I predict Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu will fail the final judgement test of Revelations 20 as they seek the Old Testament dictates to utterly destroy men, women and children to obtain “promised” land and riches. They fail the same test in Matthew 25. They and their evangelical leaders urging Armageddon actions to bring about their fictional end-time will reap the condemnation of Jesus in Matthew 23 against his era’s Scribes and Pharisees.
Read those passages for a modern revelation. We need newer testaments. There are no promised lands, no chosen peoples, no chosen nations, no chosen religions. We need a deity that treasures all people, all gifts differing from Christian, Muslim, Jew and any other religion, belief or non-belief in deity.
We need a God who respects and accepts Cain’s agricultural gift as well as Abel’s blood gift. Both gifts were the best each had to offer. Neither should have been rejected by a loving God or parent then or now. Judaism, Christianity and Islam, all need to rethink the deadly, misleading aspects of their religions based on an Old Testament God who remains a jealous, error-prone, murderous God, whether called Yahweh or Allah. Even Jesus is made the same today. Though Jesus reportedly said, “Resist not thine enemy.”
“Good luck with that!” says the Old Testament Yahweh to his son as he sends him down to be crucified again, nailed to the cross of nationalism, end-times theology, politics, vanity, narcissism, lust for power and greed! Will the world resurrect from this?
Bruce Braden
Carmel, Ind.
The writer is a Mt. Pleasant native.