“The Pride of Your Power”

It isn’t wise to place too much importance on calendar coincidences, but sometimes they can provide a helpful opportunity for reflection. This year, as God’s people ushered in the annual Feast of Trumpets at sunset on September 11, many were also thinking of a momentous September 11 that shook the world 25 years ago.

If you haven’t already done so, you may want to read the September-October 2026 issue of the Tomorrow’s World magazine, in which Editor in Chief, Mr. Gerald Weston, shared his thoughts about the sobering anniversary. Here is an excerpt from what he wrote:

It is reasonable to wonder 25 years later how 9/11 changed us—not only how we move through airports, but how we as individuals have changed. What lessons were learned, if any? Are Americans, and others touched by that day, any better as a result? Is our world safer? Has the unity seen so intensely in the immediate aftermath continued?

Those are important questions, and the answers are many and complex. But the contrast between the United States of 9/11/2001 and of 9/11/2026 is striking.

Consider that in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, France’s Le Monde famously declared, “We are all Americans.” And for the first—and still only—time in its history, NATO invoked its Article 5, declaring an attack against one of its members an attack against all. America had been wounded, but its alliances, prestige, and power seemed as formidable as ever.

Flash forward to 2026. The year had barely begun when Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney put the matter starkly at the World Economic Forum: “We are in the midst of a rupture, not a transition.” He was describing the erosion of the international system long sustained by American power—and, eight months later, his nation is battling the U.S. in a tariff war that took most observers by surprise. And it’s not just Canada—European Union foreign-policy chief Kaja Kallas observed that Europe has learned to expect “unpredictability” from Washington.

In 2001, despite Gulf War setbacks, the U.S. was still riding high in post-World War II geopolitics. The Soviet Union was gone, China had not risen to its present prominence, and America’s strengths—its technology, finance, popular culture, and military power—seemed to reinforce one another. Even many governments that disliked U.S. policies assumed that Washington would remain the indispensable bulwark of the global order.

But since then, setbacks in Afghanistan and Iraq have shown that while the U.S. can still use force to destabilize foreign governments, it cannot guarantee long-lasting political outcomes as it did in the wake of World War II—and recent efforts against Iran are calling into question its power to prevail in even a relatively small regional conflict. Enemies no longer fear the U.S. as they once did. Even “allies” are growing weary.

In a 2026 Pew Research Center survey of 36 nations, only 37 percent of respondents held a favorable view of the U.S., while 57 percent viewed it unfavorably. In the same France that showed such support after 9/11, 71 percent now see the U.S. as an unreliable partner. Even worse, across all those surveyed, 63 percent said the U.S. does not contribute to peace and stability around the world (⁠Pew Research Center).

But while the 25th anniversary of 9/11 should give us pause, the Feast of Trumpets should give us hope, as it reminds us that although a time of terrible devastation will come upon the earth, that time will come to a climax with the return of Jesus Christ to establish His perfect government, the Kingdom of God, on the earth. The people of the world, as subjects of that Kingdom, will not need to question the wisdom or stability of their government, nor fear that any other government may disrupt or overthrow it.

The Bible warned the ancient Israelites that if they persisted in disobedience, He would “break the pride of your power” (Leviticus 26:19). Can anyone deny that the U.S. is a nation disobedient to God—and that its pride in its former God-granted power is increasingly on the wane? But while the U.S. and other modern Israelite nations are prophesied to decline as the world heads toward the final end-time battle preceding Christ’s return, there is good news afterward. Read the powerful study guide Armageddon and Beyond to learn what will come after the chaos ahead.