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)

Justice at Christmas

by Pastor Paul Wolff

“The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.” (Psalm 33:5)

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments for justice and for the benefit of God's people.

Justice means to act in accordance with what is good and right and in accordance with the law. This is especially true with God’s Law (summarized by the Ten Commandments), but also worldly, human laws which conform to God’s righteous commands.

Justice seems hard to come by by in our sinful world. The rich and powerful seem to pervert justice for their own profit and the accumulation of more power for themselves and their friends, while honest, hard-working people pay the price of injustice – sometimes with their lives. In 2019 it is even worse than that since there is a fad called “social justice” which purposely seeks injustice to further some imagined “greater cause” which no one has ever heard of before. Blatant racism is called “racial justice”; nearly every sexual perversion is given protected status in social norms, if not in law; and fascist violence is called “anti-fascism” and those who promote it commit violent destructive acts as the police stand by and watch. There is likely more, besides, but that is what I can think of off the top of my head. Those who promote “social justice” really aren’t interested in justice, but in destroying the foundations of society so that they can get away with doing what they want to do without fear of the punishment which they so richly deserve.

In the United States of America, President Trump is doing great work to appoint federal judges who promise to rule justly according to the law, and not make up new laws as they go along. This is an answer to prayer, as the Judicial branch of our Federal Government has been the most unjust of the three branches for many decades. There is no guarantee that even the best judge will give the best judgment in every situation because if they rule according to bad laws made by evil people they will return bad results, and also some judges can be corrupted by money and bad influence, but the problem with judges making up laws is that the citizens do not know from day to day what is legal and what is illegal because it changes on the whim of the false judge. So we are glad that we can have better judges who we hope will rule according to law, and not according to another unelected authority.

However, in the 2018 elections, the Democrats gained control of the U.S. House of Representatives, and immediately began to try to impeach President Trump even though there has never been evidence of any crime he has committed, much less an impeachable treasonous offense. President Trump has been amazingly open in his administration, but even when the documents are released to the public which exonerate the President’s actions, the Democrat leaders openly lie about what the documents say, even though we (who are able and willing to read) can clearly see that they are lying. The injustice is insane, though those who perpetuate the lies do so as if they don’t care who knows what they are doing. Their boldness is even more concerning because it shows how much lies are a part of their daily life.

A quick search of the Bible shows eleven dozen verses which speak of “justice” and more which similarly speak of “righteousness” and other synonyms of justice. God is greatly concerned with justice, and He is angry with those who pervert justice.

Justice means the Law applies equally to everyone.

In the days of Moses God gave His people just laws to live by so that they could live in peace with Him and with one another. For example, in Exodus 23:2-3 God says, “Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd, and do not show favoritism to a poor man in his lawsuit.” Similarly, Leviticus 19:15 says, “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.” This shows that justice is a two way street. A just law applies to everyone equally. We ought not go along with the crowd or the "mob" just because they want a certain outcome, nor should we show favoritism to either the rich or the poor. Our tradition says that “justice is blind” in that it ought to treat everyone equally under the same law. There is not one law for the rich and another for the poor. There is not one law for the ruling class and another for the governed. We ought not to have a favored class and a disfavored class, nor a favored race, and an unfavored race – especially where what is favored changes as the wind blows.

God goes on to say in Exodus 23:6-7 “Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits. Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.” A large part of justice is that the guilty are punished and the innocent are free to go about their lives and conduct business as they please. Honesty and integrity are virtues which ought to be rewarded while dishonesty and lies ought to be strongly discouraged by proper punishment. Furthermore, Exodus 23:8 says, “Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.” Also, Solomon tells us in Proverbs 17:23, “A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the course of justice.”

Rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong … for he does not bear the sword for nothing. Romans 13:3, 4

Immigration and slavery also falls under the application of justice. Exodus 23:9 says, “Do not oppress an alien; you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt.” This is also a problem in the 21^st century. President Trump is seeking to control our borders so that we know who is coming in to our country. This is vitally important so that we can keep out those who seek to harm our citizens, and also that those who come in to work are not taken advantage of by those who would enslave them under the threat of reporting their illegal presence to officials who would deport them. Here the 21^stcentury Democrats are going back to their 19^th century roots as those who would take advantage of the underclass for their own power and profit. Here also some Republicans are not very helpful either. There are some Republicans who also seek to take advantage of slave labor from illegal aliens, and block the government from taking the necessary action to deal with the invasion crisis. However, we call these liberal Republicans “RINO” or “Republican in Name Only.” They are part of the problem, also. Likewise, Deuteronomy 27:19 tells us, “Cursed is the man who withholds justice from the alien, the fatherless or the widow.” When people are in our country illegally they cannot receive justice, as they could if they were legal visitors.

Christmas shows the justice of God in action. God’s justice is true justice, but it contrasts with the justice of the world. In some respects it seems unjust and strange that the God who created and sustains the universe would condescend to become one of His creatures so that He could suffer and die in our place so that we might be saved from the just punishment for our disobedience and rebellion against God. Yet, this shows God’s mercy and love, as well as His justice. It shows God’s justice in that “the soul who sins is the one who will die.” It is people who sin against God, so if we are to be redeemed from our sin, our redeemer must be a person just like us, except without sin. Since we are all corrupted by sin, the only person who could be our redeemer is God incarnate as a man. God didn’t have to do that for us. He would have been perfectly justified and right in condemning us all to die, and we could not rightly say anything against that judgment. But God loves us, and wants us to be saved and sanctified that we might live with Him in righteousness and purity forever in His new creation. The only way that this could happen is if God became a man and did the work of salvation Himself for us.

The birth and life of Jesus shows God’s love and justice in action.

Jesus fulfilled God’s justice in two ways. First, He lived a perfectly obedient life as a man, and kept all God’s laws perfectly His whole life in His thoughts, words, and deeds. Second, Jesus offered His life as a sacrifice in payment for the sins of the world. Jesus, in effect, said, “Punish me instead, and let my brothers and sisters go free.” This was acceptable to God, the Father, and this is how Jesus won our salvation, so that everyone who believes in Him as their savior from sin is forgiven and has eternal life. Those who reject Christ’s forgiveness have still been forgiven, but they don’t benefit from the gift because they have rejected it by their unbelief. In this way we see how salvation is completely Christ’s doing, for which He is praised forever, and the damnation of the unbelievers is entirely their own doing and fault, for which they will regret forever.

In the justice of the world either you get what you deserve, which is punishment for your sin, or there is no punishment at all for sin, in which case sin and violence and death are rampant because there is no threat of punishment to curb the wickedness of sin. Neither of these situations is desirable. They both sound like hell to me. God’s merciful way of salvation is much better in every respect.

Solomon writes in Proverbs 28:5 “Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand it fully.” It doesn’t make sense that God would die for His rebellious creatures, but love doesn’t always make sense. Yet, Jesus lived and died as a man out of love for all sinful people, that they all may be rescued from the punishment for their sin. It is wonderful and praiseworthy that Jesus would suffer and endure all the wrath of God for the sins of the world so that we might be saved from our sin and could live with Him in Paradise forever.

 

Anger

by Pastor Paul Wolff

God destroyed the world with a flood in anger over their sin and violence, but He spared Noah’s family.

I remember a comic strip from when I was young which for many years I had pinned to a bulletin board in my room. The comic depicted a child in school taking a test with the question: “What was the cause of the U.S. Civil War?” The answer that the child wrote was only one word: “Anger.”

After a murderous gunman killed 26 people in a Texas church in 2017, and wounded all of the survivors in attempting to kill them, he was described as having “a lot of hatred inside him.” Such is the result of holding on to anger so that it is no surprise that the ancient Church listed anger or wrath as one of the seven deadly sins. The consequences of untamed anger are violence, murder, and war. There are clearly terrible things which result from anger, yet if we look at what Holy Scripture says about anger we might be surprised to find that anger is not always sinful.

Saint Paul writes in Ephesians 4:26-27, “In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.” Because the Apostle encourages Christians not to sin in their anger, it follows that there can be anger without sin. We call that righteous anger. Righteous anger is anger over things that are wrong or evil. We should be angry when people sin against our neighbors and treat others in an unrighteous manner. God, Himself gets angry over sin because He didn’t create us to sin, but to be holy. We, however, have corrupted what God made holy, and have turned to sin. In the New International Version of the Bible a quick word search finds 256 occurrences of the word “anger” and 190 occurrences of the word “wrath”. Many of these are describing the anger and wrath of God. Yet God does not sin in His anger and wrath, even when He takes it out on those who sin against Him, or other people. God is righteous in His anger because He is holy, and because He loves us and doesn’t want us to do evil. He may let us see that there are wicked consequences to sin, but He does this to show us that we need His forgiveness and redemption through Jesus Christ.

Contrary to what Job’s friends thought God was not punishing Job but testing His faith to strengthen it.

When Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple (Matthew 21:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; John 2:13-16) He acted in anger. He even acted violently by overturning tables and driving the thieves out of the holy place. Yet, Jesus did not sin in His anger, and he certainly didn’t hurt anyone. God’s temple was to be a place where God’s people would go to find forgiveness and peace from God, not a place they dreaded to go because they knew they would be cheated by dishonest merchants. Jesus was always in control of His anger, and never hurt people in His righteous anger. Even when wicked people falsely accused Him of wrongdoing and beat Him and nailed Him to the cross to kill Him, He did not respond in anger, but forgave His murderers and let them kill Him so that He could pay for their sins so that they could be saved through faith in Him.

Yet, even though there is such a thing as righteous anger, it doesn’t mean there is no such thing as unrighteous anger. Jesus Himself teaches in Matthew 5:21-22, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment.’ But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the Sanhedrin. But anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell.” We sinners are much more likely to sin in our anger than Jesus or His heavenly Father. So we ought to be careful in how we act according to our anger.

God gives authority to governments to punish wrongdoers as Joshua did in Jericho.

Solomon writes in Proverbs 29:11, “A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man quietly holds it back.” Since sinners are more likely to sin in expressing our anger, we need to keep it under control unless we are sure that we are acting properly to work for what is right. In that church massacre in Texas in 2017, the murderer acted out in great evil by shooting all those innocent people, but while that was going on, a neighbor to the church heard what was going on and grabbed his gun and went in and shot the murderer, wounding him, and drove him away before he could kill any more people. In a way, this man was doing the same thing as the murderer, shooting a gun at a person in a church, but he acted righteously to punish a murderer and protect those innocent people who were being attacked, and he saved the lives of many people.

Now, just because there is righteous anger, and even a righteous use of violence to punish wrongdoers, this doesn’t give us the excuse to exercise our anger in all cases, even when we can be justified in acting out in anger. Saint Paul counsels in Romans 12:17-21 “Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” This is what Jesus did at all times, and in doing so He won our salvation. Because God is righteous and holy, He is always right when He acts according to His anger and wrath.

Jesus did not act in anger when he was wrongly accused and forgave his murderers on the cross.

If punishment is called for, God will punish. However, if He can resolve the situation without violence, He is right in withholding His punishment in favor of forgiveness. This is why in most circumstances we should not act out in violence. If punishment is called for, God has established worldly authorities to carry out justice. In a just society the guilty are punished and the innocent are rewarded. In most cases citizens ought to let the authorities punish the wrongdoers. The church shooting described above is an exception. The situation was desperate, and there wasn’t time for the police to respond, so the neighbor had to act quickly to save lives, but he was able to stop the massacre without killing the murderer. After he fled from the church, some more neighbors followed him and were on the phone with the police so that they could come and bring the murderer to justice. This was proper also. Though the murderer did not let this happen and murdered himself last of all.

Because Jesus has overcome sin and death through His sinless life, and His innocent suffering and death in payment for our sins, all those who were wrongly murdered will live again, and those who murder will also live again. Jesus has destroyed the power of death. All who trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins have been forgiven and will live in paradise as God’s beloved children. This includes some people who were guilty of murder in life, but who repented of those sins and trusted in Jesus to forgive them. On the other hand, those who reject Christ’s forgiveness will suffer God’s wrath for eternity because although Jesus paid for their sins and gives them life and salvation as a free gift, they reject the gift and place themselves under God’s righteous wrath. This may include both unbelieving murderers, and the otherwise innocent people they kill. In such a case the tragedy is compounded.

When Jesus returns in glory He will bring salvation to all believers and judgment for all who hate Him.

This is why we should leave vengeance to God. He knows who is forgiven and who should be damned. One who is a murderer today may repent tomorrow and be saved. Such a person we will greet in heaven as a beloved brother in Christ and will rejoice in his repentance and salvation, even those Christians whom he killed will rejoice in his receiving Christ’s forgiveness. Some people may complain that this is unfair, but do we really want what is fair? If God were simply fair and just, and not merciful, then we all would be condemned to death with no chance of salvation because we are all guilty of sins against God and against His people. What is fair is that we all ought to suffer hell for our sins. However, God is merciful and He took the punishment for our sins in our place when He became incarnate as a man, Jesus Christ. It wasn’t fair that Jesus had to suffer for the sins that you and I are guilty of, but Jesus acted in love to save us. Jesus wasn’t so much concerned with fairness as He was with doing what was necessary to save us from our sins. Although Jesus was innocent of all sins, He suffered death to rescue us all from death, and to win our forgiveness and eternal life with Him in His heavenly paradise. In the end, all praise goes to Jesus, who rescues us all from our sins.

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Here is a small selection of Bible verses about anger.


Psalm 6:1  
O Lord, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath.

Psalm 7:6  
Arise, O Lord, in your anger; lift yourself up against the fury of my enemies; awake for me; you have appointed a judgment.

Proverbs 29:8
Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath.

James 1:19-20
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Colossians 3:5-10  
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

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The Real Homophobia

by Pastor Paul Wolff

The Flight to Egypt

Homophobia is often portrayed as being one of the greatest ills in our society. At least, that is what the homosexual lobby and their sympathizing friends in the media would like you to believe. The fiction of homophobia is that all who are opposed to homosexual practice are somehow fearful of homosexuality.

Our neighbors who promote the idea of homophobia would also like you to to ignore the fact that those whom they call “fearful” are the people who are not afraid to speak out publicly about the inherent immorality of all kinds of sexual perversions. Outspoken opponents of homosexual practice are the some of the least fearful people around, but they are the ones who are called homophobic. What is going on?

It would seem that homophobia is, in fact, something that is greatly desired by those promoting acceptance of homosexual lifestyles and practice. If you oppose the homosexual lobby in even the smallest way you are bullied into submission by being called “homophobic” or “bigoted” or other such things until you are afraid to speak out against these people. This is what the homosexual lobby wants. The more that people are fearful of speaking out against the normalization of homosexuality, then the more the homosexuals are free to do whatever they want without having to answer for their actions.

What is the homosexual lobby most afraid of? Jesus gives us the answer in John 3:19-20, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.” This is the real homophobia: homosexuals are afraid their actions will be exposed as evil.

Day Six of Creation

This should come as no surprise to anyone. We all have fear that our favorite sins will be exposed. Adam and Eve also had this same fear which they dealt with by first covering themselves with fig leaves, then running away from God in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve were naïve about how to deal with the guilt of their sin, because it was all new to them. But we deal with sin every day of our lives from our conception, and we can become quite accomplished at hiding our guilt, especially if we are not frequent with repentance.

Homosexuals fear that if they were forced to admit that homosexuality was wrong, then they would have to give up the one thing which gives them great pleasure. Don’t misunderstand me, they all know it is wrong, everyone knows homosexuality is wrong, but those who promote homosexuality have a great aversion to admitting that it is sinful. Sexual sins are specially difficult to overcome because sexuality is so closely tied to our self-image that when we get caught up in these sins we easily come to believe that our sin is synonymous with who we are, and we fear that we would cease to exist without it. Saint Paul acknowledges this in 1 Corinthians 6:18, “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.” Note that this applies to all sexual sins, not just same-sex desires.

Those of us who are not particularly burdened with great sinful desires for intimacy with people of our same gender find it hard to understand the attraction to this sin, but sinful desires are common to us all. It helps to understand how temptation works. The devil cannot force us to sin, but can only tempt us to sin. He does this by making sin seem desirable to us. Once we desire to sin we do it on our own without any further “help” from anyone else. It would seem that this would be an impossible task – to make the thing which would destroy us an object of our desire, but the devil is quite accomplished at this. What makes the devil’s job easier is our sinful nature, which takes great pleasure in all kinds of sin. By our nature we all want to sin. We enjoy sinning, and we cooperate with those who seek to destroy us. It really is disgusting when you think about how much pleasure we get from sin, but that is the reality of our sinful nature. It doesn’t matter what the sin is, it could be coveting persons, coveting possessions, lying, stealing, adultery, murder, dishonoring father and mother, desecrating the Sabbath day, blasphemy, or even idolatry; our sinful flesh takes pleasure in all these wicked things. (Exodus 20:1-17 and Matthew 15:19)

Though other sinners may not want us to call them to repentance over their sin, and we, too, may not want to confront other sinners with their sin, we cannot keep silent. Just as you would not keep silent if your beloved child was about to do something foolish which would bring great physical harm to himself, so we must speak out to warn our neighbors about the great harm they are bringing upon themselves, in body and soul, through sexual sins.

Christians need to remember that we are no better than anyone else, even unbelieving homosexuals. If we are honest we must say with Saint Paul, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25) We can be kind and compassionate (Ephesians 4:32) about the problem of sin and guilt because we deal with it every day, too.

Creation and the Fall of Man Window from Holy Cross Lutheran Church Detroit, Michigan

It is a terrible thing to have your life defined by your sin. Sin always leads to death (Romans 6:23). But Christ’s redemption sets us free from sin and gives us life. “We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:2-4)

Because Christ has set us free from the guilt and punishment for our sin we are truly free from the fear that if we struggle against our sin that we will have no pleasure in life. It is true that Christians still struggle against sin and temptation. It is not easy for anyone to say “no” to the pleasures of our sinful flesh. However, because Christ Jesus has given us eternal life and has freed us from the slavery to our sinful desires we know that whatever we may suffer temporally in our struggles against sin will be more than made up by the blessings of Christ, both now and eternally. Yes, we may suffer for fighting against temptation, but that suffering is only temporary, and we can find joy in Christ, even in the midst of our struggles because the God who rules the universe has redeemed us from our sin and has adopted us as His beloved children through Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:22-27)

The world may hate you for telling them the truth. They may say you are homophobic, hateful, hypocritical, bigoted, prudish, and maybe much worse things. Yet, you should feel free to speak the truth of God’s Word in love to your neighbors. If they don’t hear that what they are doing is deadly then they may never know because they are enjoying their wickedness too much. Then if they don’t hear that there is forgiveness in Christ for even the worst sinner then they may prefer to risk the consequences of their sinful pleasures rather than endure the pains of self-denial for some unknown benefit. Yet, we must speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15). For those who receive Christ’s forgiveness are freed from the bondage and terrors of sin and death. Also, in Christ, even the agonies of repentance are trivial compared to the eternal pleasure of life in paradise with our Savior, Jesus Christ. (Romans 8:18-21)