The ancient biblical character Jehu was a man of action. When he drove his chariot toward Jezreel, the watchman recognized him by the furious way he drove. Jehu had been commissioned to bring judgment upon the corrupt house of Ahab.
When Jehu arrived, Jezebel looked down from a window. Jehu called to the eunuchs standing near her, “Who is on my side? Who?” At his command, they threw Jezebel from the window. She died below, and dogs consumed her remains, fulfilling the judgment Yahweh had spoken through Elijah.
Jehu then moved aggressively against Baal worship. He tore down Baal’s temple, destroyed its sacred pillar, and killed its priests and worshipers. It appeared that a sweeping spiritual reformation had begun.
But Jehu’s reformation was incomplete. Although he destroyed Baal worship, he refused to abandon the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
King Jehu and President Trump have a lot in common. They both are bold reformers. They both had more than a casual fascination with gold. Unfortunately, Jehu preserved Israel’s golden calves. Donald Trump has long associated gold with wealth, prestige, luxury, and success. Leftists relentlessly criticize Trump for what they consider “gaudy” and “wasteful” improvements (liberals criticizing waste? ha!) to the White House.
Scripture says, “But Jehu was not careful to walk in the law of Yahweh, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam, who had caused Israel to sin”
(2 Kings 10:31, ST).
Jehu removed one form of idolatry while preserving another that served his political interests, including keeping the infamous Golden Calf. He confronted the corruption of the previous administration of Jezebel (compare to Hillary) and Ahab (compare to Bill), but he would not surrender his own heart completely to God.
There may be a warning here for President Donald Trump. Trump entered the political arena with tremendous force. Like Jehu driving his chariot, he moved quickly and boldly. He challenged entrenched powers, exposed corruption, defended religious liberty, appointed conservative judges, supported Israel, and gave millions of forgotten Americans a voice.
He began both of his presidential terms making bold reforms. He initiated more reforms more quickly than any other president in American history. Yet recently, some conservatives are delicately questioning if we are seeing a different Trump, one who is becoming more willing to compromise with the forces he was elected to confront. They wonder if the president is playing three-dimensional chess with a master plan that we can’t yet see…or has he either gotten too comfortable or too fatigued to the point of being willing to compromise on principles? If so, could he use a friendly nudge from his MAGA constituents to continue in reform mode?
Jehu’s life warns us that a man can tear down many idols while leaving certain golden calves standing. He can confront evil courageously in one area while tolerating compromise in another. Political victories cannot substitute for obedience to God and faithfulness to the MAGA support base of patriotic American citizens.
More than ever, we should pray for President Trump, earnestly and with empathy, not like so many podcasters railing against him, being clueless of what it’s like to walk a mile in his moccasins. But we also must not act as if compromise were courage and blindly agree to anything and everything our president says and does. Lest we forget, loyalty to a political leader, even a great one like Trump, must never eclipse our loyalty to our Creator.
We must pray that he solicits direction from God and acts upon what he hears with the conviction, courage, and clarity that have distinguished him from ordinary politicians. We must pray that he seeks God’s approval above public applause, political alliances, wealthy donors, or personal legacy. We must pray he does not morally compromise.
Let’s pray that both Trump and the MAGA base submit to the sovereign hand of God during these trying times, and that we stay resolute and do not make moral compromises for political expediency.
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Yes, we’re proud of our military power, our economic strength, our technology, and our worldwide influence. But we must not speak and act as though America were undefeatable. It would be both prideful and ignorant to think we could continue to exist as a nation without the sovereign hand of God guiding us and upholding us. History is a graveyard filled with nations and empires that once believed they could never fall.
Egypt was one of the ancient world’s greatest powers, yet Babylon defeated the Egyptian army at Carchemish and broke its control over the region.
Babylon then appeared unconquerable. Its walls, wealth, and military power seemed to guarantee its survival. Yet the combined forces of the Medes and Persians defeated Babylon.
The Assyrian Empire, once the terror of the ancient world and the dominant superpower of its time, also fell under the judgment of God, showing that even the most feared military machine in history is not beyond divine overthrow.
The Persian Empire, centered in territory that includes modern Iran, appeared overwhelming. Yet the Greeks under Alexander the Great defeated Persia and brought its vast empire under Greek control.
Alexander died unexpectedly while still a young man. His empire was eventually divided among four principal lines of generals and their successors.
The Greek world was then gradually overcome and absorbed by Rome — once again, an empire that appeared destined to endure gave way to another.
This should make every American humble. America has been greatly blessed, but those blessings should produce gratitude and obedience, not arrogance.
We do not merely need national greatness. We need national humility. We might ask God to expose the idols in our lives, and in our Republic, and for U.S. citizens collectively to turn our hearts back to God, lest He allow us to be governed by a Democrat Socialist president.
Neither Donald Trump nor any other political leader can ultimately save America. Presidents can defend borders, strengthen armies, negotiate peace, and appoint judges. But only God can preserve a nation’s soul.
Our hope must not rest in armies, elections, parties, gold, wealth, or political personalities.
“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we remember the name of Yahweh our God”
(Psalm 20:7).
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Image: Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.