Modern Day
In many ways, America in 2025 reminds me of Judah in Josiah’s day (although, of course, there are many differences as well). After several evil rulers (Obama and Biden) who didn’t have the people’s interests and priorities in mind, Donald Trump is coming into the presidential office (again) with the intention of making America great again (MAGA). Now, I am not comparing Trump’s righteousness with Josiah’s, as Trump is not particularly religious (as far as I know). I am not even sure if Trump is a Christian (someone ought to ask him). However, like Josiah, I believe Trump has the people’s best interests at heart. We have seen how he served as president before.
Trump came into office after Obama’s disastrous two terms as POTUS. Instead of wasting time listing Obama’s failures, here are a few links where you can be reminded of his attempt to “fundamentally transform the United States of America” (Obama’s quote from an October 30, 2008 campaign rally in Columbia, Missouri): “Fundamentally Transforming the United States of America” and How Barack Obama Fundamentally Transformed the United States| National Catholic Register. I believe this quote was a dog-whistle for transforming the U.S. from a democracy to a socialist country. Obama nefariously began this process with his liberal and progressive agenda and policies.
Now compare Trump’s policies and achievements, which correlate with his slogan, “Make America Great Again,” (MAGA – which Biden and the Democrats use as a slur as if making America great again is somehow a bad thing) with Obama’s policies of fundamentally transforming the U.S. in a very negative manner for its citizens. See Trump Administration Accomplishments – The White House. Trump temporarily halted Obama’s ‘transformation’ as he won his bid to become the 45th president of the U.S. over Hillary Clinton, the chosen successor of Obama. Trump, like Josiah, initiated many reformative policies and executive orders that halted the destructive actions of his predecessor.
During Trump’s presidency, he enacted many policies regarding the sanctity of life and religious liberty for the United States and the world. Regarding being a friend and ally to Israel, Trump recognized Jerusalem as the true capital of Israel and quickly moved the American Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem; acknowledged Israel’s sovereignty over the Golan Heights; declared that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are not inconsistent with international law; removed the United States from the United Nations Human Rights Council due to the group’s blatant anti-Israel bias; and brokered historic peace agreements (the Abraham Accords) between Israel and Arab-Muslim countries, including the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, and Sudan (from link above).
Trump may not be the man of God that Josiah was, but he did what was right for his people and Israel, unlike his predecessors (and Josiah’s). I expect him to do the same as the 47th president of the United States.
Joe Biden became the 46th president of the U.S. on January 20, 2021. There is no need for me to go into great detail regarding the deteriorating condition of the country since he has taken office, as everyone is cognizant of the situation (except for Joe Biden). I believe even the Democrats are aware of the decline and eventual ruination of the country, even though they will not admit it. They are willing to lie, cheat, and put politics ahead of the safety and security of their fellow citizens just to remain in power. Some RINO Republicans have the same moral compass.
The number of people illegally entering the country surged after Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas halted many preexisting border security policies, advanced sweeping parole and other policies to release the greatest number of illegal foreign nationals into the country, encouraged people from all over the world to use a phone app to enter the U.S., and facilitated U.S. entry application processes in foreign countries, among others.
“The Biden administration is now on track to hit 10 million encounters at America’s borders nationwide well before the end of the fiscal year––showing the border crisis remains at catastrophic levels. It is clear that the Biden administration has used unlawful mass-parole programs to shift hundreds of thousands of inadmissible aliens to ports of entry for release into the interior, often with little or no vetting. The end result is the same—a continuing, historic border crisis.” {2}
“U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) released its latest statistics Monday (September 2024), showing nearly 530,000 migrants flew into the U.S. and were paroled into the country as part of the Biden administration’s controversial mass parole program for those migrating from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela (CHNV). It also shows that about 813,000 migrants have scheduled appointments that were made on the CBP One app at ports of entry, to be released into the U.S. Both are considered “lawful pathways” into the U.S. and were created by the Biden administration. But the numbers do not count in data from the Border Patrol because they are not considered illegal crossings. Migrants taking part in the CHNV program are paroled into the U.S. on two-year humanitarian parole grants, which allow them to apply for work.” {3}
Increased illegal immigration brings increased crime and potential terror attacks against our citizens. Regarding crime in general, the Left advocates for soft-on-crime prosecutors who are backed by Soros’ funds and for sanctuary cities. The following link includes a summary of U.S. Border Patrol enforcement actions related to arrests of criminal noncitizens for Fiscal Years 2017 – 2025. Criminal Noncitizen Statistics | U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Besides not enforcing our immigration laws and soft-on-crime policies, Biden’s list of failures is stunning. The Afghanistan withdrawal, COVID-19 response, inflation and economic issues, foreign policy decisions, energy policies, supply chain issues, and putting woke and DEI ideas above common sense are a few of the Biden Administration’s failures.
In a 2023 State of the Union address to Congress, Joe Biden used the phrase “finish the job” 13 times. It was thought that Biden was referring to his upcoming re-election campaign in which he would rebuild the economy and unite the nation. However, I believe it was a (dog-whistle) reference to finishing the job that Barack Obama had begun to fundamentally transform the United States of America into a socialist country. I believe if Biden (or Harris) had been elected president in 2024, our country would have undergone that transformation within the next four years.
As we have seen from the time of Josiah, it only takes one generation for a nation to fundamentally change for the worse. All it takes is for the citizens to follow the lead of their rulers (political, religious, and familial) and ignore or openly rebel against the word and will of Almighty God. Even though Judah had a great revival under Josiah, it was not enough to compensate for the sins of Manasseh.
“Because Manasseh king of Judah hath done these abominations, and hath done wickedly above all that the Amorites did, which were before him, and hath made Judah also to sin with his idols… Moreover, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 21:11,16).
I believe the innocent blood that Ahaz, Manasseh, and Amon shed were their sons, who they sacrificed to their pagan gods. Has America, as a country, passed the point of no return where God can no longer delay His righteous judgment against us? Like Judah, under Manasseh, our lands have been filled with the blood of the innocent pre-born by way of legal abortions under the guise of what the liberals call “women’s reproductive rights.” What a misnomer! Yes, women have the right to reproduction (giving birth), but do they have the right to end a life before birth (or at the time of birth or after)? God knows!
It appears that when sin reaches its zenith (fullness) in different civilizations, God’s judgment soon follows. Nineveh, Assyria, was one such civilization, as recorded in the Book of Jonah. “Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me” (Jonah 1:1-2).
Of course, we know the story of Jonah being swallowed by the great fish for three days and three nights, and then his reluctant resumptive mission to Nineveh. Jonah’s message was simple, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” Amazingly, the people of Nineveh believed Jonah’s message and repented. “So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes” (Jonah 3:5-6).
The king and all the people cried to God and turned from their evil and violent ways. “Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it” (Jonah 3:10).
Because of the repentance from sin by the king and the citizens of Nineveh, God relented from His judgment of doom against them. This is what America must do, both as a nation and as a people, before God’s judgment falls upon us. The Ninevites’ obedience was short-lived, however. Due to their continuing fullness of sins, Nineveh was destroyed by the Babylonians in 612 BC, after Nahum had prophesied about its coming judgment.
The average age of empires is 250 years, according to Sir John Bagot Glubb, a specialist on the subject, who wrote a short treatise called “The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival.” Although the U.S. of America has not been an “empire” for 250 years, it will officially turn 250 years old in 2026. Will we, as an independent nation, survive that long, or will our fullness of sins against the Lord cause our demise, like those nations who have come before us?
God gave the Amorites 400 years to repent, according to Genesis 15:13-16. However, He knew they wouldn’t, and the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would drive them out and inherit the land of Canaan. The children of Israel were the instrument God used to exact his judgment on the Amorites.
Perry Miller, a mid-20th-century scholar of history and literature, believed the true beginning of America was when the Puritans founded Boston in 1630 with the arrival of John Winthrop on the ship Arbella. Miller believed that the precise moment occurred amid the passage itself when Winthrop delivered a lay sermon aboard the Arbella. He called this sermon “A Model of Christian Charity.” Today, many mistakenly think the title was called “A City Upon a Hill,” as the sermon is famous mainly for its use of the phrase “a city on a hill,” used to describe the expectation that the Massachusetts Bay colony would shine like an example to the world. Winthrop’s phrase “a city on a hill” was taken from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount after he taught the multitudes regarding the Beatitudes ((Matthew 5:13-16). Winthrop’s sermon occurred 1,600 (400 x 4) years after Jesus’ sermon (during Jesus’ first year of ministry) in 30 AD.
The Great Migration from Britain to New England began in 1630. For the first time, the authority for a colony’s government resided in a colony, not in England. John Winthrop knew if his colony were to succeed, they would need God’s help, and if they were to receive His blessings, they would need to obey His word and do His will. If not, the same curses Moses prophesied against the children of Israel for disobeying the LORD would come upon them. “And you shall become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword among all nations where the Lord will drive you” (Deuteronomy 28:37).
In 2030, it will be 400 years since the Puritans came to New England and founded (present-day) Boston, Massachusetts (and 2,000 years since Jesus’ sermon on the mount). Boston became a Christian commonwealth, and the Puritans had a profound effect on the rest of the developing new nation. Will God judge America for her fullness of iniquity after 400 years as He did with the Amorites? Ruth Graham, the wife of Billy Graham, once said, “If God doesn’t judge America, He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah.”
The global elites are determined to bring in a New World Order and seem fixated on the year 2030. The United Nations has set a deadline for achieving its Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development by the year 2030. 2030 seems to be the predicated year for significant change in the world. Global entities, such as the UN, WHO, WEF, IMF, WTO, and others, say this change is for the good of all mankind, but those who read and study their Bible know it is not. This significant change or “Great Reset” will lead to the worst time in history, known as the Tribulation or Jacob’s Trouble.
It appears that 2026 and 2030 are pivotal years for America and the rest of the world, as well as the brand-new year of 2025. Although Donald Trump is not a godly man, I think Donald Trump is God’s man for this late prophetic hour, like Josiah was for Judah in the waning hours of that kingdom. I agree with Terry James’ statement in his article, Trump’s Peace Trap, “Despite his (Trump) sometimes audacious demeanor, I have no doubt he is precisely the person God has brought to the forefront of what I believe to be the final moments of this Age of Grace for Heaven’s great purposes. And, I’m convinced he truly is a friend of Israel–one who intends to again bring America to genuinely embrace that nation in a manner like before the Obama and Biden administrations that, in my view, acted treacherously against the Jewish state.”
Russia, Iran, Turkey, and the other nations involved in the prophecy of Ezekiel 38-39 appear to be in the beginning stage of their prophesied coalition against Israel. As long as Trump is in office, Israel will have an ally in America and not just one who submits a mild protest (mentioned in Ezekiel 38:13) against the massive future invasion. As I believe this prophecy will occur within the next 4 years, I think the only way Trump wouldn’t come to the aid of Israel is if he is somehow removed from office (by death or otherwise) or if the Rapture occurs. This is just another reason why I think the pre-tribulation Rapture is imminent.
Conclusion
Yes, it would be nice if we had a great man of God, like Josiah, who was leading us in these prophetic times, but it is reassuring that we have a president who has America and the American people’s interests at heart…instead of a president who is actively working against our national sovereignty and whose secret intent is to join a cabal of world government enthusiasts. Quoting Terry James again, “The Lord uses men–sometimes terribly flawed ones—to accomplish His holy will and to bring about prophetic fulfillment.” The Bible gives many examples of this phenomenon: Jacob, Samson, Moses, Cyrus II of Persia, and Saul of Tarsus. Saul, whose name was changed to Paul, became the greatest missionary and theologian in the history of the Christian church, spreading the gospel throughout the world.
Even though Josiah and Trump are miles apart in their spiritual walk with the Lord, I believe they were both destined to lead their people in a time of unprecedented evil against their nations. Let’s pray that Donald Trump appoints godly men as his advisors who are learned in biblical prophecy and eschatology. I think Trump’s pick for ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, is a good choice, as he is pro-Israel and is against a two-state solution with Palestine. “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee” (Psalm 122:6).
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Randy Nettles
rgeanie55@gmail.com
Endnotes:
{2} STARTLING STATS FACTSHEET: Biden Administration on Track to Reach 10 Million Encounters Nationwide Before End of Fiscal Year – Committee on Homeland Security
{3} Nearly 530K migrants flew into US ‘legally,’ paroled into US under controversial Biden program: CBP | Fox News
