President Trump began his second term in office like a whirlwind. Pundits and politicians the world over struggle to keep up with and make sense of the gales of policy declarations issuing from the White House.
Six weeks in, he has (among other things):
- imposed massive tariffs on imports from key trading partners such as China, Canada and Mexico, prompting fears of a worldwide trade war (and the mention of outright war from the Chinese government)
- suspended US military aid to Ukraine in its war against Russia, in a move that some have interpreted as signalling a shift in US foreign policy away from its old allies in Europe in favour of its old adversary Russia
- stopped the US commitment to the Paris climate agreement and reversed major climate policies
- ordered that the Gulf of Mexico be renamed the Gulf of America
- declared his intention to take over Greenland
- and to take over Gaza, export its population and turn the territory into a Middle Eastern Riviera.
In a video entitled ‘What’s next for Gaza’ released on his social media platform Truth Social, Mr Trump presents his vision of what ‘Trump Gaza’ would look like. One of its landmarks would be a towering golden statue of himself.
Mr Trump has the backing of a large proportion of the American Christian political contingent. They will no doubt be familiar with the account of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in the Bible’s book of Daniel. Nebuchadnezzar was an absolute monarch who had an unhealthy preoccupation with himself (Daniel 4:30).
In chapter 2 the king had a dream of a metal statue, which turned out to be an accurate prophecy of the future course of world empires, starting with himself as the head of gold (2:38).
In chapter 3 he built a 27-metre high golden statue. The text doesn’t specify, but it’s evident that it was a statue of himself. He ordered his subjects to worship the statue on pain of death.
In chapter 4, God burst Nebuchadnezzar’s balloon, driving him mad and teaching him a lesson of humility. He explained why: ‘The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, the decision by the word of the holy ones, to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men’ (v. 17).
Mr Trump and his devotees are convinced that God saved him from those two assassination attempts during the presidential campaign, and put him in the White House. They’re right. God rules in the kingdom of men and gives it to whom He will. However, it would be entirely wrong to assume that this was because of any merit of Mr Trump’s, or any divine endorsement of his policies. He is simply useful at the present time, as God steers world events towards the fulfilment of prophecy.
It’s hugely comforting to know that world affairs and the world’s destiny are not in the hands of Mr Trump, or Mr Putin, or anyone else. They’re in God’s hands. And despite the best efforts of Messrs Trump and Putin, and all the world’s other leaders, God’s will is ultimately going to be done:
The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea (Habakkuk 2:14).
Chris Parkin