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The Israelites were jealous and envious of those kingdom
dwellers who had a king and they wanted to be like them and
thus eschew the obligations and decrees that God has
bestowed upon them by the Ten Commandments and other laws
including worship protocols and dietary requirements.
To their way of thinking, if they could jettison this
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they would have more
freedoms and could have a say in how they were governed as
opposed to the fiat laws of God.
A God that has repeatedly and amply demonstrated his
love and care and concern for them but such a
covenant-making God set out requirements or demands of them
that they believed an earthly king would not do.
They were willing and anxious to exchange the known for
the unknown because, to their way of thinking, freedom from
God was what other nations had around them and they were
influenced by that type of pagan living and lifestyles.
In that Bible story, the exchange between the people who
longed for a king and a God who longed for them to be his
people, reached a crescendo when God acquiesced to their
pleadings and allowed them a king.
That king was named Saul.
On the exterior Saul was eye candy to the people. Big,
strong, of a good family and of a good reputation (at least
at that time!).
Saul was what you would call today, photogenic. He
projected strength and leadership and with him, the
Israelites could have a king that they could boast about to
the surrounding heathen nations and thus become like them in
how they were
governed.
So God had his faithful prophet Samuel anoint Saul king
of Israel and thus began the ending of the clamor for a
king!
What happened?
The honeymoon was soon over and King Saul starting acting
like a king from one of the surrounding heathen nations.
He misused his powers of office and miserably failed to
honor God and to stay in covenant with the God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob.
Saul became erratic in his deliberations and actions even to
the point of trying to kill David (his heir apparent).
The fatal act that led to the demise and death of King
Saul was his arrogance and his flippant attitude towards the
things of God.
Saul became rogue and failed to follow godly rule and
authority as spoken by the prophet Samuel; and when King
Saul got out of his lane and tried to do the works of the
priesthood before the altar of God, Samuel read him the riot
act...but it was too late for Saul.
He transgressed to the point of no return by when Saul,
without permission or the anointing, went into battle,
virtually naked without the covering of God's blessing. The
battle was tragic and Saul and his soldiers were overwhelmed
and Saul intentionally fell upon his sword and forfeited his
life.
Now, speed dial to the year 2016. What are the
comparisons you say?
I'll be brief and to the point. Ostensibly, America was
founded on Judeo-Christian principles of a nation under God
and a nation that boasted, "In God We Trust!"
From those principles, Americans have touted religious
liberties and individual freedoms being the hallmark of our
democracy. Yes, I know the double standard and lies when it
came to the freedoms of black people and we being equal and
under the fair governance of law but that is for another
column.
White America boasted of its goodness and fairness and
was a beacon to the world of being a champion of the
oppressed and those who yearn for freedom. Why, they even
put such a catchy phrase to that effect on the Statute of
Liberty.
Millions of immigrants took that slogan at face value
and poured into this country and out of the "melting pot"
(note: black folks didn't melt so well!) a nation was born
and a nation that present day evangelicals boast about
being, "A shining city on a hill."
That shine is tarnished and maybe even snuffed out due
to this "freedom loving and evangelical" nation gone a" '
whoring after strange gods."
No stranger god has been a petulant, arrogant, bullying
billionaire from the enclaves of New York who claims that he
is for the down and out Joe or the angered coal miner or the
forgotten tool and die maker.
A man who wears a strange hairdo, an orange tan and
talks with his hands and mouths ugly smears against anyone
that he deems a lesser mortal than he.
A man who spouts profanity at a moment's notice and is not
above inciting violence but only to disavow it, if the
preordained violence materializes.
To many frustrated Americans, he is a king! He speaks
their language of despair and he projects "King Saul"
strength to a country that believes that maybe its best days
are behind it.
This current crop of Americans, a nation unlike those
around them, who used to fervidly profess a passion for all
things of God and who would engage in national days of
prayer and would mock and scold anyone who would so much as
open a store on a Sunday are now pleading for a king to lead
them to a better and stronger America.
These people are willing to overlook the glaring warts
and moral failures of their
King, Donald Trump, so long as he delivers on his punch
lines and if he does, they have no need for the slow moving
God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Because now, they can feel and see King Trump and they
can get satisfaction that their nation will soon be all
powerful again and able to take on any pretenders (Russians
or Chinese or ISIS) to their contrived throne.
King Trump gives them political and religious cover
when he dutifully mouths certain "Christian phrases and
words" and entwines those words in a nationalistic cloth
that causes his legion of followers to believe him no matter
what he says.
They are willing to forsake their knowledge and history
of God in exchange for a true champion of the people who
will smite the Goliaths of job grabbing China and
evil Muslims hiding under every mosque and marauding
Mexicans coming into the country at an alarming rate to
murder, steal and rape.
King Trump knows how to rake the racist coals and stir
up the thick muck that is so close to the surface of so many
disgruntled Americans who see themselves as grasshoppers
before giants...but King Trump has promised to slay those
giants and that is all they want and need to hear. King
Trump repeatedly says, "Just believe me!"
Has God allowed a King Trump to spank and discipline
America and to show the paucity of faith that the so called
evangelicals had but which they have quickly deserted when
King Trump blocked the view of their now lesser god?
Time will tell. Keep watching. This storyline is far
from over.
Contact Lafe Tolliver at
tolliver@juno.com |
