1991 Issue 3 - The Persian Gulf War: Was This a Biblically Just War? - Counsel of Chalcedon

8/12/2019 1991 Issue 3 - The Persian Gulf War: Was This a Biblically Just War? - Counsel of Chalcedon

1/7

by

Joe

Morecraft

'I\vo revealed truths compel ns to evaluate the Persian Gulf

War

from

theperspective of

he

Bible.

and

then

to

publish that

evaluation:

1. When Jesus gave the Church "the keys of the kingdom ."

Mal 16:19). Hegave her the

authority

and the responsibility

to apply

the Word ofGod to the

whole

range of

decisions

and

issues individuals

and

nations have to

face

in this

world

. ' 'To

the law and

to

the testimony they do not speak acconling

to this word, it is because they have no dawn, Isaiah 8:20.

2. The

Bible, as the infallible

and

writtenrevelationfrom

God.

is authoritative in

everything about

which it speaks.

and

it

speaks

about

everything .

Therefore

I

esteem right all

Thy

precepts

concerning

everything .." Psa. 119:128.

American ClnistiansMUST learn

to

think

and

act biblically.

as overagainsthumanistically. emotionally. orpragmatically.

about

everything.

especially

as

we

enter the 1990s. the last

decade

of he bloody 'I\ventieth

Century.

"The

decade

of he

1990's

is

shaping

up as one

of

the

most

dangerous in all

of

worldhistory-{)necharacterizedby

evil, duplicity.

deception,

and betrayal. -McAlvany Intelligence Adviser.

p.. THE THEOLOGY

OF W R

In

an

article written

for the National Republic Magazine

in

1942 and 1943. (and

later published in

the COLLECTED

WRlI INGS OF JOHN MURRAY), Professor

John

Murray

points

out five biblical principles for understanding war.

Evaluationsofspecificwarsmustbemadeinthelightofthese

five

truths:

1.

Wars are

a

consequence

of

sin.

"From whence comes

wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence. evenof

your lusts that war in your members? - James 4:

1.

What

are

the

sins

of our

ag

e that lead

to

war?

The

rampant anti

christianity which dominates East

and

West.

God

said in

Proverbs 8-''Those

who hate

me love death'" 1be rampant

statist

mentality around

the

world

that breeds totalitarianism.

In the past twenty years

two

books have been written

to

prove

that the 'I\ventieth Century is an age

of

tyranny and

totalitarianism.

and

hence of bloodthirstiness: Clarence

Carson sTHEWORLDINTHEGRIPOFANIDEAandPaul

Johnson's MODERN TIMES.

.,.

2. Wars

are God's judgment

on

sin. Isaiah

10.

among many

other

chapters

inthe Bible. makes clear that God oftenjudges

the

apostate

or reprobate with terrible wars. 'I\venty-five

million

aborted

babies in

the

United States scream for justice.

we had no

other national sins. we deserve God's severe

judgment for that

one

fact alone.

3. Wars are

calls to

repentance. "When Thy judgments

are

in

the earth. theinbabitantsoftheworld williearnrighteonsness."

Isaiah 26:

9. When we

see wars which involve our troops.

we

should

fall down on our

faces

before

God.

and repent of any

sins inourlives that

have

brought down God's holy judgment

upon

us.

4.Wars promotetheruaturing.purifying and peJfectingofthe

Body of

Christ

the

Church.

"And we know that God causes

all

things

to WOlX together for good to those who love God. to

those who

are

called according

to His purpose."

Rom. 8:28.

As

Murray wrote

: "Through all the unheavals. sufferings.

trlbulations.persecutioIlSandevenexecutionsofGodspeople,

there

runs

an invincible purpose that cannot fail of execution,

The Counsel of Cbalcedoo April 1991 Page 9


2/7

the completion of the

whole

body of

Christ, in

line

with

the

wordof he apostle, /wouldye should wlderstand,

brethren,

that

the things which happened ..havefallen out rather unto

thejurtherahceofthegospel,'

(Pbil.1 :12)." It isno

tinsignificant

ro

notethatrepOIts frouilhe US

military

chaplainson

the front

in Saudi

Arabia

reveal that a spiritual

revival

appears

to

be

beginning among the

troops Stationed

there, with

dozens

of

baptisms taking place every Sunday.

5. Wars

vindicate God's

sovereignty.

Ps

alm 2 reveals tha

t

when the nations rage against

God,

and,when the kings of the

earth oonstlire

to

overturn God's

moral order,

"He

who sits in

the heavens laughs." In Psalm

46: 10

God says: "Be still

and

know thatI am Gad, I

will

beexalted

among

the nations,I will

be exalted

in

the earth."

Although these

are days of

upheav3 and turmoil,Mnrray

reminds us that "present

history is not lnOVing

toward

c)Jaos. It is movmg in

the

'

grand drama of God's plan

and purpose

to

the

accomplisbJilent

of his holy

designs and to the vindication

of his glory. - We must be

reminded in such a situation

that in this universe tfIere is

only one totalitarian

government, and that men

must assume in it

the

place of

humble submission and

obedience. TheLordreignetli;

let the people tremble;

he

sitteth between

the cherubim;

let the earth be moved. '(Fsa.

99:1,2)"

B. THE JUSTICE OF WAlR

When

s

a warmoral andjust? TheBible s

answer fo

r

us

t

oday

is this: just wars are

wars

fought in defense of the families,

properties and Christiari moral order of a

nation. Dougl

as

Jones writes in an article inANTITHESlS.

(Nov./Dec,

1990),

appropriately entitled, "Is

Kuwait th

e Fifty- Fir

st

Sta te?":

''Defensive warfare

isnow

theonly legitimate fonn of

warfare

Scripture allows, since

offensive warfare

ala

the

Old

Covenant

necessitated ditectrevelation,

which is

obviously no longer

an

option." Why is this

so? Jones answers:

"

THE EXERC

I

SE

OF POLmCAL AUTHORITY IS LIMITED TO THE

JllRISDICTIONOFTHAT

AUTHORlTY.

- A political

authority who intervenes in

non-political

or

po

liti

cal spheres

The

CounselofChalcedon .ApriI1991 Page

10

of another

nation stands in

violation of

the

most

elementary

Biblical standards."

J

ohn

Murray

defines

ajust

war as the last resort

ofanation

to

guard the

patbs of

justice.

to

proUlate the interests

of

God

given liberty, and

...

to

conserve

the blessing oftrue peace." ,

David Jo

nes made

the

fonowing

point in a sennon preached

in

P

hiladelphiaonJuly20,

1775: "Whenapeopleareoppressed,

insulted

and

abused

,

and

can have no

other

redress,

it

then

becomes

our

duty

as men, withonreyes toGad, to fightforonr

liberties and

properties; orinotherwords,thatadefensive war

is sinless before God and is consistent with theplll


3/7

order to be a terror to

evildoers,

has been

given

by

God

the

power of

the

sword,

i.e., the

legal nse of deadly force, (Rom.

13:1ff). The sword is to be used by the state to protect law

abiding

citizens fiumlawlesspeople,

whetberthey

be

domestic

criminals orforeignerinvaders.

The

sword is aninstrumentof

punishment

and

an instrument

of

war. n he

New

Testament

this sword is

not

to be used to

force

pagans to become

Ouistians, or o rid

the world

of

pagaos

beyond the

borders

of

the state,

rather

it

is to

be used

in

defense

of

a nation's

law

abiding

families.

C. THE BmLIC L STRATEGY

OF A JUSf WAR

Jim

Jordanhas

written

ahelpful article

entitled,

1be

Israelite

Militia in

the

Old Testament," in

THE

MIliTI IN

20TH

CENTURY AMERICA, in

which

he

explains the biblical

strategy of

warfare,

which is

far

more

sensible,

effective and

humane than modem fonus of warfare. First,

the

goal of

biblical warfare was to

kill

tbe

head of state of

the

enemy.

Today, whoever slaughters the most people and desttoys the

most property

wins.

Second, before war was waged an

offer

ofpeacehadtobeofferedtotheenemy.lfherefused, warwas

to

be

waged against

him

until

total

victory

was

secured against

him, so that he

would never be

a

threat to

that

peaceful nation

again. Third, in

warfare the fruit

trees were not

to be

devastated,

Dt

20:19-20. War was

not

to be waged

against

everything

and

everyone residing

in

theenemy nation, such

as

innocent

civilians. Fourth, there was universal

participation.

Just as

every citizen

was

required

to cast a

stone

in a

public

execution

of a

capital

criminal,

so

each tribe was required

to

send its quota

of

troops. Fifth, localism played

a part in

warfare. Tbose nearest the

battle were

expected to send more

men and to

support the

war more beavily than

those further

away.

D. THE HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

OF THE

PERSIAN GULF WAR

1. Iraq in the Bible

The geographical area now

called Iraq

played an

important

role in

the history of the

covenant in

the Old Testament.

The

Garden

of

Eden

may

have

beeninlraq. Nimrod,

the

first

great

tyrant may

have based his

operations in Iraq .

The

Tower of

Babelmay

have

been built in Iraq. Abraham may

have

been

originally fium Iraq,

where

the

Ur of

the

Chaldees probably

was located,

near

the

Tigris

and Euphrates Rivers,

both of

which are

in Iraq.

The great, ancient empires

of

Assyria

and

Babylonia

were

in Iraq.

2. Iraq and Islam

Iraq,

as

most other middle

eastern

countries,

such as Egypt,

Saudi Arabia, Syria,

and

Iran,

is a

Moslem (Islamic) country.

Its national religion, ethical system and

entire social order

are

based on

the

KORAN. slam is a

false

religion,

vigorously

anti-Ouistian, whichteachesitsfollowersthatMoslemsareto

conquer the world and

rid

the

world

of Ouistians

and

Jews,

(among

others),

by means of he sword, i.e.,bloodywars. The

history

ofIslam, as

the history

ofIraq,

is

the history of yranny

and

bloodthirstiness, viz.

the

recent Iran-Iraq

War.

3. Iraq and Israel

Arabs and Jews

have been at

each other's throats for

millenia.

t all started

with

Sarah's

pragmatism and

lack of

faith

in

divine

promise.

Jehovab

promisedAbrabam thathe and Sarah

would

have

a

child

in their old age. Sarahfound difficulty in

believing

that

she

would

conceive

at

such

an

old

age, so she

gave Hagar,

her

handmaid,

to her

husband, Abrabam,

to have

a

child

by

her. That

child

was

Ishmael. Because of her sin,

HagarandIshmaelwere banished

from

the family ofAbrabam

and

God

gave

Abrabam and Sarah the child

He

promised

in

Isaac. Ishmael,

the

fatber

of the Arab peoples,

and Isaac,

the

father of

he

Jewishpeople,have beenfightingeachotherever

since. IsaaclaterproducedJacobandEsau,who w ere fighting

in and as they came out

of

their mother's womb. Their

generations continue the

hostilities.

4.

Iraq and the USSR

norder to understand the

actions

of

he

USSR,

one thingmust

be kept

in

mind, according

to the

McAlvany

Intelligence

Adviser: 'The

Soviets

are masters

at

precipitating

and

then

playing both sides of a conflict

so

that no matter what the

outcome, they are on the wiruJing

side. With that

in mind,

although the USSR

publicly claims

to support

the

USA in

the Persian GulfWar, (although

she

will

not send anyldnd of

assistance), the

USSR remains anallyofJraq as a result of he

1972

Soviet-Iraqi Friendship and Cooperation Treaty, which

has never

been renoWlced. Before

Iraq's invasion of

Kuwait,

there

were

over

10

,

OOOSoviet"advisors"inIraq

,

and

Western

intelligence sources report

that

there

remain

8000

Soviet

advisors inlraq, alongwith30004000 Sovietmilitary

advisors.

The USSR

has sent $25 billion in

arms

to Iraq.

And

in the

August 10 edition

of PRAVDA, Gomachev

said, there is

nothing anti-Iraq inSoviet

policy

on

the (persian

Gulf)

crisis.

Moreover,

i

he

Kuwaiti oil-fields

go up

in smoke,

the

USSR

will benefit

greatly, since

she has

1/4

of the world's oil

production

The

Counsel of

Chalcedon

April 1991 Page 11


4/7

S. Iraq

and

the USA

There appears to be

much

duplicity in America's

dealings

with Iraq. On June 7;

1981,

Israeli warplanes destroyed the

French-builtOsiraknuclearreactornear Baghdad, Iraq. What

.happened next?

FiISt,Saudi Arabia

quickly

agteed

to pay all

costs of rebuilding the reactor.

Second,

the USA joined

with

Iraq in drafting a

UN Security

Council resolution strongly

condemningthe attack

and

recognizing Iraq's rightto nuclear

energy.

Now America has

attacked

Iraq to

destroy

her

potential nuclear capabilities.

In

he recent Iraq-Iran

War

, the USA supported Iraq.

When

IraqbombedtheUSSStarkinMay1987,killing37USsailors,

NEW

AMERICAN, Januaty29, 1991,

page 28 .) This sOunds

like an official US

invitation

for Iraq to invade Kuwait with

impunity. Nowthe

US has invadedlraq

becauSe

Iraq

invaded

Kuwait.

. E. T.HE REASONS

GIVEN

FOR AMERICA'S

INVOLVEMENT

IN

THE

PERSIAN

GULF WAR

IN

THE LIGHT OF THESE BffiLICAL

PRINCIPLES

As we evaluate the reasons the American

govemment

has

given for the involvement of 5OQ,QOO.700,000 American

troops inthe attack on Iraq, remember,as Cluistians,

we must

Hussein said it was an

accident

(?). PtesidentReagan( )

accepted

his excuse and blamed Iran

as the

real villain. Now we are at war

with Iraq, because HuSsein

invaded

Kuwait,

inwhichinvasion

no

Americans werek:illed,noU.S .

territory threatened, and no

Americans taken .hostage or

otherwlsedetained, untilPresident

Bush moved tens of housands of

US

troops into Saudi Arabia

seek:

to

interpret

all

issues

in

the

1 l

. ligl:i: of the Bible,

Isa

. 8:20. The

r r l 1 f ~ / e a

doe.f

I(ot1 air-oat Bible is clear, and

keep this

in

. mind: a just

war

is one fought in

, .

/.

.

/0 /0 . defenseOfthefainilies,propertles

II(

,f'lUlFe/fl

00

I1fOI(,f'lIer-,f'

110

and

(fuistian

moral order

of a

nation,Neh.4:

14

. AIlotherwars

r/e.ftr-O/.

u

~ th-e Ielt are unjust and sinful.

. I /. I L ..

I

/ 1. The restoration of Kuwait's

I 1 ~ f I e r 00 t/fle

0,-eed.011f

al(a . legitimate government.

In

1987 the US 'Commerce

Department, over the

objections

.

of the Pentagon, allowed certain

US

companies

to

scll

bacteria

and

anadvanced computer

for

missile

tests to an Iraqi institution

Are we biblically, (and

constitutionally), obligated to

. send our

own

men to

die

to

c . > ~ I ~

th-e eh-o./ff IO/f al(r/

accomplish

this?

Must

tens of

. thousands of our young

men and

lNirr/leator- ), ""o.J.Je,.. 01

JI

w o m e n i n u n i f o ~ d i e , s h o u l d a

'I(. '0 .1(.

ground war begm)

,

to restore an

. specializing in nuclear

and

genn

warfare.

NowtheUShasinvaded

Iraqtodestroyherchemicalandbiologicalwarfarecapabilities .

The most dupliCitous thing ofall of

Am

erica's relations with

Iraqis a conversationUS Ambassador AprilGlaSpie hadwith

Saddam Hussein on July

25,

1990.

On

July 23,

1990 US

officials reported that Iraq

had

amassed ov

er30,OOOtroops

on

its border

with

Kuwait OJ)

July

25, 1990, Hussein met

with

US

Ambassador

Glaspie.

In

her response

to

Hussein's

charges that the US was waging an economicwar against Iraq

by means

of

Kuwait in keeping the price of oil low through

overproduction, Glaspie

said:

I know you need

funds.

We

understand that our our opinion is that you

should

have the

opportunity

to

rebuild your country, BUT

WE

HAVE

NO

OPINION ON THE ARAB-ARAB. CONFLICTS,LIKE

YOUR BORDERDISAGREEMENT WITH KUWAIT ...,

(Secretary of State) James Baker has directed our

official

spokesman

to

emphasize this instruction.

(Reported

inTHE

The Counsel

of

Cbalcedon Aprll1991 Page 12

, Joln Quincy

Adams

. oppressive, despiSed, greedy

bereditaiymonarchy to Kuwait?

The American War of Independence of

1776

was fought

to

break free

from

such a

monarch. Before

the invasion of

Kuwait by Hussein, the

legitimate

govemment shut down

its

alreildy

limited parlianient and prohibited criticism of its

conuption

and

its abuse of

power.

This

reason Is inconsistent

with the biblical principle of defensive wars.

2. The destruction ofaggressive and evil dictators.

Parallels

re

constantly drawn by the mediaand by politicians

between Hussein

and

Hitler,

and many

of

them

are accurate

paral1cls;

but what about the parallels between Hitler, (and

StalinandMao),

and

Gorbachev,

whohasinvaded therepublics

ofLatvia,Estonia,andLithuania,toputdowntheirdesiresfor

freedom? WbatabouttheparallclshetWeenHitlerandthe&ed

Qrlnese at Tianarunen Square, or Hitler

and

Castro, Hitler

and the

Ethiopian

govemment which

continues

to

starve

its


5/7

anti-communistic

opposition to death by

the thousands,

or

HitlerandOrtegainNicaragua,andthecommunistgovenunent

in

Angola, Mozambique, etc.

ad

nauseam?

This reason is the pathetic standard ploy ofany

administration

who

wantstodrum up

supportforpolitical

wars. Furthennore,

who made

the

USA the policeman of he world? This reason

is inconsistent

with

the

biblical

principle of defensive

wars.

3. The protection and

rescue

of hostages.

Protecting

and

rescuing hostages, and

punishing nations

who

take Americans as hostages are

legitimate

goals ofwar, ur

the Bush Administration created the hostage problem. Bnsh

rushed troops into Saudi Arabia immediately following the

Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, giving

no

warning or time for

US

citizens to

leave

Iraq or Kuwait Besides, all American

hostages

are backhome, andourlroops

aresti1ltlxm:

American

troops were

not sent

there because ofhostages.

4.

The economic importance of the oil

fields

of the Middle East to the United States.

This is the most disgusting reason of all

those

given

for our

involvement

in

the present war. Bush is ordering soldiers to

prepare

to

sacrifice their lives, (possibly

by

the tens of

thousands),

so that we

can maintain

low prices

Jacob

Hornberger has

written,

''To choose

the

death of our fellow

citizens over a relatively small

economic

discomfort

is an

abomination."

The

cry,

"No blood foroil " has a

biblical ring

to it

5.

The unconditional and complete withdrawal

of all Iraqi troops trom Kuwait.

Is

there

any

biblical, (or constitutional), basis for US

involvementinthisArab-Arabconflict? Americadidnotsend

troops

to

get

the USSR out of Afghanistan, or

anna

out of

Tibet, or

Cuba

out

of

Angola, or

Soviet missiles out of Cuba.

Why send troops

now

to get

Iraq

out of Kuwait? Hussein's

brutality and aggression against Kuwait are

to

be condemned

by Christians, but,

as Wayne Rogers

has written, ''The

(non

christian)

Arabs

are

a

godless, un-Christian.

biblical-God

hating

people.

For Arabs to attack

Arabs

is for

one

ungodly

people

to

attack

another.

There is asense in

which we must

say thatbecause of theirnon-christiancultoral base, they reap

whatthey sow. Ifwe wantlohelp them,

we

shouldevangelize

them. However,

it is illegal to

do

so in most i not all

Arab

nations. Should we die for them? o you want your sons,

husbands, brothers to die to perpetuate a godless pagan

culture?" See Proverbs 26:17.

This

reason

for our involvement makes the Persian Gulf War

an

offensive,

not a

defensive, war.

The

USA committed the

first strike against Iraq, not the other way around. Offensive,

(holy) wars which have as theirpurposethe destruction ofevil

arenotpennissiblewithout

direct

verbal revelation from God.

Has

Bush

received

such communication?

Furthennore,

alliances withanti-christiannations areprohibited inthe Word

of God, Dt 7:2;

Judg

. 2:2; Exod. 23:32; IlCor. 6:14.

6. The stability of the Persian Gulf area.

What stability?

There

has not been stability and peace in

the

Middle Eastformillenia. Islam

is

a

religion

thatbreeds wars,

viz. the Iran-Jraq War,

and

tyrants, viz

Khomeini, Hussein,

Assad, Arafat,

Gadafi,

etc.

At

the same

time the US

is

trying

to

tear

down Hussein ofIraq, itis buildingup the

military and

political power

of

another

terrorist

and

tyrant,

Assad

ofSyria.

Then

there

is theirreconcilable conflictbetweenlsraeland

the

rest ofthe Middle East. There will be

no

rest from war in that

region

until

the Arab and

Jewish

heart

are converted

to

Jesus

Christ, who alone can give men

the

desire and ability to beat

their swords into plowshares and their

spears

into pruning

hooks. Andthatdaywillcome

Thedeserts

of he MiddleEast

will someday blossom

as

arosebefore the healing lightof"the

Sun

of Righteousness, with healing in his wings."

The

day

will come

when Arab

and

Jew

will

bow in

submission

together,

along

with the

rest of

the

Gentile world, before

the

blessed

rule

of

the

kingdom of Jesus Quist. President Bush,

in

typically

hmnanistic fashion is trying

to

establish peace in

the Middle

East by law and military,

but

without Jesus

Christ

and his gospel.

7.The enforcing of the international law

ofthe United Nations and the New World Order.

Where in the Bible, or the US Constitution, is the president

given the authority to

send

our troops to

shed

theirblood for

"anew world order," the vision of which Bush

says he

shares

with the

Soviet

dictator,

Gorbachev, in compliance with the

international law of

he

UN? Who gave the UN the authority

to

govern

us?

Whatis

the source ofitslaw? Whatisthis ''new

world order"? (More on this in next Sunday's sennon.) How

can

the

leader of the supposedly "Christian" West share a

vision

of a

new

world order

with the

leader of the Marxist,

atheistic Soviet Union?

President

Bush has made himself clear. He is seIVing the

purposes of he United Nations. Our troops are in the Middle

East

to carry out the mandates of the United Nations, (the

majority of whom,

by

the way, are anti-American in

1beir

votes)

. Ifyou think

this

is an exaggeration, hearBush's own

words on

August

8, 1990:

The Counsel

o

Cbakedon Apr il1991 Page 13


6/7

Weare working

around

the

clock to deterIraqi

aggression

and to

enforce

UN sanctions.

On November 26, 1990, in NEWSWEEK, President Bush

wrote:

We

will

continue

the

effective implementation of the

UN sanctions. -

We

w llhave invigorated a

United Nations

that conttibutes

as its founders dreamed. We

w ll

have

established principles for acceptable international conduct

and

the means to enforce them. In short, we w ll

have

taken

a major step toward a community

of

nations bound

by

a

common commitment

to peace and

restraint

In otherwords, the US President is wolking forthe day wben

the United Nations

w ll

legislate and enforce a mle of

law,

based not upon the

Word

of

God, but upon

the

consensus

of

the nations, which are predominantly anti-christian and

socialistic. And notice, he is

willing

to continue to

use

American troops as the

means

to

enforce thatanti-christian

mle of law,

as

he is doing in the Persian Gulf War.

His

professedcommitmentcompromisesAmerica'sindependence

and

sovereignty, and

strengthens

world socialism.

Wayne

Rogers,

has

written in a

unpublished

paper

entitled,

TheFrightening

Implications

of the War

with Iraq :

It

s

frightening to

me to acknowledge

the 'right' ofintemational

law. The UN is more and

more

realizing

its dream

of a one

worldgovemment

...

- Weshouldnotnorcaonotjustifywar

on the basisofUN

law.

PresidentBushhas

fallen

into the

trap

and

position

of

establishing man's

law

in the

place

of God's

law, and has acted in the

place

of

God

to

execute vengeance

upon a wicked nationendangeringthe lives of

his

own people

whom he is sworn to protect

ThetowerofBabelis being rebuilt

Watch

for

God to

actagain

to confuse the nations.

CONCLUSION

What then should America do?

1.

President Bush

and

the

Congress should

repent of heir

s n

of waging an unjust

war. Repentance

is

an

about face, a

complete

tum

around ofpolicy

andbehavior, turning

from s n

to obedience to the Word of he Lord. In his

case,

repentance

means to confess our sins to the world and to bring oliT

American troops back home. f a

ground

war

begins,

it w ll

undoubtedly lead

to

the

death

of

ens

of

housands

of our

men

and women

in

uniform in a matter of

days.

This is

bloodthirstiness.

The Counsel

of

Cbalcedon April 1991 Page 14

2. Americans must repent of those sins which are bringing

od

ssevere

udgment upon

us,notoulyin the blood

and

grief

connected with

war,butinourowneconomyas well.

Twenty

five

million legally aborted

American babies silently scream

for

justice.

3.

Christians must evangelize

withbeart.

The only hope

for

America,

and forthe restofthe world is

the

LordJesus Christ.

Complaining is

not

enough.

Voting

is

notenough.

Lobbying

is not enough. Education is not enough. Unless

we

wOlk

perseveringlyandenthusiasticallytomaketheworld'snations

Christ's disciples

as

we are conunanded in the Great

Commission ofMatthew28,beginningwith the

evangelizing

of

hose

closest at hand,

Acts

1 8,

we

aremakingno

significant

contribution to the

rescue

and renewal ofAmerica

Christians

must

evangelize

with

heart.

The onlyhope

for

America,

and

for

the

rest

of

the

world is

the LordJesus

Christ

Unless

we work

perseveringly

nd

enthusiastically to

make

the

world's

nations

Christ's

disciples

as

we

are

commanded in

the Great

ommission ofMatthew 28,

beginning with the

evangelizing

of

those

closest

at hand,

Acts 1:8 we are

making no signific nt

contribution

to

the

rescue

and renewal ofAmerica.

4. Christians must be on

their

guard against

this massive

wave ofblind

patriotism

that

has

swept

America.

Over 85%

ofAmericans are

with

the

President The issues

before us

are

so emotional that few

peoplew ll

reason

carefully

about them

from the

perspective

of the

Word

of God.


7/7

DonotmisWlderstandme. IloveAmerica Patriotismisgood.

Nationalism

was instituted

byGod.

Family-bonds

andnational

bonds

are

God-ordained

relations. My

heart yeams for

America. I

would

gladly fightin

the defense

of herpeople and

families.

Pacificism is a heresy. BUT, when the flames of

patriotism

are fanned

by

emotional

appeal, and an Wlbiblical

kindofnationalismthatsays, AmericarightorWrong, rather

than

being

guided nd

infonned by

the

Word and Spirit of

God, itbecomes adangerous

thing.

Overnight, it can

be

turned

upon the Church, upon Cluistians

who

are

not afraid to stand

up to an Wlgodly civil

government

and criticize it in the light

oftheWordofGod. ThatiswhathappenedinGermanyinthe

rise

of Naziism before

the

onslaughts

of

World War IT n

building the Third Reich, Hitler fanned the flames of German

nationalism and ethnic pride to such

white

heat, that

Germans

committed some of he most atrocious acts conceived byman.

Millions

of Gennan

Christians

and

Jews

were killed

by this

blind patriotism and love for Hitler's Vater and.

5.

Cluistians must

pray

for our

troops in

the Middle East

They

are

brave men nd women, wbo

are

willing to lay down

their lives for what they think

is

right Many of them are

Christians. Many of them have been converted since they

have arrived in Saudi Arabia. Pray

that

God Himself would

be their Shield. Pray that more would be converted

to

Cluist

Pray that God would

comfort

and convert their

families.

Our

only protection in this

evil world

is

not

Desert Shield, but

Jehovah, our Shield, Gen. IS: Iff.

6.Americans

should

keep their eyes on the Soviet Union

throughout this

debacle.

Frank Gaffoey, a former senior

Defense Department official reports in

The

McALvan:y

/ntelligenceAdvisor, (October

1990): The Soviets areplaying

aCynicaldoublegame,oneinwhichtheyseektoconcurrently

improve relations with the US and its allies particularly

improved

access

to

Western capital

nd

technology-while

retaining great latitude

to

expand their own agenda at the

West's

expense.

The

so-called

emerging World Order

is

principally a vehicle for the Soviet Union to constrain the US.

TheBushAdministration'sdetenninationtopursuepartnership

with Moscow (inside and outside the UN), seemingly at

virtually any price, plays into Soviet hands.

Moscow's

double

game is

likely

over the short-run to

embolden

Iraq, while constraining

the

US, a formula for

enormously increasing

the

stature ofSad dam Husseinand the

SovietUnion inAraheyes while dangerously diminishing

US

standing throughout the region. Over the longer run,

Washington's willingness

to

play

along,

in

the misguided

expectations

that

doing

so

will

advance

theNew

World Order,

willactuallyincreasethe

prospects

[or instability andconflict

7.

Cluistians must continue to believe strongly in the total

sovereignty of the Holy Trinity, Who

is

governing all the

events

ofhistory for

the

benefit of

His

people, the advance of

His

kingdom, nd

the

glory of His Name. Pray earnestly that

God'sName willbehallowed, God'skingdom willcome,

and

God'swillwillbedoneonearthasitisinheaven.remembering

that God

would

never command us to pray for something

whichHehasno intention to bringto pass through ourprayers.

Continue

to

praise

God

because He said truthfully:

/am God, and there is no

one

like Me, declaring the endfrom

the

beginning,

andfrom ancient

times

things which have not

been done, saying, 'My

purpose

will be

established, and/will

accomplish aI/My goodpleasure ;Calling a birdofprey rom

the east, the man o My purpollefrom f r country. Truly /

have

spoken;

truly / will bring it to pass. / have planned it,

surely [will do it. (lsaiah46:8-11) Q

The

COWlSel

of Chalcedon

April 1991

Page

5

Documents

1991 Issue 3 - The Persian Gulf War: Was This a Biblically Just War? - Counsel of Chalcedon