By
John D. Steed
www.dictionary.com defines a terrorist as follows: “ter·ror·ist (trr-st) n. One that engages in acts or an act of terrorism.”
“ter·ror·ism (tr-rzm) n. The unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.”
Given the current “War on Terrorism” it is interesting to take this definition and apply it historically…
Two thousand years ago a bearded religious fanatic used violence in a financial centre to intimidate those present for ideological reasons. It is recorded that he “went up to Jerusalem. And he found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: and he made a scourge of cords, and cast all out of the temple, both the sheep and the oxen; and he poured out the changers' money, and overthrew their tables; and to them that sold the doves he said, Take these things hence; make not my Father's house a house of merchandise.”
Was this man a terrorist??? The authorities thought so (though they did not know of the term), they executed him in the end. Of course today many of us believe him to be the Messiah, the Son of Elohim!
Now I should say right here that I do not write this article to give support to those who use bombs to kill (planted or dropped from aircraft), or those who crash aircraft into buildings. I write in order to urge caution as the world proceeds to wage a “war on terrorism.” For while wanton killers may be targeted at present, things could very quickly change so that another group of people are branded “terrorists” and made the target of this war.
Let’s go back a bit further in history…3500 years ago
another bearded religious fanatic (He claimed to have been speaking to the
Creator of the universe!) wandered into the court of the ruler of the
pre-eminent power of the time – Egypt – and threatened violence against property
and person unless that nation allowed it’s Hebrew slaves – vital national
workers – to go free!
His threats were not empty, the water supply was polluted (became as blood),
a couple of biological plagues were unleashed – a disease which killed all
domestic animals and another which caused serious skin problems on humans -
amongst other major pest problems. To cap it off every firstborn child in Egypt
was killed, something that would have meant the death of hundreds of thousands
of men, women and children!
Egypt capitulated and allowed the Hebrew slaves to go free. Was this man a terrorist??? His name was Mosheh, he established the nation of Israel and received it’s law from the hand of the Creator of the universe – YHWH.
Here’s another example. A bearded religious fanatic walked into a kings court and said “As YHWH, the Elohim of Israel, lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word.” Sounds more like the ravings of a mad-man than a terrorist threat…and I’m sure the king thought so too. But three years later - without rain – when meeting the man again, he said “Is it thou, thou troubler of Israel?” This “troubler of Israel” was of course Eliyah. But only YHWH could stop it raining,” you say, “Eliyah didn’t do it.” Consider the words of Ya’akov (James) “Eliyah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again; and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit.” Yes, YHWH stopped the rain, but at Eliyah' s request. Eliyah of course had an ideological agenda – he wanted an end to Ba’al worship – and he used force, YHWH’s force, to bring it about…and a little violence (450 dead priests of Ba’al).
It’s interesting to note Eliyah' s response to Ahab’s accusation that he was the “troubler of Israel.” He answered, “I have not troubled Israel; but you, and your father's house, in that you have forsaken the commandments of YHWH, and you have followed the Ba’alim.” Eliyah said in effect that Ahab had brought it on himself, in fact more than on himself, because it also effected the innocent in Israel. But from Ahab’s perspective Eliyah was to blame…
This undoubtedly will be the same when the two witnesses of Revelation 11 become active. “I will give unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.” Definitely sound like religious fanatics! They are not harmless, for it says: “if any man desires to hurt them, fire proceeds out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and if any man shall desire to hurt them, in this manner must he be killed.”
Also they will pollute the water supply, cause droughts, and inflict various plagues: “These have the power to shut the heaven, that it rain not during the days of their prophecy: and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to smite the earth with every plague, as often as they shall desire.” Note the use of “they” – the power and authority comes from YHWH, but they wield it and make decisions.
Naturally the authorities will seek to destroy them, I can see the headlines: “Wanted dead or alive” – just as Ben Ladan is today! It says that when they are finally killed in Jerusalem, “they that dwell on the earth rejoice over them, and make merry; and they shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwell on the earth.” Anyone would think it was Christmas! Note the word “tormented,” this could be translated “terrorized” if one wanted to use a more modern expression, which puts this into a very current context!
Yes, to a world that doesn’t know YHWH, a world that is
set on the path of doing everything he despises, these two prophets will be
every bit the terrorist that Ben Ladan is…and worse. So as the world wages a
“war on terror,” seeking to destroy “terrorists” and “all who give comfort to
them”, just consider who the next target could be…