Yes, you read that right. Many evangelical Christians believe that President Trump is just the man to trigger Armageddon and bring about Jesus Christ's return to Earth. Here's how it's supposed to work:
From Stephanie Mencimer of Mother Jones, the whole idea is,
"based on the war of Gog and Magog, a biblical conflict prophesied in the Book of Ezekiel. In the Bible, Gog is the leader of Magog, a "place in the far north” that many evangelicals believe is Russia. According to Ezekiel’s prophecy, Gog will join with Persia—now Iran—and other Arab nations to attack a peaceful Israel "like a cloud that covers the land.""
These folks believe that, "this battle would bring on the Rapture, the End Times event when God spirits away the good Christians to heaven before unleashing plagues, sickness, and other horrors on the unbelievers remaining on Earth. Meanwhile, the Antichrist reigns supreme."
Furthermore, in recent years, these believers, "have seen any number of Middle East conflagrations as fulfilling
Ezekiel’s prophecy, notably the US invasion of Iraq and the war in
Syria. Gog and Magog took on fresh relevance earlier this month, when
the Trump administration assassinated Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, the
commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force.
On many levels, President Donald Trump’s self-created crisis in Iran
seems to have no relationship to any sort of coherent foreign policy or
geopolitical plan for the future. The assassination has yielded few if
any tangible rewards for the US. But there is an eager constituency for
Trump’s improvised policy toward the Middle East and Iran in particular:
the evangelical Christians who see it as a means of ushering in the
return of Christ."
So to summarize:
1. The Bible describes events that will trigger Christ's return to Earth.
2. These folks believe in being proactive: let's make those trigger events happen!
3. That means they've got to get Israel and Iran to go to war.
4. So one way or the other, they've got to get somebody, perhaps the United States, to so antagonize Iran that war becomes unavoidable, and,
5. At the same time, provide ardent support for the most belligerent, hard-line leaders of Israel. (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will do very nicely, thank you.)
A little history. The biggest proponent of the program described above is televangelist John Hagee. In 2006, Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone "joined" Hagee's Cornerstone Church to find out what they were up to:
"I chose Hagee because of his belief in the end of the world, and for the remarkable political influence he enjoys as a wealthy televangelist whose ministries are beamed into millions of homes each week. The drawling Texan with the kindly smile is one of America's chief pitchmen for "Christian Zionism," which in simple terms means he is a Christian who believes that the U.S. government should support the state of Israel.
In Hagee's view, supporting Israel will bring about the final battle at Armageddon, with satanic armies descending from the north (Gog and Magog in Revelations, Russia and Iran to Hagee) and God's army fighting under the banner of a resurrected Israeli state. Of course, Hagee's vision of this battle involves an Israel that has converted to Christianity, which one would think would be problematic for the Jews currently living in that country. But no: The Israelis love John Hagee. Benjamin Netanyahu once spoke at his church, and Hagee was even a keynote speaker at a conference for AIPAC, the chief Israeli lobby in Washington."
Fast forward to 2019: Big surprise, the Trump administration loves Hagee and his organization. From Jack Jenkins of National Catholic Reporter:
"Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo
both addressed a Christian pro-Israel group July 8, lifting up the U.S.
ally as a bastion of inclusivity and railing against Iran.
Pence and Pompeo delivered their remarks at the annual summit of
Christians United for Israel, a conservative Christian organization led
by the Rev. John Hagee, which claims more than 6 million members."
Because of course the Trump team would show no hesitation to completely embrace a pastor who has stated his disbelief in climate change, and who has attacked Catholics, Muslims and (strangely enough) Jews, saying Jews are to blame for the Nazi Holocaust because they were disobedient to God.
And don't forget, according to "Christian Zionism", the Jewish people must convert to Christianity or they're all going to Hell! G'night folks!
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