Trump’s Jerusalem Statement: The Disingenuous Reason Behind It

I am a Zionist.  I believe in the right to self-determination for Jews in our ancestral homeland and I recognize, as does Israel, that Jerusalem is the unified and eternal capital of the Jewish people.

That said, I am highly against Trump’s statement recognizing this fact.  Trump is making this move for one reason and one reason only:  to bolster his support from evangelicals and conservative Jews.

His need to bolster this support is for two reasons:  1.  to solidify his position in supporting Roy Moore so any evangelical Christians who are on the fence move off that fence and vote for Roy Moore as they will see Trump as an instrument of God, doing God’s work, despite the salacious and disgusting accusations of sexual abuse and pedophilia, and 2. when the time comes for him to go down in flames via impeachment, criminal charges, or however it’s going to happen, he will have a bunch of very scary people who legitimately believe he is being guided by the hand of God and he is literally God’s foot soldier to rise up in his defense – and trust me, they will rise up in his defense with violence. We’ve already seen examples of this with threats of violence to Congressional leaders and any public figures that go against Trump.  These are incredibly scary times and what’s coming is even scarier.

We know that no matter what Israel does to its benefit, we will always have an enormous amount of opposition in the Arab world, because the fact of the matter is that most of the Arab world is against the existence of a sovereign, Jewish state.  I get that.  I don’t disagree with that.  However, what is the price that Israel, America, and Jews everywhere will pay for this statement coming from Trump, a disgraced and disrespected leader worldwide?  It greatly diminishes Israel’s standing in the world.

Trump is considered a rogue, petulant leader who is ignorant of the subtleties of geopolitics.  He’s a bull in a china shop who doesn’t consider consequences or ramifications of his statements, as we’ve seen with his Twitter account.  The man is so unaware, he actually admitted to obstructing justice in a tweet several days ago and worked hard to backtrack and have his personal attorney take the blame for crafting that tweet.  Any positive association Israel has with Trump is to Israel’s detriment.  Bibi Netanyahu is smarter than this, but he’s encouraging this behavior and is being extremely shortsighted in how this will negatively affect Israel’s standing in the world.

I fully expect a litany of boycotts, sanctions, and divestments and cancelling of diplomatic ties from countries around the world in response to this.  The negative impact this will have on Israel is enormous.  The timing of this is extraordinarily bad, and the person delivering this statement is even worse.

To see what evangelicals are saying in response to Trump’s statement, I visited the Stand for Israel Facebook page.  What I saw was alarming.  Here are some examples of what they’re saying:

Elise M. “HALLELUJAH, !! Praise God for His FAITHFULNESS!! HIS WORD IS TRUTH+++; Only those who Love His People and Jerusalem will be happy about this AMAZING fulfillment of prophesy, The last of the last days are here!! Even so, WELCOME LORD JESUS!!”

Dray H. “Praise God!!!! That’s right, my sister!!! Everything you just said is absolutely true. Even so, Lord Jesus, come quickly!!!!”

Timothy A.  “Trump, you are moving according to biblical prophecy go ahead GOD of Israel is behind you, Jeremiah 31; 35-37,Jeremiah 33; 20”

Vakoma C. “It’s better to obey The Lord God, no matter what people say or do, because God will have the last saying in the end, He is the first and last, the beginning and end, the Alpha and the Omega. Thanks.”

Timothy B.  “President, my family is behind you 100 percent! You are being used by God to bring about final prophecies! The Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and lift up His countenance towards you and give you peace!”

Janet T.  “Amen please don’t let us down, we own so much property over there, this will usher in the DAY OF THE LORD”

Alexander R. “hallelujah Jesus coming soon, God bless the United States of America”

Janet K.  “Do it soonest n the blessing of God will overflow in USA bcoz of recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. This is a bold move n rem USA is an eagle n will begin to soar higher as they say ” In God we Trust” and indeed, this God is the God of Israel n no one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.”

Richards J.  “Christians all over the world should stand in the place of prayer for the US President trump as he prepares to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem built by King David. Remember that Jerusalem is the root of our Christianity. Jesus who is of the Jewish race is to rule the world from Jerusalem that is why the forces of darkness doing the bidding of Satan are stirring up series of agitation . President trump is the king Cyrus of this dispensation for the God of Israel has raised him for such a time as this to fulfill Bible prophecy. In your different churches and ministry please raise a prayer shield for him and the prime minister of Israel Mr Benjamin Netanyahu. The forces of darkness cannot prevail over the church. Jehovah is watching the church to speak up for Israel and Jerusalem built by King David of Israel. We should ignore the UN and Unesco and eu. Jehovah does not recognize these evil organizations.”

Steven H.  “This is one of the final Prophecies written in the Holy Bible before Christ’s return get ready people he’s coming quickly”

Paul J.  “I like this President, Who is the greatest President Of USA and God appoints him the Shepherd of Christians, President Trump do not have fear of antichrist and his followers, Because He has recognized it, When you will resist the devil, devil will flee in the name of Jesus Christ. All Christians must pray for President Trump, God bless him wisdom and boldness to fight with evil forces. And obey to fulfill the Commandments of Word of God.”

Liz H.  “Yes, about time the embassy is in the capitol of Israel, Jerusalem. The Holy Bible being fulfilled people!”

Dray H.  “Praise God!!! He’s obeying at last!!! And the demoncrats are pushing for impeachment on Wednesday!!! How laughable!!!!! Baaaahahahahahaha!!!! Now you’ll see God confirming His appointment of Donald Trump as President of the United States as the Russian probe falls apart and Hillary and her cohorts all are called into judgment!!”

Eze A. “What a fulfilment of biblical prophecy.I see the hand of God moving”

Paul M.  “WE THANK GOD FOR PRESIDENT TRUMP. HE HAS BEEN CHOSEN BY GOD FOR THIS TIME IN HISTORY. TO GOD BE THE GLORY FOREVER. IN JESUS’ HOLY NAME. AMEN.”

If these comments don’t alarm you, you are part of the problem.