“Our war is with Hezbollah, not the people of Lebanon”

Israeli special forces are engaged in “limited and targeted raids” in southern Lebanon this morning, according to an IDF spokesman. Their purpose is reportedly not to occupy the country but to allow Israelis living in northern Israel to return to their homes.

Israel has been criticized for attacking “civilian” buildings in its latest conflict with Hezbollah, but this is because the terrorists have hidden their weapons and missile launching positions within civilian villages. In fact, the corrupt warlord Hassan Nasrallah and other senior Hezbollah leaders were gathered in a bunker more than sixty feet beneath a working-class neighborhood in southern Beirut when Israel’s air force struck the bunker with a series of timed, chained explosions to penetrate it.

According to the IDF spokesman, Hezbollah had been planning “to invade Israel, attack Israeli communities, and massacre innocent men, women, and children.” By contrast, he stated, “I want to make it clear: our war is with Hezbollah, not with the people of Lebanon. We do not want to harm Lebanese civilians, and we’re taking measures to prevent that.”

Israel has repeatedly warned civilians before staging strikes, using text messages and voice recordings to urge them to leave dangerous areas. It even warned an Iranian plane not to land in Beirut lest it be attacked.

When America stood behind Israel

Unlike Hezbollah and Hamas, who are pledged to the genocidal destruction of the State of Israel and the Jewish people, Israel’s war aim is to enable Lebanon to seize a post-Hezbollah future for its people while restoring stability to the region. In fact, in the wake of Nasrallah’s death, Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister said yesterday that his government is ready to fully implement a UN resolution that would end Hezbollah’s armed presence near the Israeli border and replace them with the Lebanese army in the area.

Nonetheless, in a speech to the UN last week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Anti-Israel incidents of assault, vandalism, harassment, protests, and divestment resolutions on US college campuses escalated 477 percent across the year following Hamas’s October 7 invasion.

There was a day when the United States stood unequivocally behind the Jewish nation and her people in the face of their enemies. For example, when the United Nations tried in 1975 to condemn Zionism (the belief that the Jewish people need and deserve a homeland) as “a form of racism and racial discrimination,” US Ambassador to the UN Daniel Patrick Moynihan denounced “this infamous act” as a “political lie of a variety well-known to the twentieth century, and scarcely exceeded in all that annal of untruth and outrage.”

That was then—this is now.

Here’s the good news: Condemnations on college campuses and behind UN lecterns are less threatening to Israel since they are coming from outside the country. My Israeli friends tell me the nation is united in its resolve to defeat the terrorists who threaten their lives and their future. After leading more than thirty pilgrimages to the Holy Land, I can tell you that her people, while enormously diverse on a wide range of religious and political issues, are passionately committed to the State of Israel.

By contrast, the “untruth and outrage” condemning America are coming from within our nation and imperil our very future.

Is America “among the greatest countries of the world”?

In 1980, the self-described Marxist socialist Howard Zinn wrote A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to Present. His book has sold more than three million copies; scholars claim that “no introductory work of American history has had more influence over the past forty years.”

In Zinn’s telling, a nation’s history is comprised of “the fierce conflicts of interest . . . between conquerors and conquered, masters and slaves, capitalists and workers, dominators and dominated in race and sex.” He applies such Marxist thinking to American history with devastating consequences.

He and the critical theory proponents who have popularized this ideology condemn the United States as a racist project built by white supremacists to advance themselves by oppressing others. Unsurprisingly, a cacophony of liberal scholars have been calling in recent years for the US Constitution to be abolished in response.

Such attacks on the moral foundations of our nation are having their effect. In 1998, 70 percent of Americans considered patriotism to be very important; today it’s 38 percent. The younger you are, the less likely you are to believe that the US is “among the greatest countries of the world.”

King David asked:

“If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3).

What, indeed?

“Be worthy of the gospel of Christ”

As Israel seeks to secure peace for itself in the face of virulent terrorist opposition, I am praying for “the peace of Jerusalem” (Psalm 122:6) to be extended to Lebanon and her people. I am praying for an end to Hezbollah’s bloody reign that has victimized so many Lebanese, Americans, Israelis, and Syrians over four decades. And for the same with regard to Hamas and other jihadist groups that threaten the Middle East and beyond.

I am similarly praying for a new regime in Iran, one that would serve the interests of its long-suffering people. And for a new stability in the Middle East that unites Jews and Arabs in building secure homelands for Israelis and Palestinians.

I am also praying for a renewal of American purpose and mission, one aligned with our founding proclamation that all people—from preborn children to racial minorities to the elderly and infirm—are endowed by our Creator with “unalienable” rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. I am praying for a return to the consensual religious morality that George Washington and other founders considered so “indispensable” to political prosperity.

And I am praying for Christians to be submitted to the sanctifying Spirit of God so fully that we can be among the “righteous” to whom David referred (cf. Ephesians 5:18). Paul exhorted his readers to “let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ” (Philippians 1:27). America has never needed America’s Christians to live such lives more urgently than today.

Will you join me?

Tuesday news to know:

• Jimmy Carter turns 100: Long legacy of giving celebrated with new homes, benefit concert
• Death toll triples in Asheville area after Hurricane Helene guts North Carolina: “There were bodies in the trees”
• Dikembe Mutombo, a towering NBA presence, dies at 58
• Pete Rose, Major League Baseball’s all-time hit king, has died at 83
• On this day in 1988: Mikhail Gorbachev becomes head of Soviet Union

Quote for the day:

“To the distinguished character of Patriot, it should be our highest glory to add the more distinguished character of Christian” (George Washington).

Denison Forum

How Benjamin Netanyahu tricked “the” terrorist

Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike on the group’s central command headquarters Friday. An Iranian general was killed in the same strike. Israel’s military says it has now eliminated eight of Hezbollah’s nine most senior military commanders. As of this morning, Israel has also killed Hamas leaders in Lebanon and Syria and bombed Houthi targets in Yemen.

However, the killing of Nasrallah is making headlines not just for its political significance but also for the way it was conducted.

According to a senior Israeli official, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Friday address to the United Nations was part of a “diversionary plan” intended to make Nasrallah believe Israel would not take drastic action with the prime minister out of the country. The terrorist leader was believed to be watching Mr. Netanyahu’s speech at the UN “and was then attacked by Israeli Air Force planes.” The prime minister approved the strike before delivering his speech, the official added.

A “measure of justice”

To Hezbollah and its jihadist allies, Nasrallah is being mourned today as a hero. To US President Joe Biden, his killing was a “measure of justice” for his many victims, including “hundreds of Americans over a four-decade reign of terror” and thousands of Israeli and Lebanese civilians.

To Mr. Netanyahu, Nasrallah “was not just another terrorist—he was the terrorist” (his emphasis).

As a reminder, Israel’s current conflict with Hezbollah started when the terrorist group began bombing northern Israel in solidarity with Hamas’s genocidal invasion on October 7. Nearly eighty thousand Israelis living near the Lebanese border have been forced to flee. Israel’s goal is to enable them to return to their homes in peace.

As I watched the news regarding Nasrallah’s death unfold over the weekend, the biblical admonition echoed in my mind: “Be sure your sin will find you out” (Numbers 32:23).

“The soul who sins shall die”

I am not saying that all suffering is the consequence of sin. To the contrary, I am praying fervently for the many innocent victims of Hurricane Helene in the southeastern US and for the brave Ukrainians as they stand up to Vladimir Putin’s murderous invasion.

I am not saying that Israel’s leaders can do no wrong or that their every action is an expression of God’s will. Nor am I claiming that the State of Israel founded in 1948 is a direct fulfillment of biblical prophecy, a question that is much debated (see my extensive article here).

But I am saying that sins have consequences for sinners.

• Some are apparent in the moment, as with God’s judgment on Ananias and Sapphira for their deception (Acts 5:1–11) and on King Herod for his idolatrous pride (Acts 12:20–23).
• Some take longer to unfold, as with God’s eventual judgment on Egypt (Exodus 15) and the execution of the genocidal Haman in Persia (Esther 7:7–10).
• Some must be “discerned” through the eyes of faith as we trust the justice and timing of God (Psalm 73:17).

But all unconfessed and unrepented sin leads to the same ultimate result: “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). For the lost, their “death” is eternity in hell (Revelation 20:15). For the Christian, their “death” is the forfeit of God’s blessing in this life and reward in the next (cf. 1 Corinthians 3:10–15).

I have often quoted the maxim,

“Sin will always take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, and cost you more than you wanted to pay.”

If you are thinking that this statement doesn’t apply to you, you’re being deceived right now.

Three personal steps

How should we respond today?

One: Confess personal sins immediately.

Since none of us knows when we will stand before God’s judgment (Matthew 24:36; Hebrews 9:27), we must be ready to meet him today. Ask his Spirit to show you anything that is wrong between you and your Lord, then confess what comes to your mind and claim your Father’s forgiving grace (1 John 1:9). Do it now.

Two: Seek reconciliation with others.

Jesus taught us to “first be reconciled to your brother” even before offering worship to the Lord (Matthew 5:24). The only day we have to make our relationships right with others is today.

Three: View temptation as spiritual poison leading to death.

God will enable us to defeat all temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13), but we must turn immediately to him, seeking the power and victory that can be ours.

A surprising thank-you card

In one of my pastorates, I preached a sermon emphasizing our need to be ready for the judgment of God. Following our evening service, an older couple thanked me for my message that morning. They told me they had taken my sermon to heart, praying together that afternoon as they confessed their sins and asked God to make them right with him and others.

On Monday, the wife died of a heart attack. On Tuesday, I received a thank-you card from her in the mail. She had written and posted it on Sunday in case she did not see me that night. I read it in her memorial service on Wednesday.

You and I are one day closer to eternity than ever before.

Are you ready?

Monday news to know:

• Helene flooding strands hundreds of North Carolina residents as storm’s death toll reaches 95
• Kris Kristofferson death: Country music legend and Blade star dies, aged 88
• Maggie Smith is remembered by “Harry Potter” co-stars, peers, and fans in moving tributes
• Austrian far right projected to register historic election win
• On this day in 1954: USS Nautilus—world’s first nuclear submarine—is commissioned

*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.

Quote for the day:

“Let us stop the progress of sin in our soul at the first stage, for the farther it goes the faster it will increase.” —Thomas Fuller

Denison Forum

The relationship between private virtue and public flourishing

In our ever-more connected world, what happens anywhere can affect us everywhere. For example, what implications could the recent exploding pager attacks against Hezbollah have for air travel in America? Could terrorists do to us what Israel was able to do to Hezbollah terrorists? Could our personal electronics explode mid-flight, bringing our planes crashing to the ground?

The answer is actually good news: US officials say TSA screening is able to detect such explosives, so they have no current plans to ban such devices from air travel. However, the issue reminds us that actions in one part of the world have direct consequences on the other side of the world.

Another example is President Biden’s recent announcement that the US is donating one million mpox vaccine doses and at least $500 million to African countries to support their response to the outbreak. This is good global citizenship, but it is also a way to counter the spread of the virus to our country.

Now let’s consider another illustration of our topic, one that affects every one of us in truly vital ways.

Do you trust the government to tell you the truth?

More than 60 percent of Americans admit to “self-silencing”—keeping their true feelings on sensitive topics to themselves. For example:

• Only 22 percent of Americans say publicly that they trust the government to tell them the truth. (Consider for a moment the implications of this response.) However, when asked in a way that preserves their anonymity, it turns out only 4 percent actually feel this way.
• 24 percent say publicly that they trust the media to tell them the truth, but only 7 percent say the same in private.
• 37 percent say publicly that we live in a “mostly fair society,” but only 7 percent say the same privately.

These numbers are deeply troubling on two levels: the degree of distrust we feel toward our government, media, and society, and the degree of distrust we feel even to share our true feelings in public.

This news reveals an issue foundational to our democracy, one identified early in our history by John Adams. (In what follows, the founding father means “Republican” to refer to the American democratic republic, not the political party that arose nearly a century later. Also, I preserved the capitalizations and spellings he used.) In 1772, Adams wrote that “the preservation of Liberty depends upon the intellectual and moral Character of the People.” Four years later, he stated:

There must be a positive Passion for the public good, the public Interest, Honour, Power, and Glory, established in the Minds of the People, or there can be no Republican Government, nor any real liberty. And this public Passion must be Superiour to all private Passions. Men must be ready, they must pride themselves, and be happy to sacrifice their private Pleasures, Passions, and Interests, nay their private Friendships and dearest Connections, when they Stand in Competition with the Rights of society.

In 1795, Adams warned: “When Ambition and Avarice are predominant Passions and Virtue is lost, Republican Governments are in danger.” In 1798, he famously stated:

“Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”

In 1807, he claimed, “Without national Morality, a Republican Government cannot be maintained.” And in 1819, he stated, “Without Virtue, there can be no political Liberty.”

“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom”

According to John Adams, the personal morality of some of us affects the national experience of all of us. Private virtue is vital to public government.

The reason is simple: If we cannot govern ourselves, we cannot govern each other.

We cannot give others what we do not possess. We cannot ensure that, in Abraham Lincoln’s immortal words, “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth” if “the people” are incapable of such government.

What is the pathway to personal character? Consider this biblical command:

Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lᴏʀᴅ who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth (Jeremiah 9:23–24).

Jesus prayed: “This is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Paul therefore testified: “I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Philippians 3:8).

Oswald Chambers observed: “The summing up of our Lord’s teaching is that the relationship which he demands is an impossible one unless he has done a supernatural work in us.”

“Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one”

If you want our nation to experience God’s best today, strive for personal morality that strengthens public democracy. To do this, “seek the Lᴏʀᴅ and his strength; seek his presence continually!” (Psalm 105:4). Settle for nothing less than a transforming, intimate daily relationship with your Father. Experience his love in prayer, Bible study, and worship. Practice his presence as you walk consciously with him through your day.

God calls us to “seek my face” (Psalm 27:8), knowing that one day we will “see his face” (Revelation 22:4). In the meantime, let’s make the medieval Irish hymn our prayer:

Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
Be all else but naught to me, save that thou art;
Thou my best thought in the day and the night,
Waking and sleeping, thy presence my light.

Be thou my wisdom, thou my true word,
Thou ever with me, and I with thee, Lord;
Thou my great Father, and I thy true son;
Thou in me dwelling, and I with thee one.

Are you “one” with your “great Father” today?

If not, why not?

Thursday news to know:

• Hurricane Helene could bring “catastrophic and deadly storm surge” to parts of Florida Gulf Coast
• US leads new effort to end hostilities in Lebanon and Gaza, sources say
• Eric Adams is indicted after federal corruption investigation
• Congress passes temporary bill to avoid shutdown as lawmakers punt spending decisions to December
• On this day in 1960: Kennedy and Nixon square off in first televised presidential debate

*Denison Forum does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in these stories.

Quote for the day:

“There are far too many people who settle for practicing a sterile religion rather than enjoying a growing, vibrant, personal relationship with the living God.” —Henry Blackaby

Denison Forum