THE EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001:
WHAT'S GOING ON?

INTRODUCTION

William Blum - a former high-ranking and extremely principled member of the U.S. State Department (and now an investigative journalist in Washington D.C.) - notes in his book, Rogue State: A Guide To The World's Only Superpower, that if one were to ever write an honest and candid history of the United States over the last sixty years, he would have to entitle it, Serial Chain-Saw Baby Killers And The Women Who Love Them. Blum writes:

"The women don't really believe that their 'beloved' would do such a thing, even if they're shown a severed limb or a headless torso. Or if they believe it, they know down to their bone marrow that 'lover-boy' really had the best of intentions; it must have been some kind of very unfortunate accident, a well-meaning blunder; in fact, even more likely, it was a humanitarian act."

America! - a "Serial Chain-Saw Baby Killer?" The idea seems incredulous to most men and women in the United States! - about as far-fetched as the thought that most people throughout the world could rejoice over the fact "that someone, somewhere at last had the bal-s to strike out against the United States," and to do it so effectively.

Oh, you didn't know that most people in the world felt this way about the events of September 11, 2001? This is news to you? Well, it's the truth, nonetheless; and the fact that you might not be aware of this bit of information is a good indication of the kind of "information cocoon" most of us - as subjects of the most massive and intense propaganda machine ever devised by the hand of man (or, more accurately, by Westinghouse, General Electric, Disney, Viacom, etc.) - live in. For instance, according to recent polls, over 80 percent of the people in Greece, a NATO ally, think that America "had it coming?" [And it should be remembered in this connection that the Greeks hold very little affection for Muslims of any stripe. This is simply the way most average Greeks think about the United States completely apart from what's going on with the Muslims in the Middle East or Central Asia.]

And it's not just Greece! There's France too - another NATO ally where a majority of people say that while they abhor what happened, they could "understand" the reasons that would drive people to strike out against the United States. Similar reactions are easily discernible in many other countries; for example, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Italy, etc. - again, all NATO countries. And all this to say nothing about what average people throughout the so-called "Third World," and most especially what those in the Islamic world think. One has only to remember the video of Muslims in the West Bank and in Gaza exulting over the events of September 11, 2001 - video that proved a great embarrassment to Yasser Arafat (whose primary focus these days seems to be to ingratiate himself to the United States) who moved quickly to confiscate as much of the film as possible and counter the effect of those images by publicly giving blood for the wounded in New York.

HOW IS IT POSSIBLE FOR PEOPLE TO
HATE AMERICA TO SUCH AN EXTENT?

The question that fairly begs to be answered, of course, is why would average people (as opposed to the governments and the "local" elites that have been installed over them, almost all of which serve at the pleasure of the United States and remain in power only so long as they retain America's good will - for example, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, etc.) feel this way about the United States?

How is it possible for people to hate America to such an extent that they would hijack four planes and run two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, and another into the Pentagon - killing not only themselves, but over 3,000 innocent people as well? The only answer that comes readily to mind - and the answer that the American propaganda machine is "pushing" for all its worth - is that such people aren't really human beings at all; that they are nothing more than vicious beasts - bloodthirsty animals - given over to a medieval kind of religious fanaticism that only imbeciles, simpletons and maniacs of the worst kind could embrace. Surely the only thing one can do with such monsters is to hunt them down and kill them like rabid dogs. This kind of answer, of course, is a very "convenient one; by DEMONIZING the perpetrators in such a way, it alleviates the necessity of really examining the GENUINE and underlying reasons behind what happened.

The very real fact of the matter is, the evidence that has been compiled with regard to the hijackers suggests that most of them were not "medieval" in their thinking at all, but were instead well-educated, middle-class, young people (mostly Saudi Arabians) - not at all the kind of persons one would ordinarily think would be given to religious zealotry.

WHAT PEOPLE REALLY THINK ABOUT THE UNITED STATES

And if that's the case - and if one is open and fair-minded about such things - one is compelled to ask the question, Could there be more to the hatred these people feel towards the United States than most Americans are willing to admit? Is that such a far-fetched idea? Maybe not! - after all, is it really that remarkable for people to despise a country (i.e., the United States) that has attempted to overthrow more than 40 democratically elected and LEGITIMATELY constituted governments since the end of World War II; and, in addition to all that, has tried to crush more than 30 populist-nationalist movements struggling to assert their own legitimate political and human rights over and against intolerably corrupt, brutal dictatorships (most of which had been installed by the American government) during the same period of time? And would it really be that hard to comprehend the revulsion people would have against a country that has been responsible for the indiscriminate slaughter of millions and millions of people worldwide (many of them defenseless civilians; mostly innocent women, children and old people) all in the name of the "War on Communism?" - a war which was, more than most Americans care to admit, nothing more than a fiction and a convenient facade behind which America created its present-day "New World Order System."

Come on now! - think about all this! Think HONESTLY about these things! Is it really that arduous a task to understand the feelings of disgust people would have towards a nation that has condemned them - AGAIN, largely under the rubric of the "War on Communism" - to lives of grinding poverty, unrelenting agony and hopeless despair; a war (i.e., the "War on Communism") that was fought not so much to save the world from "godless atheism" (as it was advertised to the American evangelical community), as it was fought to subject the world to "client-state" status in the service of American multinational corporations like the United Fruit Company in Central America, Exxon and Mobil Corporations in the Middle East, Nike Corporation in Malaysia, Rockefeller corporate interests in Brazil and Argentina, etc. ?

BE FAIR IN YOUR THINKING

Be fair here! - given these facts, what would you think about the United States if you were living in the slums of Cairo or Damascus or Baghdad, and you were aware that your legitimate, God-given patrimony (i.e., the oil wealth of the Middle East - please see Genesis 17:18-26) was being stolen from you by the Western oil elites (Standard Oil, Texaco, Socal, Bechtel, etc.) while you and your family were left struggling to make ends meet on a few pennies a day while all the time being called stupid, ignorant "ner-do-wells" by those who were doing the stealing? That's, after all, what Gary North and his "dominionist" disciples say - i.e., that the people of the Middle East (and Africa, South America, etc.) have only themselves to blame for their poverty, despite the fact that they are poor largely because the multinational corporations of the First World (mainly the United States) have forced them to be so. That's like blaming a girl for supposedly "allowing" herself to be raped, never mind the fact that she had been raped and brutalized by a giant of a man three times her size who had climbed up two stories to her bedroom and had broken through a locked window to get at her.

Surely, from the perspective of people who live in the slums of Istanbul and Karachi, it wouldn't be that hard to equate the United States with the "Evil Empire" in the Star Wars Trilogy rather than with Pat Robertson's picture of the United States as the "world's last great hope for mankind." And certainly it wouldn't be that difficult to picture the American president more as Darth Vadar than as Hans Solo? Come on now! - what would you think if you were coming from such a perspective?

Most Americans, of course, claim that they know nothing about all this. But, it's not so much that they can't find out - they can if they really want to. All they have to do is open their eyes a little. But they don't want to know! Why? - because the thought that America could be a "Serial Chain-Saw Baby Killer" (or the Evil Empire of the Star Wars Trilogy) is simply too hard for them to bear - despite the fact that the "severed limbs" and "headless torsos" of America's victims lie all around for anyone to see if they really want to see.

INTRUDING TOO HARSHLY ON OUR THINKING

But, no! - to see America for what it really is would intrude too harshly on the comfortable worldview of most Americans, especially American evangelicals. Instead, they cling tenaciously (and against all evidence to the contrary) to the belief that, as Blum puts it, "lover boy" (i.e., America) really has the best of intentions; and that the "collateral damage" that has occurred throughout the world as a result of America's so-called "War on Communism" (and now, its present-day "War on Drugs" and its parallel "War on Terrorism") is nothing more than a series of "unfortunate accidents" and "well-meaning blunders;" in fact, even more likely, "humanitarian acts." They believe with Madeleine Albright who says -

"... the United States is good. We try to do our best everywhere."

And with "George Bush ("the Elder") who believes (or so he says) that -

"... the world trusts us (i.e., the United States), and the world is right (to do so). They trust us to be fair and restrained. They trust us to be on the side of decency. They trust us to do what's right."

What a dichotomy in thinking! What a massive difference of opinion between what most Americans think (especially American evangelicals) and what the rest of the people of the world think! Who's right here? Is it Pat Robertson who says that -

"... if America ... (remains) free (and strong), people everywhere can hope for freedom. And if America goes down, all hope is lost to the rest of the world" ?

Or is it Nelson Mandela of South Africa who bitterly protests America's "arrogant" and overbearing claims to moral superiority when he writes about his country's relationship with Gadhafi of Libya:

"HOW CAN THEY (i.e., the Americans) HAVE THE ARROGANCE TO DICTATE TO US where we should go or which countries should be our friends? Gadhafi (of Libya) is my friend. He supported us (i.e., black South Africans) when we were alone and when those (i.e., the American state department) who tried to prevent my visit here today were our enemies. THEY (i.e., the Americans) HAVE NO MORALS. We cannot accept that a state (i.e., America) assumes the role of the world's (moral) policeman" ?

WHO IS RIGHT HERE?

Who's right? Nelson Mandela? Or Pat Robertson? Who's telling the truth? Naturally, most Christians would be inclined to believe Pat Robertson; after all, he's a Christian! And not just Robertson, but what about Tim LaHaye, D. James Kennedy, James Dobson, Chuck Swindal, James Robison and all the rest? What about all these people? They would certainly concur with Robertson that America is "... the last great hope for mankind," and that "... if America goes down, all hope is lost to the rest of the world."

And what about all our churches? - bedecked and festooned with the American flag as they all have been ever since the events of September 11th. Indeed, the way things have been going, one would not be amiss in thinking that the cross of Christ and the American flag are one in the same thing - that they are, for all intents and purposes, synonymous in the mind of most American Christians. Find America, and you will find Christ; find Christ and you will find America. Patriotism and being a "good Christian" seem to go hand-in-hand these days. That's the way more and more Christians in the United States are beginning to think.

The fact is, even those in the Religious Right like Jerry Falwell - who are prone to believe that the events of September 11th were indications of God's wrath against the United States because of her "great wickednesses" - nevertheless believe that, in the end, America will turn from her present evil condition, embrace Christ as the "New Israel of God" and together with the church lead the world into a time of great revival, the so-called "Great Revival" of such groups as "Latter Rain," the "Kansas City Prophets," the Brownsville Revival," and the "Toronto Blessing;" and such so-called "prophets" (really "nut cases") as Reuven Doren, John Paul Jackson, Jack Deere, Paul Cain, etc. But isn't this what James Dobson believes too? Isn't this what D. James Kennedy believes? Isn't this what Jack Hayford believes? And again, isn't that what Pat Robertson is saying when he writes,

"If ... America goes down, all hope is lost to the rest of the world" ?

Surely it is!

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?

But the fact is, THE BIBLE DOES NOT SPEAK OF SOME GREAT "LATTER DAY" CHRISTIAN NATION THAT WILL RISE UP AT THE "END OF DAYS" TO LEAD THE WORLD BACK TO GOD. NOWHERE! NO PLACE! AT NO TIME! BUT IT DOES SPEAK OF A GREAT "LATTER DAY" NATION THAT WILL ARISE TO LEAD THE NATIONS AND THE PEOPLES OF THE EARTH AWAY FROM GOD, WHILE ALL THE TIME PRETENDING THAT IT IS DOING JUST THE OPPOSITE!! The Bible calls this the "GREAT DECEPTION" OF THE "END OF DAYS."

What's this say, then, about Pat Robertson, Tim LaHaye, D. James Kennedy, etc? It says that these men, and countless others like them, are leading us into deception; and that these men - to say nothing of people like Mike Bickle, the late John Wimber, Paul Cain, etc. (please see above) - are APOSTATE, and that the church they purport to lead is the APOSTATE CHURCH of the "end of the age,"

BABYLON THE GREAT

And what is the name of this great "Latter Day" nation? The Bible calls this nation "BABYLON THE GREAT" and pictures it as a dual entity - a woman (the "apostate church") riding a "beast" ("Babylon the Great"). The distinguished Bible expositor, F.C. Jennings, explains:

"Turning then to the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Revelation, we see the whole stage filled with two personalities only: a "Beast" and a "Woman" … these two … picture … the future prophetic earth … there can be no argument or discussion as to this speaking of both the CIVIL [political, economic, and military] and ECCLESIASTICAL [religious] conditions that will rule and characterize that part of the earth that is within the limits or boundaries of Prophecy. The whole of it will be filled with what shall answer to this "Beast" and this "Woman." The two [the "Beast (which answers to the Civil Power) and the "Woman" (which answers to the Religious Power)] are thus indissolubly co-related, and tell us to what end all [this is] trending; and that is that there will eventually be a one World-Empire and a one World-Church, and these will cover the whole of what is now called CHRISTENDOM; the one Empire supporting the one Church, [as] the "Beast" in the picture supports the "Woman," and the "Woman" is supported by the "Beast" …

WHAT'S ALL THIS SAY ABOUT THE UNITED STATES?

Now I ask you, what nation could that possibly be? Well, I tell you the truth - you may pretend that you don't know, but the rest of the world certainly knows!! Osama Bin Laden knows! Al Qaeda knows! Hamas knows! Herzbollah knows! The people in Pakistan know! The guerrillas (i.e., the FARC) in Columbia know. The poor in Cairo, in Nairobi, in Rio de Janeiro, in Manila, in Jakarta, in Karachi, in Mexico City - they all know! Even the people in Europe know. For example, Der Spiegel, THE leading newsmagazine in Germany, knows! It opines:

"Never before in ... history has a country dominated the earth so totally as the United States does today ... America is now the (Arnold) Schwarzenegger of international politics: showing off muscles, obtrusive, intimidating ... The Americans, in the absence of limits put to them by anybody or anything, act as if they own a kind of blank check in their 'McWorld'."

And academicians the world over know too! They all know! Take, Samuel P. Huntington, Eaton Professor of the Science of Government and Director of the John M. Olin Institute for Strategic Studies at Harvard University. He writes:

"The United States is now at an extraordinary peak of power in relation to other nations. Its superpower opponent (i.e., the old Soviet Union) has disappeared from the map ... It faces no economic challenge. It dominates (the world's) international political and security institutions with Japan and Europe acting as JUNIOR partners ... So great has U.S. domination of the earth progressed that decisions made at the United Nations or in the International Monetary Fund are essentially U.S. decisions reflecting U.S. values - they are not world decisions at all."

Huntington continues,

"The very phrase, ‘the world community’ has become (nothing more than) a euphemistic collective noun ... to give global legitimacy to actions reflecting the interests of the United States ... (and) through the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and other international economic institutions, the U.S. promotes its economic interests and imposes on other nations the economic policies it thinks appropriate."

THE VERY REAL TRUTH OF THE MATTER IS, AMERICA BESTRIDES THE WORLD TODAY LIKE SOME MIGHTY COLOSSUS, AND ALL THE OTHER NATIONS OF THE WORLD HAVE BEEN REDUCED TO THE STATURE OF DWARFS BEFORE HER.

Now think about what that means! IF the Bible says that there will emerge at "the end of the age" a great "Latter Day" nation known scripturally as "Babylon the Great," and that this particular nation will exercise an EVIL hegemonic control over the world, and IF we are now at the "end of the age" and the only nation that answers that description is the United States, THEN what does that make the United States? Doesn't it make the United States "Babylon the Great?" Of course it does!

And doesn't it make those Christians who "ride the beast" (i.e., who support it) apostates? Isn't that what the seventeenth chapter of the Book of Revelation indicates? Of course it is! Then what's that make YOU if you as a Christian support all the flag waving that is currently going on in today's evangelical churches? Doesn't that make you an APOSTATE? - and, please, don't get mad at us for suggesting this; your anger should not be directed at us, it should be directed at God. Your contention is not with us, it's with God. But be careful here, those who contend with God NEVER come out very well. The Bible says:

"Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it ...

"Gird up thy loins now like a man: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me ...

"Hast thou an arm like God? or canst thou thunder with a voice like him?

"Deck thyself now with majesty and excellency; and array thyself with glory and beauty (if you can).

"Cast abroad the rage of thy wrath: and behold every one that is proud, and abase him.

"Look on every one that is proud, and bring him low; and tread down the wicked in their place. (Job 40:2-12)

THE EMERGENCE OF THE AMERICAN SYSTEM

The United States as "Babylon the Great?" - you act surprised. But how is it that you can be really that surprised? - how is that possible? The process that has led to this outcome insofar as America's preeminence in the world at large has been going on now for years. All of us - every single one of us - have been aware of it. The fact is, in one way or another, many of us have even participated in this process, i.e., in the emergence of a "New World Order System" under American domination. As we have indicated in numerous other articles, the system that has finally emerged is based on a model that calls for most of the nations of the world to be divided into two parts - an elite class of political / economic "managers," which in most countries approximates about 20 percent of the population, and a "worker-serf" class, which makes up the remaining 80 percent of the population. The "managers" rule the nations (i.e., the "client-states") that are a part of the system at the behest and in the interest of American corporate power, which itself is sustained by the machinations and intrigues of the CIA, which in turn is backed up by the guns of the American military.

Naturally, it goes without saying that for the eighty percent of the population that falls into the "worker-serf" category (i.e., the poor in places like Cairo, Kabul, Damascus, Karachi, Jakarta, Sao Paulo, Bogota, Cairo, Istanbul, Lagos, etc.), it is a notably cruel and utterly despotic system. AND THIS IS PRECISELY WHAT HAS LED TO ALL THE UNREST THAT HAS RESULTED IN THE FANATICISM WHICH PRODUCED THE EVENTS OF SEPTEMBER 11, 2001. Now, in all of this it is important to note how the nations of this system are organized. They are arranged in a multi-tiered pyramid with the United States at the apex of the pyramid; then Western Europe and Japan on the second tier; on the third tier, those nations considered to be vital to the security interests of the United States (i.e., nations like Canada, Australia, Korea, South Africa, Israel, etc.); and finally, on the fourth tier, those other nations that have been reduced to "CLIENT STATES" - i.e., countries that the U.S. system uses as sources of raw materials and CHEAP LABOR (for example, countries like Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, most of the countries of the Middle East, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, etc.).

REFUSING TO BELIEVE WHAT'S REALLY HAPPENED

There are, of course, still Christians who cling to the belief that somewhere, somehow a resurgent European community will rise up and wrest control of the world from the United States. But that is ABSOLUTE nonsense! The European Community is a creature of the United States, not the other way around - and it has been so since the end of the Second World War when Europe was reduced to a pile of rubble at the feet of the American colossus. The idea of creating a "European Community" of nations originated out of the desire by the United States to forge a unified "common market" so that its multinational corporations would not be inconvenienced by a multiplicity of different national interests and regulations as they attempted to do "business" in Europe. Put another way, the European Community was created as a device to make American domination of the European continent that much easier.

And insofar as America's military might vis a vis the military might (so-called) of the European Community is concerned - well, the comparison is an exercise in absurdity. The absurdity is made apparent when one asks himself, What is the most powerful army (and navy and air force) in Europe? Is it the French military?" Maybe it's the German military? Or perhaps the British military? Or maybe that ludicrous, pitiful, pigmy-like military organization called the "Eurocorps?" It is, of course, none of these! IT IS THE AMERICAN ARMY IN EUROPE! - even today, sixty years after the end of the Second World War!! The naked fact of the matter is, the European Community is nothing more than another lackey behind which the United States pursues its own interests - and the same thing is true of the United Nations, the WTO, the IMF, the World Bank, and on and on and on. As Professor Huntington of Harvard has suggested,

"The very phrase, ‘the world community’ has become (nothing more than) a euphemistic collective noun ... to give global legitimacy to actions reflecting the interests of the United States ... (and) through the IMF and other international economic institutions (like the WTO, the World Bank, the G-7, etc.), the U.S. promotes its economic interests and imposes on other nations the economic policies it thinks appropriate."

This is the stark reality of the situation, and for Christians to believe otherwise is just another excuse for them to avoid coming to grips with what America is really all about - AND THAT IS A VERY DANGEROUS THING TO DO! THERE WILL BE A CONSEQUENCE FOR THOSE WHO PERSIST IN THIS KIND OF THINKING!!

Finally, for Christians to insanely persevere in believing that America can be rescued from her present state of affairs as "Babylon the Great" is to willingly FLAUNT what the Scriptures have to say with regard to this matter. The Bible does NOT say that "Babylon" will repent from its evil - and no amount of wishful thinking can make it be so, especially no PSEUDO Revival which has NO basis in Scripture and has been dreamt up out of "whole cloth" and the maniacal, demonic ramblings of people like Paul Cain and John Paul Jackson, or the lunatic "holy laughter" and guttural growlings of the deranged participants of the so-called Brownsville and Toronto revivals. That's NOT what the Bible says! There will be NO such "Great Revival" here - at least as it pertains to the United States. Scriptural "Babylon" has only one fate in store for itself: JUDGMENT! The Bible says:

"And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven ...

"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, BABYLON THE GREAT IS FALLEN, IS FALLEN, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.

"For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

"For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities ...

"Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; AND SHE SHALL BE UTTERLY BURNED WITH FIRE: for strong is the Lord God who JUDGETH her. (Rev. 18:1-5, 8)

THINK ABOUT IT!

THINK ABOUT IT! - YOUR ETERNITY IS AT STAKE HERE!! Do not think - EVEN FOR A MINUTE - that God will forgive you if you - whether you call yourself a Christian or not - make common cause with "Babylon the Great." YOU MAKE A VERY GRAVE MISTAKE TO PRESUME ON GOD'S MERCY IN SUCH A FASHION - Christian or no Christian!

And it is for this reason that I say, God help those who attend a church that is being swept away by the "super-patriotism" and the "flag waving" of the last few weeks. THIS IS WHAT HAPPENED TO GERMAN CHRISTIANS SIXTY-FIVE YEARS AGO WITH REGARD TO HITLER, AND TIME WILL FAIL THESE SAME GERMAN CHRISTIANS BEFORE THIS STAIN IS EVER ERASED FROM THEIR SOULS!

DO NOT HIDE FROM THE TRUTH

Brothers and sisters, please listen to me here! There is no time left for any of us to play around with such matters anymore. We've run out of time! Do not pretend that you do not see what the United States is. If you don't see it, IT IS BECAUSE YOU CHOOSE NOT TO SEE IT. Is there any other nation that has ever existed where the name "Babylon the Great" does not more appropriately pertain than the United States? Has there ever - at any time in history - been a nation more madly in love with the material things of this world? Isn't that what Babylon is all about? Has there ever been a more worldly nation than the United States? No! - never in all of history! America's greatest past-time is shopping! It's not football, it's not basketball, it's not camping, it's not any of these things! - it's shopping! The sons and daughters of Babylon never get tired of it!

Indeed, according to the President, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the President of the New York Stock Exchange, it is the PATRIOTIC and even SACRED duty of the sons and daughters of Babylon to shop! Isn't that what all of us have been urged to do in recent weeks? - "shop till we drop," and in doing so, lift the economy out of recession! - and evangelical Christians willingly buy into this kind of thinking, believing that somehow or other the interests of America and the Lord Jesus Christ coincide on this point.

But there is no intersection of interests here between God and America, unless one is prepared to say that the aims and purposes of Mammon and Christ are now in harmony one with the other; and that Luke 16:13, which says, "No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye CANNOT serve God and mammon," has been in these "Last Days" mysteriously nullified. Have you ever heard of such a thing before? BUT THAT'S WHAT BABYLON IS ALL ABOUT!! AND THAT'S WHAT THE WORLD IS ALL ABOUT.

THE KINGDOM AND GLORY OF SATAN

In Scripture, Babylon represents the kingdom and glory of Satan (Rev. 17:1-8). Satan is called the "Prince of this World" (John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11) over which sits Babylon, the masterpiece of Satan. What is meant by the term "world?" The word "world" is the translation of the Greek word "kosmos," which means an harmonious order or arrangement, and it is used in three ways in the New Testament:

1. First, it means the MATERIAL UNIVERSE (Acts 17:14; Matt. 13:35; John 1:10; Mark 16:15).

2. Second, it means -

(a) THE INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD as a whole (John 1:10; 3:16; 12:19; 17:21);

(b) THE WHOLE RACE OF MAN ALIENATED FROM GOD AND HOSTILE TO THE CAUSE OF CHRIST (Heb. 11:38; John 14:17; 14:27; 15:18).

3. Third, it means the whole circle of WORLDLY goods, endowments, riches, advantages, pleasures, which though hollow and fleeting, stir our desires and seduce us from God, so that they are obstacles to the cause of Christ (I John 3:17; Matt. 16:26; I Cor 2:12; 3:19, 7:31; Titus 2:12; II Peter 1:4; 2:20; I John 2:15-17; James 1:27). It is the world of our split level homes, two cars, good careers, good educations, bank accounts, vacations, etc.

Moreover, the word kosmos, taken in conjunction with the three meanings described above, implies that behind all this there is a mind - the PRINCE OF THIS WORLD (John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11) - which gives order and arrangement to it all. John says:

"The whole KOSMOS [as described above] lieth in the evil one." (John 5:19)

THE WORLD RULER OF THIS DARKNESS

Satan is the KOSMOKRATER or world-ruler - a word which, however, appears only once, and is used in the plural of his lieutenants: "the WORLD-RULERS OF THIS DARKNESS" (Eph. 6:12).

Politics, education, literature, science, art, law, commerce, music, our homes, careers, etc. - together they constitute the kosmos. Subtract them, and the world as a coherent system ceases to exist. It is the development of these things that constitutes history. The question is, which direction is history tending? What is its ultimate goal? - BABYLON THE GREAT, the masterpiece of Satan!! And that is exactly what the United States is: THE MASTERPIECE OF SATAN!

THE GREAT DANGER THAT FACES ALL OF US

Now there is a very serious and somber reason why we have dwelt at such great length on this matter; and that is this: the events of September 11, 2001 have unleashed a ground swell of patriotism in the country that may very well sweep all before it. And as it grows in intensity and depth, the churches will also be carried away, even churches that are otherwise grounded and rooted in the faith. One does not have to go too far afield to see what's happening.

The fact is, if you are a regular church attendee, you probably already know what I am talking about. And even if you are not, you have probably experienced vicariously what's occurring in conversations with your friends and loved ones, and over the air on Christian radio. This is not something that is understood objectively, but one that is FELT subjectively and emotionally, a current that sweeps people up in its force and vigor before they have the time to really think about what's happening.

And it is so easy to yield to it. You WANT to yield to it. You WANT to surrender to it. All your friends are doing so. Your pastor is urging you to do so, especially as he begins to discover that by playing on the emotions inherent in the country's new-found patriotism, church attendance is doubling and tripling.

And this is not an exaggeration! This is really happening. In fact, in a recent Gallup poll taken the Sunday after September 11th, church attendance throughout the country had actually tripled. No doubt, it will probably begin to fall off a little, but in time, there will be another "September 11th," and attendance will again shoot up. The fact is, a process has now been set in motion, a process that is DIRECTLY related to the "end of days," and is connected to the warning in Scripture foretold by Mark 13:7:

"And when ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, be ye not troubled ...

"For nation (ethnos) shall rise against nation (ethnos), and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.

"But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to councils; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them. (Mark 13:7-9)

What's happening in Afghanistan (and what's been going on at a smaller level in Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, etc.) is just the beginning! - and all these wars relate SPECIFICALLY to the effort of "Babylon the Great" to "make secure" and "tighten up" its worldwide empire and subject all the world and the peoples of the world to its despotic hegemony.

And, sadly, the device Babylon is using - and will use more and more as time goes on - to enlist the support of the American people, especially American evangelicals, is the claim that it is doing all this for the "sake of Christ and the church." [Much more about all this in upcoming articles.]

The Bible says that we are not to be troubled by all this - BUT WE MUST KEEP OURSELVES AWAY FROM WHAT'S OCCURRING. We must not allow ourselves to be caught up by the emotion of the day; by the powerful thrust of events! And why is that? Because if we do, we will find ourselves as ACTIVE participants ON THE WRONG SIDE of what's happening in the "end of days" - on the side of the BEAST and THE APOSTATE CHURCH!

But be warned! - by your refusal to participate in the growing union of church and state, by your refusal to participate in all the flag waving and super patriotism of the day that is by now well under way, you will be MARKED, and eventually you will be delivered -

"... up to (church) councils; and in the ... (church halls) ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony AGAINST them. (Mark 13:9)

This is serious stuff!! This is not like having a dispute about small issues of doctrine with your neighbors and friends in the comfort of your living room. THIS IS FOR REAL!! There is no more noxious poison than the toxin that results from the union of church and state! It gives license to all sorts of evil-doing and depravity.

Oh, the things one is permitted to do when one can claim that he is doing it in the name of God. AFTER ALL, THAT'S WHAT MOTIVATED THE ISLAMIC FUNDAMENTALISTS WHEN THEY CRASHED THEIR PLANES INTO THE TWIN TOWERS OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER AND INTO THE PENTAGON.

And believe me when I say, if this kind of religious fanaticism - the kind that results from the union of church and state (or mosque and state), the kind that allows one to pursue carnal goals in the name of God - can motivate ISLAMIC fundamentalists, it can also motivate CHRISTIAN fundamentalists - and much more than most Christians are today prepared to accept.

God preserve us from all this, and God grant that we can save our friends and loved ones (and even strangers and those who hate us) from being submerged in this kind of fanaticism. Remember this! There is only one BIBLICAL answer to what's happening today insofar as "Babylon" is concerned and the apostasy which surrounds all those who identify with her - and that is,

"... COME OUT OF HER, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues. (Rev. 18:4)

We IMPLORE you to do so, and do so as quickly as possible - and urge your loved ones to do the same before its too late - before they become "partakers of her sins," and fall victim to "her plagues."

More next time!

Until then, God bless you,

S.R. Shearer,
Antipas Ministries