Of late, however, I've been asked to give my opinion as a pastor/Biblical scholar on some of the issues that currently surround this weird modern Americanized melding of religion and politics. In particular, the white Evangelical theology that a) embraces Trump as being somehow appointed or ordained by God to fulfill some purpose, especially in terms of the "end times," or b) utilizing some of the sketchier characters in the Bible to justify why Trump is such a terrible human being, and that it's OK to support a terrible human being when he accomplishes your goals.
The latest was someone decided to use Samson as an example of God appointing a pretty terrible guy to be a judge that brings down the Philistine Temple of the god Dagon. (You can read the whole article here if you want) Trump is apparently like Samson.
Ummm. Yeah. There are so many problems with this it's hard to know where to start, but I'll try.
OK, let's start with - if you want to support Trump - fine. Support Trump for whatever reasons you feel you should do that. But for the love of everything holy, leave God out of this! (The second commandment is "do not use the Lord's name in vain," which means do not attribute things to God that are not of God. Making these assertions seems to fit into that category if you ask me.)
The second thing that must be emphasized is that God's work within a theocracy like Ancient Israel is in no way related to 21st Century America! God made covenants and appointed particular people for particular reasons that were all for, at least in the Christian mind, an ultimate goal: Jesus. The incarnation. The promise of the Word made flesh. All of Israelite history culminated and was fulfilled in this event... an event that then stormed past the borders of Israel and has ceased to claim any sort of national identity ever since (except by despots who twisted and utilized Christianity as a state religion as a means of control over its citizens). There is zero, zilch, nada in the Bible that supports God wanting to protect and preserve America as some "special" divinely ordained nation. God is the God of all nations, not just America. Sorry, Jerry Falwell, Jr. God hasn't made a single prophetic promise about the United States.
Thus drawing those parallels is not only the worst form of religious and cultural appropriation out there, but it's just plain weird. The US is not ancient Israel. Period. We are not the New Jerusalem. We are not the Promised Land. There is no 'manifest destiny' regarding the US. End of story. There is only the call for us to behave as Christ has commanded us to as Christians wherever we live in the world. To love our neighbor and our enemies, strive for justice, etc. etc. Many of us as Christian Americans do desire that the country we live in reflect those values as we embrace the poor and the marginalized and treat all people with dignity and respect. We believe we have not just a religious but a civic duty to care for the most vulnerable among us.
Now, as far as looking at how God utilized bad people to do good things, ok, there's some merit to that. Yeah, Moses and Paul and David - all killers. Killers that share one thing in common - they are changed by God's redemptive power. Not even Evangelicals at this point are claiming Trump is changing his ways or that he is a redemptive figure of some sort. No, instead, they are searching the Bible for bad characters who stay bad characters, but God uses them anyway.
So let's take a closer look at the examples people are using, such as the Samson one listed above. How does that story ACTUALLY go? The "hero" here winds up having his eyes gouged out and in prison because he was an arrogant, horny idiot. He pulls down the Temple of Dagon in a last gasp effort of revenge, killing himself in the process. That's who you want to compare Trump to in order to justify supporting him and his behavior? Think about that for a minute. Things do not end well for Samson. At all. Trump may very well pull down the pillars of American government and society, but, like Samson, he'll take himself out in the process.
It also completely ignores what the overarching point of the Book of Judges is in the first place. It's a commentary on what NOT TO DO! It illustrates the break-down of the rule of law when people begin to utilize violence not for mere issues of national security, but for personal vendettas and vengeance. Cue Samson. Samson was a reflection of his society. It had become so corrupt and so degraded, that Samson was apparently the best that God had to choose from. That's kind of a sad rebuke on your society, not something to be celebrated. And, things only get worse from there. By the end of Judges, the Israelites descend into a state of civil war where they nearly wipe out one of their own tribes following the rape and murder of a woman whose body parts were sent by her husband to all the tribes in order to wage that war.
These are not stories we want to emulate. Just saying. They're stories that offer up stark warnings regarding bad behavior... not excuses or justification for bad behavior. (Side note... the book of Ruth on the other hand is a story about a despised FOREIGN WOMAN who is more faithful and righteous than the Israelites, who will become the great-grandmother of King David. Once again highlights the Bible's regard for the "outsider," or the "righteous foreigner.")
Another popular one is people claiming Trump is like King Cyrus of Persia. They state that Cyrus was a "pagan king" who was a bad guy but still allowed the Jews to return to Judea so he ultimately was doing God's will. Well, first of all, Cyrus was not a pagan. He was a Zoroastrian and therefore a monotheist. Cyrus the Great also respected all the customs, religions and cultures that were under his control. Not something Trump is too keen on doing. Cyrus the Great is also well recognized for his achievements in human rights, politics, and military strategy. (*Ahem.*) Cyrus really was a pretty decent guy all things considered, given the brutality of the era. Another one of those "righteous foreigners." The analogy thus falls apart on multiple levels.
As for leaders God appoints... yeah let's look at how that turns out. In 1 Kings, God says he's going to rip the bulk of the Kingdom away from Solomon's son, Rehoboam, and give it to Jeroboam. Jeroboam then goes on to build golden calves and upsets God to the point he declares that he will utterly annihilate Jeroboam's family so there will be no more descendants. Likewise, he does the same with a few of Jeroboam's successors, including King Ahab's family. These horrible Kings eventually lead to God allowing the Assyrian army to come in and destroy the northern kingdom utterly and completely.
This is really who you want to say Trump is like? One of these bad kings that God appointed, but then turned on and utterly destroyed? Um. Ok.
In terms of Trump playing some sort of role in the "end times," good grief, I don't have enough time or room to explain all the fallacies in that argument, other than to say if he is playing some role in their little non-Biblical dispensationalist script (that for the record, I do NOT ascribe to)... I highly suspect it's not the part they think he's playing. Because you know what ushers in the "second coming of Jesus" or the rapture according to their theology? The rise of the anti-christ on the world stage. Think about that. They support him... because he's doing all the things the anti-Christ is supposed to do.
Wait, what?
You heard me right. There aren't enough face-palms in the world for this.
Again - you want to support Trump because you like tax cuts for the rich, you want a border wall, etc., then by all means - support Trump. Just leave the Bible - and God - out of it.
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