Jonah's Wall: Politics in Reverse
“For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying…. cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands” (Jonah 3).
“But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet” (Mt. 21:46).
“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you”n (Act 2)
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Jonah could have had the keys to the city. Instead of the huge weed being his only comfort, he now had access to the palace. In a sense. But he would have ceased being a prophet, for Nineveh had been brought to its knees by the Holy Ghost. And therein lies the contradiction of “ye shall receive power.” The elders of Bethlehem trembled at Samuel’s coming even as he traveled without the trappings of office. They held his sons in contempt for enriching themselves through their office by taking bribes. “Give me the people,” the king of Sodom told Abraham, “keep the goods.” The Church overthrew Rome from the ground up. Rome hijacked the Church by corrupting her from the top down by seducing her preachers with the lure of political power.
Evangelicalism (the religious mainstay in the West) is currently splintering in a thousand different directions with most taking refuge under either (psycho-babble) Progressivism (they will end up in leftwing Mainline denominational activism) or Trumpism (who promises an Orban-style ethno-Christian Protectorate). Both demand a seat at Caesar’s table. Both are equally political. Neither could survive without the violence of the sword that undergirds all political power.
They are still capable of preaching a message that would bring about the results of Jonah, in that they understand the salvific contours of the Bible: the Cross. Therein lies the “power” that Jesus speaks of. For when the Cross is preached, the Holy Ghost falls.
Enter now Jonah Syndrome. His audience back home are gospel hardened malcontents who were tired of “seeing the Promises afar off,” while being forever told “Wait, I say, wait on the Lord.” They wanted the comfort of the soul without the discomfort of the sojourning tent. The Ninevites knew only the pangs of sin: “Oh wretched man that I am.” “God be merciful to me, a sinner.” Evangelicalism is no more than the recycled mass of regurgitated denominationalism passed on from generation to generation. In essence, they’ve been preaching to the choir for the last two centuries: Red states are no more than the choir. The result being that Blue States are the fiefdoms of pagan elites who lord it over a mixed rabble which they goad to make war against the churchites. Herein lies their power. “They have the people,” whom they exploit from their cushy lairs. But churchites, as you can tell from reading the news, are feeling an intense heat, especially as it radiates from Critical Race Theory, which is now forcing churches to confess to Lost Cause-ism, the shrine of Davis, Lee, Jackson. Meanwhile, as a last resort, churchites have taken shelter unter the noxious weed that is Trumpism, which, as anyone can see, has a can of worms gnawing at its vitals. An ill wind will reduce it to shambles with one strong blast, and these modern day Jonah’s will wish to die: “Better dead than Red,” they used to say. Today, “Better down than Brown.”
Evangelicals know from both the Bible and their history that they could have “the people.” But the mixed rabble would severely diminish “the goods.” Trump promises to guard their “goods.” So here are churchites living a fly-by-night spiritual existence under an un-rooted weed, and the mixed rabble waiting to enter the minute the doors open. The latter to Jonah, was worse than death. He was so at odds with the will of God. Prophet Samuel had power a politician can only dream of. Elisha ate “wild gourds” and had to borrow an ax, even as he healed great military commanders and captured their armies (his servant sought to monetize his Brand). To Jonah’s Whale, Weed, Worm, and Wind we could add Jonah’s Wall. The real power lies in what’s behind that Wall. But as everyone knows, George Floyd is hiding behiind They could have the people and real power (and protection), for “they (the elites) feared the multitude.”