Comments on Presidential Repentance

Since the late 1990's, I have expected to see President Bush repent in a manner similar to what President Clinton did at the Congressional Prayer Breakfast on Sept. 11, 1998. Between these two presidents, they represent America's two polarized factions, and so their repentance has been necessary to avoid the full judgment of God upon America.

President Clinton's repentance in 1998 was based upon the known pattern of the biblical King Ahab in 1 Kings 21:27-29. Ahab, of course, did not fully repent, because he did not give back Naboth's vineyard, which he had stolen with the help of his wife, Jezebel. Yet he did "humble himself," and for this reason God delayed judgment (war) upon Israel for three years (1 Kings 22:1).

It is my belief that if Ahab had truly repented, the divine judgment would have been avoided altogether.

Anyway, President Clinton appeared before the Congressional Prayer Breakfast on Sept. 11, 1998 and (as the news commentator said) "turned the East Wing of the White House into a confession booth." Thus, the divine judgment (war) for precisely three years to Sept. 11, 2001. And, of course, like with Ahab, the judgment was deferred to the time of his successor.

So President Bush inherited the delayed judgment, which began with the events of 911.

We had then discerned that President Clinton only represented half the country, because it was obvious that the nation was split down the middle and becoming increasingly polarized. Clinton represented the non-Christians along with those Christians who did not see his lack of biblical morality as much of a problem, as long as the economy was good and our wallets filled. President Bush, however, represented the other side, primarily Christians (though not all Christians, certainly). We have felt that Bush's repentance would represent repentance in the Church.

Well, we are now at the end of Bush's presidency, and he has given his final speech last night, reviewing his legacy. He expressed a few regrets and admitted to making some minor mistakes (like putting out the "Mission Accomplished" sign out too soon). Those admissions amount to almost nothing in comparison to the sins that he piled up--including his legalisms about not torturing people, as well as in his support for the massacre and destruction going on now in Gaza.

President Clinton, too, used legalisms to excuse himself at first, with his famous statement, "It depends on what the meaning of the word is is." With President Bush, we have discovered, "It depends on what the meaning of torture is."

What this shows is that the Church has remained unrepentant to this present day, and this is easily proven by President Bush's 31% approval rating. Christians are almost entirely represented in that 31%. They apparently have no problem with torture, as long as one can redefine it in a legalistic manner (using the "letter of the law" to destroy the spirit of the law).

The way I read this, the divine judgment is about to be turned up, because it was not dealt with during the Bush presidency. That assumes no last-minute repentance, of course. The responsibility of what is yet to come will fall squarely upon the shoulders of the American Christians, who refused to correct their "son" in the White House. This was Eli's problem, if you recall. 1 Sam. 2:29 tells how a man of God came to Eli and told him that his family would be judged because Eli had honored his sons above God by not correcting them or removing them from the priesthood.

In the judgment, Eli's two sons were killed--and 30,000 Israelites with them (1 Sam. 4:10). In other words, the whole nation suffered because of Eli's problem. So it is today. The whole nation will suffer because the Christians refused to correct their favorite president in his sin. Like Eli, the Church did not think that torture or Israeli murder policies were of any consequence in the bigger picture. After all, he was restraining abortions by trying not to fund them with federal funds.

So the story of President Bush has followed the pattern of Eli and his sons, even as President Clinton followed the pattern of King Ahab and Jezebel. The precedents have already been established in Scripture. We now must brace ourselves for the consequences in the coming years.

The one ray of hope that we do have is the fact that on April 26, 2008, President Bush sent a personal representative to the ReignDown USA Day of Prayer. That representative was Congressman Trent Franks of Arizona, who truly repented with tears on behalf of President Bush. Thus, from a legal perspective, President Bush truly did repent, but the manner in which it was done added some complexity to the situation. Certainly, it did not avert the judgment on America. Perhaps citizen George Bush will himself repent at a future time and be able to make his true repentance retroactive to April 26, 2008, where Congressman Franks has placed his bookmark of time.

I have a feeling that in our Modesto conference (Jan. 23-25, 2009) we will learn more about this situation, because Modesto means "modest, humble." It seems to have reference to the humbling of our own presidents. We will find out when we get there.

So the repentance of both of our last presidents has been incomplete and inadequate to avert divine judgment. Clinton's inadequate repentance brought the "War on Terror" that began with 911, precisely 210 years after the "Reign of Terror" in France (1791-1793). Bush's inadequate repentance, I believe, will bring judgment upon the Church, which again appears to be following a 210-year pattern. Napoleon captured Rome and took Pope Pius VI captive in February 1798.

Pius VI died in captivity August 29, 1799 and was succeeded by Cardinal Chiaramonti, who became known as Pope Pius VII in the year 1800. Napoleon made an agreement with him, because he felt that in order to be properly crowned as Emperor, he needed a pope to do the job.

The point is, from 2008-2010 is 210 years from these very important times of divine judgment upon the Church. It was the historic fulfillment of Revelation 13, in which the "beast from the sea" was healed of its deadly wound, yet soon replaced by the economic "beast from the earth." The Rothschild banking family rose to prominence in those days, with Nathan Rothschild being sent to London in 1798--the same year that the Pope was taken captive in Rome. Modern banking is the legacy of the Rothschilds, and this is what is coming under divine judgment today, after 210 years.

I have written much about the significance of 2010 and the 210 years from 1800-2010. In American history, the year 1800 is important because it was when Washington D.C. became our nation's capital and the government moved there from Philadelphia.

We have had 42 presidents as of today. (President Cleveland was #22 and #24, so we only count him once.) It appears that President Obama will be the 43rd man to be president. In the past decade we did not think we would have more than 42 men as president. It now appears that we must modify our view slightly. Because President Obama has not, or cannot, produce a valid birth certificate, it looks like America will have only 42 lawful presidents. Only time will prove all things, because there is nothing hidden that shall not be shouted from the housetops. Who knows what events may occur in the years to come. If Obama's presidency is later proven to be invalid, it could invalidate all of his executive orders and perhaps all the bills that he may sign.

We are heading toward the very significant year of 2010. President Obama will probably be the one who has to deal with the conditions at that time. It is not for us to cause him problems. He will have his hands full dealing with God.