I was sitting this morning working on my summer Bible study material,Life Principles from the Kings of the Old Testament, and I was totally struck with the resemblances between President Trump and King Saul. Let me be clear here: I was in no way looking for this resemblance; I was just sitting here, minding my own business, working on Lesson One. And there the resemblances were, as plain as day:
- Saul’s inferiority complex. If you grew up in Sunday School you’ll know the story of Saul hiding himself among the baggage when the time comes for him to be crowned. He mentions several times that he’s from an insignificant family. Word has always been about Donald Trump that he feels inferior to the New York elites, who have always considered his to be crass and vulgar. Which he is, of course, and he knows it. No one with true self-confidence feels the need to boast.
- Saul’s utter misunderstanding of who God is and how He wants to be worshiped. I was just reading I Samuel 13 where Saul goes ahead and makes the sacrifice before battle without waiting for Samuel. Here is his reasoning: “‘The Philistines are about to come down on me in Gilgal, and I haven’t yet come before God asking for his help.’ So I took things into my own hands, and sacrificed the burnt offering.” (The Message) Notice that there’s no acknowledgement that he is under God’s authority, that he’s not free to “take things into his own hands.” One of the most nauseating things said about Donald Trump in the campaign was that he was a born-again Christian, when every word that comes out of his mouth when he mentions spiritual matters is an utter refutation of that notion. Go by what the man himself says, folks, and not what other people say about him! Ignore the wishful thinking that is still being bruited about.
- Saul’s being chosen as a result of the Israelites’ mistaken notions about what kind of ruler they wanted. Does this one need to be spelled out?
- Saul’s kingship comes apart, as it becomes more and more clear what kind of man he really is. Because he’s the king, Israel has no mechanism in place for his removal from office. God does the removing. While I am very careful to never think in terms of harm coming to Donald Trump, I do pray that God will deliver us from this incompetent, dangerous, reckless, ignorant ruler. Even AlwaysTrumpers such as Michael Savage admit that Trump is “bumbling.” That ain’t the half of it, but it will do for a start.
I’d invite you to do some reading on your own here, always keeping in mind the warning about “sloppy equivalency.” Trump does not equal Saul, any more than he equals Cyrus. But there are, to me anyway, some clear and disturbing parallels between the failed king of Israel and the rapidly-failing President of the United States.