The biblical book of Judges gives detailed stories =
about men/women who were raised up to deliver their nation in times of =
great trouble. Some, like Gideon, Samson, Deborah have chapters =
devoted to their lives and work. Others have just a few paragraphs =
or verses recording their exploits.
But one of =
them – Shamgar – has just a single verse of reference, =
tucked at the end of a long chapter: "After him was Shamgar the son =
of Anath, who killed 600 men of the Philistines with an ox goad; and he =
also delivered Israel." (Judges 3:31) . He faced a challenge =
and God simply records that he succeeded.
I’m thinking =
of my new President as a “Shamgar”. Nothing is said =
about Shamgar’s faith. No record of his experience or background. =
We don’t even know for certain he was an Israeli; his name is not =
Hebrew, and ‘Anath’ is the name of a Canaanite goddess of =
war.
But . . . it was like the nation of Israel was in a =
challenging time and needed a shot in the arm, and God brought along a =
new leader who did exactly what needed doing. He was God’s =
man for a particular task and not another thing is said about him in the =
Bible.
So it is with Donald Trump. I have no confidence in =
his faith, his morality, or his sense of what needs to happen in the =
hearts of people to make America great again. But he is our new =
President and has a daunting task ahead. Our nation has been =
spiraling out of control. For the past eight years it has become =
clear that the left’s endgame has been to force their so-called =
progressive ideologies and programs down the throat of Americans, to =
reshape the nation into a country vastly different from our historic and =
Constitutional roots.
Six years =
ago, after the horrors of the Obama agenda were established, the people =
responded by giving conservatives the House of Representatives to try to =
slow down the destructive avalanche. Two years later, voters gave the =
Senate to the right as well. This Tuesday, God led a broad =
coalition of Americans to push back in a complete trifecta, adding a =
conservative President. Donald Trump is part of the new face of =
this complete mandate.
As =
Christians, we should recognize the sovereign hand of God allowing the =
evil of the past administration to drive us to the point crying out for =
a deliverer and now bring a “Shamgar” to do the hard task of =
redirecting America back to the light. All Americans should =
rise above petty politics, stop ringing hands in despair, and pray =
and work with this new government to return to our roots and values, and =
make our nation great again. And maybe together we can write a new =
paragraph in the chapter of the history of the United States: “And =
after him was a ‘Shamgar’ . . . who delivered =
America.”
[In a =
private email from my friend and college professor, Ronn Johnson shared =
his evaluation of the results of the election this week. We =
adapted/expanded his premise for our weekend grif net =
blog.]
~~
Dr Bob Griffin =
[email protected] www.grif.net =
"Jesus Knows Me, This I =
Love!"