With the election of Donald Trump as
the 45th President of the United States, many are attempting to make
sense of his unexpected victory. One author has gone so far as to suggest that
a Trump Presidency is a quasi-prophetic return of biblical kings in the
tradition of Cyrus or Nebuchadnezzar. In one popular article the author writes,
“unfortunately, inside the Body
of Christ, we are not in agreement on our views due to a lack of biblical
understanding of who exactly God uses. We tend to come through a Western
religious mind-set where we prefer our presidents to be Holy pastor-types, but
that is not reality. Sometimes God will take a person who is a real mess, put
them in place, change them, and then ultimately use them.” While I agree that
God is capable of using anyone or anything for His purposes, (Balaam’s donkey
certainly demonstrates this) I am not ready embrace Trump as prophetic royalty
no more than I was ready to declare Obama the Anti-Christ. Through various
versions of linguistic and hermeneutical creativity some in the Christian
community are interpreting Trump’s electoral victory a fulfillment of “the last
trumpet”, and the summation of numerical significance in alignment with the
Jewish calendar.
This irresponsible speculation that looks more like numerology
than Christianity, serves to undermine genuine faith in the biblical God,
reducing him to dependency on fickle voters. God is greater than the pendulum
swings of American politics. The temptation for every generation is to put
themselves at the center of God’s prophetic perspective, resulting in a kind of
ethnocentric idolatry. This desire to be the generation, “upon whom the ends of
the world are come”, may lead to unhealthy distraction and unfounded loyalty to
human leaders and institutions.
A Trump presidency may indeed yield policies favorable
to Christian people, it may not. Regardless, Christ is still king. If Trump is
to be measured by the kings of the bible, perhaps Cyrus nor Nebuchadnezzar are
the most obvious choices. There was a New Testament king who was highly
polarizing, had a reputation for putting his name on the side of his numerous
colossal building projects, and was so insecure that he was threatened by news
of a baby king. But perhaps even with all the similarities, it is unfair for me
to compare Trump to Herod the great. The most appropriate comparison, indeed
the only one that matters, is the comparison to the one true King Jesus. And I
can confidently say that by this standard a Trump presidency will fall short,
as will all earthly leaders. In comparison to The Christ, all fall short of His
perfection, including you and me. May we embrace the wisdom of our Lord as He
shared it with that first generation of end time speculators in Matthew
24:23-26. “Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he
is!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will arise and
perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the
elect. See I have told you beforehand. So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in
the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’
do not believe it.” The true King of concern will never be found in the White House;
yet may He forever be at home in ours.
