A King of Fierce Countenance
One of the many clues about the prophesied Antichrist is that he is described as “a king of fierce countenance,” who will eventually “stand up against the Prince of princes” (i.e., Jesus Christ) at the end of the age (Dan 8:23). The two operative words in this clue mean literally “strong faces.” In the transliterated Hebrew they are “az panim,” with az being the pivotal term here with a wide range of nuance.
Thus, different Bible translations render it “an insolent king,” “stern-looking,” “arrogant,” “bold,” “dangerous,” “ruthless,” “merciless,” “impudent,” “rash,” etc. Even the paraphrase VOICE Bible lucks out with, “defiance written across his face.” All these things describing just his “looks.”
Personally, I prefer “insolent,” which Dictionary.com defines as “boldly rude or disrespectful; contemptuously impertinent; insulting.” It perfectly describes Donald Trump’s “brand”—being endlessly audacious, bombastic, brash, provocative, exaggerative, insulting, demeaning, devious, dishonest, etc. It also ties in neatly with the rest of the verse which describes him as a “master of deception, skilled in intrigue,” etc.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find that Donald Trump spent hours in front of the mirror practicing this particular “look” for such an historic mugshot. In his usual sexualized ambiguity, he declared to the sheriff’s office that the color of his hair was “strawberry.” (This week?). His look is obviously meant to convey defiance, intimidation, and as always, faux rage.
If The Donald[1] is anything, he is an accomplished demagogue,[2] con man, poker player, bluffer, etc. He knows he made up the Big Lie about a stolen election,[3] and that the only way to salvage that overweening pride of his is to escape the humiliation of prison.
The only way he can do this now is by bringing the country to the brink of a second Civil War (over him, no less), lying his way to another election win,[4] or inciting rebellion against our democratically-elected government. “‘They are not coming for me; they’re coming for you!,” he chums out to his credulous base, including Christians who have been carpet-bombed with the idea that the rest of the country is constantly out to destroy their “religious liberties” and put them in camps. In the United States of America no less, where any religion is allowed to practice as long as they obey the common law.
Therefore, do both he and his enablers in right-wing propaganda media stoke up the faux outrage at this “persecution pretending to be prosecution,” this “weaponization of the government,” this “politicizing of the process,” this “assault on his right to free speech.”
I’m sorry, human governments are ordained by God, and are already “weaponized” with a sword to enforce the law upon evil doers (Rom 13:1-4). And in our system of government, we do have a time for “politicizing” things. It’s called elections, after which the winner goes to work in the government to make the laws. Others are elected or appointed to enforce those laws equitably.
We are all supposed to submit to those laws at that point, per the commandment of God (I Pet 2:13-17; Col 4:5; Rom 13:5-7; Mk 12:13-17). Again, lucky for us, even the government has to obey those same laws that they have passed. Even with all their vast resources and lawyers at their disposal, if you can convince a judge you have a valid case, you might be able to win against your own tyrannical, oppressive government.
Try that under a monarchy, a dictatorship or in a one-party state. This is what was meant by, “When you topple a king, make sure you cut off his head,” because you won’t be getting a jury of your peers if you fail, like Mr. Trump is getting.
This is why it was the will of the Founding Fathers that we would be a nation of laws, and not of men and their whims (kings, “tyrants,” dictators, “absolutists,” etc). Lucky us, if you don’t like those laws, you have the right to speak out against them (speech, protest, etc), go through the “political process” again, and elect people who will change them more to your liking. You do not have the right to change them mid-stream or cynically claim, “it’s all politics.”
Of course, this is exactly what Donald Trump and his dishonest, treasonous fellow Republicans, enablers and sheeple followers are always cynically alleging, that
- the DOJ is “piling on” with an avalanche of criminal counts against him. (They are not. He is being indicted by grand juries of his peers, and federal prosecutors never take on a case unless they’re convinced they can win).
- that the “Biden Crime Family” (or Obama or Hillary, no less) are pulling all the strings. (They are not. Legislation passed after Watergate sought to harden the wall between the DOJ and the White House precisely because Nixon and his Attorney General Mitchell were literally conspiring to cover up the scandal and more. It is this wall that Trump exactly wants to destroy in his second term as he goes about seeking “retribution” against all his enemies).
- That the “Deep State” is (conveniently) out to get him, even though Republican identification of the “Deep State” is lefties and Communists “in the bureaucracy,” whatever that means.
As is so often the case with these psy op masters and their amateur hour MAGA base sleuths, their definitions of things are either completely perverted or deliberately meant to obscure. I first heard the term “Deep State” about 10 years ago when it was coined by researcher Peter Dale Scott who accurately described it as the “secretive new institutions” that have arisen within and around the elected government since World War II.[5] In other words, the infamous “covert government” and its endless intrigues that people like Alex Jones never tire of exposing.
We are supposed to believe of course that these natural homes of fascists and died-in-the-wool right-wingers are actually seething hotbeds of liberals, even as they work overtime to undermine anything that looks like Communism around the world. Hence, all Democrats must be tried in military tribunals in Gitmo, etc. Go figure.
In Your Face
The occasion that led to this mug shot was Donald Trump, brazenly as is always his brand, phoning and pressuring the Georgia Secretary of State, a Republican who voted for him no less, to break the law for him. There are laws on the books called election laws forbidding anyone from even making such a phone call to such an official for such a purpose if I’m not mistaken.
Trump of course had to go beyond even that high-handed move, to insinuate a threat of federal prosecution against Raffensberger, for refusing to give in to his bullying! Fani Willis, the DA who brought the charges has said how much she wishes Brad Raffensberger was not a resident of Fulton County. Then she could have left it to another county to deal with the deliberately-provocative criminal act, the inevitable death threats, the possibility of mobs outside her house, etc., because we all know that’s such a Christian thing to do.
Please note that in that phone call, knowing it was being recorded and witnessed by a number of other people, Trump didn’t say, Brad, can’t you find me another 12,000 votes? Another 15,000? No, he asked for exactly 11,780 votes, the exact number he lost by. Aside from the fact that he was essentially asking him to cancel the voting rights of that many African-Americans, the attitude was that if he could only win by one vote, he and he alone of course should be declared the winner, no questions asked.
This is not just his bottomless sense of entitlement on display, but his love for stirring up strife, division and controversy, his essentially brawler’s nature. Donald Trump is always in everybody’s face, aggressively “training” us, demanding outrageous demands. It also dovetails with his commission (blackmail?) from Vladimir Putin to be a Russian Agent of Chaos, to get the American people to turn on one another.
Speaking of aggressive trainers, consider the arguments now by apologists and enablers like Jay Sekulow, claiming “they’re denying Donald Trump his free speech rights.” It’s “the two-tiered system of justice” at work here, despite the fact that Republicans practically own the judiciary now.[6]
Sekulow, a highly-trained lawyer, loves to run rings around his listeners with his breathless “breaking news” (that turns out to be a molehill), his faux outrage and made-up controversies. A guy who willingly became an impeachment lawyer for Donald Trump, he knows where all the bodies are buried in Republican-land. And he knows none of this is about free speech. That is all just rhetoric for the rubes.
The fact is, there are loads of laws against doing things with your mouth that are crimes. Inciting a crowd to riot is one, soliciting others to commit a crime is another, joining a conspiracy to commit a crime is another (racketeering). Deliberately slandering and defaming someone with lies and wild allegations is also actionable (though it seems to be a Republican pastime nowadays). And picking up a phone to attempt to influence an official in the carrying out of his duties is another, especially in something as “sacred” in America as the right to vote.
The “free speech” way to do this is exactly what they tried—going to court to contest the election results. If I’m not mistaken, they were thrown out of 65 courts doing this, even before “bulletproof” Trump-appointee judges.
So now the latest spin is that Trump wasn’t trying to corruptly influence an official to throw an election. No, no, he was only asking him for yet another recount. Sure. But that’s partly what it means by the Beast being a master of intrigue—the ability to speak so obliquely that he can claim what he obviously said or implied isn’t what it plainly was.
You know, like the way a mob boss lets his minions know what he’d like them to do, by making passing observations. That way he can legally claim he wasn’t suggesting or ordering anything, while they do the deed and do the time.[7]
Charming people, and they’re out for your minds. “By good words and fair speeches, they deceive the hearts of the simple” (Rom 16:18), always out to “beguile unstable souls” (II Pet 2:14).
But what else would you expect from the coming “Man of Lawlessness” (II Thess 2:2)?
[1] As many people have reported, he is called “The Donald” because he’s an impossible person to deal with. If you submit to his constant domineering, he despises you as weak; if you resist, you go on his enemies list in his never-ending quest to vanquish all before him.
[2] Dictionary.com: demagogue, “a person, especially an orator or political leader, who gains power and popularity by arousing the emotions, passions, and prejudices of the people.”
[3] https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2022/10/14/trump-knew-he-lost-jan-6/
[4] God help us if news breaks about some specific thing Hunter Biden, who holds no governmental office, did. The hue and cry of the false equivalency will be deafening.
[5] https://www.amazon.com/American-Deep-State-Struggle-Democracy/dp/1442214252
[6] There is of course a two-tiered system of justice in America—those who can afford a lot of lawyers (like the plutocrats the Republicans work for), and the rest of us.
