Is Donald Trump appointed by God to rule? - Daniel Mosby
Church leaders on both sides of Atlantic claim Trump’s election victory was a victory for God. That Trump has been appointed by God to rule. I disagree.
There are four common arguments that Trump supports make and I’m going to go through and address them one by one.
Everyone in authority is appointed by God.
God saved him from assassination.
God told me in a prophesy
He’s doing God’s work.
Everyone in authority is appointed by God.
Before we look at this from a logical perspective, let’s look at a common piece of scripture used to support it.
Romans 13 has actually been quoted by Trump administration officials to imply that questioning Trump is questioning God.
Romans 13
1. Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
To help us understand this let’s look at who was the recipient of Paul’s letter. Let’s also remember that Paul wrote this as that a letter, to Christians in specific place at a specific time. Paul had no idea that his writings would later become part of the Bible and be read by billions. We’ll ever know for certain, but some scholars believe there was a group of Christians in Rome who were refusing to recognize any authority other than God as an excuse not to pay taxes. Perhaps because Roman taxes were being used to build temples to pagan gods. Paul is saying in his letter to the Christians in Rome don’t make trouble for yourselves with the law and authorities and pay your taxes.
Let’s also look at the language and translation, the word translated as “subject to” is hupotassó this word literally means “to organise your self orderly underneath”.
ὑποτάσσω, Hupotassó
Strongs #5923
“to organise your self orderly underneath”
But there is another word Paul could have used that he chose not to hupakouo which means to obey.
ὑπακούω, Hupakouo
Strongs #5219
“to obey, be obedient to, submit to”
In Colossians Paul (if he actually wrote it which is debateable) uses these words.
Colossians 3:20
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
Here obey is hupakouo.
Colossians 3:18
Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Here submit is hupotasso.
To quote from an explanation on Bible hub.
In the Greco-Roman world, the concept of submission was integral to the social order, particularly within the household. The paterfamilias (head of the family) held authority over the household, and members were expected to submit to his leadership. This cultural understanding of hierarchy and order is reflected in the New Testament's use of "hupotassó," especially in passages addressing family and community relationships. However, the Christian perspective introduced a transformative view of submission, emphasizing mutual respect and love, as exemplified by Christ's own submission to the Father.
Paul could have used hupakouo/obey here for authority but he didn’t he used hupotasso the word used for mutual community and family relationships. In the same way that a wife or husband should show respect for their partner without going along with it if their partners says “I think we should go and murder someone tonight”.
The rest of Romans 13 hinges on this:
Romans 13
The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted
My take on this is that all human authority exists because God allows it, that is true. However, for the same reason we can choose to do cruel things to each other free will also means we can choose whatever leaders we want. To say that anyone in power is there because God chose them means that God chose Hitler, Ghengis Khan and the racist South African apartheid regime. Romans 13 was used in The American Civil War by both sides to say you cant question the English King and the American Congress. God allows us to choose the leaders we want, or sometimes leaders to choose them selves. God will no more interfere in the free will of the democratic process than he would in any other aspect of our lives.
With Trump supporters who argue this I then say “So Biden was also appointed by God then?” They don’t like that. You see for them It only works for people they agree with. When Biden won the election was “stolen” and Trump supporters tried to storm the Capital to overturn the result. That’s not respect for power and authority. That’s using he Bible to back up your opinion and ignoring the same passages when it doesn’t. Either Romans 13 means all leaders are appointed by God or no leaders are. It can’t just be applied to the leaders you like.
As with every Bible passage To understand it we meed to explore:
The historical context.
The translation.
The context of the wider Bible and the character of Jesus.
The Roman political leaders when Jesus was alive were an occupying force, the Jewish leaders were and Pharisees were chosen by the powerful. God allowed them to be in power because of free will but they were not chosen by God. Jesus constantly peacefully yet forcefully challenged their authority, that’s why they executed him.
What Paul is saying in this passage, is what Jesus also said “Pay your taxes to Cesar”. Don’t stir up unnecessary trouble for yourself, comply with the laws of the land. However, that doesn’t excuse us from standing up for the oppressed and challenging injustice (as I spoke about recently) and it doesn’t mean that everyone in power carries Gods authority.
God saved Trump from assassination.
In September last year Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt. He later said God saved him so he could continue doing God’s work. As Paul said in Romans 13, we should show respect for authority and there is no justification for violence to anyone including those in authority. As with every murder and evil act that takes place the assassination attempt happened because people have free will and God cannot intervene with that. Can God work in ways to protect us from acts like that? Absolutely, is his intervention dependent on our acts or deeds? No.
I don’t think he did but God might have worked to stop the assassination in the same way he protects all of us regardless of power, wealth or what we think of him. What convinces me here God didn’t act though is someone else did die. Corey Comperatore, a volunteer fire chief, died diving in front of his family to protect them from the bullets. So if we say God saved Trump we have to say that God was also happy for Corey Comperatore to die. As someone said to me lately “If that is who God is he’s not a God I want anything to do with”.
God told me in a prophecy
I said earlier I often discuss with Trump supporters and say if Romans 13 applies to Trump does it apply to everyone in power. Was Biden appointed by God? Was Hitler appointed by God? When they then say inevitably no I say well how do you know Trump is? One answer that keep coming up is that someone respected heard it from God in a prophesy.
I’m not going to name them but lots of christian leaders and thinkers prophesied that Trump would win in 2016 and again in 2020. Interestingly when they were wrong about 2020 rather than admitting they were wrong most of these prophets said they were right and the election was just stolen (a demonstrable untruth).
Can people use the spirit to prophesy? Absolutely.
Just because someone says they’ve heard from God can we say definitively that they have? No.
Can people mishear God? Yes.
Can people think it’s God they’re hearing when it’s not? Yes.
I’m not saying that the people bringing these prophesies are lying. They clearly believe what they are saying. But that doesn’t make the right.
The test I always apply when discerning if a prophesy or anything else is from God is does what I am hearing match the character of Jesus. Jesus is God,. God wouldn’t prophesy something that is against his character. So if the prophesy is clearly no in line with how Jesus behaved then something else is going on.
This brings me onto my final point.
Trump is doing God’s work
If Trump does represent Jesus then and this is the key, perhaps Trump’s prophesies are correct.
In 2015 Trump stated that he attends Marble Collegiate Church, in Manhattan. In a statement to CNN the church said that Trump "is not an active member"
Biden however, is widely known to be a Catholic, regularly attending mass even whilst president. Kamala Harris regularly attended a Baptist Church in San Francisco. Rev. Amos Brown the church’s Pastor, told the Associated Press Harris is a “spiritual person” and “quintessential scholar.”
What I don’t want to do here is judge Trump or anyone else’s faith; that’s not for me to do. But Trump supporters tell me Harris and Biden are evil and not Christians. However, they struggle to justify why Trump’s Christianity is somehow more valid other than they agree with his views.
So the key question is does Trumps character line up with that of Jesus?
Jesus was love, God is love. The best definition of love is in Corinthians.
1 Corinthians 13
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
I’ve never heard anyone trying to argue that Trump matches that definition of love. To be it’s clear that Trump’s character is the opposite of most of the qualities
The argument that Trump supporters use is that he is doing God’s work by bringing back Christian values and destroying woke culture. The Merriam Webster dictionary defines woke as “aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues especially of racial and social injustice”. I know this will annoy some people but Jesus was woke.
Jesus was inclusive, seeking out the marginalised. He was a brown skinned, Jewish Palestinian living under an oppressive regime. He called out those who tried to use God’s name to gain power and authority and put others down. He ate at the table with outcast. Peter was instructed by God to think of no one as unclean.
Trump supports argue that he is bringing back “christian values” such as no abortion (pro-life), the right to have a gun (anti-life?), no gay marriage, only two genders. To his followers Trump is a modern day crusader, focused on bringing back “christian values” to a hedonistic world.
The problem here is that the priorities are all wrong. I often think Jesus must be sat saying “Really I keep telling you to love people and you focus on those issues!”. God wants us to live in the tree of life not the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Jesus spent his time refusing to judge others.
Mark 12
30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
How loved do America’s neighbours feel right now?
I don’t want to pass moral judgement on any of these “Christian values"“. You know by now that’s not what I’m about. But to focus on what’s right and wrong and to ignore love and compassion is do just what the pharisees who Jesus butted heads with did.
What were Jesus’s commandments to us? Love God and love your neighbour. Simple. He didn’t say love God by imposing a certain set of values on people
John 3
17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
If God didn’t send Jesus to condemn the world, I doubt he sent Trump to do that.
The Jesus I read about and know is a Jesus of love and compassion. A Jesus who didn’t care about national borders or where someone was from.
Trump and his policies do not embody any of the characteristics of Jesus that I know. That is the simple argument for me that settles all of this.
Are those prophesies from God? I don’t believe so.
When a Trump supporter tells you he’s the messiah just ask, “Which of the characteristics of Jesus do you see in Trump?”. They will fumble and go on about abortion or restricting LGBT rights. But they will not be able to tell you the characteristics of Jesus that Trump reflects because he doesn’t.
It comes down to what version of God do you worship?
A God of love who wants you to love your neighbour. Or a God of rules and religion that wants to put people down who don’t conform to your very narrow way of thinking.
You could argue both of those opinions are biblical. But only one is Christlike and I’m a Christian.
People then say to me well God can still use Trump to do good. God is not a user. God does not use people. God works in partnership with people who are willing to partner with him. Nothing I have seen shows Trump is willing to partner with the God that I know.
What Trump has done is actually what the powerful have done for millenia. Create a warped view of God that serves their needs and then claim divine approval. They make people think that to go against them is to to go against God. And their God is an angry God who punishes people who go against him. To the extent that people overlook how Trump clearly falls down on the moral standards they want to hold others to.
What should the Christian response be to Trump?
To finish lets consider what should our response be as Christians acting from the tree of life? Firstly we sit at the table, we work with as much as we can those in authority, we respect democracy and authority, we pray for those in power that they will see the God of love that we know. We make an extra effort to sit at the table with the groups Trump wants to marginalise. We should bring the tree of life to situations we can control. But also we should flip the table on occasion, don’t let the narrative that Trump is from God hold ground. Challenge it where we can.