After all the remaining hostages held by Hamas were released, President Trump declared an end to the war to applause in the Israeli Knesset. He boasted about his significant contribution to peace in Israel, the Middle East, and the world. Boarding Air Force One, he briefly shared his views on heaven in response to reporters’ questions. He stated he didn’t think he would go to heaven but had done many good things, which did not seem like a sincere confession of faith in Jesus. It was unclear whether he answered the reporters’ questions smugly, knowing full well that only through Jesus can one enter heaven, or if his arrogance truly blinded him. It was a disappointing response. Furthermore, during his speech to the Israeli Knesset, he congratulated his daughter Ivanka on converting to Judaism following her Jewish husband and remarked she looked happy, seemingly trying to appease the assembly. As a Christian, this should have been a cause for sorrow, yet he expressed joy instead, suggesting a problem with his approach to faith education.

His actions reminded me of King Hezekiah of Israel. I saw parallels between his life and the miraculous event where God’s angel killed all 185,000 Assyrian soldiers as Jerusalem faced imminent capture during the Assyrian siege, and the incident where he tearfully prayed for and received an extension of 15 years of life when he was dying of illness. These events overlapped with President Trump’s life turnaround. Despite failing to win re-election due to the 2020 U.S. election fraud, facing legal attacks, and even being implicated as the mastermind behind the January 6th insurrection, he narrowly succeeded in his re-election bid with the help of conservative political leaders like Charlie Kirk. Furthermore, his near-death experience from an assassin’s bullet during a campaign rally, from which he miraculously survived, could only be explained as divine intervention. I recalled how, like King Hezekiah, he had told the Babylonian envoys that showing them all Jerusalem’s treasures meant they would be taken without exception, and his children would become captives in Babylon. Yet he had said it was fine because such a prophecy from the prophet Isaiah would not happen in his generation. It made me think that while America might rise again and become the most powerful nation while President Trump is alive, the next generation could see division. Especially if conflict arises among his children, the peace Trump wanted to boast about could be shattered.

Ultimately, I reflected that Christians living amidst spiritual battles, great and small, must follow only Jesus, the Prince of Peace. I also contemplated that when Christians following Jesus make up more than 3.5% of the population in both the United States and South Korea, society will not decay. So, I came out for early morning prayer today, prayed for South Korea and for the LifeSpring community I belong to, prayed that more brothers and sisters would follow Jesus, left a blog post, and started today energetically.