At my last pastor’s fellowship meeting we got into a discussion regarding President Trump. I think it’s fair to say that the group as a whole are not among the evangelicals who seem to think the President can do no wrong On the other hand no one believes he is a Russian spy or the anti-Christ either.
I made the comment that at best I saw Trump as a type of Cyrus the Great of ancient Persia. The passage below explains my reasoning:
2 Chronicles 36:22-23,
2Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia—in order to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah—the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he sent a proclamation throughout his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying, “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!’ ”
Cyrus was the king that made the empire of the Persians and Medes what it was. The empire itself was a polyglot empire that consisted of many languages and people groups. Among them were Hebrew captives that had been removed from their homeland by the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar a number of years before.
According to the passage the Lord moved Cyrus to allow the Hebrews to return to their homeland and rebuild the Temple. This temple is known as the Second Temple because the Babylonians had destroyed the first one known as Solomon’s Temple. The Second Temple was a modest structure that factors into the Books of Ezra and Nehemiah in the Bible. Herod the Great elaborated on what was built and that Temple was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. All that remains today is known as the wailing wall.
The point I was trying to make with my friends is that 1) God guides earthly rulers for better or worse and uses them ultimately for his glory and 2) in the case of Cyrus the Lord clearly moved Cyrus to look favorably on his chosen people. That just seems obvious.
I tend to look at our governing authorities in the same way by asking the questions, does the President or State Governor (or other governmental entity) look favorably on Christians (or at least treat all faiths fairly according to the U.S. Constitution). For whatever Trump’s faults he does seem inclined to treat conservative Christians fairly-something the mainstream media and political left does not do.
One of the pastor’s at the meeting agreed with my comments but added that he thought of Trump as a type of Nebuchadnezzar.
Nebuchadnezzar is one of the real bad boys in the Bible. He was the king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire and one of the primary actors that brought down the Assyrians, the other bad boys who had conquered the Northern Kingdom of Israel and dispersed the people. When Nebuchadnezzar brought down the Southern Kingdom of Judah as an instrument of God’s judgment he destroyed Solomon’s Temple and virtually erased the kingdom transporting many captives back to Babylon. One of the captives was Daniel the prophet.
The story of the Hebrew captives in Babylon revolve around Daniel. Through Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar looks upon the Hebrew captives with a degree of favor. This is what Nebuchadnezzar had to say after the fiery furnace episode with Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego:
Nebuchadnezzar responded and said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who put their trust in Him, violating the king’s command, and yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God. “Therefore I make a decree that any people, nation or tongue that speaks anything offensive against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego shall be torn limb from limb and their houses reduced to a rubbish heap, inasmuch as there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way.”Then the king caused Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego to prosper in the province of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar the king to all the peoples, nations, and men of everylanguage that live in all the earth: “May your peace abound! “It has seemed good to me to declare the signs and wonders which the Most High God has done for me. “How great are His signs And how mighty are His wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom And His dominion is from generation to generation.
Daniel 3:28–4:3(NASB95)
Later in the Book of Daniel we see Nebuchadnezzar brought low by the Lord as he goes temporally insane eating grass like a cow and so forth. After he recovers he says this:
Daniel 4:34–37 (NASB95)
34“But at the end of that period, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever;For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, And His kingdom endures from generation to generation. “All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, But He does according to His will in the host of heaven And among the inhabitants of earth; And no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’ “At that time my reason returned to me. And my majesty and splendor were restored to me for the glory of my kingdom, and my counselors and my nobles began seeking me out; so I was reestablished in my sovereignty, and surpassing greatness was added to me.“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise, exalt and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, and He is able to humble those who walk in pride.”
That is one extraordinary theological statement!

Proverbs 29:23(NASB95)
A man’s pride will bring him low,
But a humble spirit will obtain honor.
My friend would agree with my analysis of Cyrus but would substitute Nebuchadnezzar because, 1) God guides earthly rulers for better or worse and uses them ultimately for his glory and 2) in the case of Nebuchadnezzar the Lord clearly moved Nebuchadnezzar to look favorably on his chosen people.
There was not a discussion as whether or not Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus suddenly trusted in Yahweh although Nebuchadnezzar’s speech above does give some evidence as to the possibility.
I had a different discussion sometime ago with a different friend who is a strong supporter of President Trump. He believes that Trump is a believer while I am skeptical although I acknowledge the President says theologically correct things at times. His comment in the State of the Union Address regarding abortion and people (babies) being created in the image of God (the personhood issue) is a theologically correct statement and a recognition of our Creator and the intrinsic personhood of humans.
My counter-point to my friend would be, it’s good to see the President make some theologically correct statements but I’d rather see the kind of humility exhibited by Nebuchadnezzar exhibited by the President before he makes theologically correct statements. I recall the President saying around the time of his election that he has never asked God for forgiveness because he never has seen the need. I do pray he does see the need.
So, who is Trump more like, Cyrus or Nebuchadnezzar? Both of those ancient kings were used by God to demonstrate God’s sovereignty and to turn king’s hearts toward a more favorable appraisal of His chosen people.
I think I’ll concede to my pastor friend and grant Nebuchadnezzar, given the information we have is more like Trump than Cyrus. What seems abundantly clear is that God puts on thrones those he desires and that he can use them in any way he choses. Sometimes it works out for believers and at other times it does not. Either way, it’s for God’s glory and his plans will not be thwarted.
1The king’s heart is likechannels of water in the hand of the Lord;He turns it wherever He wishes.Proverbs 21:1(NASB95)
There are Things Worse Than a Virus
March 17, 2020
Bruce apologetics, Christianity, News and Commentary, theology Gospel, Resurrection 1 Comment
The apostle Paul wrote:
The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (1 Co. 15:26, ESV)
Then, as now, mankind’s greatest fear is not a virus from Wuhan but the possibility of death that the virus represents. Viruses and diseases are scary especially when the recipient knows that treatments and vaccines either do not exist or are not necessarily all that effective.
When we are sick we instinctively think in terms of cure and rely on the doctors and scientists to provide that cure and when they have little to offer at the moment we tend to panic.
Why? Because the specter of death looms large in our minds and death is to be feared above all else. A virus serves as a symbol of sorts that predicts possible doom.
Most people do not want to die. Most believe they have something to live for. The exceptions to that are those who have given up hope for some reason. Either they are depressed to the point of considering suicide or they are ready to die to be released from the suffering of what disease is killing them.
The vast majority want to live; but yet the vast majority do realize that sooner or later death will call. The question then becomes, “then what?”
What happens after physical death?
Some believe we are no more than food for the worms. Others think we achieve some kind of nirvana while others believe in some sort of reincarnation. Some believe they are good persons and God, if he exists at all will allow them a pleasant afterlife because they were mostly good.
In Greek and Roman times many believed that physical death meant life was over and like the modern atheist the body was simply food for the worms. This was despite the fact that the general population believed in the various gods.. Educated Greeks and Romans didn’t believe in the gods but recognized the value of some sort of popular religion especially the Emperor Cult.
Others believed in a kind of shadowy existence without substance although that varied in Roman culture. Although the Romans did not believe in eternal damnation they did believe in a kind of warrior’s paradise called the Fields of Elysium. If you are familiar with the movie Gladiator you see references to Elysium more than once. In the movie, the Russel Crowe character tells his soldiers before the battle, that what we do in life matters in eternity (the Fields of Elysium.) When Crowe is dying he has visions of his dead wife and son in the Fields of Elysium where is to join them.
It was different for the Jew. They believed in an afterlife that was regulated by Yahweh. By Jesus’ time they didn’t debate the afterlife as much as they debated the possibility of physical resurrection due to the influence of the sect of Sadducees.
The apostle Paul, once a Pharisee, wants to be clear about a physical resurrection and wants to be clear about Jesus’ resurrection. He states:
12 Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? 13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. 15 We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. 16 For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. 17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. 18 Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 19 If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Co 15:12–20). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
Christianity rises or falls on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Either it happened as the Scriptures report or it did not and in that case Christians should be pitied for being no more hopeful than those who thought we are food for the worms or those who bought into some kind of Elysium.
Verse 17 says that if Christ has not been raised then we are still in our sins, our faith clearly pointless. Dying in one’s sins should be a scary proposition since according the Bible there are worse things than dying. Dying in our sins means eternal damnation. The Bible knows nothing of Purgatory and the possibility of atoning for your own sin in any sense.
This is why we need Jesus and Jesus alone to atone for our sins.
Scripture is very clear that our works or our good behavior does not factor into the gospel (Ephesians 2:8-9) in any kind of saving way. All we contribute to the salvation process is our sin.
Jesus paid it all on the Cross, the debt we owed and it’s only through faith and complete trust in Him and the fact he rose from the dead do we avoid the righteous wrath of God.
For those that embrace Jesus on His terms and count their own righteousness as nothing eternal life with Jesus is a promise.
This causes the apostle to pronounce:
“Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (1 Co 15:54–57). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.
What does that mean when it comes to the latest virus that seems to suck the hope from so many?
It should mean that the Christian is not panic stricken by the threat of death. It does mean that one should use their common sense with any illness but it should never mean we act as those who have no eternal hope.
It is my prayer that those who at least wonder about what I’m saying seek out a good Bible teaching church.
Here is sermon to help you understand. It’s titled Life in Light of the Resurrection.
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