What we witnessed in the storming of Capitol Hill in the USA yesterday – the Day of Epiphany of Christ’s ‘revelation’ to the world – was the epiphany or unmasking of the full fruit of Trumpism.
Captured in THESE IMAGES of the confederacy flag in Capitol Hill chambers and the fascist fist raised in the chairperson’s seat of government. That is the equivalent of displaying the old Apartheid flag and raising the Hitler salute of Eugene Terblanche in our current South African parliament. Absolutely unthinkable!
The image of the hang-man’s scaffolding and a Trump flag enfolding the “stop the steal” protestor, gazing up at the noose, says it all. Imagine the premeditated thought in taking the time to prepare and transport and assemble this on site? Pure racism. The original sin of the USA. To say Trump and his supporters are not racist is to deny the reality of these racist symbols that are present again and again in his rallies and protests.
Symbols are profoundly emotive. Just burn the American flag in America and see what happens to you! These symbols, especially of lynching, reinforce the profound pain deep within African Americans, first nation Indians and all people of colour. The pain of the historical and ongoing systemic racist injustice perpetrated against them. It is nothing but naked white supremacy on display for all to see. Yet, most Trump supporters will not see that reality.
This is not to even mention the banners of “Jesus Saves” at the “wild protest” (Trump’s phrase). With what happened, it’s blasphemous. Classic civil religion. Christian nationalism. Co-opting and using God for the agenda of the Evangelicals and GOP in bed with Trump.
A biblical prophetic view would say that this is the full fruit of Trumpism. It’s the ripe fruit of the root of bad character, with the ideology of white ‘Christian’ nationalism. Trump himself called for this “stop the steal” “wild protest” on Capitol Hill, publicly egging on his followers with fraudulent lies of massive election rigging to do what they did.
The result: four people were killed and others injured, windows smashed, and so on. If they were black protestors, the law enforcement put-down would have been far more violent. Their blood is on Trump’s hands, he is directly responsible… including the GOP and the evangelical leaders who have ideologically supported Trump. They must be held to account.
Jesus taught that we know a good or bad person by their fruit, what routinely and predictably comes out of their mouth (and seen in their words, attitudes and behaviour, Matthew 5:15-20, 12:33-37, 15:17-20). Fruit does not lie. It reveals the truth of who we are, what we are rooted in, what has formed our character, whether good or bad.
Trump did not have the character for the office of president. Lying from the beginning, right after his inauguration in 2017, claiming the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration. We’ve seen the fruit of his bad character become ever clearer over the four years, in his tweeting, press conferences, treatment of people, etc, including his ideology of ‘greatness’, both personal and national. That is Trumpism, with its fruit now on full display for all to see. Ripe for judgement. “In your judgements, O Lord, remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2).
Prophetically speaking, Trump didn’t change America, least of all made/make America great again. The truth is that Trump REVEALED America… this IS America… at least the divided half that supported him, those who have been deceived and captured by the spiritual powers working through his bad character and ideology.
Biblically speaking, we get the leaders we deserve. God raises up and/or allows leaders in power, often to unmask and mirror the face of the nation, revealing the character of their supporters. In this case, the majority of white US evangelical Christians.
Trump has not so much damaged the witness and credibility of the Church – through the wholesale support of fundamentalist evangelicals, with their leaders and court prophets continually uncritically blessing Trump – rather God has used him to reveal their theological and moral bankruptcy in their idolatry of American Christian nationalism. Judgement begins at the house of God (1 Peter 4:17).
Their deafening silence right now, in light of these events yesterday, makes them all the more culpable. All the Christian prophets who prophesied Trump’s second term, and all the Christian/church leaders who continually blessed him without challenging and correcting him on his bad character (as in serial lying, manipulation, control, racism, sexism, ego-centric narcissism, dangerous nationalism, “deep state” conspiracy mongering, and demonization of the Democrats and main stream media as “the enemy of the people”)… they all must now publicly confess and repent to break the unreality of the parallel universe that Trumpism created.
In biblical prophetic terms it is a spiritual principality and power operating behind, in and through Trump and his administration. That is the demi-god idolatrous world of Trumpism, a parallel universe from which they have all drunk, in which they have all worshipped and lived, and continue to live, under whose protection and power they have operated. But it has blinded them to reality.
VP Mike Pence, as a leading evangelical politician and the lap-poodle of Trump, has particular accountability under God for his co-dependent enabling of Trump. Pray for Pence. If he has BIBLICAL Christian integrity left within him, after four years of erosion by abetting Tump at every turn, he ought to humble himself and repent with godly sorrow.
At least Pence remained faithful to the constitution, saying he cannot overturn the election result as Trump demanded. Today he announced confirmation of the results of the election in favour of President-Elect Biden. Trump, in effect, heard his own words, “You’re fired! It’s the end of your (un)reality show!” But just after Pence’s announcement, Trump brazenly continued to publicly say, “the elections were stolen. I won by a landslide”. After over 50 court cases and Supreme Court rulings saying that in all that was presented, there was no evidence of widespread fraud.
Will Trump be held accountable for his words? For his continued divisive lies that have systematically undermined public trust, democratic institutions and process?
I will let the reader judge whether this is true BIBLICAL prophesying versus the multiple, now self-evidently false, prophecies of Trump’s second term. May they all repent!
Christ have mercy!
I am confused as to the above. How can the prophets of God be wrong? God has told his prophets that Trump will be in office for another 4 years and Pence for a further 4 years thereafter and that Trump is God’s choice, even though there are some that do not agree.
These prophets being the following: Kevin Zedai, Hank Kunneman, Tracey Cooke, Jeremiah Johnson, Katie Souza, Patrica King, Ana Werner, James Goll, Lana Vawser (to name a few). God is not a man that he should lie and by their fruits, it s evident that they live by the spirit and not by the flesh. Some of these prophets have been interceding for 5 years as God has instructed them to do, praying in the spirit for hours a day for such a time as this.
God is currently draining the swamp and has to expose all the evil, which is currently in the process, according to his prophets.
God is drawing his lines in stone. I guess time will tell who the next President will be and who will need to repent. It will be evident who is hearing from God and who not and is expressing their opinion.
Thanks Chants,
The words of prophets are not absolute. Prophets can certainly be wrong, for example in 1 Kings 22 (read the story), among other examples in scripture.
And that is why there is so much teaching on discerning and judging what prophets say, not simply accepting it (for example, as Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 14:29).
You are aware, of course, that Jeremiah Johnson has publicly apologised for getting it wrong, and Loren Sanford as well.
Let’s hope others also humble themselves to say they got it wrong.
And yes, reality (as it unfolds now in the US) will show they got it wrong.
Take care!
Thank you for this post. I find it really interesting and appreciate your insight and that you’re not pulling punches.
I think the American evangelical church’s real issue is about power and control and that it will use any means – prophetic, protesting, using pulpits for politics – to serve their aim.
Since the 60s the evangelical church has been terrified about how culture is moving and this is amplified by church leaders who constantly draw focus to fringe issues and make them seem much more significant and dangerous.
The church is mourning a period when they felt they got to decide the moral boundaries of culture – when they set rules and social conventions. They see this breaking down and their response is to do anything to get power and control back.
This mindset of being ‘persecuted’ with all the hysteria about not being able to say Christmas and so on feeds into this, so when Trump said he’d restore their power they lapped it up and held their noses – classic ‘the end justifies the means’ mentality – until they started to not notice the stink.
I’m in the UK and I just find it so sad to see influential evangelical Christians say you can’t be a Christian and vote for the Democrats. They portray the political situation as God verses the Devil (I’ve literally heard people say that) and that God wanted Trump to win but the devil has stolen it.
I think this issue always will come when Christianity is part of the dominant culture – it forms a hegemony that ends up idolatrous and uses God’s name for its own power.
The British Empire did this and labelled colonisation as bringing Christian civilisation to the savages. The American empire – built on the American dream, materialism and commercialism – has done the same. Mixing Christianity with status, wealth and profit.
(I asked Apple Music to play me worship music yesterday. It played me the most popular recent worship songs – the first 7 were all songs about how God helps me overcome my issues and gives me victory. It just felt so self-centred. This is what the American-Dream-Christianity ideology has become.)
It feels so far from the upside down kingdom Jesus taught and embodied.
I often think about the first 300 years of the church; underground, lacking in any worldly power and often persecuted, yet by the end of that period they think 50% of the Roman Empire was Christian. It is so upside down and seems like the Devil’s best strategy is to give the church power, influence and status. So when Christians chase after these very elements it just plays into the enemy’s hand.
I’m sorry this is a rant! It’s something I think about a lot!
Thanks so much Dave for your thoughtful comments. They add value to my paper and this issue.
I respect your analysis which helps to fill out how we got here!
God indeed help us!
I think the origin myth of America, which lots of people hold – that America is special because it’s the only country to choose God – is also significant and problematic.
I don’t know if you’ve come across David Reynold’s “America, Empire of Liberty”, but it’s really good going through the complexities, nuances and abuses of Christianity’s relationship with America. It has great chapters about the religious beginnings of America, the impact of the great awakening and the birth of ‘the silent majority’ and religious right. (The audiobook is really well done)
Thanks so much Dave.
No, I’ve not read David Reynold’s book. It sounds like an important read.
Thanks for making us aware of this resource.
God bless you!