Thursday, March 23, 2006

General in the Lion's Den

One of my favorite Bible stories is that of the prophet Daniel in the courts of King Nebuchadnezzar and Darius. Although he was a Hebrew, he rose to become the provincial ruler over all of Babylon and one of three administrators in Persia. He rose to these positions not through hostile take-over, but through his faithfulness to God and through his honest counsel before several kings who held his people hostage. Daniel overcame unimaginable odds to become the go-to man in hostile regimes.

General Georges Sada is very much a modern day Prophet Daniel. Although he was born into an Assyrian Christian home and became a born-again Christian in 1986, he rose to become the Vice Marshall of the Iraqi Air Forces under Saddam Hussein. According to his newly published account, he did not compromise his faith and even stood up to Saddam on several occasions. Incredibly because of his honesty in the face of unspeakable consequences he became one of Saddam's most trusted advisors, even though Saddam knew he was a born-again Christian!

How in the world could he have done all this and live to tell about it? How could he have worked under such a brutal regime and keep his faith? The answer is just as true today as it was in the day of the Prophet Daniel. God not only protected the General, He elevated him to high office and to the world figure he is today.

And the similarities don't end there, just like the prophet, General Sada saved the modern-day children of Israel from a chemical attack from Saddam, who often referred to himself as the resurrected King Nebuchadnezzar (Saddam even rebuilt ancient Babylon in his own honor). His selfless heroism continued during the first gulf war when he saved 24 American and Coalition pilots from being executed by the death squads of Qusay Hussein, Saddam's youngest son. For this, he was arrested but later released by Saddam when the dictator realized that the General had saved the nation from an international uproar.

In what is probably his most alarming act of courage, the General is now warning the nations of the world that Saddam is not finished with his reign of terror. In his new book, Saddam's Secrets: How an Iraqi General Defied And Survived Saddam Hussein, the General reveals that Saddam moved untold tons of Weapons of Mass Destruction to Syria in the days leading up to Operation Iraqi Freedom. He did it using two converted airliners and truck convoys. According to him and the pilots who flew the WMDs, the airliners alone conducted two sorties a day for a total of fifty-six sorties.

The General's story proves that heroism of Biblical proportions and Daniel-like favor is very much alive today. Even though he survived the horrors of the Hussein regime, he is continuing to put his life on the line for God and country. The General is now the spokesman for the newly elected prime minister of Iraq, the president of the National Presbyterian Church in Baghdad and the chairman of the Assembly of Iraqi Evangelical Presbyterian Churches.

Please pray for his continued safety, for divine favor, and for the blessing of his efforts. You too can find the God who saved the General from the lion's mouth. Find Jesus today.

Blogging from rain-soaked Hawai'i,
Danny "dj" Morales