We must defend ourselves, and our retaliation and fight against radical Islamic terrorists should be seen as a defense of liberty and of the United States of America. We are not defending the libertinism and degeneracy that passes as “freedom” these days. We are defending the essence of one nation under God and the sanctified courage of generations, maintained since our founding. Only a renewal of zeal for a holy God can successfully push back the hateful spirit emanating from many sectors of the Islamic world.
We should not be and are not at war with Islam, but Islam presents some unique problems. In previous wars, we could be at war with a government without being at war with the people, even though we had declared war on the country. Thus, after WWII, we followed the Marshall Plan and rebuilt Germany and Japan. We sent troops to protect our former enemy, Germany, and we continue to protect Japan from potential Asian threats.
The post-WWII model was used for Afghanistan and Iraq. We smashed the criminal governments of those countries, and then engaged in nation building as we had after World War II, but this time, the nation building has not worked. The animus against us has intensified. There is an aggressive fifth column in those countries determined to crush our nation building. It has not accepted the defeat of the governments which we in fact defeated.
There is a portion of those countries that is not identified with either the governments we defeated or with the ordinary citizens who just want to go about their day-to-day lives of work, school, family interests, shopping, and some religious observances. The fifth columns are identified with an eternal militancy over and against everything modern, everything Western, and everything that is not in the 8th century understanding of Islam.
Once we see this clearly, the Biblical need for the warrior leader becomes much clearer. The leader must not only be a warrior, but must be called by God like Gideon, Samson, or Elijah. Only then can we begin to answer the questions plaguing everyone: Whom shall we be fighting? Where shall we fight? How many men should be committed to this fight? Do we want to send ground troops back into an area from which we have withdrawn so many?
Do we really want to be led by a “mad dog” (the nickname of Gen. Mattis, one of our former generals) or would we rather be led by a prophet.
The Bible teaches us forcefully that military, political, and law enforcement solutions alone will not win the day. Almighty God must wage the battle with us and for us. In fact, it must first and foremost be His battle, and we should see ourselves as simply cooperating with Him, following Him to victory.
What does Psalm 24 proclaim?
“Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle….; He is the King of Glory.” We say a hearty “Amen” to that. It is His battle. He will win the victory for America; He will protect us; He will secure our future.
Almighty God always goes before the actual soldiers. He is fearlessly at the front of the battle. He is the key to victory and we should not rely on technology, soldiers, tanks, etc. in any ultimate sense. Incredible as it may seem to some, if Almighty God is not leading our troops into battle, then we shall not experience the unqualified victory that we truly seek even if our greatest strategists are checking computer screens in their war rooms.
Victory represents a purging. In victory, we have truly cleared an open path before ourselves where the enemy can no longer trouble us. The Holy Bible clearly states, “Not by power nor by might, but by my Spirit saith the Lord.” (Zech. 4:6) We need prophetic vision on how to proceed in this war, not merely better military strategies.
We need God’s support as never before in our history. Why? Because on 9/11 we were attacked as never before in our history. Before 9/11, there were horrible attacks on American citizens by maniacal Islamic terrorists on cruise ships and hijacked airplanes. There were attacks on our military installations and embassies.
There were horrible attacks on our allies in Europe and upon Israel in the Middle East (incessant and vile attacks on innocent men, women, and children). Likewise, we have seen these similar, more limited but cruel and premeditated terrorist events since 9/11. But over and above all these events is 9/11 itself – the greatest single destructive act on American soil by non-Americans since our founding. We are facing an enemy which though widespread and clever is ultimately cowardly and disgusting.
Jesus Christ will defend us. He will give us victory. Our Godhead will defeat the demonic forces of Satan.
Jeffrey Ludwig is pastor of Bible Christian Church, but also has taught at Harvard, Penn State, and Juniata College. He also taught high school history and economics for 20 years and has written four books available on amazon.com.
This article first appeared in americanprophet.org in 2017, and It is about the need for prophetic leadership against the ongoing Islamic threat. It is timely because Afghanistan has been re-taken by the Taliban and the conflict between Israel and the Islamics led by Iran is intensifying.
Jeffrey Ludwig
To read more articles by Jeffrey Ludwig click here.
