NOTES ON THE LAST TEMPATION OF DONALD TRUMP: HOW HE LURED EVANGELICALS TO FOLLOW SATAN – A REVIEW & COMMENTARY – (WITH VIDEO)

1. THEOLOGY

SCRIPTURE. “At that time many will be offended and repelled [by their association with Me] and will fall away [from the One whom they should trust] and will betray one another [handing over believers to their persecutors] and will hate one another. Many false prophets will appear and mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold. But the one who endures and bears up [under suffering] to the end will be saved.” – JESUS OF NAZARETH, – Matthew 24:10-13, AMP

KEY TERMS:

• “‘MANY’ WILL BE OFFENDED.” ‘Skandalizó’ [σκανδαλισθήσονται]: “‘That which leads to the Fall or Ruin of anyone;’ to craftily entice or lead to mischief giving way to destruction; to be caught or by a ‘skandalon,’ or trap; to cause to stumble [leading to Falling Away from the Faith]; to become indignant or repulsed [by the Truth].”

• “‘MOST’ WILL FALL AWAY.” ‘Paradidómi’ [παραδώσουσιν]: “‘To yield up [one’s Faith commitment];’ to surrender oneself to the Enemy of Christ; to give into the hands of ‘another [master];’ to be put in prison [again]; to deliver up treacherously or betray [King, Covenant and Canon]; To violate by fraud, or unfaithfulness; as, to fail to keep one’s promise; i.e., to Apostatize.’”

• “‘ONLY’ THOSE WHO ENDURE TO THE END.” ‘Hupomenó’ [ὑπομείνας]: “‘To remain under [one’s Sovereign, Covenant or Promise];’ to persevere through a sustained load of miseries, adversities, persecutions or provocations in faith and patience; to stand one’s ground against [all that opposed God and His Law]; to bear up under painful circumstances or conditions.”

QUOTATION. “It has always been my contention that, ultimately: ‘Telling the truth is the most important thing the Evangelical Church can do.’ … The truth is that the world watched in horror while the Church made a Spiritual Alliance with a fraudulent con artist and abuser. ‘Yes, I said Spiritual.’ It wasn’t just a Political Alliance … [Donald Trump] offered the Church everything it ever wanted: Political control, Protection of religious freedoms, Supreme Court judges – what was not to like?” – AMY HAWK, The Judas Effect: How Evangelicals Betrayed Jesus for Power,” 2024; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Then shall many be offended’ — That is, shall stumble and fall, or shall be turned out of the right way. By reason of persecution, many Apostatized from the Faith, particularly those mentioned by Paul, 2 Timothy 1:15; and 2 Timothy 4:10. ‘And shall betray one another’— To illustrate this, it is sufficient to cite one sentence out of Tacitus. Speaking of the persecution under Nero, he says, ‘At first several were seized, who confessed, and then by their discovery a great multitude of others were convicted and barbarously executed.’ 

‘And many false prophets shall rise’ — Or false teachers, namely, in the Christian Church. Such were Simon Magus, and his followers, the Gnostics, who were very numerous. Such also were the Judaizing teachers, termed by Paul, 2 Corinthians 11:13, ‘false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.’Such likewise were Hymeneus and Philetus, 2 Timothy 2:17-18. 

‘And the love of many shall wax cold’ — Because of these trials and persecutions from without, and these Apostacies and false teachers from within the Church, the love of many to Christ and His Doctrine, and to one another, ‘shall wax cold.’Some shall openly desert the Faith, as Matthew 24:10; others corrupt it, as Matthew 24:11; and others grow indifferent about it, as Matthew 24:12. 

‘But he that shall endure unto the end’ — He who shall not be terrified by these trials and persecutions; who shall neither Apostatize from the Faith himself, nor seduce nor be seduced by others; he who shall not be ashamed to profess his faith in Christ, and his love to the brethren, nor be deterred therefrom: ‘the same shall be saved’ — Both here and hereafter. It is very remarkable, and was certainly a most signal act of Providence, that none of the Christians perished in the Destruction of Jerusalem. See on Matthew 24:16. So true and prophetic also was that assertion of St. Peter upon this same occasion, ‘The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation,’ 2 Peter 2:9.” – JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible, 5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

1. TEACHING

The Orthodox Christology we just briefly reviewed is nothing less than explosive, effectively blowing nearly the entire pernicious, largely materialist ‘American Gospel’ to useless little shards, beloved. It is that powerful – and it is that Severely Corrective.

Permit me to explain.

Because of this Doctrinal Reality, I turn to a recently published tome, as with the title of this Commentary: “The Last Temptation of Donald Trump: How He Lured Evangelicals to Follow Satan.” It was written by NATHANIEL MANDERSON, educated at a conservative seminary, trained as a minister, ordained through the American Baptist Churches USA and guided by those ideals.

Significantly, it was published two days before Trump solidly defeated Democrat candidate Kamala Harris (Salon, Nov. 3, 2024; edited). What follows are his MAIN IDEAS in summary, bullet point form.

• OPEN. As I consider the temptations in my own life, I realize that the current Leadership of the Evangelical Church in America — which is my own religious background — has fallen prey to the Temptations offered by Donald Trump. These temptations are eerily similar to the temptations the Devil offered Jesus in the desert, before Jesus began His ministry.”

• STORY. “For those of you who do not know this Story, which is told most famously in the GOSPEL OF LUKE, Jesus goes into the desert to fast for 40 days and prepare Himself to do His work. At this time, Satan comes to Him, offering the same Three Temptations, at least as Christians understand it, that can pull anyone and everyone off their true path. They are the same temptations Trump has offered to the Evangelical Movement, with the difference being that the Evangelical Movement has chosen to follow Trump as he leads them away from God and closer to the path set forth by the Devil himself.” 

• BREAD. “‘The First Temptation was the offer of Turning Stones into Bread.’ Jesus would have been starving by that time, but His famous reply was that man does not live on bread alone. I must admit that the thought of having ‘more money — more bread,’ both literally and metaphorically — is as powerful to me as to anyone else. I want to provide more for my daughters, and every time I have to explain to them why I can’t afford something, it breaks my heart. Yet I also understand money has the potential to take me down a dangerous path, away from my true calling as a teacher and counselor. Trump has offered the Evangelical Church a lot of bread, and the possibility to live the way he does … ‘Evangelical leaders, by the way, are terrified of this message.’ They twist themselves into theological knots teaching and preaching that it’s OK to be both a millionaire and a minister to the Gospel of Christ.”

• SECURITY. “‘The Devil’s Second Temptation is the offer of Protection and Safety.’ In the Gospel, he urges Jesus to jump off the roof of the temple — if He is truly the Son of God, surely His Father, will protect Him. Jesus replies that we must not put the Lord God to the test. This is an interesting temptation that we often encounter in life. ‘The desire for comfort, safety and protection is almost universal.’ In my career, I have greatly desired job protection, for example, but that is never guaranteed when you are committed to telling the truth. Diplomacy was never my strong suit and my working life has been a struggle. I wish it weren’t that way, but over time it has taught me that sometimes security becomes more important to people than their own integrity. I see that in the Evangelical support of Donald Trump. His offer of protection is clear, and something he discusses all the time … The Problem with this message — other than the fact that it comes from the Devil — is that there was no promise of safety for those who chose to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ.”

• DOMINANCE. “‘The Final Temptation offered by the Devil, and by Trump, is the most obvious. The Devil offers Jesus Power over the whole world, and all he has to do is kneel before Satan and submit to His Authority.’ I feel that I barely have to write anything here — the truth of this is louder than anything I can put into words. People support politicians, most of the time, based what they perceive as their own Self-Interest. I am no different. My fight for the working class, and for the first-generation college students I have worked with and supported has been at the heart of my politics. I do not seek power as such, but I definitely want more and better opportunities for the population I love. The idea of gaining personal power and greater influence is a natural temptation but, again, that again could take me away from my true calling on the front lines of this work. ‘Power does corrupt,’ as it most certainly has in the case of evangelical support of Donald Trump. Pastor Robert Jeffress is hardly the only example, but no one embodies the corrupting force of that this temptation better than he does.”

• CLOSE. “‘I have reached the inescapable conclusion that the Teachings of Christ and the Teachings of the Evangelical Church in America are going in opposite directions. The Evangelical Church is heading closer to the Devil.’ It has submitted to Donald Trump and moved ever further away from a man who served the poor, healed the sick, loved his neighbors and taught his followers to do the same. Evangelical leaders have stopped listening to Christ. There is only one other alternative [Antichrist]!”

I love this writer’s humility, boldness, and sheer character to hold Jesus Christ and the Gospel higher than any other thing, idea or motive that exists in the entire world indeed, the entire Cosmos! Let’ now turn to where all this has already led us Americans, both Christian and Non-Christian.

1. LAST THOUGHTS: JUDGMENT!

Since the Epochal Presidential Election of November 5, 2024, I am firmly persuaded that an HISTORIC RESET has taken place, the Impacts of which will be rolled out starting next January 20, 2025 – the First Day of Donald Trump’s Second Administration.

There are 75 DAYS between those two dates, a period of time that shall determine the Last Trajectory of America for her duration, and more broadly, the Last Days of Human History as we have known them for some 6,000 years or more.

I state this without hesitation nor any substantial doubt, and here is why.

IS GOD JUDGING AMERICA? You’ll forgive me, but as I typed that nearly Rhetorical Question at this point, I remembered a childhood response to such an obvious query: “You kidding? Is water wet!” But this is no kid’s game, beloved, quite the contrary.

To address The Question of the Hour directly, I turn to Two Articles by the same author, published eight years apart by DAVE MILLER. He is the editor of SBC Voices. He served as President of the 2017 SBC Pastors’ Conference. He is a graduate of Palm Beach Atlantic and SWBTS.

MILLER IN 2016. In his piece for the SBC Voices publication of May 6 of that year, similarly titled, “Is God Judging America” (edited), he laid out FIVE MARKS that identify a Nation under God’s Wrath, based primarily on Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.

Before doing so, however, he discerningly begins his analysis with this Caveat.

“I understand why the reaction is so strong. It is against the ‘America is God’s chosen people’ Civil Religion that has been so prevalent in the Church during my lifetime. So much of what I’ve heard has been more about ‘Saving America’ than about the ‘Missio Dei.’ I understand and I agree. ‘We’ve bought into the Revisionist History of the DAVID BARTON-TYPES, and it has created an aberrant view of America as God’s “Last, Best Hope” for the world and created a toxic mixture of Americanism, Revivalism, Culturalism, and Nativism.”

So here are his FIVE MARKS OF JUDGMENT OF AMERICA.

1.  NATURAL DISASTERS. – “We are a farming church. Many of my families make their income from Iowa corn (best in the world) and soybeans. The last three years have been disastrous, and this year looks worse. My associate is in Houston right now with Disaster Relief doing mud-out because of the floods. I am not an expert, and I will not opine on Global Warming, Climate Change, and such things, but it sure does seem like ‘Nature is going crazy, leading to economic disaster.’”

• LEADERS WHO DEBASE. – This is a vicious cycle. ‘Bad leaders debase a people. A debased people deserve and often get leaders who lead them into further debasement.’ Unless God works a miracle, we will have either Trump or Hillary as our leader. We will be getting what we deserve – liars, adulterers, debauched, debased, amoral leadership. I’m not sure which is the chicken and which is the egg, but the fact that WE CHOSE! these two is certainly a sign of our own Depravity and the fact that one will be President is interesting at least.”

• ECONOMIC DEBACLE. – “It is described in Haggai as ‘Putting money in a purse with holes in it.’ ‘Economic deprivation, disaster, and debacle is often a sign of God’s Judgment.’”

•  DEFEAT BY ENEMIES. – “‘This is a dangerous one, because only Israel was promised victory over its foes for obedience, not America.’ But our inability to come up with a sensible solution to any problem, our floundering efforts to fight our enemies is significant. James Wood observed that we are fighting a worldwide battle against terror, and our President is mostly concerned about getting men the right to use women’s bathrooms. That’s an exaggeration, certainly, but it is significant. We can’t seem to solve anything.”

• LOSING OUR KIDS. – This is again a judgment God put on Israel, that they would ‘lose their children to the enemy as a sign of God’s disfavor.’”

MILLER IN 2024. Now we fast forward eight years since that posting in the Transitional Year of 2016 (for many reasons!) to an article he published on September 11, 2024 in the same online journal. Title: “The Amazing Political Rorschach Test Debacle.”

Listen to the sharp edges on this good man’s view of the Runup to Election of November 5.

• OPEN. “I will admit that I watched not a single minute of last night’s Presidential Debate. Still, to the moment I am writing this, I have not watched a single clip from the Debate. So, as many of you have often suspected, I write from a place of complete ignorance. (Your joke here…).”

• INDEPENDENCE. “What I have done, though, is scour Twitter, Facebook, and other social media responses to see what people thought about the Debate – that’s more interesting than politicians. As is normal now, this is a razor-thin election, and as has always been the case for the last half-century … Hysteria reigns! ‘Our Democracy (or Republic) will not survive the election of one or the other of the candidates.’In 2015 and 2016 I opined pretty heavily here about politics. I have since despaired of American politics and seen its venomous effects on the Church. We need a revival of godliness more than a win in November. I am now what I call a ‘Kingdom Independent.’ No political party because, as the cliche says, ‘There’s no hope in donkeys or elephants, only in the Lamb’ … An old high school friend of mine said on Facebook last night, ‘The loser of the Debate was America.’ With that, I do not quarrel.”

CODA. Beloved Remnants, what America did on June 21, 2016, the following November 8, 2016, and again on November 5, 2024, constituted nothing less than the following OFFICIAL ACTS OF BETRAYAL – of Almighy God, of the Biblical Canon, and our Founding Documents.

1. Final Rejection of Jesus Christ and His Law as the Governing Spirituality of the Historic American Order.

• Affirmation of the Spirit of Antichrist as the Replacement Governing Spirituality of what shall now become the New American Disorder.

• The Consequent Judgment of what is left of America into Final Oblivion not many years hence.

“And the kings and political leaders of the earth, who committed immorality and lived luxuriously with her, will weep and beat their chests [in mourning] over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing a long way off, in fear of her torment, saying, ‘Woe, woe, the great city, the strong city, Babylon! In a single hour your judgment has come.’” – REVELATION 18:9-10, AMP

Mr. Miller was correct, but Franklin Graham was and is wrong. David Wilkerson was right, but Jerry Falwell Jr. was and is dead wrong. Turns out God’s Law and Prophets and Apostles were all of them, Absolutely True to the Biblical Canon.

‘And the American Church has turned Prostitute to the Beast.’

CODICIL. The United States of America now led by the Antichrist and especially her State Church shall therefore be destroyed in the Coming Judgment. And all who follow after them. ‘Only the Confessing Remnant shall remain victorious’ – either by life or by death – to spend Eternity in the New Jerusalem to co-reign with Jesus Christ forever.’

This is, to the very best of my knowledge, after ten years of intense prayer and study, the Word of the Lord to the American Nation.

‘Choose well, beloved. Choose well. Night is almost here. Selah.

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/wvQoZbRC-D8