Revenge?

When Donald Trump, with characteristic humility appreciated in conservatives by many white evangelicals, declared himself the "chosen one,"

Energy Secretary Rick Perry in an interview with Fox News over the weekend described President Donald Trump as the "the chosen one" who was "sent by God."

"God's used imperfect people all through history. King David wasn't perfect. Saul wasn't perfect. Solomon wasn't perfect," Perry said in the interview, which aired Sunday.

"And I actually gave the president a little one-pager on those Old Testament kings about a month ago, and I shared it with him," he added. "I said, 'Mr. President, I know there are people that say, 'You said you were the chosen one,' and I said, 'You were.'"

Perry, who is expected to leave the Cabinet at the end of the year, said he told Trump: "You didn't get here without God's blessing."

Former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador and media darling Nikki Haley similarly maintained "everything happens for a reason... I think God sometimes places people for lessons and sometimes places people for change."

Maybe (though probably not) they're right. Perhaps God did effect the election of Donald J. Trump, just as he once had 42 young people killed because some among them ridiculed and demeaned a man for his lack of hair.  If so, it likely is because God in various biblical verses has declared his desire to wreck vengeance upon the unworthy, even unto their descendants.

It's in Deuteronomy 32:35: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; their day of disaster is near and their doom rushes upon them;" in Proverbs 20:22, "Do not say, 'I’ll pay you back for this wrong!' Wait for the LORD, and he will avenge you";  and in Psalm 94:1: "The LORD is a God who avenges. O God who avenges, shine forth."

But it's not only in the eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth Old Testament, but in the New Testament also: in 2 Thessalonians 1:8: "He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus;" in Romans 12:19, "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord"; in Romans 12:19 "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord."

There are three choice: 1) there is no God; 2) there is a God, who wills as he wishes; or 3) God is in control and orders everything as he wishes. The Bible teaches (2) but most white evangelicals appear to believe (3). And if they are right, beware. Beginning with Genesis, there are several examples in Scripture in which God is quite displeased with mankind generally or individuals specifically, is not amused, and exerts His quite unpleasant will.

And so, as many white evangelicals will argue, it is possible that God did ordain the election of both Barack Obama and of Donald Trump, however absurd that thought appears. But if so, there probably is an ulterior motive that only white evangelicals would appreciate. For that, we are obliged to let God himself/herself have the final word, four weeks ago:

I have chosen Donald Trump to be President because I strongly dislike Western civilization and wish it to end.

— God (@TheTweetOfGod) November 26, 2019

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