Hi Friend,

Shakespeare wrote, "All the world is a stage, and all the men and women merely players." If you sense that you are a first-person witness to unparalleled historic events on the world stage, you may be correct. I remember the day JFK was assassinated. It is branded in my memory. It seemed that the world came to a standstill. As a fourteen-year-old high school student, I felt overwhelmed by events that were bigger than me.

The attempt to assassinate President Donald Trump may turn out to be more significant than JFK’s. Whatever his enemies intended, it is having the opposite effect. This has been a consistent pattern of every attack on Trump. A comparison could be an event that occurred with the portrait of the Mona Lisa. The painting was not famous, nor did the general public know it existed until it was stolen in 1911. That near catastrophe made the public aware of its artistic merit.

The blood on Trump has caused a worldwide sensation that has dramatically increased his persona. There is an awe about him now. He was just another politician and now he is brave, dogged, unrelenting, and there's an unspoken sense that God protects him. America longs for such a leader.

Adam Smith, father of free-market economics, used the term "unseen hand" to refer to the mechanism that controls a capitalistic economy. That's how Trump is now viewed. There's an unseen hand protecting him. Fani Willis is destroyed. Liz Chaney is toast. The New York AG and the prosecutor may eventually be indicted. Pence is politically ruined.

If they had never attacked Trump, he may have faded into oblivion. His enemies made him a liberator.

It isn’t a matter of whether you are for Trump or against him, whether you despise his texts or dislike the rhetoric he uses on his opponents. There is a drama being played out on the world scene that is bigger than the man. And we are witnessing the saga with little power to change it.

The biblical story of Daniel carries a striking parallel that provides profound insight into the circumstances we are now experiencing. King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream that troubled him so much that he sought an explanation from his religious advisors. They failed to solve the riddle, which angered the king so much that he was about to execute all his advisors. This explains a lot about a king’s ego.

Daniel asked for time to seek an answer from God. He was rewarded for his faith with an explanation that outlined the world’s history from Daniel’s day all the way to the return of Jesus.

What was the purpose of the dreams and Daniel’s revelation? One of the deepest mysteries of life is revealed in this scenario. The purpose of prophecy and the answer to the political machinations of our time are expressed four times throughout the Book of Daniel. I’ll only write it once.

Daniel 4:17.

Some of us think Joe Biden is the lowest of men, and others think that describes Donald Trump. The reality is that God rules the political kingdom of men, and He will give power to the person He chooses. If the man truly is a lowlife, to use our vernacular, He gave us the leader we deserve. When God blesses a nation and they turn from Him, He will give them the worst men to lead the nation into tribulation. That is the story of Israel.

If the people turn to God and repent of their sins, He will provide a leader to bring blessings to them. The thought-provoking part is that both men may be the lowest of men. Nebuchadnezzar was not a "good" man when Daniel met him. He was willing to kill every one of his advisors because they could not interpret a dream! Who wants a tyrant like that to lead the nation?

Nebuchadnezzar went through seven years of tribulation, living as an animal, and that experience developed humility in the king. At the end of the time, he rejected the false gods of Babylon and converted to worshiping the Creator God. He even wrote one chapter of the Book of Daniel.

Maybe Shakespeare was right—we are watching a magnificent stage production that reveals the most profound truth the world has known. Don’t be distracted by the politics—God is the unseen hand that controls the economy and the politics.

Until next time,

Jim O’Brien

July 19, 2024