SPECIAL PRÉCIS ON THE TERRIBLE IMPORTANCE OF SOUND DOCTRINE IN THE DAYS OF ANTICHRIST & BABYLON: “THE FIVE SELAHS” – (WITH VIDEO)

1. THEOLOGY

SCRIPTURE. “But as for you, teach the things which are in agreement with sound doctrine [which produces men and women of good character whose lifestyle identifies them as true Christians].” – TITUS 2:1, AMP

KEY TERM: “SOUND DOCTRINE.” ‘Hugiainó’ [ὑγιαινούσῃ]: “Teaching that is healthy, pure and uncorrupted; i.e., truthful.” NOTE: The term ὑγιαίνω is used in the New Testament to describe physical health, as well as metaphorically to refer to soundness in Faith and Doctrine. It appears in contexts where physical well-being is discussed, as well as in exhortations to maintain sound teaching.”

QUOTATION. “‘Above all, don’t lie to yourself!’ The man who lies to himself and listens to his own Lie comes to a point that he cannot distinguish the Truth within him, or around him, and so loses all respect for himself and for others. And having no respect he ceases to Love.” ― FYODOR DOSTOEVSKY, The Brothers Karamazov, 1880; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine.’—To introduce a regular organisation and the Principle of a Central Church Government into the numerous but scattered Christian congregations in Crete was ‘Titus’ first work. The second and equally weighty mission’ the Apostle Paul charged him to execute was the refutation of a school of professed Christian teachers, who were promulgating doctrines at variance with the teaching of St. Paul and his brother Apostles. And [who] were also, by their example and lives, fatally lowering the tone of Christian life. It was to the latter point—the evil, moral influence of these teachers—that the attention of Titus was especially directed.

‘False doctrinal teaching was bringing forth already its sure fruit, in the form of a life utterly unlike the pattern life of the Master.’ In contrast to this erroneous and misleading teaching, Titus is directed to exhort the varied ages, the different sexes, the bond and the free, to live lives which will bring no dishonour upon their Christian profession. The strictly practical nature of these charges is remarkable. Before touching upon doctrine, he presses home to these various ages and ranks the necessity of a quiet, useful life. The ‘sound doctrine’ by which Titus was bidden to regulate his teaching is an expression peculiar to these Pastoral Epistles (see Note on 1Timothy 1:10), and stands in clear contrast to the sickly, unhealthy teaching, fanciful and false, of the misleading teachers of Crete.” – CHARLES ELLICOTT, A New and Old Testament Commentary for English Readers, 1897, 1878; edited

II. TEACHING

So the CENTRAL QUESTION that hangs in the now electrified American air is this, (and no other until it is addressed): “Is the American Church teaching Sound Doctrine?” Right. It has nearly become rhetorical by now, hasn’t it?

But let’s take a look at some of the RESEARCH FINDINGS AND COMMENTARY on this vital, existential matter.

• DISBELIEF. “One very significant challenge with the Evangelical Church is that we have started losing our Theological Literacy. In other words, many self-proclaimed Evangelicals don’t know how to answer basic theological questions. According to the 2022 State of Theology survey by Ligonier Ministries, 56% of U.S. Evangelicals agree that ‘God accepts the worship of all religions, including Christianity, Judaism, and Islam.’ 43% of evangelicals agree that Jesus was not God, and 38% agree that religious belief is a matter of personal opinion rather than objective truth.” – MATTHEW TINGBLAD, “The Biggest Challenge for the Church in 2025,” Josh McDowell Ministry, 2024; edited

• DISTRACTION. “It is so very easy for the Church to lose sight of The Main Thing. Today, churches are all too often riven by arguments over politics, socio-economic issues, and what it means to be human. All of those are important questions and we are to be wise in how we address the questions that our society and culture ask of us. But we also need to be aware that those things are Secondary. They are not the principal work of the Church. And we must be focused on The Main Thing. What is the Main thing? ‘JESUS is the main thing!’ But what about Jesus? Well, we do not have to guess. Paul tells us quite plainly what The Main Thing is in our text today, ‘The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners’ (1 Timothy 1.15).” – THE MOST REV. STEPHEN D. WOOD, “Hold Fast to Sound Doctrine,” Anglican Church Net, Oct. 22, 2024; edited

• DISINTEREST. “There has been a significant Decline in church attendance since the turn of the 21st century, according to multiple surveys of church attendance from several research institutions … What percentage of Churchgoing people attend regularly depends on your threshold for what you consider regular attendance. If once a week, only 20% of Americans attend church at that rate, down from 32% in 2000. If we lower the threshold to once a month or more, the number of Americans in regular attendance jumps to 41% (this combines all respondents who answered weekly, almost every week, and about once a month in the Gallup survey).”– MARC WALLACE, “The State of Church Attendance: Trends and Statistics [2025],” Church Trac, ret. May 12, 2025; edited

• DEBAUCHERY. “Over the next four years of the Trump Presidency, Christians of all political stripes will be confronted with images and events that force them to think deeply about their Faith and Works. From how we treat the least of these to loving your neighbor as yourself to whether we serve God or Money, these challenges will demand moral clarity. And the Trump Administration will present Christians—even those who support many of Trump’s policies—with a deeper test: Will they hold their leaders accountable, or will they embrace a faith that bends to power? From her new White House perch, Paula White-Cain will seek to sanctify and defend Trump’s policies. If opposition to Trump grows fierce, she may, as she did in 2020, summon Divine Reinforcements in the name of National Greatness. For all this and much more, Paula White-Cain has earned her reward.” – DANIEL N. GULOTTA, “What to Expect from the Heretic Pastor Trump Installed in the White House,” The Bulwark, Feb. 12, 2025; edited

THE LARGER STORY. These are indeed deeply troubling Trends and Portents for the overall health and integrity of American Christianity and the extent to which it is rapidly departing from Sound Teaching for a number of clearly identifiable reasons.

Money. Political Power. And Accommodation – to both Church Culture and the General Society. None of which have anything to do with The Gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing! Indeed, they are Antithetical to the Christ – even, ‘Anti-Christ!’

Selah I.

Therefore, in the vastly Broader Scenario, we must look at the Spiritual Underbelly of these destructive developments in recent years. I propose that they are defined by TWO ISSUES: (1) ‘Who President Donald Trump truly is’from the view of the Scriptures and sound research; and (2) ‘What America is rapidly becoming’ under the Second Administration of President Trump.

If we can grasp the Truth about both these Definitive Realities, then we can effectively plan where the True Church must travel from here. A point of the most pressing, urgent importance.

III. WHO IS DONALD TRUMP?

I decided pretty much at the outset to dispense with the standard biographical profile of Trump including his ancestry, family of origin, growing up years, education and the like (though that is rich ground for investigation). I wanted something more current, and found exactly what I needed in the work of two of America’s leading journalists writing for what I consider to be the Journal of Record, The Atlantic.

In a riveting piece appropriately titled, “I Run the Country and the World” (April 28, 2025; edited), ASHLEY PARKER and MICHAEL SCHERER. Parker is a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner formerly with the Washington Post, while Scherer was formerly political correspondent for the Post and Washington Bureau Chief for Time magazine.

They offer SEVEN MAJOR OBSERVATIONS about the current President that deep dive into the inner workings of what Atlantic’s Peter Wehner termed, “America’s Mad King” in his excellent piece published on April 17, 2025.

OPEN. “In the journalists’ proposal to interview the President, they had to demonstrate a Rationale for the Request to the White House brass. Here is what they began, demonstrating exceptional, even prophetic discernment of this unique man:

“President Donald Trump, by virtue of winning a second term and so dramatically reshaping the country and the world, can now be considered the most consequential American leader of the 21st century, and we want to describe, in detail, how this came to be.”

1. EXILE. “That Trump now finds himself once again in a position to blow things up is astonishing, considering the depth of his [previous] fall. So much has happened so fast that the improbability of his comeback gets obscured. Perhaps no one in American history has had a Political Resurrection as remarkable as Donald Trump’s. In the waning days of his First Term, his approval rating stood at a pallid 34 percent. A few weeks earlier, he had watched on television while an Insurrection he incited overran the Capitol; polls showed that a clear majority of Americans believed he bore responsibility for the attack. The House of Representatives had just Impeached him for the second time—making him the only President to ever achieve that ignominy. And although the Senate failed to reach the two-thirds majority required for conviction, seven Republican senators voted to convict—the most members of a president’s own party to vote for an impeachment conviction in history.”
2. COMEBACK. “He had almost been destroyed before. After a real-estate downturn in the early 1990s, Trump found himself on the brink of financial ruin. His near bankruptcy and recovery led to his 1997 book, The Art of the Comeback. For his political advisers in exile, this book became essential reading. The first pages list Trump’s ‘Top Ten Comeback Tips.’ When we met one of his advisers recently, this person recounted from memory some of the rules on the list. ‘Rule 1 is: Play golf,’ this adviser told us. ‘Rule 9 is: Get even.’ (Rule 10, ‘Always have a prenuptial agreement,’ seemed less applicable to politics.) To stage a Comeback, Trump would need the Right Staff. He had realized, in his Exile, that at nearly every turn in his first term, someone on his own team—Reince Priebus, John Kelly, James Mattis, Bill Barr, Gary Cohn—had blocked him. He needed smart people who would figure out how to let him do everything that he wanted to do, in whatever way he wanted to do it.”
3. READY!  “The first televised hearing of the House Select Committee on January 6 [2021] was scheduled for the beginning of June 2022, and it was sure to be a spectacle that reminded viewers of the horror of The Insurrection and emphasized the former President’s culpability. Trump’s team at Mar-a-Lago was desperate to distract attention from the hearing. At one point, someone proposed a brazen gambit: Trump could announce his 2024 bid for the presidency just minutes before the hearing gaveled in. Trump’s response was telling. ‘I’m not ready for this … We’re not ready for this right now.’ ‘That was the first moment of, like, “Okay, he’s not just thinking about it; he’s seriously thinking about how he wants to do it,’” one of his advisers told us. ‘He’s not going to just use it as a stunt to make a moment. He wants to win!’ Before long, Trump began emphasizing behind the scenes that he was serious. ‘Be ready!’ he would repeat to people who had served with him the first time around. “Be ready! Be ready! We’re coming back! Be ready!’”
4. STRONGER. “On Friday, May 31, 2024, the day after Trump was convicted of 34 felony charges in a New York City courtroom, the treasurer at Make America Great Again Inc., the main super PAC supporting the former president, called his boss, Taylor Budowich, with good news. A large wire transfer was incoming—a record $15 million. The call set off an internal scramble, because the bank needed the donor’s name to approve the transfer, and nobody knew who it was. Shortly thereafter, the treasurer called back. I’m so sorry,’ he told Budowich. ‘I misheard him. It’s not $15 million—it’s $50 million.’ ‘Don’t be sorry!’ Budowich said. (The donation was eventually traced to Timothy Mellon, an heir to the Mellon banking fortune.) … Some time later, [after his substantial victory], Trump addressed a gathering of supporters in the living room at Mar-a-Lago. During his first term people would say, ‘Yeah, he won, but he doesn’t have a mandate, ’ Trump told the crowd. ‘Now they can’t say it anymore.’”
5. TRANSITION. “People who worked with Trump in his first term used to play a Parlor Game of sorts. ‘What would happen, they wondered, if they, the Human Guardrails, weren’t there to correct the president’s errors, to explain to him all the things he did not know or understand, to talk him out of or slow-walk his most destructive impulses?’ … But by 2024, Trump had effectively consumed the Party, and he had no need to recruit traditional Republicans, if any even remained. Cliff Sims, who during Trump’s First Term had served as a communications aide in the White House before going to work for the director of national intelligence, helped the Transition Team manage hiring for the second term. The Formula for staffing the administration wasn’t hard this time, Sims told us: ‘Don’t hire anyone who wasn’t committed to The Agenda last time.”’
6. SHOCK AND AWE. “The start of a New Presidency is a famously harried and jury-rigged affair. But Trump and his team had spent his time out of office preparing for his Return. [Bulwark publisher Sarah] Longwell, the Anti-MAGA strategist, told us—echoing something our colleague David Frum had warned about four years ago—that watching Trump’s Second-Term Team attack the Federal bureaucracy was like watching ‘the velociraptors who have figured out how to work the doorknobs.’ Day One of the Second Term, the product of [years] of meticulous planning, was all about—in the Trump Team’s words—‘Shock and Awe.’ ‘We did all the Immigration and Border Executive Orders [first] … If we just left it at that, all the stories would have been about what bad people we are—we’re kicking people out of this country. But then right after he signed those border executive orders, Bam! The J6 pardons.’ The adviser explained that, along with Trump’s multiple speeches that day and inaugural balls that evening, this meant, ‘The media had to choose what to cover. It’s either the J6 Pardons or the Immigration Executive Orders.’ This convulsion of activity, the adviser told us, was all ‘planned—designed to overwhelm.’ ‘We have everyone kind of in the barrel, like everyone’s on the spin cycle, just getting whipped around, and that’s advantageous for us,’ another adviser told us’ … ‘This time it’s “Hey, f— you!’” [Steve] Bannon told us.”

Selah II.

• UH OH. “We asked [Democrat Senator Elissa Slotkin of Michigan] whether now, several months into the second Trump administration, her constituents think the chemo is working. ‘I can’t tell you how many Trump voters have said to me, like, “Look, I voted for him to make the economy work. I did not vote for all of this craziness, and I certainly didn’t vote, for instance, for cuts to the VA,” Slotkin said. ‘That is not what they signed up for.’ But in nearly every conversation we had with various Trump Advisers, they told us that delivering on what people had voted for was in fact essential to holding the House and the Senate in the 2026 midterms. ‘Trump himself has his eyes on a larger, long-term political realignment … Delivering on Trump’s campaign promises, his advisers told us, was the key not only to securing his legacy but to transforming the MAGA base into Republican voters FOR DECADES TO COME.”’ 

Selah III.

DK’S TAKE. “For decades to come,” beloved. Yet do I continue to propose, though Trump himself likely does not realize it: “For the next Seven Years.” Even toward the Conquest of the entire Family of Nations.

IV. WHAT IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?

Having taken a deep dive into the inner machinations of Donald Trump’s Plans and Politics, let me finish our conversation with a return to Where I think this intends to take us.

I turn one more time to the exceptional research efforts by theologian and friend, DR. STEVEN ANDERSON. The title of his central work in the midst of a series on this topic, “The Case of Identifying Babylon the Great as the United States of America” (Truth Only Bible, July 29, 2021; edited).

Here are his MAIN ARGUMENTS to which I most strongly recommend we all pay the closest attention possible.

OPEN. “The Book of Revelation gives more attention to an entity called ‘Babylon the Great’ than to any other single subject, with more than two chapters (17:1–19:4) dedicated to a discussion of this Entity. ‘As it is presented in that section, Babylon the Great is clearly the most significant player in the world of the End Times.’ As such, its identification ought to be obvious to anyone living in the End Times. However, at present, Pre-Tribulational Dispensationalists [in addition to Pre-Wrath and Post-Tribulational advocates] are badly divided as to the interpretation of these chapters. And commentators who do not follow a strictly Futuristic View of Revelation 4–22 [vs. Idealist, Historicist, or Preterist hermeneutics] add even more interpretations to the mix. The lack of consensus on the identification of a prophetic entity that ought to be plainly evident indicates that none of the prevailing views does justice to the text of the Book of Revelation, resulting in a state of confusion.”

• THESIS. “‘This article will argue that Babylon the Great is the United States of America, and that this identification is definitive and excludes all other possibilities.’ What follows below is a Summary of a much longer and more detailed argument regarding the identity of Babylon the Great … This article is part of a Commentary I am writing on the Book of Revelation [a/o July 2021; draft now completed, and in my possession].

• FUTURISM. “‘The primary reason that the Book of Revelation calls the Prostitute “Babylon the Great” is that she represents an Entity that did not exist and was wholly unknown at the time the Book was penned.’ Hence, the Revelator chose to use a Metaphor and state that the real name was ‘a Mystery’ (Rev. 17:5). Similar naming conventions are used in the Bible for other Future Entities: ‘Russia is called “Gog,’” and many of the modern countries mentioned with it in Ezekiel 38:1-6 are called by other now-defunct names. The Antichrist’s Ten-Nation Confederation is represented by the Roman Empire’ (Dan 2:40-43; 7:23-24). The name of Antiochus IV was not given in his descriptions in Daniel 8 and 11. The name of the Antichrist is never given, only the number of his name (Rev 13:18).’ But even though none of those names is given, there has been and will be no doubt as to the identification of these persons or nations when they come, for the Bible gives identifying information that is far more specific than a name. ‘The name ‘Babylon the Great’ was chosen, rather than some other name, to show that the Entity it represents is the Pinnacle of the glory, wealth, power, and wickedness of the Kingdoms of Man.’”

• DESTRUCTION. “In Revelation 14:8, which is the first verse to mention Babylon the Great in the Book of Revelation, an angel proclaims ‘Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great, which has given all the nations to drink of the wine of the wrath of its sexual immorality.’ The two verbs ἔπεσεν ἔπεσεν, epesen epesen (‘fallen, fallen!’) are in the aorist tense, which is typically used to indicate past action. Within the Narrative Context of the Book of Revelation, this Proclamation is issued at the Midpoint of the Tribulation period. Even if one does not accept that the Book of Revelation is organized chronologically, it should be noted that the Sequence of Angelic Announcements in Revelation 14:6-11 is very specific. The Angel who warns against receiving the Mark of the Beast is said to have ‘followed’ the Angel who proclaimed the Fall of Babylon the Great in the past (Rev. 14:9). The Mark of the Beast is implemented after the Midpoint of the Tribulation Period, which marks the time of these angelic announcements as the midpoint. ‘Thus, Revelation 14:8 is a clear statement of the Fall of Babylon the Great before the Midpoint of the Tribulation Period.’”

• HEGEMONY. “‘Babylon the Great is a World Hegemon, a country which Dominates world politics, economics, and culture in the end times.’ Further, the text of Revelation indicates that it is a unique entity in the world, ἡόλις ἡ μεγάλη: ‘The Great Polis.’ It uniquely makes all the nations of the world wealthy, reigns over the nations of the world, imposes its culture on all the nations, and leads them in a massive downward spiral of materialistic depravity that culminates in worldwide worship of Satan and the Antichrist during the Second Half of the Tribulation Period. ‘These are things that can only be done once, and the United States is now doing them.’ Never before in history has a single country dominated all the other countries of the world and enjoyed such preeminence in comparison to all the others. ‘The United States finds itself in the historically unique position of monopolizing every significant power source in the world—a position it began to occupy since the end of World War II, and which was greatly enhanced by the end of the Cold War.’”

• CLOSE. In Summary: ‘The Book of Revelation describes Babylon the Great as the Dominant Superpower in the World of the End Times’ —so Dominant, that it actually shapes the culture and economy of the World as it exists at the start of the Tribulation Period. ‘The nature and scope of Babylon the Great’s Dominance is such that only one such Entity could ever exist in the history of the world, and there is no doubt that the United States of America is this Entity.’ While some aspects of the Prophecy remain to be fulfilled—most notably the Prophecies of Babylon the Great’s attempts to put Christians to death worldwide (Rev. 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:2)—enough aspects already match so as to leave no doubt as to the fulfillment of the rest.”

Selah IV.

V. LAST THOUGHTS

As the result of ten years of intensive research on the Rise of Donald Trump and the simultaneous ad disastrous Decline of America and her Church, I have taken to the phrase, “The Beast of Babylon” to describe the President of the United States. A simplified AI Overview (ret. May 20, 2025; edited) describes this Last Days Entity.

“In Revelation 17, the ‘Beast of Babylon’ represents a powerful, often corrupt, Political or Religious System that is ultimately destroyed. This image is often paired with ‘Babylon the Great’ (or the ‘Whore of Babylon’), which symbolizes a worldly, Unfaithful System or Culture. The Beast is a Symbol of Evil and Oppression, while The Whore represents a seductive, yet ultimately Destructive, Force.”

CODA. The Traditional View of these Two Entities has been to separate them into distinctly different forms, one primarily Political, the other primary Spiritual. Both the Research and Summary of them argues for all of it to refer to:

‘One Great Harlot to the Living God.’

Therefore, I propose that Donald Trump is “The Beast” (the Antichrist) who raises up, uses, and then utterly destroys “Babylon the Great,” the United States of America and her Church:

“The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, ‘Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For IN ONE HOUR your judgment has come.’” – REVELATION 18:9-10, NKJV

Therefore: ‘Come out of her! The Lion of Judah is very nearly done with issuing His Last Warnings.

Selah V.

MEDIA

YOUTUBE:  https://youtu.be/qByvVqzLkyI