The nine most alarming words of the 2024 election

AI generated photo The Golden Age of Peace and Prosperity

The 2024 Presidential Election is over, and the vote was fair. The campaign was hard fought and rife with mudslinging on both sides, but the nine words that alarmed me the most were spoken after it was clear who had won the race. I’m not the only one who heard these words, but no one else seems to have paid much attention to them. That, in the end, is the really alarming part.

[Text of podcast TTWW-11]

How many times have we heard these words recently in the course of the recent election cycle?

Ronald Reagan: "The nine most terrifying words in the English language are 'I'm from the government, and I'm here to help.' "?

I thought of that quote when I listened to speeches and read reports following the recent presidential election here in the US. Trump’s comeback election was called a historic event: politically speaking, he had come back from the dead, against all the odds: physical, legal and political.

In the midst of all the verbiage, I heard nine words that set off an internal alarm that I haven’t been able to ignore. I would not call them “terrifying” in the usual sense of the word, but they are the “most alarming”, in the sense that they set off an alarm in my innermost being. In themselves, and in the context of the speech, they were quite innocuous. They were part of a series of grandiose promises we are used to hearing from the once-candidate, now newly-elected president of the US. Donald Trump’s words were, “This will truly be the Golden Age of America.” 9 words that set off an alarm.

Subsequent reports used wording such as,“He’s going to lead America into its Golden Age” or he’s “pledging to create the ‘golden age of America.’”

Speaking from the Biblical viewpoint 

We, as Bible-believing Christians, will find it natural to pray that the new administration will be successful. After all, it’s Biblical to pray for all those in authority:

1Tim. 2.1-4

 1First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, 2for kings and all those who are in authority,  so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity. 3This is good, and it pleases God our Savior, 4who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

We pray for peace and tranquility, but not only that we would have a quiet life, which is a common desire of mankind. We pray peace for the world as a whole, which God wants to come to the knowledge of the truth. Of course, we look for peace and prosperity, at home and abroad, and if anyone could do it, it just may be Donald Trump, we think. At least enough voters thought that and elected him for a second term.

Given the disturbing results of the recent policies instituted by the opposition that were blatantly contrary to what Christians and Jews believe the Word of God teaches on moral issues and the status of the Jewish state in Israel, it’s little wonder that the president-elect has been widely received and openly supported by the people of the Book, whether Christian or Jew.

So what’s alarming about Trump’s words in acknowledging his electoral  victory? “This will truly be the Golden Age of America,” he said. But it’s not what he said, as such, nor what he proposes to achieve. Whether he succeeds remains to be seen, but the alarming thought is that he may well succeed, perhaps surpassing the most positive predictions. “That’s alarming”, you say? My greatest concern is the possible reaction of the masses.

 Looking back in history…but not so far back

When Barack Obama ran for president in 2008, I was the US Consular Agent for Madeira Island. The local population considered me the voice of the US government on the island. Europeans, on the whole, loved Bill Clinton and were openly anti-George Bush. The prospect of Obama being the next president was expressed in messianic terms. The morning after the election when Obama won, I was immediately contacted by newspaper journalists and TV reporters for interviews on the election results. My responses were carefully worded and politically correct. In the minds of the people, I was the representative of the United States, so I was careful not to reflect any personal views I might have regarding the candidates. When the cameras were put away and the recorders turned off, I sat down with the journalist of the major newspaper on the island and talked on a personal level. I spoke “off the record”, as any American citizen might have spoken. We talked about the views of many in the US and in Portugal who spoke of Obama as the “savior” of the country, and perhaps of Europe. Now and then, the word “messiah” came up.

“Obama is not the messiah,” I said. “He will not, cannot save America, contrary to what many hope.” The reporter, the people also knew I was the Baptist pastor on Madeira, the longest-serving and most visible evangelical figure on the island. As pastor and evangelical Christian, I added, “There is only one Savior and that is Jesus Christ. He alone is the Messiah who can resolve the problems of the world.” Now, 16 years later, history has proved that Obama was not, in fact, the messiah.

Here comes "the answer"...

The world continues to nurture the desperate hope that a messiah will come and bring peace to a troubled, war-torn world, and resolve the longest-running conflict of all, the problem of Jerusalem. It is just here that I  believe the figure of the dreaded Antichrist appears.

In broad terms, without going into a detailed study here, I find various passages of the O.T. (e.g., Daniel 9.27; 11.31-36) and the N.T. (e.g., Matthew 24.15, 21; 2 Thessalonians 2.10-11; Revelation 13.4-5) that describe the Antichrist as speaking with flattery, deceiving everyone (even the very elect if it were possible), boastful, exalting himself, (a treaty-maker) “making a treaty with many for 7 years” (an international treaty?), but in the middle of those 7 years, setting up his image in the temple, demanding the worship of the whole world, turning against the Jews, and then against the Christians, signaling the start of 3 ½ years of the greatest tribulation the world has ever known, which will only be ended by the return of the true Messiah, Jesus Christ.

I don’t believe Trump is the Antichrist, but his rise to power foreshadows the features that will mark the rise of the Antichrist who will come and offer the world what it most desires: peace and prosperity. But the great deception is that this man of peace is really the man of lawlessness, who places himself in the place of God. Even nominal Christians, who claim the title but have never been born again, will be deceived into supporting him.

Trump’s promise to bring the “Golden Age” to America sounds too much like what the Antichrist will offer when he comes. I pray that the support of Christians and Jews is not based on a mistaken hope that Trump himself can bring in the “Golden Age” only Jesus can bring. It’s curious that David Jeremiah, a renowned evangelical pastor and writer, launched a new book this week, “The Coming Golden Age”. I haven’t read it, but I know he is describing the 1000-year reign of Jesus from Jerusalem after He ends the tribulation period.

Trump may issue in what seems to be a golden age, but he can’t bring in the Golden Age of the kingdom of God. Let us not be deceived. Let us keep looking up. Let us grow in our knowledge of the Word; the delusion is coming and we must be prepared.

Trump’s election sparked celebrations in Israel. There are religious leaders in Israel who say that the writings of rabbis in the past possibly point to Trump as the one who will be responsible for building the third temple. Jews have believed for centuries that the temple will be built by the Messiah himself. That’s how they will know who the Messiah is. The one who builds the temple will be the Messiah. The mystery of iniquity is already at work; the groundwork for the Great Delusion has already been laid. Donald Trump said his election would usher in America’s golden age. That remains to be seen, but his words set off my silent, inner alarm.