The big news this weekend has been about a judge ordering the removal of President Trump’s name from the historic Kennedy Center building. The center was created to recognize the artistic culture in Washington, D.C., and was named in memory of John F. Kennedy after he was assassinated less than a year after the center’s completion.
The judge’s basis for his ruling was that since Congress approved and named the center, only Congress could rename it. Due to the president’s fascination with seeing his name and image on things, of course, he attacked the judge and his ruling.
The president has already renamed other buildings and places after himself because the president wants to be worshiped as a great leader:
- Airports
- Battleships
- Institute of Peace
President Trump’s Messiah complex has convinced him that he is America and God’s people’s only hope to save and deliver us from the trials of this life. For a president who claims to know the gospel, he has failed to understand that only God can save and deliver us (Psalm 18:2, Acts 4:12, Romans 11:26).
God’s people cannot put their hope into any other name to deliver or save them because that is idolatry (Isaiah 42:8, 1 Corinthians 8:5-6).
What Is Deliver
I believe it is safe to say we are all facing times of hardship and trials in life today. When we encounter suffering, it is natural to look for something or someone to deliver us from our pain. Deliver is defined as “To set free or to assist: produce.”
The world and lost people often put their hope into temporary things or even themselves to deliver them from harm and hardship. We’ve all looked for hope in temporary things or money at some point. God’s people are called to call on and expect God to deliver them (Psalm 50:15, Romans 10:13).
That is why the Bible has a lot to say about being delivered and who our deliverer is (John 8:36, Romans 8:37). God’s people find their hope only in God (Psalm 71:5, Hebrews 10:23).
God’s people have been delivered from death and sin by God alone (Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 15:56-57, Galatians 1:4, Ephesians 2:8-9, Colossians 1:13-14, 1 Peter 2:24, 1 John 1:9). The apostles remembered their Jewish education about being delivered and Who our Deliverer is.
Pālaṭ
The Torah tells us that because of the fall of mankind, we needed to be saved and delivered from death (Genesis 3:15-24, Deuteronomy 18:15). After Lot was captured, God delivered him from harm through his servant Abraham (Genesis 14:12-16).
The Hebrew word in the Old Testament for deliver is pālaṭ, and it can also mean “Deliverer, escape, or safe,” depending upon the context it is used in.
Judaism often views God as Israel’s great Deliverer, and the Old Testament uses the name Jehovah Mephalti For God (Genesis 14:20; 48:15, Exodus 6:6, Psalm 18:2, Isaiah 59:20). The Israelites experienced God’s deliverance from exile many times:
- The Exodus (Egyptian exile)
- Babylonian exile
- Assyrian exile
- Roman exile
When the Jewish Messiah arrived, Israel was under Roman rule. Jesus declared that He fulfilled the prophecy of being a deliverer for God’s people ( Isaiah 7:14, Joel 3:16, Luke 4:18-21).
Our Lord confirmed that he was to save and rescue people from this fallen kingdom (Matthew 9:13; 15:24, Luke 19:10). He referred to Himself as the Good Shepherd of God’s people to deliver them (John 10:1-42).
Our Rabbi warned His followers not to follow another who will not lay down his life for them (John 10:11-18). A draft dodger will never willingly lay down their life for America.
Freedom 250
In other big news this weekend, many artists have decided to pull out of President Trump’s 250th birthday fair and concert. The artists felt confused and deceived about what they had originally agreed to be part of to celebrate America’s independence.
It was always about Pres. Trump, not celebrating America. That’s why the president decided to rebrand his event as a MAGA campaign rally and replace the canceled acts that he criticized with himself as the center of the rally to focus on what he wants:
- Money
- Attention
- Greatness
- Might and power
The problem is the president wants to be the focus and get all the glory, and that makes him an idol (Isaiah 42:8, Romans 1:25). Surely, a man who knows and loves the gospel knows God’s people are called to glorify God alone (Psalm 96:3; 115:1, John 15:8).
It is God Himself who declared who He is (Exodus 3:14-15). Jehovah is the Latin name based on the Hebrew equivalents of Yahweh. That is why only God can be JehovahMephalti!
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