The Serpent in the Swamp

By:  Dale Weckbacher

Revelation 12:9

This great dragon—the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world—was thrown down to the earth with all his angels.

(NLT)

During his campaign for President, Donald Trump promised to drain the swamp and as an outsider to politics was uniquely positioned to be the swamp drainer upon taking office.  (1)  Drain the swamp became a slogan of Trump’s campaign along with “build the wall,” and “lock her up.”  The process of draining the swamp began with the passage of an executive order enacting a five-year revolving-door policy for his appointees.  However, he also promised to ask Congress for a similar policy, which has yet to be enacted.  While some contend there is no evidence of such a request, it is also possible the Congress has ignored the request in order to protect their careers as lobbyists once leaving office.  (2)  However, the appointment of lobbyists to positions where they oversee their former employers creates suspicions of conflicts of interest. 

While a slogan of “drain the swamp” may create excitement during a campaign and allow someone to win election to office, the reality is that the swamp in Washington DC is massive and draining it will take some time.  There are also swamp creatures in the swamp with an agenda of stopping the Trump agenda.  Among these creatures are,

1)      Congressional Water Moccasins – As one of the most venomous snakes of the swamp, the water moccasin can bite its prey and recoil back to its coiled position in less than one-half second, primed to strike again.  (3)  While Republicans control both houses of Congress and it would appear Trump should have no problem with passage of his agenda through Congress, the Obamacare repeal legislation that narrowly passed congress and remains stuck in the Senate has revealed the presence of dangerous congressional water moccasins ready to strike repeatedly from their coiled positions.  In addition, numerous scandals, whether true or fake, are causing members of Congress and the Senate to focus more on retaining their seats in Congress in the 2018 election, losing focus on passage of the Trump agenda.  (4)

2)      Media Alligators – Alligators rarely hunt for pleasure or sport and their hunting is strictly business.  (3)  Trump and his supporters often refer to fake media.  While some in the media give the proverbial eye roll when one makes mention that media coverage of President Trump is largely negative and even over-the-top, a recent study conducted by Harvard University’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics, and Public Policy, reveals that the media coverage of the first 100 days of the Trump Presidency has been 80 percent negative and only 20 percent positive.  (5)  Just as alligators seldom hunt for sport, these media alligators have one agenda, taking down the President the people of the United States duly elected.   To justify their agenda, the media continually beats the drum of their mantra that somehow the Russians hacked the election to insure Trump’s election.  However, after numerous investigations, no evidence of any such tampering has surfaced, something confirmed by both former President Obama and the U.S. Intelligence Community.  (6)  However, these media alligators are not about to allow lack of evidence to get in the way of eating their dinner, President Donald Trump.

However, there is another creature in the swamp that is even more dangerous.  This swamp creature is nothing new for it is this creature that was present in the Garden of Eden leading to the eviction of Adam and Eve, and all their future offspring including us (Genesis 3).  While this creature is not visible, all the other creatures in the swamp are directly or indirectly ordered by him.  The creature I am talking about is Satan (Revelation 12:9).  While this swamp creature’s demise was foretold in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15), and fulfilled through Jesus completed work on the cross (Galatians 3:13), he continues to be a force we must reckon with. 

While this serpent in the swamp will face his demise (Revelation 20:2, 10), we must deal with him and his evil intentions until that day.  The good news for us all is that Jesus did not leave us defenseless and has provided the means with which we can defeat this vicious swamp creature.  We can,

1)      Pray (Ephesians 6:18-19) – Prayer is a powerful tool but unfortunately, a tool most of us fail to use often enough.  Jesus urged us to be constant and persistent in our prayers (Matthew 7:7).  James goes on to remind us that our earnest prayers are extremely powerful (James5:16). 

2)      Put on the armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-17) – While we can visibly try to defeat the congressional water moccasins and media alligators through elections and who we choose to view, listen to, or read in the media, the invisible swamp serpent behind these swamp creatures requires a different set of weaponry.  Defeating this serpent requires truth, righteousness, the Gospel, faith, salvation, and the Word of God.  Prayer keeps us on alert as we enter spiritual battle armed with these weapons.

There is little doubt there is a massive swamp to drain.  While a strategy of elections to defeat swamp moccasins in congress and turning off fake media can help, without defeating the swamp serpent behind them, there can be no long-lasting solution.  I therefore urge my readers to continue being engaged politically in elections, speak out against fake media news but I also urge everyone to more importantly pray and put on the armor of God in order to render the serpent in the swamp ineffective. 

1. Fleischman, Jon. The true promise of a Trump presidency: Draining the swamp. www.ocregister.com. [Online] The Orange County Register, December 1, 2016. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] http://www.ocregister.com/2016/12/01/the-true-promise-of-a-trump-presidency-draining-the-swamp/.

2. Overby, Peter. Trump's Efforts To 'Drain The Swamp' Lagging Behind His Campaign Rhetoric. www.npr.com. [Online] NPR, April 26, 2017. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] http://www.npr.org/2017/04/26/525551816/trumps-efforts-to-drain-the-swamp-lagging-behind-his-campaign-rhetoric.

3. Okefenokee Swamp Park. Swamp Animals. www.okeswamp.com. [Online] Okefenokee Swamp Park. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] http://www.okeswamp.com/about-the-park/swamp-animals.

4. Time. President Trump's Agenda Slows to a Crawl Amid Latest Scandals. time.com. [Online] Time, May 16, 2017. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] http://time.com/4781631/president-donald-trump-mitch-mcconnell-congress/.

5. Kass, John. Harvard Study: Media Has Been Largely Negative on Trump. https://townhall.com. [Online] Townhall, May 23, 2017. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] https://townhall.com/columnists/johnkass/2017/05/23/harvard-study-media-has-been-largely-negative-on-trump-n2330482.

6. Adams, Becket. Reminder: 'Hack the election' is garbage shorthand for Russia's alleged meddling. www.washingtonexaminer.com. [Online] Washington Examiner, May 11, 2017. [Cited: May 29, 2017.] http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/reminder-hack-the-election-is-garbage-shorthand-for-russias-alleged-meddling/article/2622858.