Is Trump Protecting Us from National Judgment? (Part 1)

The Bible is replete with examples of mighty nations that experienced divine judgment. Particularly troubling is that America celebrates, flaunts, and exports many of the specific sins that provoked God’s judgment upon these nations. Unless we as a nation make some significant changes, we are traversing a path that only leads to calamity. However, the timing, severity, and inevitability of this judgment is not certain. God has empowered us to chart our own course, declaring that a nation who turns away from its waywardness will stave off judgment: “If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it” (Jer. 18:7–8). An example of this may be the story of Judah under the leadership of King Josiah. Godliness brought a reformation and revival that delayed divine judgment in Judah for over 20 years (2 Chron. 34:22–33).

Sometimes, as Christians, it is easy to become cynical and to become so focused upon our national faults that we fail to recognize what may be the Lord’s hand at work. In the days leading up to the 2016 election, Lance Wallnau argued in his book God’s Chaos Candidate that a President Donald Trump may surprise Christians. Despite his prior moral failings and his arrogant persona, God may use President Trump to protect and empower Christians through a time of great difficulty as they guide our nation back to its Christian heritage. Likewise, Mark Taylor argued in his book The Trump Prophecies that God would use President Trump to expose corruption in our nation and to restore righteousness in America. Authors such as these were convinced that America has not yet fulfilled its divine purpose. Speaking of America’s unfinished assignment, Lance Wallnau wrote that America is “here to not only spread the Gospel but to provide stability to the world as the Gospel does its work in other nations.”^[1]

It appears as if authors such as Wallnau and Taylor were correct in their expectations of a President Trump. Certainly, he has not been without his faults, but it is now evident that we have a president who is actively seeking to reverse at least some of the sinful practices that America has embraced—the same practices that Scripture informs us invoke God’s judgment upon nations.

A culture of lies

Unlike any prior president, Trump has refused to court the media. Instead, he has chosen to confront what he believes to be a culture of lies, propaganda, and misrepresentation intentionally fostered by our nation’s most prominent news media companies—something he calls “fake news.” He has gone so far as to repeatedly declare that the dishonesty of the vast majority of the news is harming America, even declaring them to be the “enemy of the people.”^[2]

To the chagrin of many, this president is fighting back against what he believes to be a culture of lies. Even relatively minor “lies” are quickly challenged by President Trump—such as the media’s claim that Trump offended the Japanese Prime Minister by over-feeding the fish during a visit to Japan, that Polish First Lady Kornhauser-Duda refused to shake his hand, the number of participants at his rallies, or that his administration had hidden an unfavorable report on the environment.^[3] Ultimately, he has compelled many within the media to reveal how much their partisan political views influence their reporting.

According to a Media Research Center study, 90% of the “Big Three” broadcast networks’ (ABC, CBS, and NBC) coverage of the White House was anti-Trump.^[4] Likewise, a Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy study found that 80% of the news coverage of President Trump’s first 100 days in office was negative.^[5] This study focused on print sources such as The New York Times, The Wallstreet Journal, and The Washington Post as well as the main newscasts of networks such as CBS, NBC, Fox, and CNN. According to the study, the coverage on CNN and CBS was 93% negative, despite a historical first 100 days of achievements.^[6][7]

But President Trump’s crusade against dishonesty has not been limited to the media. Many prominent government officials have been exposed as corrupt and dishonest. Consider only three examples among many:

• The inspector general recommended to Congress that former deputy director Andrew McCabe be charged with lying to federal investigators.^[8] After reading a report from the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility, Representative Jim Jordan said, “Four times he lied. He lied to Comey. He lied to the Office of Professional Responsibility, and he lied twice under oath to the inspector general.”^[9]
• It appears that former FBI director James Comey perjured himself in his testimony before Congress,^[10] and according to a House Intelligence Committee report, he lied to Fox News reporter Brett Baier about whether the FBI believed General Michael Flynn was being truthful when questioned about his contacts with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak.^[11]
• Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper lied when he said there was no surveillance of the Trump campaign.^[12] Clapper is also known to have perjured himself before Congress when he testified that the NSA does not wittingly collect any type of data on millions of Americans.^[13]

Shedding innocent blood

Over 60 million babies are believed to have been aborted since Roe v. Wade in 1973.^[14] There can be no more innocent blood shed than that of an unborn baby, but President Trump has repeatedly admitted that he is working toward seeing the overturn of Roe v. Wade.^[15][16] Already he has nominated two Supreme Court Justices who are strongly pro-life. And in response to the question by Fox News’ Chris Wallace, “Do you want to see the court overturn Roe v. Wade?”, President Trump said, “Well, if we put another two or perhaps three justices on, that’s really what’s going to be—that will happen and that will happen automatically in my opinion because I am putting pro-life justices on the court.”^[17]

It is notable that President Trump is the first president to address the annual March for Life rally, telling the activists, “Under my administration, we will always defend the very first right in the Declaration of Independence, and that is the right to life.”^[18] In fact, he urged Congress to pass a bill outlawing abortions after 20 weeks.^[19] And one of the president’s early executive orders restricted U.S. aid to groups abroad that counsel or provide referrals about abortion.^[20]

Oppressing the helpless and poor

President Trump promised to be the voice of those who feel helpless and unempowered, saying, “The forgotten men and women of our country—people who work hard but no longer have a voice: I am your voice.”^[21] Fulfilling his promise, the president has piloted a massive tax cut designed to create “more jobs, higher wages, and tremendous relief for middle-class families”.^[22] In addition to being the largest corporate tax cut in history, it also increased the number of low income Americans who would pay no income tax to 47.5%,^[23] provided 82% of middle-income taxpayers an income tax cut, nearly doubled the standard deduction, doubled the child tax credit, and removed the penalty for those who have no health insurance.^[24] Even before the changes went into effect, a cascade of businesses across the nation responded by increasing wages and providing generous bonuses to their employees.^[25] And now the president has promised to introduce a new resolution to cut middle-class taxes by another 10%.^[26]

Furthermore, many in financial need have found jobs because of the president’s firm stand on deregulation, something that has been a top priority of the Trump administration. Few things are as oppressive and unavoidable as excessive government regulation. It is believed that regulation and federal intervention in the economy cost Americans a minimum of $1.9 trillion in 2017, and in the first year alone, a new small business will likely spend $83,000 simply to comply with government rules.^[27]

During his first year in office, President Trump oversaw the reduction of the Federal Register—the government’s regulatory Bible—from 95,894 pages in 2016 to 61,308 pages in 2017.^[28] In a single year, the Federal Registry was slashed by 36%, and it continuing to be reduced. Moreover, 47 separate deregulation actions have saved the government $1.3 billion dollars and countless dollars for American businesses.^[29]

The combined effects of deregulation and tax reform have stimulated an otherwise stagnant economy. Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 4.2% in the second quarter of 2018.^[30] There is a record 7.1 million job openings in America.^[31] Overall unemployment is at record lows,^[32] including the lowest black unemployment,^[33] the lowest Hispanic unemployment,^[34] and the lowest women’s unemployment in 65 years.^[35][36] And for the first time Millennials are becoming financially stable enough to leave their parents and purchase homes of their own.^[37]

*****

In our cynicism, it is easy to believe that national change on matters important to God is a pipe dream. Granted, it is no easy task, but it appears that for the first time in more than a generation, we have a president who is up for the challenge. Unlike so many politicians who promise the world and assure us of their Christian values only to forget them once in office, President Trump has proven that he is willing to fight to see a culture of lies thwarted, the shedding of innocent blood stopped, and the oppressed poor and helpless aided. And in my next article, we will consider three more categories where the president is turning our nation away from practices that invoke God’s judgment.

Given the spiritual stakes, it is not surprising that he has largely been on his own in these efforts. Even his own party has failed to support much of his agenda … but this appears to be changing. Moreover, there is a great political turn-over occurring. Many from both parties who have been ideologically opposed to Trump have chosen to step out of office, and many of the new candidates have vowed to support the president’s agenda. We may not agree with all that is within the president’s agenda, but hopefully we can agree that an administration dedicated to turning our nation away from practices that invoke God’s judgment—regardless of political affiliation—is an administration worth supporting.

With a potentially historic midterm election just around the corner, we will soon discover whether the majority of Americans will support the above issues in their choice of candidates. There are no moderates in this election. Candidates have either pledged to support the above policies, or they have vowed to impede and reverse them. The stakes are high and fundamentally spiritual in nature. Either our nation will embrace this turn away from behavior that invokes calamity, or it will return to policies that may provoke God all-the-more quickly to judgment. To say that the results of November 6 will have a lasting effect upon our nation is likely an understatement.