Where Were You, God

Today is a solemn day of remembrance of the day that’s become known as 9/11. A day when America, seemingly secure in the fact that no foreign enemy had attacked us on American soil since the War of 1812, when the White House was partially burned by the British. But as much of America was waking that September morning, a commercial jetliner slammed into World Trade Center in the heart of New York City, followed by another a few moments later. Soon both towers would crumble. Thousands were killed in the inferno, many more later from injuries sustained there. Another jetliner would crash into the Pentagon, the center of American military might. A fourth plane, scheduled for San Francisco, did a U turn in the Cleveland sky, and headed for the Capitol building in Washington, the center of American democracy, where both houses were in session. Thankfully, a little more than twenty minutes before its arrival, Todd Beamer rallied passengers of that plane with the words, “Let’s Roll”, overtaking the hijackers and crashing the plane into a field in Pennsylvania, averting the far more tragic occurrence. It was a day that left the nation in total shock. A day most people would remember where they were and what they were doing when they heard the news.

But it was also a day when thoughts of God seemed to be in the minds of people more than any other time in American history. Some prayed fervently for mercy for the victims, the country, and for themselves, terrorized by what was happening. Many fearing God’s judgement had come, did serious soul searching and made promises to God. But when the smoke cleared, as the day ended and tears began to subside, there were many who blamed God. Many who cried out, “Why, did You let this happen, God” and even “Where were You, God?” Perhaps understandable reactions to a supposed God of love and mercy, even though based on false understandings of God. That God had caused the catastrophe, and didn’t care about the suffering.

We must first understand that God didn’t drive any of those planes. Men filled with hate and vengeance piloted them, failing to comply with what even their false god of Islam teaches. ‘Radicalized Islamists’ is another way of saying Satan can twist any philosophy to his own purposes. The results are what hate and vengeance can do, what the Lord God warns us about. It wasn’t just about the hate and vengeance of terrorists, but for all who respond to injustice with injustice. We see the evidence of hate and retaliation on our own streets. In gun violence, in racial injustices, in rioting. God doesn’t pull the triggers, or spew hateful rhetoric against others. People do. So, why do we blame God,…when we refuse to heed His warnings?

Our OT lesson is from the last chapter of Jeremiah, who had been prophesying the destruction of Jerusalem for its sinfulness for several years. King Zedekiah was 21 when he began his reign as king, and did evil, causing God’s anger. After 7 years of warning prophecies, God ‘allows’ the merciless, cruel Babylonians to attack. He didn’t make them come, he let them come. He had removed His arm of protection. Through Jeremiah, God had told Zedekiah to peacefully surrender Jerusalem, so there would be no destruction of Jerusalem, and let themselves be taken into exile to Babylon, where God intended to get Judah’s attention in a ‘time out’. But Zedekiah ignored God. For 2 years, the Babylonians surrounded Jerusalem. Inside, the people were starving, even resorting to cannibalism. When the walls are finally breached, Zedekiah and his army fled, but the Babylonians overtake them, taking the king and his family captive, and inflicting their horrible tortures. But because they had defied Babylon, the city and the Temple were destroyed. Or should we blame God for Jerusalem’s disobedience and the subsequent destruction?

Despite God’s warnings, they had refused to obey. The consequent destruction was even more than jetliners crashing into targets. Two years of suffering because of their continuing disobedience. Then having to witness the destruction of their city, and the Temple. God would have prevented all that with the surrender and exile He had planned, but it was a “Fine, have it your way” consequence, as He allowed the Babylonians to destroy their city before their exile. In exile, the people began to realize their sinfulness, and wept for the destruction of their city and their Temple. They quit blaming God, and feared the even worse fate that God had abandoned them forever. But their fear turned to hope when Jeremiah told them God would allow them to return home, which they did seven years later, after Ezra and Nehemiah were allowed to return earlier with workers to repair the city walls and rebuild the Temple.