By Femi Aribisala
‘Here lies a vain man who dared to despise the judgment of God’.
Donald Trump, president of the United States, disparaged Joe Biden, his opponent for the American presidency, over the wearing of masks in this era of the coronavirus pandemic. In his typical macho fashion, Trump mocked Biden and castigated him as a sissy. He boasted: “I don’t wear a mask like him. Every time you see him, he’s got a mask. He could be speaking 200 feet away from them and he shows up with the biggest mask I’ve ever seen.” I shook my head when I heard him saying this.
Then I whispered to the Holy Spirit: “This man does not take the coronavirus seriously even though over 200,000 Americans have died of this dreadful disease.” I did not expect the Holy Spirit to reply. I routinely make a point of talking to God as a means of staying in touch with Him without necessarily always expecting Him to reply. But this time He did. He said to me: “Donald Trump himself will catch the virus.”
Will of God I was not precisely sure what to make of this prophecy. Nevertheless, my immediate conclusion (perhaps emanating from uncharitable wishful thinking) was that Donald Trump would not only catch COVID-19 but would die of the disease. I then wondered what to do with the information. Should I use my platforms in the press to announce that God says Donald Trump would catch the coronavirus? I was not sure what that would achieve. Yes, God called me as a prophet, but I don’t believe that means I should make a name for myself as the man who prophesied the death of Donald Trump.
So, what am I supposed to do with what I have been told? Several months ago, I made a promise to Jide Akintunde, the managing editor of Financial Nigeria, that I would write an article for his magazine on Donald Trump. I entitled it: “Nigeria’s Peculiar Love Affair with Donald Trump.” After writing 850 words of that article (roughly half of the intended length), I lost interest and left it uncompleted.
However, in light of God’s prophecy, I decided it would now be wise to complete it. I phoned Martins Hile, the editor of Financial Nigeria, to ask if he had already gone to press with the October edition of their magazine. When he said he had not, I assured him that he would have my finished article on Trump within 24 hours.
But the very next day, my wife woke me up with the news that Donald Trump and his wife have tested positive for coronavirus. This then is my conjecture of why God gave me this privileged information beforehand. Latter-day Nebuchadnezzar Donald Trump is the Nebuchadnezzar of our time. He is a man overwhelmed by pride: “There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin.” (Psalm 36:1-2). Trump is known the world over as a serial liar. According to the fact-checking of the Washington Post, he has told over 20,000 lies in his four years in office, averaging 23 false or misleading statements a day.
He spoke of the United States in apocalyptic terms normally reserved for the kingdom of God. He said American capitalism: “will never fade, never fail, but will reign forever and ever and ever.” He says he has achieved in the United States: “the best economy in the history of the world.” For this reason, he deems it appropriate for his face to be carved into Mount Rushmore. The truth is different from Trump’s pulp fiction.
Trump’s “America First” policy is a subtle admission that the United States is no longer dominant but now has to contend with the ascendancy of China. Today, Trump’s U.S.A. feels threatened by Chinese pre-eminence in 5G technology. American astronauts now go into space propelled by Russian rockets. Longstanding American supremacy in car manufacturing has been eclipsed by the Germans and the Japanese. Furthermore, U.S. aircraft manufacturer, Boeing is now comatose because of disasters arising from foolish cost-cutting measures.
But since Trump continues to lie against the truth. an invisible hand was sent to him to write this inscription: “MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN.” (Daniel 5:25). This means Donald Trump has been weighed in the balances and found wanting. Therefore, the Lord has torn the presidency of the United States from him and has given it to a neighbour of his who is better than him. The polls have been consistent in indicating that Trump would lose the coming American presidential election. He knows it too, which is why he has been trying to undermine its legitimacy. He claims without substantiation that the election will be rigged. “It will be,” he says, “the scandal of our times.” How are the mighty fallen? But while most pundits believe Biden will defeat Trump at the polls, God has determined that Trump will be defeated by the coronavirus. Trump has all but called the virus a hoax. He said it will not last and would be dispelled by the warm summer weather. He predicted mischievously that it would soon disappear miraculously. More recently, he claimed deceitfully that the United States has already turned a corner with the disease. But God has had the final say by gifting arrogant Trump himself with COVID-19. He should now call his infection a hoax. Trump is responsible for the large number of American deaths and infections. He has wilfully sacrificed American lives on the altar of his electoral ambitions.
Because the necessary precautions for COVID-19 will depress the American economy to the detriment of his electoral profile, Trump has publicly downplayed the gravity of the disease, despite admitting privately that the virus is deadly and can be transmitted through aerosols emanating from talking and coughing. Thereby, he lulled many into refusing to take precautions. He put forward no national plan for containing the spread of the disease. On the contrary, he continued to hold crowded campaign events where his mask-less supporters did not maintain social distancing. Thereby, he became the chief community-spreader of COVID-19 in the U.S. Will God now allow this same man to be healed of the disease? My thinking is that Donald Trump will not survive. There is no logic to his survival. If he were to be spared, he should not have contracted the disease. If he now survives, he is likely to use that to further disparage the gravity of the pandemic.
I can already hear him boasting on his recovery that the disease is not what it is cracked up to be. He might say: “Look at me. I am 74 years old, clinically obese, and with a heart problem. Nevertheless, I kicked COVID-19 up the kerb. I taught the disease a lesson.” My guess is that God has a different plan. That plan is to use Trump’s demise as a lesson to the world. The president of the “great” United States succumbed to COVID-19. That would give pompous Trump an everlasting epitaph: “Here lies a vain man who dared to despise the judgment of God.” Therefore, let the boastful take heed: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6).