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GUEST
ARTICLE
A
Christian Response
to
Osama Bin Laden's
Death
Randy White
Public enemy #1 is dead. How should a believer respond? Many of
us are torn between rejoicing and grief. Here is a four-point response
I believe every believer can make.
1. Rejoice that an
enemy is dead.
Osama bin Laden is a clear enemy. As the leader of Al Qaeda,
he is responsible for the death of over 3,000 men, women,
and children on 9/11, as well as those who died on the
USS Cole, the deaths of US servicemen shot down in Somalia
in Operation Restore Hope, the 301 persons killed and 5,000
injured in bombings of U.S. Embassies in Nairobi and Dar
es Salaam, the bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia, the deaths
of 180 people in a nightclub in Bali, and the list goes
on. Clearly, Osama bin Laden has been the deadliest
terrorist of this young century.
Is it Christian to rejoice at the death of this wicked
man? Yes! The
Bible is full of examples of rejoicing over the death of the wicked.
Moses rejoiced that, ""Pharaoh's chariots and his army He has
cast into the sea; And the choicest of his officers are drowned in the Red
Sea. "The deeps cover them; They went down into the depths like a stone" (Exodus
15:4–5, NASB95).
When Jezebel died, the Scripture records that, "…they returned and
told him. And he said, "This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by
His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'In the property of Jezreel the dogs
shall eat the flesh of Jezebel; and the corpse of Jezebel will be as dung on
the face of the field in the property of Jezreel, so they cannot say, 'This
is Jezebel'" (2 Kings 9:36–37, NASB95).
When Hamaan, the enemy of the Jews, was hanged on the gallows, and the
Jews were allowed to defend themselves against his evil plan, the Jews
made a
permanent day of rejoicing, still observed to this day: "because on those days
the Jews rid themselves of their enemies, and it was a month which was turned
for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they
should make them days of feasting and rejoicing and sending portions of food
to one another and gifts to the poor " (Esther 9:22, NASB95).
The Psalms are full of prayers against the wicked, such as, "O let
the evil of the wicked come to an end, but establish the righteous; For the
righteous God tries the hearts and minds. " (Psalm 7:9, NASB95)
Even the wisdom of Proverbs rejoices when the wicked perish: "When
it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, And when the wicked perish,
there is joyful shouting." (Proverbs 11:10, NASB95)
Yes, it is acceptable for a Christian to rejoice in the fall of the wicked. But
there is a second response as well-
2. Grieve
that a soul is lost.
Osama bin Laden is in hell. God wishes hell on no one. A
believer should grieve that the message that could have
saved bin Laden was spurned and rejected. The same
rejection continues by followers of Islam worldwide. Rather
than accept Jesus as Savior, they relegate Him to the place
of prophet. The New Testament is clear that a person
is only saved by calling upon the name of the Lord. There
is no need to wonder whether or not bin Laden is in hell
because Scripture has made the declaration. [Clarification. Bin
Laden is not in hell and no one is in hell—the lake of
fire—until the judgment (Revelation 20:14-15; 21:8). Today,
when a sinner dies, he goes to “hades” which is a temporary
place of torment until the resurrection (Luke 16:23-26).]
Believers should not, however, rejoice that bin Laden has gone to hell. God "desires
all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth." (1
Timothy 2:4). Our grief is that God's desire for salvation was not fulfilled
in the life of this terrorist. While such a statement may concern some
and irk others, the truth is that bin Laden rejected the witness of the Gospel
that has been made evident to everyone, leaving all "without excuse."
Our grief response should be to "beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled
to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20). Do not reject Christ and suffer the
consequence of eternal hell as bin Laden did.
3. Pray
for those under deception.
The Islamic world is deceived by Satan, veiled in a cloak of darkness. There
has been a subversion of the message of the Gospel with
a new "gospel." Paul says, "…even
if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a
gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is
to be accursed! " (Galatians 1:8, NASB95). The
false prophet Mohamed created a contrary gospel is
accursed. Sadly, his message has left millions without
the truth. The contrary gospel has also produced
the degradation of women, the hatred of Jews, the killing
of Americans, and the loss of personal freedoms which could
bring joy to life.
Believers should pray that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would impact as many
of the followers of Islam as possible. Jesus Christ is their only hope! We
should pray that totalitarian governments of the Islamic world would collapse and be
replaced with governments that allow for the freedom of worship. We should
pray for the collapse of Islam in totality as men and women have the veil of
falsehood drawn back from their eyes.
[The original article continues from here to complete Point #3 and
also includes a Point #4.]
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