You may have noticed that something has shifted culturally, indeed spiritually. The sins of the mighty are suddenly coming out into the open. What was once tolerated is being tolerated no more. What was once done in secret is now being proclaimed from the housetops. Those who imagined their deeds would never face a day of reckoning are daily being exposed as liars, bullies, and predators. This is the Lord’s doing, and you may be surprised to learn, but Donald Trump has been a catalyst whom the Father has used to open these virtual flood gates.

Gen 15:16 reveals an oft neglected truth: God’s patience with sin has a limit. It reads, “In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.” Again, in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah we see that God had come down to execute judgment upon these cities because the outcry of their sins had reached a point at which there was no hope for redemption. Jesus himself spoke of a “filling up” of the measure of the sins of the fathers, and there are ten references in scripture to the “cup of God’s wrath” which is slowly being filled, until it is poured out.

So the question is, have our sins “reached to heaven” (Rev 18:5) so that God is orchestrating the events we now see unfolding before our very eyes? The answer seems obvious. Another period in history when there was a similar tipping point was the time God chose to send His Son into the world. The Bible refers to it as “the fulness of time” (Gal 4:4), constituting the perfect time for God to intervene in human history.

The days of Jesus’ first coming were also characterized by a period of intense shifting and shaking. We see this in the ministry of John the Baptist. Consider this: John was an oddball. He ate locusts and wild honey, and dressed in camel’s skins.  He preached a hard message (“Repent!”), and went far into the wilderness areas of the Jordan River, forcing people to walk long distances to hear him. Among the multitudes were soldiers, tax collectors, yes, even scribes and Pharisees. They were ready to repent. It was a day of reckoning as the Light of the world was rising to full day exposing the deceit, wickedness, and adulteries of men. Even the evil deeds of the mighty Herod were being brought out into the open. In earlier times, it would have been unthinkable that someone like Zacchaeus, perhaps the wealthiest man in the entire city of Jericho, would voluntarily and publicly confess his extorting and corrupt ways. If there was ever a time in the history of mankind when cultural and spiritual clashes and transformation were on exhibit, it was then. It is also now.

So what does this have to do with Donald Trump? Scripture affirms that God raises up leaders at significant and hinge points of history. Sometimes these men, like King Cyrus of Persia, are not even “believers”. They are outsiders, and yet God says of them: “Cyrus…shall perform all of My pleasure” (IS 44:28). They become instruments of His Hand, and at times even speak things which are in the heart of God for their generation. They wield influence over great masses of people, and from their seats of authority their words become like hammers to break through resistance in high places, or bring things into alignment with the purpose of God. A clear example of this was the High Priest Caiaphas who said “You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” It goes on to say that “he did not say this on his own authority, but being high priest he prophesied” (JN 11:50,51).

When Donald Trump boldly announced he was going to drain the swamp, he was not simply speaking by his own conviction. When he became President, from this office of influence, in a “fulness” moment, these words carried a weight far beyond the man. Whether you agree with Donald Trump’s policies, or question his business practices or careless tweets through the years is not the point. When he called out fake news, something began to shake not only in the media world. Heaven itself has moved to call the powerful to account. When he excoriated the entrenched swamp monsters of the political establishment, it was by the Finger of God, for He Himself had determined that the outcry of their corruption and the cup of their perverse and crooked world had filled. I believe what we are witnessing now is the beginnings of the reelings of a drunken earth* in the face of a God who has clearly told us that He will “yet once more” …shake not only the earth, but also heaven. The ultimate and final purpose of these things are immutably spoken of in Hebrews 12:27-29:

“Now this, ‘Yet once more,’ indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.”

*For more on this compelling prophetic picture, please read Isaiah 24:17-23!

“He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
      Yet He opened not His mouth;
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
     And as a sheep before its shearers is silent
          So He opened not His mouth.” IS 53:7

I’ve watched in amazement as sheep are corralled into a channel and take their turns to be sheared. I’ve watched as they are flipped over on their sides. And I have watched as the shearer applies the denuding blade to their bellies, necks, ribs, legs, and backs and then like an egg flopped over until their whole body is stripped bare. I’ve watched as these sheep did not struggle or flinch, but docile and completely at peace, submitted to the knife of their master, opening not their mouths. And I have thought about what a beautiful picture this is of Jesus, as described here by Isaiah prophesying about the crucifixion of the Son of Man. I want to be like this sheep; no, better yet, I want to be like the Lamb of God.
But silence does not come easy for me. When Jesus was questioned before Herod, who was in fact intending to free him, “He answered him nothing” (LK 23:9). Accused of ridiculous “crimes”, Jesus completely resisted the temptation to defend or justify Himself, but chose rather to commit Himself into the Hands of the Judge of all the earth, knowing that He would always do the right thing. I, on the other hand, reason that it is only natural to defend myself, and righteous to stand up for “the truth”. In reality, truth is not just about content; it is about character.
I’m learning that God always gives me a choice. Jesus chose the high road, committing His way to God. When I choose to defend or justify myself, I have to accept the results of my choice. When I choose to allow God to speak for me, then I am positioning myself to trust God’s judgment, and leave the results with Him.
I’ve discovered too that sometimes I open my mouth because I am seeking sympathy. Pity loves company; but the only cake served at a pity party is bitter. And my choice to imbibe comes at a great cost. When I seek the sympathy of man, I unwittingly forfeit comfort that comes directly from the Comforter. As the axiom goes, you cannot have your cake and eat it too. It is either the sympathy offered by a friend or colleague, or it is the compassion of your Creator. My choice. Yours too.
Jesus’ silence came at literally the most lonely and difficult juncture of His life. He had just been betrayed into enemy hands by a friend with whom he had daily walked, eaten three meals a day, and shared cold nights for more than three years. Another, perhaps His closest friend, had denied knowing Him three times in a row. The rest of His band of buddies had also rejected, and abandoned Him in His greatest hour of need. He had told them time and time again what He was about to go to the cross; and yet they left Him completely alone.
You did this as a man, Jesus. You were subject to all the fears, and doubts, and feelings of alienation and solitude as any of us. Despite the temptation to rebuff, or to be understood, You opened not Your mouth. You became just like me, so that I could choose to drink my cup as You did, and become like You. Help me, dear Jesus, to take the high road, to commit my way completely to the Father, to set my hopes on the comfort that comes from you, Holy Spirit. Sustain me, inspire me, and impart to me greater grace, that I might learn from you, and be silent before any and all of my accusers. Amen.

Sheep Shearing (2:21)