It appears that at least one church in Missouri believes the 47th President of the United States is their Christian messiah returned.
Monday morning, I saw “And The Government Is Upo (sic) His Shoulder” “Isaiah 9 7” on a Pentecostal church’s sign. It had not been there Saturday morning.
It’s a small church in a small, poor, rural county in Missouri.
At first, I thought this had to do with a Christian holiday or holy day. But I asked around and found none between the Christian observance of Epiphany and Ash Wednesday.
In Judaism, Isaiah 9:7 is from Nevi’im (The Prophets), the second section of The Tanakh.
For a child has been born to us,
A son has been given us.
And authority has settled on his shoulders.
He has been named
“The Mighty God is planning grace;
The Eternal Father, a peaceable ruler
In Judaism, Isaiah 9:7 is about King Hezekiah. I thought maybe the church was saying that the 47th President would be a great king. It’s a bat shit crazy thing to say, in my opinion. But, whatever. Not my faith house. Not my business.
Not the first time that this church has said politically charged things on their sign. There is a lot of competition in rural Missouri between Baptist and Pentecostals for members, MAGA members. Church signs and flag choices are the ultimate virtue signaling.
But I did a little searching, asked around, and discovered that Isaiah 9:7 has an entirely different meaning in Christianity. For Christians, it’s a reference to their messiah, Jesus.
If this church believes that the 47th President, a man who hates people of color, abuses women, and is Grifter in Chief for a second time, is their messiah returned and the end times are here, then the rest of us have many more problems than just a would-be dictator and his oligarch posse.
Where’s there’s one church that believes the current President is their messiah, there has to be others. Jim Jones, a Pentecostal minister turned messiah with many churches, comes to mind. The Jonestown Massacre happened while I was in college.
Sure. There has been a lot of savior-like talk. But a group of people actually worshipping an elected official as a messiah and looking forward to the end of the world would have monumental consequences for, well, everything.
The Great State of St. Louis 