Chapter I - "9-11" - A 9-1-1 God's Emergency Call to America

  

Chapter I

 

9-11 And the Scriptures

 

In the book of Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah is amazed when the enemies of Israel enter the gates of Jerusalem. He says, “Never the kings of the earth nor did the inhabitants of the world believe that the enemies and adversaries of Jerusalem would someday cross the seas and attack the city. “But it happened.” (Lamentations 4:11).

Nor did the people of the United States believe that the enemy would someday cross the seas and attack the Twin Towers, the headquarters of the International Trade Center in New York City, and even less the headquarters of the armed forces, the Pentagon! 

He will direct the blows of his battering rams against your walls and demolish your towers with his weapons. His horses will be so many that they will cover you with dust. Your walls will tremble at the noise of the warhorses, wagons, and chariots when he enters your gates as men enter a city whose walls have been broken through. The hooves of his horses will trample all your streets; he will kill your people with the sword, and your strong pillars will fall to the ground. (Ezekiel 26:9–11)

The king of Babylon invaded the city of Jerusalem on the 9/11 date of the prophet Jeremiah’s days (39:2). This invasion happened on the nine (9) days of the year eleven (11) in the reign of King Zedekiah. The enemy opened a gap in the city’s wall on that date.

It is interesting to note the confusion of the languages in the Tower of Babel—the number eleven (11) first and then nine (9)—as the same confusion of their tongues. The text says that the city under construction was called Babel because it was there that the Lord confused the people’s languages and scattered them throughout the world (Genesis 11:9).

It is impressive that the restoration of speaking the same language is found in the New Testament on the day of Pentecost on a 9–11 Bible verse. 

Parthians, Medes, and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs—we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues! (Acts 2:9–11)

           

September 11, 2001

On September 11, 2001, the news media worldwide began to spread the news, like wildfire, of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon. They immediately began to blame each other for what happened. It does not matter who did it or how they did it; the truth is that God knows how and who did it and foretold it by his prophets thousands of years ago.

The blame was not on those innocent creatures trapped in that hell of fire. The responsibility falls on the terrorists, from inside and outside, who “were swifter than eagles in the sky.; they chased us over the mountains and lay in wait for us in the desert” (Lamentations 4:19).

The blame also falls on the wicked men who give bad advice in the city, conspire with the courts of justice, and pervert the order established by God for a healthy coexistence walking according to the divine precepts. Therefore, God tells the prophet that he would take away every expression of joy, rejoicing, and bride’s song and that it would happen in those days, and they would see it (Jeremiah 16:9–11).

The first question is, “Why does the Lord decree this great calamity against us?” The second question is, “What is our iniquity?” The third, “What sin have we committed against the Lord our God?” And the Lord answered, 

“Say to them, ‘It is because your ancestors forsook me,’ declares the LORD, ‘and followed other gods and served and worshiped them. They forsook me and did not keep my law. All this is because their ancestors abandoned Him and went after other gods, served them, and worshiped them. But they left the Lord and did not comply with their law.” (Jeremiah 16:11)

The blame also falls on the prophets who make predictions without receiving any vision following their inspiration. Visionaries did not take their place in the gaps nor repair the walls that protected the people from remaining firm in the battle on a dreadful day. For that reason, the Lord says through the prophet that he would raise his hand against the prophets, against those who have false visions and lying divinations. He continues, saying that those prophets have deceived his people by saying everything is going well, but things are not going well (Ezekiel 13:9–11).

The shepherds also share the guilt for taking care of themselves instead of taking care of the flock. Shepherds who drink the milk, dress in the sheep’s wool, and kill the fattest do not care for the sick and heal their wounds. Shepherds who do not go by the wayward seek the lost; on the contrary, they treat the flock with cruelty and violence. That is why the sheep will be scattered and dispersed, for lack of a shepherd! Therefore, the Lord tells them that he would be against his shepherds. He would hold them accountable for the flock and take away the responsibility of pasturing his sheep, and they would no longer graze themselves. Likewise, he would snatch his sheep from their jaws so that they would not serve them as food anymore; he would go out for his sheep and care for them (Jeremiah 23:1–4).

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Some innocent victims who perished only thought about the weddings they would attend; others thought of returning to their families. Some thought about their fiery celebrations of diverse kinds, and others about returning from their well-deserved vacations. The word was already given when Ezekiel said the terrorists would invade like a hurricane, like a cloud covering the earth. They said they would raid a defenseless country and attack people who lived confidently in cities without walls, doors, or locks (Ezekiel 38:9–11). 

 

The Morning of September 11, 2001 

That day had dawned like any other autumnal morning. Life passed as usual, and four planes took off on routine flights to their respective destinations. But then, the aircraft changed course toward their tragic fate in the blink of an eye. 

At approximately 8:00 a.m., the Boeing 767 flight 11 to Los Angeles, with ninety-two (9 + 2 = 11) passengers on board, separated from its umbilical cord. The passengers entered terminal twenty-five of Boston Logan International Airport and headed toward the runway for 4,190 kilometers. 

A few minutes into the flight, the airplane had reached quite a height, and everything was in complete order. But then, the aircraft suddenly turned; terrorists had hijacked the plane. It is unknown how they managed to go unnoticed. It was 8:48 a.m. when they were heading down the Hudson River to New York City toward their final and tragic destiny: one of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, in whose window glass the bright sun of that tragic morning reflected in all its splendor.

They had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the thundering of many horses and chariots rushing into battle. They had the angel of the Abyss as king over them, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek is Apollyon (Destroyer). (Revelation 9:9, 11)

At 9:00 a.m. on the ninth (9) day of the eleventh (11) month, like a missile of vast proportions, that enormous 48-meter (159-foot) device with its tanks full of fuel, crashed into that gigantic 110-story building, penetrating entirely through the windows of the North Tower and unleashing a hellish fire of enormous proportions. 

As television cameras broadcast the eerie images of the World Trade Center’s North Tower turned into a gigantic torch of black smoke, another group of terrorists had taken control of Flight 175 bound for Los Angeles. They had been diverted by way of New York City as well.

Flight 175 turned to New York at 8:36 a.m. in the vicinity of the neighboring state of New Jersey, and one minute to 9:00 in the morning, the airplane made a final turn on the way to the World Center of Commerce (the World Trade Center).

It was 9:03 a.m. on that painful morning of 9/11, and the television cameras broadcast to the audience the images of the first crash “live and in full color.” Then, a bewailing world, unable to believe what was unfolding before their eyes, saw the second plane crash into the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Such was the impact on the South Tower that a few minutes later, like a lit candle, it melted before the first tower hit and collapsed in a cloud of dust and ashes.

The earth shook, the adjoining buildings cracked, and the terrified people ran through the streets, away from the collapsed buildings’ infernal ball of smoke and dust. 

The prophet Jeremiah said that on that day, from that day, the hearts of the king, the chief, and the priests would be filled with panic, and the prophets would remain amazed; even the prophet himself exclaimed and said, “Lord my God, how have you created these people!” “From the desert hills, a scorching wind blows in the direction of the capital of my people. It is not the wind that serves to winnow or clean the wheat” (Jeremiah 4:9).

The book of Revelation says the kings of the earth, who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury, saw the fire’s smoke that consumed her, and they would cry for her. Terrified to see such a punishment, they would keep at a distance, shouting: “Woe, woe to the great city, Babylon, mighty city, because in a single hour your vice has come! The merchants of the earth will cry and mourn for her because there will no longer be anyone who will buy their merchandise from them” (Revelation 18:9–11).

 

Flights 77 and 93 

Flight 77, like the other two hijacked planes, had taken off from Dulles Airport in the federal capital, heading for Los Angeles. Instead, a few minutes past 8:00 a.m., the plane headed toward the Ohio–Kentucky border and turned left. But again, the terrorists had taken control of the flight.

Minutes later, the airplane fell on the Pentagon’s United States Department of Defense headquarters like a bird for its prey. Such was the impact that it created a 5-story gap on one of the building’s five sides.

Isaiah the prophet says that the Lord contained his anger for his name’s sake; because of his praise, he held back so as not to annihilate her. The Lord had refined her, but not like silver. He had tested her in the friction oven. How could he allow his name to be profaned when he does not yield his glory to anyone else? (Isaiah 48: 9-11)

The fourth airplane was United Airlines Flight 93. Only 38 (3 + 8 = 11) passengers were on board and seven crew members. Flight 93 was heading from Newark, New Jersey, to San Francisco.

As the Boeing 747 aircraft approached Cleveland, Ohio, it made a 180-degree turn and headed for Pennsylvania. Air traffic controllers reported hearing screams coming from the pilots’ radio. Then came a call to the emergency service; “They have kidnapped us,” said an unidentified man. What happened on flight ninety-three will remain a mystery despite accounts of courageous resistance.