STAND FIRM: Your Post-ElectionStrategy-It's a Likely Reprieve (Pt. 1)
In my last article, I shared a part of my writing journey that began with a political column for a news website. After Donald Trump's election in 2016, the site promoted the idea that God intervened overnight to grant Trump victory. They viewed him as God’s new King Cyrus, the ruler of the Medes and Persians who freed Israel from Babylonian captivity.
I wasn’t against Donald Trump (I voted for him then and again last week), but I wasn’t comfortable calling him the next Cyrus sent to save our nation. My discomfort came from not wanting to put words in God’s mouth. I believe that views like these regarding the election overlook the fact that the United States isn’t a new Israel. We aren’t at the center of God’s plans and will. Biblical prophecy shows that the main focus in the end is the Middle East, particularly Israel.
There will be a shift in the world’s superpowers leading up to the end of the age. At some point, the United States will diminish. Even if America is made great again, we know it’s not going to be eternal and isn’t going to fix everything. Now, I do hope and believe over the next four years, more babies will be saved, there may be less attacks on religious liberty, homosexual and transgender progression will be slowed, the economy will improve, there will be more money in my pocket and the bank, my retirement is going to grow better, our nation’s defenses will be bolstered, we’re more likely to do the right thing toward Israel and other positives, but all that will be on the auction block again in four years. Only so much progress can be made and we know how Bible prophecy describes the end of the age — wickedness will increase, persecution will increase and there will be tribulation.
All those things prevented me from continuing in the direction of that news site, so I left that great opportunity. I also wrestled with what God was up to with the election of Trump in 2016. I didn’t like the moral direction and religious liberty direction of the Obama Administration then. There were many accounts of people being sued and losing jobs for taking a stand against same-sex marriage, and there were pastors in Houston and Idaho who had sermons subpoenaed. Still, unfortunately, that direction seemed in line with the trajectory of prophecy. So when there seemed to be a break in that trajectory through Trump’s election, it was confusing to me. I’m glad to be confused, but I didn’t know how to take it.
I wrestled with trying to understand what God was up to then and now with the current election results. My only revelation was that it was at least a reprieve. We may have now been given another reprieve in America.
A year or two after the 2016 election, I wrote a book, For Uncertain Times, in which I looked at all the times in Scripture and history that God’s people faced national distress. I pulled out 40 lessons from when Israel faced difficulty against Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia and beyond. Interestingly, one of the themes that resurfaced repeatedly was that God sent reprieves.
Ironically, one of the most notable reprieves in the Old Testament was King Cyrus’ edict allowing Jews to return home after the Babylonian Captivity. Of course, another major reprieve was bringing Israel out of Egypt. It’s easy to jump to those big examples, but many smaller reprieves existed throughout Jewish history.
One of the more fascinating examples was the time leading up to the Babylonian captivity. Prior to entering the Promised Land, God spoke through Moses, warning about a time of deportation and captivity if Israel broke the covenant with God. That was 900 years before the captivity. The entire book of Judges shows a cycle in which Israel would be right with God and blessed. Then they’d abandon Him and turn to idols. There would be difficulty, repentance and then reprieve. That cycle continued throughout Israel’s history.
In the time of King Hezekiah and Isaiah, the 10 northern tribes were carried away by the Assyrians, but God gave a “reprieve” to the tribes of Judah and Benjamin in the south. That was 150 years before the deportation.
The ultimate example that relates to the reprieve of Trump’s presidency is that even with the Babylonian captivity, there was a series of small deportations for decades before the final punishment. According to Jeremiah, throughout those warnings of smaller deportations and reprieves, Israel could have repented, turned back to God and at least prolonged the judgment.
I’m beyond thankful for the election results, but I want to caution you that we should see it as at least a reprieve. By doing so, we can see it as a time to make up ground with the gospel and prepare for challenges that are likely still ahead. In my next article, I hope to discuss how we might make the most of this likely reprieve.
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Jake McCandless
Jake McCandless authors a weekly column titled, Stand Firm and Live Epic, through which he seeks to encourage the modern church to not just survive, but thrive in current times. He also addresses many end-times topics.
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