Saturday, July 8, 2017

Trump, the Joshua of our Time?

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Joshua 1:9
This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”
(NLT)

Joshua 1:9 is my go to verse during times of fear of weakness.  I try to imagine myself in the position of Joshua during this time in his life.  Joshua was not a young man at this time and due to his, along with Caleb, presenting a report of faith and not fear upon spying out the Promised Land (Numbers 13:25-33) are the only two individuals from the previous generation that will enter the Promised Land.  Joshua has witnessed his people wandering aimlessly through the wilderness for 40 years due to their lack of faith and now sits at the border of the Promised Land with the calling to lead his people into the land God had promised them. 

There is little doubt that Joshua’s thoughts went back to the many times his people had grumbled at Moses only to witness God’s miraculous intervention.  His thoughts may have gone back to the time they complained about the bitter water at Marah where God made the water good by Moses throwing a piece of wood into the water (Exodus 15:22-25).  Perhaps Joshua remembered the complaining of the people complaining about the lack of food while in the wilderness of Sin only to see God Miraculously provide Manna from heaven, something still occurring during this time in Joshua’s life (Exodus 16,Joshua 5:12).  Perhaps Joshua’s thoughts returned to the time when the Israelites complained to Moses about the lack of water only to see God provide water from a rock (Exodus 17:1-7).

Joshua may have been experiencing great fear, fearing this new generation of Israelites would resort to the constant complaining as their parents did with Moses.  God’s command to be strong and courageous is a reminder to Joshua that in each instance of complaining by the people, God performed a miracle to provide for their needs.  God is reminding Joshua that He is the same God that was with Moses and that no matter how tough things became, He would be right there along-side him.

Human nature has changed little since the time of Moses and Joshua for all we seem to see in the news and our media today is constant complaining.  Liberals cannot accept the fact Donald Trump was elected President of the United States and are trying everything they can think of the obstruct his agenda and throw him out of office.  The difference between our society today and the one of the time of Joshua is that we have the internet and social media, allowing the vicious vitriol of rhetoric to spread quickly like a destructive wildfire. 

Like Joshua, Trump entered the vitriolic political fray, leaving behind the comfortable life of a successful businessman and media personality to lead the nation back to what made it great.  The tremendous success of Donald Trump stands as a blaring example of how one can still succeed in the United States without the help of government.  Perhaps Donald Trump views the United States as an economic promised land where anyone with the fortitude and resolve can succeed by applying themselves. 

Despite memories of the constant complaining of the people of Israel, Joshua heeded the command of the Lord and pressed on leading the people into the Promised Land.  The conquering of the land did not come easy for the land was full of ungodly people (Exodus 34:11-14).  God had commanded Israel to be careful not to make any type of treaty with them because to do so would lead to them abandoning God and adopting their pagan ways (Exodus 34:15).  It could be said that these people represent a swamp that must be drained. 

Upon taking office, it soon became evident that the land of government contains its share of swamp creature that must be drained from the swamp.  The swamp of government is not occupied by a group of ites as the Promised Land was but is occupied by some even more dangerous critters.  Contained in the government swamp we see,

1)      Liberals and progressives – The Declaration of Independence of the United States tells us that our rights are unalienable, “incapable of being repudiated or transferred to another.” (1) and given to us by our creator.  Governments role according to the Declaration of Independence is to protect these irrevocable God given rights.  The constitutional structure of the United States Constitution is an effort to protect the rights of individuals by limiting government to prevent tyrannical government.  Liberals and progressives believe the role of government is that of endowing rights to citizens (i.e. free healthcare, free education, etc.) through big government using a progressive tax system transferring wealth from the wealthy to the poor.  These creatures of the swamp insure an economy stifled with destructive taxes and regulation necessary to fund and enforce their destructive agenda.  Donald Trump must drain this swamp by full repeal of Obamacare and other economically destructive regulations and legislation and reformation of the destructive progressive income tax system.
2)      Political establishment elites – Political establishment elites are empowered through the creation of people dependent upon the government or some government program.  President Trumps promise to make America Great again by empowering ordinary people represents a threat to their agenda because it means fewer dependent people.  The swamp of political elitism or what some refer to as the deep state must be drained.
3)      Administrative bureaucrats – Upon taking office, President Trump began undoing many of the executive orders of his predecessors, most of which were initiated by President Obama.  (2)  Most of these executive orders empower some administrative government agency.  Their repeal means some of these agencies will become unnecessary, causing many of these administrative bureaucratic swamp creatures to die, politically speaking of course, in a drained swamp.  The draining of this swamp will result in smaller less tyrannical government.

Just as Joshua faced the task of ridding the Promised Land of the ites, President Trump faces the task of draining the swamp of government of its iteish swamp creatures.  I encourage my readers to pray for President Trump and our other leaders and encourage them to tell these leaders to pull the plug in the swamp of government before they drown in its murky waters. 

1. vocabulary.com. Unalienable. www.vocabulary.com. [Online] [Cited: July 1, 2017.] https://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/unalienable.


2. Harrington, Rebecca. Trump signed 90 executive actions in his first 100 days — here's what each one does. www.businessinsider.com. [Online] Business Insider, May 3, 2017. [Cited: July 1, 2017.] http://www.businessinsider.com/trump-executive-orders-memorandum-proclamations-presidential-action-guide-2017-1/#executive-order-april-29-renegotiating-trade-agreements-1.

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