The death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah

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