by Joseph Herrin

My heart is filled with a grievous message for the church and the world in this hour. One year after the events of 9-11-2001, the Father has not found the response of repentance and a changed way of life that He has earnestly looked for. Instead, the shepherds have lulled the church and the nation of America to sleep. They have spoken strongly that this event was not about judgment, nor a warning to America. They have portrayed the events, whose anniversary we are now approaching, as a battle of righteous America against evil in the world. The President of the U.S. even declared the war against the evil that precipitated these events to bear the name "Ultimate Justice", only changing the name to "Enduring Freedom" when he found that this previous name was offensive to the Muslim world.

But is it right to portray these events as the struggle of a righteous nation against an evil world? Can America whose citizens have murdered more of their children through abortion than Hitler’s armies killed in World War II, claim to be a righteous nation? Does not the blood of the innocent cry forth from the ground which we cherish? Can America who floods the world with pornography, violence and murder, whose public schools need armed guards and metal detectors, whose citizens from youth on up are addicted to alcohol, drugs and sexual experiences, who calls evil good and good evil, can this nation proclaim that it is righteous and that it is involved in a war of good against evil?

A few months back it was reported that one of the signs of liberation in Afghanistan was that pornography is once more available in that nation, and that the Muslim clerics were incensed over it’s reappearance. Where are those in America who also cry out and who are grieved over the presence of this wickedness? Every day untold numbers of children in America are exposed to the most lewd and wicked depictions of immorality on the Internet. It is sent directly into their e-mail in-boxes, and all the child must do is click on the link and their minds are filled with images that linger for years, and that incite them to a life of sexual impurity.

In America’s war on evil, has she vanquished pornography, abortion, murder, theft, covetousness, lying, adultery or anything else that stands as a reproach on this nation? Has the church done so? Instead we hear word after word issued from the mouths of those who stand as apostles and prophets where they exhort the people to pray that the prosperity of America will not fail and that the enemy will be turned away from her gates. It is proclaimed that it is not God’s will for the economy of America to fail or for her stock markets to collapse. We are told that God needs America to establish righteousness in the earth. America has abused her prosperity, leading to sin of all kinds, so that we are deserving of greater judgment than Sodom and Gomorrah, for we have had much more light and our sins surpass the sins done in those two wicked cities.

49 "Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had arrogance, abundant food and careless ease, but she did not help the poor and needy.

50 "Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them when I saw it."

I then went back to the church and spoke to the assistant pastor again. He said that only the head pastor could disburse church funds and the pastor was out of town. As I spoke with this man he told me about this new building they had constructed and he told me how many million dollars it had cost. He told me how proud they were of it and all of the things they were going to do in it, yet he couldn’t give me any assistance to get home to my family. Some youth who were in this new multi-function facility practicing for a play, came up to me after the associate pastor left. They said they heard what he told me and they were embarrassed that no help was given to me to get home. They each dug into their own pockets and came up with some money to help me buy gas to get home. These were only teenagers, and the Spirit revealed to me some profound truths that day.

The church has been more concerned about building kingdoms to glorify men than to help out those whom God sends to their door. The church has focused upon appearances, and has no substance to her righteousness. The church has had abundant food and careless ease, but would not help the poor and needy. YAHUSHUA said that if you even give a cup of water to one of His brethren in His name that you will in no way lose your reward. How I grieve when I think that many saints start out as these youth, ready to give out of a heart of love, but they are taught by false shepherds to ignore the needy and to focus on the kingdoms that men desire to build. They grow up to be like this pastor who would not think of giving me a dime out of his own pocket, but who would leave me stranded a thousand miles from my home.

What was the true message that God wanted the church and America to receive on 9-11? The World Trade Towers in New York City sat at the intersection of Church Street and Liberty Street? YAHUVEH gave the whole world a prophetic picture of the judgment that is to come that must begin at the household of God.

"Now behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs."
And one said, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon;
And all the images of her gods are shattered on the ground."

Consider the awesome significance of this verse. "A troop of riders" - the airplanes held many people, and each one had a troop of terrorists on board. "Horsemen in pairs" - there were two planes that crashed into the towers. "Fallen, fallen" - the word fallen is repeated, and both towers fell within one hour of each other. "The images of her gods are shattered on the ground" - anyone who has seen images of the ruin of these towers realizes that they were indeed shattered on the ground. What are the images of the gods of America and the church in this hour? It is trade, money, wealth and ease, all of which were represented in these towers that proudly ascended toward the heavens.

Jeremiah gives us this further insight:

8 Suddenly Babylon has fallen and been broken;
Wail over her!
Bring balm for her pain;
Perhaps she may be healed.
9 We applied healing to Babylon, but she was not healed;
Forsake her and let us each go to his own country,
For her judgment has reached to heaven
And towers up to the very skies.
10 YAHUVEH has brought about our vindication;
Come and let us recount in Zion
The work of YAHUVEH our God!

After the tragedy of 9-11, the churches found that people were flocking to attend services. The security of their lives, and their ease had been disturbed, and many were seeking answers, yet the ministers of Babylon did not speak of judgment and repentance. No, instead they warned against using such words. Some even were pressured to go on national T.V. and to apologize for suggesting that this might be a judgment of God, and they did so.

Those who flocked to the church for an answer were told that God would not judge a wicked nation for He is a God of love. They were assured that God loved America and would never forsake her, that her sins were not a problem. These went back home having been lulled to sleep by false ministers who care more for the opinions of men than for the judgment of God. People began to have their fears eased, and they returned to a pursuit of the pleasure of this world. Alcohol consumption is now reported to be at a higher level than before 9-11, as is activity at bars, strip joints, and every other form of debauchery. America has been lulled to sleep by the ministers in her midst.

Why did God say He would judge Babylon? Why would she be "Fallen, fallen"? Jeremiah, in the very next verse, gives us the reason for this judgment, and it is very enlightening for the hour in which we live:

Sharpen the arrows, fill the quivers!
YAHUVEH has aroused the spirit of the kings of the Medes,
Because His purpose is against Babylon to destroy it;
For it is the vengeance of YAHUVEH, vengeance for His temple.

4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;
5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.
6 "Pay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.
7 "To the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning..."

And another angel, a second one, followed, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality."

Apocalypse 18:1-3

1 After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory.
2 And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality."

I believe the destruction of the World Trade Towers were a warning to the church and to America, but this was not the true judgment. I believe it was God’s last attempt to call the church to repentance.

The hearts of the saints are not right, for the ministers have spoken only words of sympathy and sorrow at the judgment that has been seen. They care more for the people than for the heart of God which is grieved at the depths to which the church has fallen. Apostles, prophets and saints have wept for the destruction of the towers and those who died therein, but they have not wept over the sin that has spread itself like a blanket over the church, and the lewdness of her conduct. John tells us what our heart should truly be when Babylon is cast down:

YAHUVEH said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst."

The condition of the harlot church should so grieve the true saints of God that we weep and mourn for her apostasy and her sin. Our eyes should be filled with sorrow over the wickedness in her midst, because the one who is called to be holy and a light to the world has become darkness and a reproach. When Babylon is overthrown we should rejoice, for then Zion will come forth with brightness. Yet look at the words of those who are considered to be apostles today. They encourage the saints to pray that our economy would not fail. They exhort the saints to pray that the enemy might be turned away from the gates of America and that our prosperity might continue unabated. Where is the weeping for the condition of the church? Where is the understanding of the words of Isaiah?

With my soul have I desired thee in the night; yea, with my spirit within me will I seek thee early: for when thy judgments are in the earth, the inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.

Now Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the settlers of Gilead, said to Ahab, "As YAHUVEH, the God of Israel lives, before whom I stand...

We stand now one year removed from a great tragedy that befell this land. America has claimed to be a Christian nation, and indeed many saints dwell within her borders. We know that none of God’s children will escape His scourging, for it is a sign of true sonship.

11 All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.
12 Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble,
13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed.

When discipline is not received in a spirit of humility, bringing forth repentance and a correction to one’s walk, a worse discipline will follow. The limb that is lame will be put out of joint. America took a double hit to her economy when the World Trade Centers were destroyed, and she took a single hit to her military when the Pentagon was struck. Rather than responding in humility and repentance, an arrogance has gripped her so that she believes she can administer "ultimate justice" to the world. Her own sins have been ignored. The beam in the eye of the church has not been dealt with. What awaits such a people except for the limb that has been made lame to be put out of joint.

Since 9-11 America has struggled to get her economy running again, but setback after setback has occurred. Not only has she had to overcome the tragedy of 9-11, but one corporate scandal after another has rocked the world and shattered the confidence of investors, many of whom have lost their entire life savings. America’s economy is limping along on a lame leg, yet it will soon be put completely out of joint due to her failure to humble herself before God. Her military that has operated virtually unscathed in recent wars such as Desert Storm, will encounter her own setbacks as her divine protection is lifted and her vulnerability is exposed to her enemies.

A year ago the Father sent us a graphic warning, in a merciful attempt to bring the church and nation to repentance, yet the ministers have said it was no warning at all, and that, like a Phoenix, America would rise from the ashes of destruction. Yet like mighty Samson when his hair had been shorn, America will seek to arise against her enemies not knowing that the glory has departed from her. She will find that her strength has fled away, and the nation that proclaims herself to be "the last super power" will find that weakness has come upon her.

Oh that God would raise up men and women who would "sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed" in the midst of Jerusalem, the church of the Firstborn. The President of the U.S. has called for September 11 to be memorialized as "Patriot Day". This holiday falls right between Rosh Hashanah, The Feast of Trumpets (begins September 6^th at sundown), and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement which is observed ten days later. It was on the Day of Atonement that YAHUVEH decided whether to put away the sins of the people for the previous year. If He was displeased with them, and dissatisfied with their consecration to Him, the High Priest could die when he entered the Most Holy Place, and the people’s sins would be retained.

It was a fear of God that led the Israelites to consecrate themselves and humble themselves before YAHUVEH. A year ago the people of America also were stirred to begin to fear God, as was evidenced in all those who sought solace in the church. Yet the ministers have deceived them and turned them back to evil. Will God then turn away His wrath from a disobedient and wicked people who walk in pride and with haughtiness? Will God wink at the sins of the church and the nations? His judgment must begin in His own house, and if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner?

On this "Patriot Day" the President has called for a remembrance of those slain, yet all year God has been looking for something more. He has been seeking those who sigh and groan over the abominations in our midst.

4 YAHUVEH said to him, "Go through the midst of the city, even through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst."
5 But to the others He said in my hearing, "Go through the city after him and strike; do not let your eye have pity and do not spare.
6 "Utterly slay old men, young men, maidens, little children, and women, but do not touch any man on whom is the mark; and you shall start from My sanctuary." So they started with the elders who were before the temple...
10 "But as for Me, My eye will have no pity nor will I spare, but I will bring their conduct upon their heads."