God Bless America

The Bible is sometimes referred to as the Good Book. In general, when we think of the Bible in its entirety, we think of prophets, saints, apostles, and martyrs. Good people, right?

But let’s dig a little deeper. Both the New and the Old Testaments contain stories of flawed men and women. In the New Testament, Matthew was a tax collector, among the most despised of men. Peter had a temper, and Paul hunted down Christians.

In the Old Testament, Adam was created in perfection, in the image of God, but it didn’t take long for him to fall from grace. Cain killed his brother Abel. Aaron created a golden calf idol, even as his brother Moses was on the mountain speaking to God. David was an adulterer, and Rahab was a prostitute.

And yet God used all of these flawed individuals to further His plan for our redemption and salvation.

Continuing with the theme of flawed individuals, my Scripture reading for the past two weeks has been in the book of Judges. The events in Judges take place in the time period between the death of Joshua and the rise of the monarchy in Israel.

During this interim, God “raised up” twelve judges to rule over Israel. At the time, a judge was more or less a military leader:

“Then the Lord raised up judges, who delivered them out of the power of those who plundered them.” (Judges 2:16)

Here’s the Wikipedia summary of the Book of Judges:

“Israel ‘does evil in the eyes of Yahweh.’

The people are given into the hands of their enemies and cry out to Yahweh,

Yahweh raises up a leader,

The ‘spirit of Yahweh’ comes upon the leader,

The leader manages to defeat the enemy, and

Peace is regained.”

Once peace is regained, Israel behaves for awhile and receives God’s blessings. But every time, the people relapse into doing evil and the pattern repeats itself. Twelve times. The people were (and we are) slow learners.

Of the twelve judges, arguably the most well-known is Samson. In Sunday school, we were taught that Samson destroyed thousands of Philistines–a powerful enemy of Israel–by using his strength to bring down the house (literally), sacrificing himself in the process.

Here’s the quick review of Samson. Before he was born, an angel told Samson’s mother that she was to dedicate her son to God as a Nazirite. A Nazirite took a holy vow to abstain from strong drink, from touching a dead body, and from shaving or cutting his hair. In return for keeping these vows, Samson had God-given super-human strength.

What is glossed over in children’s Bible lessons is that Samson made a lot of poor decisions. He first broke his religious obligation by dining with the enemy–a Philistine woman.

But Samson’s downfall was falling in love with another Philistine woman, Delilah. He told Delilah (after lying to her three times) that the secret of his strength was his uncut hair. As he slept, Delilah cut Samson’s hair and betrayed him.

He was captured, blinded, and enslaved by the Philistines. Because Samson made the choice to trust Delilah rather than God, he finally fell victim to his foes.

Only when Samson’s strength was gone was he able to repent, and then God put his plan into action. God was able to destroy all of the Philistine leadership in one blow and free His people.

What Samson’s story teaches us is that God can use flawed individuals to accomplish His plans. Samson, Moses, David, Solomon, and Jonah were all imperfect men, but they were chosen to be the instruments of change by a higher power for a greater good.

Now, let’s take a leap and apply the lesson learned from Samson’s story to what’s going on in our country today. Is it possible that God can still use flawed men (and women) to set His plans in motion? Absolutely.

Here’s the leap: let’s compare Donald Trump to Samson. Is Trump a flawed individual? Absolutely. Without a doubt. Do I believe that Donald Trump alone is the solution to all of America’s problems? Absolutely not. But, I trust in a powerful God who can use a man with Trump’s flaws to be an instrument of change.

Is a second Trump presidency the answer? I have no idea. But I believe in an omniscient, miracle-working God, the same God who raised a flawed Samson to further His plan. God bless Donald Trump, and God bless America.