Some compelling comparisons have been made between Ancient Israel and America. Understandably, its dangerous to speak for God and to declare what is or is not His Sovereign Hand or His Will. Certainly the Bible provides examples of His interaction with people, in general, and chosen people, specifically. Before bringing judgment, He always gives warnings. Back when 9/11 happened, for obvious reasons and with such fresh wounds, it was deemed insensitive (at least) to link 9/11 to God, to a warning or judgment, or anything of that sort. In fact, a few tried to talk about America repenting from its turning from God, and it wasnt well received. So instead, on more than one occasion, our leaders quoted Isaiah 9, which basically says, we are big. we are strong. we will not be intimidated. we will rebuild what has been destroyed, but bigger and stronger. The problem is that Isaiah 9 is a defiant nation, Ancient Israel, which also ignored its many warnings and was destroyed. Heres more of the passage, and of course, I cant say that it does or does not have ANYTHING to do with America. Im just saying that our leaders quoted it. You can go look that one up for yourself. Below the Isaiah passage, also note that One World Trade Center opened in November. According to wikipedia, it is in fact bigger AND more secure. Im not saying America did anything wrong or turned its back on God. Im not saying God brought judgment on America (or started the process). Im just saying our leaders said, well build back bigger and stronger and thats now complete. IF GOD was warning us, what weve said is, we dont need Him. WE (the key word here) will build back BIGGER and STRONGER, quoting from Isaiah. And WE did! After feeling totally vulnerable, as a nation, on the morning of 9/11, it was breathtaking how quickly we asserted our strength, our power and our sufficiency. Just give it a week or two with no more terrorist attacks, and were feeling like King of the Hill again. It was remarkable how little reflection took place. If God was giving us a wake up call (and Im not saying that He was), we arguably ignored it and hit the accelerator in the opposite direction. I wont name the issues, but I think you know already. Fast forward 7 years, Financial Meltdown 2008, Fast forward 7 years, welcome to 2015. Love, your friend (or former) Chris. The Lord’s Anger Against Israel (Isaiah 9) 8 The Lord has sent a message against Jacob; it will fall on Israel. 9 All the people will know it— Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria— who say with pride and arrogance of heart, 10 “THE BRICKS HAVE FALLEN DOWN, BUT WE WILL REBUILD WITH DRESSED STONE (Bigger, better, stronger); the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.” 11 But the Lord has strengthened Rezin’s foes against them and has spurred their enemies on. One World Trade Center (wikipedia) Security features Along with the protection offered by the reinforced concrete base, a number of other safety features were included in the buildings design, in order to better prepare it for a major accident or terrorist attack. In line with the new philosophy set by 7 World Trade Center, the building features 3-foot (91 cm) thick reinforced concrete walls for all stairwells, elevator shafts, risers, and sprinkler systems; extra-wide, pressurized stairwells; a dedicated set of stairwells exclusively for the use of firefighters; and biological and chemical filters throughout its ventilation system.[134][166] By way of comparison, the Twin Towers used a purely steel central core to house their utility functions, protected only by a system of lightweight drywall panels.[167] The building is no longer 25 feet (8 m) away from West Street, as the Twin Towers were; at its closest point, West Street is 65 feet (20 m) away. The windows on the side of the building facing in this direction are equipped with specially tempered blast-resistant plastic, which looks nearly the same as the glass used in the other sides of the building.[134] The Port Authority has stated: Its structure is designed around a strong, redundant steel moment frame consisting of beams and columns connected by a combination of welding and bolting. Paired with a concrete-core shear wall, the moment frame lends substantial rigidity and redundancy to the overall building structure while providing column-free interior spans for maximum flexibility.[166] In addition to optimal safety design, new security measures will also be implemented. All vehicles will be screened before they enter the site by the underground roadway, including for radioactive materials. Four hundred closed-circuit surveillance cameras will be placed in and around the site, with live camera feeds being monitored around the clock by the NYPD. A computer system will use video-analytic computer software designed to detect potential threats such as unattended bags and retrieve images based on descriptions of terror or other criminal suspects. New York City and Port Authority police will patrol the site.[168] I FIND THIS A BIT HUMOROUS, BECAUSE IT IS PLACED RIGHT BELOW THE DESCRIPTION OF THE SECURITY. Incidents The tower was scaled in March 2014 by 16-year-old New Jersey resident Justin Casquejo, who entered the site through a hole in a fence. He was subsequently arrested on trespassing charges and apologized for the disruption, but gave no apology for trespassing.[174] He allegedly dressed like a construction worker, then sneaked in and convinced an elevator operator into giving him a lift to the tower’s 88th floor, according to news sources. He then used stairways to get to the 104th floor, walked past a sleeping security guard, and climbed up a ladder to get to the antenna, where he took pictures for two hours
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 22:56:25 +0000
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