the dedication of the World Trade Center Towers April 4, 1973 recovered from the wreckage.

The most successful attack of September 11 was the attacks on the World Trade Center buildings in New York. Osama Bin Laden intended for this to be a symbolic attack on the wealth of the United States. The WTC symbolized the economic power of the U.S. and of its profitable trade with the world. The fact that God allowed this to be the most successful of the attacks could be a sign that our greatest weakness as a nation is that our greatest idol is our trust in our money and wealth. We think we are invulnerable because we are wealthy. This is actually where we are most vulnerable, and where Osama Bin Laden was most successful. God did not cause this evil, but He allowed it, to attack our idol and bring us to repentance. That was only partially successful also because people are stubborn, and we do not part with our idols easily or willingly. 

Here some people may ask why God allows such evil. They may imply that God is either unwilling or incapable of stopping evil, or that God is, in fact, evil Himself. These speculations are not true. God is more than capable of stopping evil, but in order to get rid of evil totally He would have to kill us all because our sin makes all people evil. God is merciful and loving, and He has provided for all people to be saved through faith in Jesus. God sets limits to the evil which afflicts us, but He allows evil to play out in some respects so that we can see that sin is deadly and that we cannot save ourselves, but must turn to Him for rescue, which He freely provides. Some ignorant atheists say the existence of evil is proof that God is uncaring or evil, but God has rescued us all from the evil effects of sin and death through the life and death of Jesus Christ, who redeemed us from our sin, and has promised to rescue from death all who believe in Him. There is no one who needs to be condemned because all who trust in Jesus will be saved. 

The next most successful attack on September 11 was the attack on the Pentagon. This was a partial failure. The plane did crash into the Pentagon, and killed a couple hundred people on the ground, as well as the innocent passengers in the plane, and the evil hijackers, but the damage to the Pentagon (the world’s largest office building) was relatively limited (especially compared to the WTC), and the overall effect on the United States Military was negligible. Here I believe God was showing that the U.S. military was partially vulnerable, but still a strong force not easily destroyed, but yet to be reckoned with. One could easily argue that much more damage was done to the United States Military several years later by U.S. President Barack Obama, corrupting the military from within by introducing wicked ideological requirements of the leadership and faulty training of the soldiers, rather than attacking it from without, but that is a topic for another time. In the years following 9/11 the U.S. military conquered Iraq and Afghanistan, but neither did they impose Christianity nor even religious freedom on the countries, and so these conquests were doomed to fail in the long run. I thought that the same constitution that was imposed on Japan after WWII should have been established in Iraq and Afghanistan, but no one asked me, and even that may not have worked in the long run either, because of the established Muslim authorities in those countries. Islam is not just a religion, but also a form of totalitarian government. That is why the establishment of democracy did not bring freedom, because the people simply voted to subject themselves to Islam. 

Flight 93 was headed toward Washington D.C. When the passengers tried to regain control the hijackers flew the plane into the ground in Pennsylvania.

The least successful attack on September 11 was Flight 93, which was presumably headed for a target in Washington D.C. Because the passengers were able to disrupt the plans of the hijackers that plane was not able to reach the target intended by Osama Bin Laden, and the hijackers just crashed it into a forest in Pennsylvania, killing everyone on board, but no one on the ground. The greater symbolism of this tragedy was that Bin Laden intended to attack the seat of political power in the United States, which he saw symbolized by the President or the Congress. Osama Bin Laden viewed the United States as a Christian nation and wanted to make it look like the god of Islam was greater than the Christian God. Bin Laden’s failures showed that the true God is still in control, and although there is much idolatry in the USA that make our nation subject to God’s judgment, there is still a strength here that cannot be shaken. That strength is not in the seats of power of the government or the military, however. The authority of the United States does not reside in the Office of the President, nor in Congress, nor in the Supreme Court (or lesser courts). The true power and authority of the United States rests in the citizens. The government was established by “We, the people” not the other way around. The strength and goodness of the United States has always come from the strong Christian influence which permeated all aspects of American life for so long. This could not be destroyed by terrorist attacks in 1941 nor in 2001. 

However, the Christian foundations of our country are more vulnerable to attacks from within. False teaching such as Neo-Gnosticism (and more) has, over the past century, slowly and steadily worn away the foundations of the Christian influence which helped make the United States a superpower working for peace, prosperity, and good throughout the world. From the beatniks to the sexual revolution; from the destruction of the family through divorce, birth control, wicked incentives for women to enter the workforce, and the insidious spiritual effects of child day care where children are brought up by people who don’t love them; we have become a nation of bastards who feel we are not loved, and are easily triggered to anger and despair. Even if we know better, we cannot act on it because we don’t believe we are loved by God and by our parents because so many of us have not known such love. The wicked abomination of abortion also must anger God, and September 11 may have been the beginning of God’s judgment against this national sin. These dysfunctional national sins are combined with a wicked Marxist–based education system which has not educated several generations of Americans to rule themselves justly, but has instead indoctrinated them to be subjugated and to submit to tyrants, rather than to unite with one another to fight against tyrants like free people. This is further combined with Christian denominations which have been compromised and weakened with false worldly doctrines so that even those who yet still profess Christianity, have a wrong idea about what Christianity is all about, so that, when persecution comes, many who profess Christianity will not have enough of Christ to hold on to, and will seemingly quickly fall away, rather than suffer with Christ. 

Saint Luke’s Gospel tells us in chapter 13 that Jesus was asked a question about a group of Galilean Jews who had been slaughtered by Pontius Pilate as they offered their sacrifices to God. Jesus responded that although they died in this way they were not worse sinners than other Galileans, but He also mentioned a tragedy where a tower fell and killed eighteen people, and said, “... unless you repent, you, too will all perish.” The thing we ought to take away from tragedies is that we are all sinners in need of forgiveness, and unless we repent of our sins, we will all perish. This is also what we ought to remember when we remember September 11, and when other great tragedies come upon us. 

New York Fire Department Ladder Company 3 Fire Truck damaged when the North Tower collapsed. All 11 responding members of Ladder Company 3 were in the building and killed when it collapsed.

Despite the weaknesses and sins of the citizens and government of the United States, God is not the cause of evil, but He is still in control. This is neither a patriotic boast, nor is it a logical conclusion based on evidence. The evidence shows that we live in a wicked world run by evil sinners, and it seems like they can get away with anything they want. This is not true, it is just an illusion, at best; or a great lie of the devil, at worst. God is still in control, though He may let sinful consequences play out from time to time to show us the tragic reality of sin, so that we may truly know the wickedness which lies in the hearts of sinful men, and that we may repent and trust in Christ all the more fervently to save us and rescue us from all evil.  

 
The fact that God is in control and that Jesus Christ is ruling over heaven and earth does not come by seeing the signs, or interpreting the evidence. It comes by faith in God’s Word. Often the evidence seems to contradict God’s Word, but Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18) Christ’s obedience to God, the Father, earned Him the right to rule heaven and earth, because He is the perfect mediator between God and man, because He is fully God and fully man in one person, and because He paid the price to redeem the world from sin through His innocent suffering and death. The result of Christ’s rule and authority is shown when Saint Paul wrote, “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28) If this were not true, then Jesus would not have suffered and died for us, but because He did suffer and die, we know that He will protect us from all lasting effects of sin and evil in the world, even when those effects claim our temporal lives.

Jesus said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” This would not be a comfort unless “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

It can be a frightening thing when evil seems to win out over good in the world. King David noted this in Psalm 2:1-6. “Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his Anointed One. ‘Let us break their chains,’ they say, ‘and throw off their fetters.’ The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, ‘I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.’” I like the idea of God laughing at the wicked plans of evil people on earth. In recent years in the United States we have seen much more brazen wicked acts, and more and more the perpetrators are becoming bold enough to begin to be open about their wickedness, and brag about getting away with such evil. They think they are something when they are nothing. God will have the last laugh, though in the meantime we mourn and weep (along with God – see John 11:35) for the death and destruction wrought upon the earth. Psalm 94:11 also tells us, “The Lord knows the thoughts of man; he knows that they are futile.” We pray to God in the Lord’s Prayer, “Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” God’s good and gracious will is always done in His heavenly kingdom, and it is a blessing even here on earth whenever God’s will is done. Psalm 33:10-12 also tells us, “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.”

In the Revelation that Jesus gave to the Apostle John, the angel who was explaining the imagery he was seeing told him, “They (the ten kings) will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings – and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.” (Revelation 17:14) The “Lamb” is Jesus because He offered His life as an atoning sacrifice (like the sacrificial lamb) for the sins of the world. He is the King over all kings of the earth, and Lord over all rulers. This passage is a great comfort to God’s people because it shows that although the rulers of the world will make war against Christ and His followers, Christ will overcome them and bring with Him His faithful followers. This vision that Saint John saw also shows that the ten kings which make war against the Lamb (Jesus) also hate the prostitute, Babylon the Great, and “They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.” (Revelation 17:16) This is interesting because it shows that God allows these kings to come to power so they can destroy the evil city, Babylon, whose downfall causes the kings of the earth to “weep and mourn over her” (Revelation 18:9), but these ten kings also try to make war against Christ and His people, but Christ will overcome them. 

God can use evil men to accomplish His greater purpose, but limits the evil that they can accomplish, lest everyone is destroyed. We see that also in the Old Testament where God used King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon to bring His judgment against the Idol worshiping Kingdom of Judah, but then God lets the Persians conquer Babylon lest they think too much of themselves. Then God moved King Cyrus to let the exiled remnant of Judah to return to their homeland, rather than keeping the Babylonian slaves (such as Judah) as his own slaves. 

Osama Bin Laden was a wicked, evil man who used people to cause murder, chaos, destruction, and terror. He convinced 19 young men (plus one more who had been arrested and was in jail on September 11, 2001) to kill themselves in a horrific way to murder thousands of innocent people. Osama Bin Laden lied to his followers and told them that it was the will of their god that they commit these vile acts of murderous destruction against unarmed innocent people who could not defend themselves, and who were not their enemies. Bin Laden promised his gullible, murderous followers that their god would reward them with honor, comfort, riches, and 72 virgin women for their pleasure, even though all such things are immoral, wicked, evil lies of Satan. Osama Bin Laden thought he was something when the events of 9/11 played out. Yet, God (the true God) still had mercy on him. Despite the whole population of the United States, and much of the civilized world, wanting Osama Bin Laden to be called to justice for the evil he had done, and despite a $25,000,000 reward for his arrest, God (the true God) allowed him to live nearly ten years longer before he was killed in an attempt to arrest him and bring him to justice. If you or I had a $25,000,000 reward for our arrest and capture, we wouldn’t remain free for a week, much less nine and a half years, but God allowed Osama Bin Laden to live because Jesus Christ truly is merciful. God does not approve of suicide, murder, and destruction, but God tells His people, “As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways!” (Ezekiel 33:11) God gave Osama Bin Laden nearly ten years to repent of his wicked, murderous sins, but in the end he still was a murderous, evil man who preferred the lies of Satan to the mercy and forgiveness of God in Jesus Christ. He died trying to kill those who were sent to bring him to justice. 

There is forgiveness in Jesus Christ for even evil people like Osama Bin Laden. Jesus lived and died an innocent death so that He could redeem all sinners, even the most wicked and evil people. God does not condone such acts of murder and terror, much less approve of them, but God is merciful and forgiving. It is a great comfort to Christians that Jesus offers free forgiveness to all who repent and trust in Him to save them. This includes even the most despised, wicked, servants of the devil, like Osama Bin Laden. I know that even some Christians have a hard time comprehending the full extent of God’s mercy and love, but it still is a great comfort that Jesus could forgive the worst sinners. If Jesus could forgive Osama Bin Laden, then He certainly will forgive me, who has not killed anyone, but who is nonetheless guilty of the commandment against murder by my occasional hateful thoughts against my neighbors. 

God is a loving father who forgives his disobedient children.

God’s will is that all sinners repent and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of all their sins, so that they will receive that forgiveness and be saved. Jesus said, “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.” (Luke 15:7) Jesus shows the love and mercy of God in that He was willing to die for the worst of sinners. This is why Jesus will be praised for eternity. Every redeemed sinner in heaven will give eternal glory to Christ for rescuing him or her from death, and for generously giving them an eternal life without sin, suffering and death. 

Though Osama Bin Laden certainly deserved punishment in hell for the innocent lives he took, and the suffering he caused so many people, yet, I, too deserve the same punishment for my disobedience of God’s commands. It is actually a shame that Osama Bin Laden did not likely repent of his sins. Had he repented, he could have given great testimony of God’s love in Christ for forgiving the worst sinners, and Christians around the world, and in heaven itself, would have rejoiced in his redemption and salvation. If Osama Bin Laden had repented and believed in Jesus he still would have had to face temporal punishment for his crimes, but he could have been saved eternally. I published an article in November 2001 about a Biblical example of a terrorist who repented and became a Christian. The beneficial lesson is that sin causes sorrow, destruction, chaos, and death, and we are all guilty. Only Jesus Christ can overcome sin and death, and He has done so through His innocent suffering and death. Jesus lived and died so that we, sinners, can receive full forgiveness and the eternal life and salvation that He offers us freely through faith. Repent, sinner, and trust in Jesus and live. “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations.” (Psalm 22:27-28)