Trump and Nehemiah: Two Wall Builders the World Needed

I was discussing politics with my karate instructor after class one evening. I had sent him my columns about President Trump and Doug Collins, so we’ve had some interesting talks about related matters lately. He asked me if I’ve read Nehemiah, and I confessed that it has been a while. He had been reading it, and he began to explain that many parts of it jumped out at him as parallels to what we are seeing played out in our nation today. I must give credit to Master Haymore for the inspiration for this piece.

A little background is helpful to put the book of Nehemiah into perspective. The Jews had a series of wicked, unfaithful kings through the centuries. God’s people often lived under the thumb of other nations because of their rebellion to God. After the death of Josiah—one of the few good kings—there were several wicked kings who each reigned for short periods of time leading up to the fall of Jerusalem and the Israelites’ exile to Babylon, beginning in 597 B.C.

Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon burned the temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem. He killed many of the people of the city and took into exile those who escaped death. God’s people lived in exile in Babylon for 70 years until Cyrus king of Persia was anointed by God to rebuild the temple and send God’s people back to Jerusalem.

Almost 100 years after the exile ended and some of God’s people had returned to their homeland, Nehemiah came on the scene. He had made his way to the top ranks of the Persian empire—as cupbearer to King Artaxerxes I—so he was trusted more than most anyone to be faithful and loyal. When Nehemiah heard that his fellow Israelites in Jerusalem were suffering in part because they had no wall and no protection, his heart was burdened for them. The king noticed that he was troubled, so he asked Nehemiah what was wrong. Nehemiah boldly described his dilemma. The king granted him permission to go to Jerusalem and build the wall. He even sent an escort with Nehemiah and wrote letters on his behalf to smooth the way and provide the assistance and materials he would need. Within a miraculous 52 days, Nehemiah had mobilized the Jewish people, and the wall was completed.

It’s interesting that if we fast forward to modern times, the United States has also suffered greatly because of our lack of an adequate border wall. Our border hasn’t been secure, and thus we have been invaded by millions of foreigners, many of whom do not have the best interests of our country at heart. Countless dangerous gangs, drug dealers, thieves, and murderers are living their “best life” here in the U.S. In addition, our economy is weighed down by the exorbitant costs of illegal immigration—in the Medicaid program, in our schools, in the criminal justice system, and so on. Americans are paying a steep price—literally and figuratively. Those on the left who long for open borders seem to turn a blind eye to these devastating effects, all in the hopes of staying in power by buying votes with “free” amenities. One of President Trump’s campaign promises was that he was going to build a wall and secure our Southern border. Just like Nehemiah, he mobilized the people and the resources and has begun to make good on that promise.

Additionally, in Nehemiah’s time, taxes were out of control, and the people were having difficulty even affording food for their families. Some were taking advantage of others, and the financial conditions were dismal for God’s people. Nehemiah righted these wrongs. Likewise, past presidents have failed to put our country first in trade deals and in domestic matters. High taxes and burdensome regulations forced companies to leave the U.S. and set up shop in other nations. Many of us are still suffering the effects of the previous administration’s disastrous policies. President Trump has done a lot to “Make America Great Again,” but there is still much to be done. We are one administration away from tax hikes, disastrous trade agreements, gun confiscation, nationwide mask mandates, further shutdowns, socialized medicine, and the like, which will cause Americans to suffer and could even mean the end of our great republic as we know it.

Like Nehemiah, President Trump was a political outsider. Neither man seemed to have aspirations to lead their nations, until conditions deteriorated to the point that they felt compelled to step in and help. As is the case with President Trump, not everyone was happy about Nehemiah’s work and leadership in Jerusalem. While Nehemiah was working so diligently to build the wall around Jerusalem, his enemies “mocked and ridiculed” him. Tobiah, Sanballat, and Geshem taunted him and bullied him to try to make him stop. They even accused Nehemiah of trying to become king (chapter 6:6-7). Sound familiar? Enemies of President Trump have spouted the same nonsense about him. The examples seem to go on and on and on. Nehemiah’s retort to his enemies would be just as applicable for Trump’s attackers: “Nothing like what you are saying is happening; you are just making it up out of your head” (Neh. 6:8).

Just like Nehemiah’s enemies tried to defame and discredit him, the mainstream media and the elected officials on the left tirelessly attack President Trump. Nehemiah responded about one such attacker: “He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this, and then they would give me a bad name to discredit me.” (Neh. 6:13). How many thousands of people in this country have been hired to attack and intimidate our president? They work overtime to give him a bad name and discredit him. Yet, he continues to fight for what’s best for this nation, day after day, with no financial compensation, because he loves America that much. I dare say that many of us would have given up by now and left the wicked to their carry out their schemes.

Through the ages, the enemy of God’s people —Satan—hasn’t changed. He is still recycling the same old tricks, and they are still working. When we fail to learn lessons from history, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes that our ancestors made. Nehemiah was courageous and valiant in the face of his enemies. When they attacked him, He countered that “The God of heaven will give us success” (Neh. 2:20). I see many parallels between Nehemiah and President Trump. May we take comfort in the words that Nehemiah spoke to his people regarding their enemies: “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes.” (Neh. 4:14). We are in the fight of our lives for our families and for the very future of this nation today, but unlike those who take to the streets to ravage, burn, and loot, our fight is carried out in large part on our knees and at the ballot box. May we fight powerfully and courageously in the days ahead and encourage our friends and loved ones to do the same. Too much is at stake for our nation and the world to sit this one out. As Nehemiah encouraged his fellow countrymen, “Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Neh. 8:10). 

(See this column at American Thinker.)

Copyright 2020, Michelle Thomas

Michelle Thomas is a Christ follower, wife to Trevor Thomas, and homeschooling mom of four. Her books include Lord, I Need You, Through Deep Waters, and Debt-Free Living in a Debt-Filled World. Her website is KingdomCrossing.com, and her email is michelle@kingdomcrossing.com.

Why the God-Haters Hate Israel

(See also: Why is Israel so Hated?)

One of the greatest evidences that there is a God—to whom we owe our very lives, and whose Word we are to follow—is the mere existence of a nation called Israel. Thus the rampant hatred for the children of Abraham. Nevertheless, science again makes clear what Scripture long ago revealed.

A 60 Minutes episode from the year 2000 —of which I have a transcript—reported on a genetics study that revealed a “priestly Y-chromosome” among the general Jewish population. In other words, all those who claimed to be Jewish priests (only males) shared a common male ancestor. As Lesley Stahl then reported, “The results proved that Jewish priests from all around the world are, in fact, descended from one single man, a common paternal ancestor somewhere back in time.”

To tease her listening audience, Stahl asked, “How long ago did this great, great, great-grandfather live?” The scientist she was interviewing provided the answer: 3,000 years ago. In other words, right in line with the time-line presented by the Bible for when Moses’ brother Aaron—the patriarch of the Jewish priesthood—lived.

Likewise, in the year 2000, a study widely reported on revealed that the Jews and the Arabs shared a common genetic heritage. The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, looked at the Y-chromosome—which is passed directly and unaltered from father to son—of male Jews and Arabs and found that they shared “a common set of genetic signatures.”

This should come as no surprise to anyone who knows—and believes—Scripture. The first two sons of Abraham were Ishmael—the son of Hagar and the patriarch of the Arabs—and Isaac, the son of Sarah and the patriarch of the Jews. Thus the “common genetic signature” is the result of both Jews and Arabs being descendants of Abraham.

Most everyone with at least a spotty Sunday school background knows something of the biblical account of “Father Abraham.” If nothing else, we can probably recall the ancient trilogy of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob—later named Israel—fathered twelve sons who would become the “twelve tribes of Israel” and would inherit the Promised Land. The Bible first mentions Abraham—initially named “Abram,” a decedent of Noah’s son, Shem—in the chronology given in Genesis chapter 11. Genesis chapter 12 begins with the telling “Call of Abram.” It reads,

The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’

Note that the nation born of Abraham will be “a blessing” to the whole world. Scripture is replete with this theme. Genesis alone has several references. In addition to the above, there are Genesis 18:18, 22:18, 26:4, and 28:14. Without using the word “blessing,” Scripture makes it clear that Israel is the vehicle through which God—in multiple ways—will bless the earth.

Scripture also makes it clear that Israel was not chosen because it was the largest and most powerful nation (Deut. 7:7), or because of her righteousness (Deut. 9:5). In other words, Israel was not chosen for the glory of (or to glorify) Israel, but to glorify the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In other words, God chose the weak—Israel was in slavery when it became a nation—so that the world would know that the God of Israel was the one true God. (Egypt was the first to get a dramatic lesson.)

The idea that Israel was “set apart” as a “witness to the nations” is also a common thought throughout Judaism and Christianity—especially evangelical Christianity. Exodus 19:6 declares, “[Y]ou will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” Isaiah 43:12 reads, “‘You are my witnesses,’ declares the Lord, ‘that I am God.’” One of the ways Israel was (and is) a blessing to the earth is the testimony of the Jews to the very existence of God. In the late nineteenth century, England’s Queen Victoria reportedly asked her Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli, “Mr. Prime Minister, what evidence can you give me of the existence of God?” After thinking for a moment, Disraeli replied, “The Jew, your majesty.”

A significant manner in which the Jews were a blessing to all of humanity, and another means through which they were a witness to all the earth, was through the written word of God. The Jews were God’s scribes, recording His words and deeds so that people might hear (or read) and believe. As the Apostle Paul, at the beginning of Romans chapter 3 notes, “What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew…Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.” The oral, and eventually, the written Word of God is an amazing testimony of God’s existence, His presence, and His power.

And last, Christianity teaches that the redemption of all mankind came through the Jews. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, was a descendant of Abraham, born out of the tribe of Judah. As Paul also reveals in Romans, “the Jews and the Gentiles alike are all under sin” and in need of salvation. Of course, the message of Paul was the message of Jesus: whether Jew or Gentile, salvation is through Christ alone. Writing to the church in Rome, Paul concludes, “A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly…No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.” (Rom. 2:28-29a)

As I noted in The Miracle and Magnificence of America, long before the Pilgrims departed Europe for a new home, the spiritual heritage of America has been linked with Jerusalem and Israel. Because of events such as the Great Plague, during the fifteenth century there was widespread belief that the end of time was near. Many Christians of this time also believed that before Christ would return, Jerusalem had to be in the hands of Christians. As the result of his study of Scripture, along with his study of the works of first century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus and noted theologian and philosopher Saint Augustine, Christopher Columbus believed the same. Thus Columbus literally saw himself as an agent of the apocalypse.

As life in Europe became increasingly difficult for the Pilgrims, in spite of what they were hearing concerning the death and destruction at Jamestown, more and more, God’s plan seemed to point to America as their home. The pastor of young William Bradford’s congregation at the time was John Robinson. During this time, Pastor Robinson revealed that he believed God was calling them to a New Jerusalem—in America. Robinson wrote,

Now as the people of God in old time were called out of Babylon civil, the place of their bodily bondage, and were to come to Jerusalem, and there to build the Lord’s temple…so are the people of God now to go out of Babylon spiritual to Jerusalem…and build themselves as lively stones into a spiritual house, or temple, for the Lord to dwell in…for we are the sons and daughters of Abraham by faith.

The God who spoke to Abraham and Moses is the same God who inspired the Pilgrims and the Puritans—the people who are most responsible for the founding of the United States. Though Christianity teaches that we are all under a new covenant with our Creator, the nation of Israel still stands as a testimony to the Truth. Thus any move that further legitimizes Israel—such as official recognition by the United States of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, and placing our embassy there—will be strongly opposed by those who hate the Truth.

(See this column at American Thinker.)

Copyright 2017, Trevor Grant Thomas
At the Intersection of Politics, Science, Faith, and Reason.
www.trevorgrantthomas.com
Trevor is the author of the The Miracle and Magnificence of America
tthomas@trevorgrantthomas.com