An updated description of the Trump-Belshazzar commemorative coin on E-bay.
As described in Daniel5, Belshazzar, eldest son of Nabonidus (whose army had been defeated by the Persians (in 539 B.C), threw a party, honoring the gods of Babylon using the sacred articles which had been looted by his forefather Nebuchadnezzar from the temple in Jerusalem. Babylon’s walls were strong so there was nothing fear—so he evidently thought. During this party, under the Persian threat, a finger appeared to write on the wall the famous words, ‘You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting,’ forecasting Babylon’s fall. Belshazzar was done for. The Persians took the city.
On June 1, 2020, the Whitehouse was also under siege. President Trump had walled up the ‘People’s House’ and hid in a bunker due to the protests inspired by continuing police brutality which had been exacerbated by incompetent leadership and an economically devastating shutdown over the virus. Perhaps in an attempt to show strength, Trump decided to use federal, in large part, unidentified assets, to force protesters out of Lafayette Park, using tear gas and rubber bullets, so he could engage in a photo op, with Bible in hand, at St. John’s Episcopal Church, the ‘Church of the Presidents.’
We may debate the legality (and brutality) of the purge, but the photo op itself showed no reverence for the object displayed, the Bible. Trump read nothing, offered no prayer, just posed. Just like Belshazzar showed the articles from the Temple in Jerusalem, those ‘objects’ were just displays of what had been conquered, Trump waved a Bible about as symbol of what, supposedly, this fight is all about, the forces of chaos and rebellion against those of the Christian Right which represent order and rule of law, as something you would sell on a shopping channel. The cultural statement was clearly made, the Bible is just a symbol for something much larger—that ‘something much larger’ is political and involves force. The Episcopal bishop of Washington, Mariann Budde, described this event as the ‘abuse of sacred symbols.’ Trump abused a Bible as an object for political benefit. This benefit may yet be realized, as the election (as of this writing) is too close to call.
The depravity displayed at the photo op at St John’s will, I firmly believe, be in tomorrow’s history books. It is far more appropriate to link Trump with Belshazzar than to link him with Cyrus as many Christians do. The ‘writing is on the wall’ regardless of the election’s outcome. The question remains if the people of the United States will choose to side with this depraved man thus making ourselves complicit, much in the name of the Christian religion, to his complete disregard for honesty, decency, and restraint.
The 176thanniversary of the ‘Great Disappointment’ occurred a few weeks ago. When the Rapture didn’t occur then, to the ruin of many, a falsifiable belief was replaced by an unfalsifiable one. I predict we will do the same thing today. If Trump wins the election then the hopes, and the prophecies, will be seen as vindicated by the hand of God as decided and affirmed by the people of God. Whatever craziness and depravity to follow will be seen as affirmed by the will of God as the means to a ‘greater’ end. If he loses, then the faithful will suppose something to the effect that the forces of darkness, those who would ‘hurt God’ and ‘hurt the Bible,’ prevailed against the children of light thus fulfilling, in the minds of many, a certain eschatological view (dispensationalism) Christians are working very hard to make happen. Today’s prophets and apostles will have marching orders to follow—no matter what.
I made this investment in this coin to tell a story that needs to be told—to speak out against this bad man. The coin serves as a scaffold to make an historical connection between all those who would use religion and its sacred symbols to forward their own interests regardless of the age. Today is no different. People are still people who are seduced by empty (and, in this case, blasphemous) displays. Evidence of our collective seduction may be soon to come. I cast my vote and will continue to speak my mind. No matter the outcome, I will remain a ‘jackal among ruins’ until we collectively repent of our selfish, racist, justice-denying authoritarianism—so our nation can be truly healed.
“Give justice to the weak and the fatherless; maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.” (Psalm82: 3-4.)