Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday he believes "it's possible" that President Donald Trump was sent by God to save the Jewish people - in Jerusalem - on Purim.
Pompeo was asked in an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network if Trump is comparable to Esther, the Biblical queen who stopped the Persian king from annihilating the Israelites. In this case, modern day Iran was substituted for ancient Persia.
"As a Christian, I certainly believe that's possible," Pompeo confidently responded. "I am confident that the Lord is at work here."
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Pompeo also visited ancient tunnels that run under the Israeli capital.
"It was remarkable — so we were down in the tunnels where we could see 3,000 years ago, and 2,000 years ago — if I have the history just right — to see the remarkable history of the faith in this place and the work that our administration's done to make sure that this democracy in the Middle East, that this Jewish state remains."
People are spooked over the Trump-messiah thing.
This fringe fusion of church and state has been a hallmark of Trump's administration. Earlier this week, Pompeo held a press briefing to which only "faith-based" media outlets were invited.
Like Vice President Mike Pence, Press Secretary Sarah Sanders, and a quarter of all Americans, Pompeo is an evangelical Christian who views politics through the lens of good versus evil.
Pompeo has suggested that Islamic extremists “continue to press against us until we make sure that we pray and stand and fight and make sure that we know that Jesus Christ is our savior is truly the only solution for our world.”
Pompeo has also equated American patriotism with his brand of evangelism and has even predicted that his work could usher in the rapture.
“To worship our Lord and celebrate our nation at the same place is not only our right,” he told attendees at a Kansas rally in 2015, “it is our duty.” Politics is “a never-ending struggle ... until the rapture," he added.
This is precisely why Pompeo's comments should send a chill up our collective spines. Here we have an American secretary of state openly posturing about bringing on the end times, which, for believers in Revelation, revolves around Jerusalem and the salvation of Jesus Christ's followers.
CNN's Diana Butler Bass explained this perfectly in an editorial last year, not long after Trump recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.
"For many conservative evangelicals, Jerusalem is not about politics. It is not about peace plans or Palestinians or two-state solutions. It is about prophecy. About the Bible. And, most certainly, it is about the end-times."
"The Jews would experience a great religious rebirth and rebuild their temple in Jerusalem. This would spark a series of cataclysmic events that would culminate in the Battle of Armageddon, the last war of humanity. But it would also cause the Jews to finally accept Jesus as their savior. After all this occurred, Jesus would return in glory and God's kingdom -- a thousand-year reign of peace. And it would begin in Jerusalem."
This is scary stuff.
And utterly ridiculous.
None of this is normal.
