Christian nationalism is synonymous with racism, xenophobia, Fascism, Nazism, Imperialism, Genocide, terror, torture and atrocities the likes of which we have names for without even understanding what the meanings might be. We simply know that they are bad, very bad.
Perhaps this is why Christ and the apostles spoke so harshly about apostasy. Because when church goes wrong, it goes very wrong. What do you do again with salt which has lost its savour? It deserves to be ‘trodden under the foot of men’. (Matthew 5:13)
Hey! That’s the church Jesus is speaking about. Why would he want his own church trampled?
Perhaps because she has become “the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.” (Rev.18:2) Few people seem to understand the imagery of Revelation sufficiently to recognize that the Great Bitch and Glorious Bride are one and the same. Both are very stunning ‘before’ and ‘after’ pics of the church.
The only difference between Babylon, mother of all harlots and New Jerusalem, holy city of God is at certain times, space; and in certain spaces time. Both are embodiments of the church. But that’s exactly why Yahweh told his prophet Hosea to wife a whore. He wanted someone on earth to understand how he felt.
Make no mistake about it, when beastly governments rise in persecution of the church, it is God that has anointed them to do so in fulfillment of Jesus’ trample prophecy. Rev 17:16-18
They have no other reason to ‘strip her naked, burn her with fire, and eat her flesh.’ They were having the time of their lives with her. Between government and private sector, no one will miss her more when she’s gone. (Revelation 18:9-19)
When God sends a prophet with a rose to woo back his wayward woman, then Precious Gomer, please listen, you have no better prospect on earth or in heaven.
So much more to be said, it’s best to be silent.
YeKengalé 
As usual, your column made very interesting reading and was quite provocative despite its brevity. In this instance I take issue with a number of the points you raise.
The parallelism in your title is an obvious reference to Jesus Christ in fulfillment of the respective prophecies of Isaiah 9:6 and Psalm 8:6 but your content gives the impression that the church is synonymous with His kingdom… it is not. Those prophetic passages are referring to a government whose peace, prosperity and increase will have no bounds (Isaiah 9:7)… this is not presently the case because “the heavens must receive (Him) until the times of restoration of all things” (Acts 3:21). Therefore our hope is rooted firmly in the age-to-come, and the grace that is to be brought to us at the revelation (apocalypse) of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13).
Christian Nationalism is a regrettable feature of a section of the North American church, conflating the kingdom of God with the nation and agitating for privilege and dominion over its institutions even by violence… a blight on the overall corporate witness of the church but it does not and should not characterize the whole church as is apparent in your column.
Another point is that apostacy is a falling away from the faith such that the apostate no longer are a part of the true church. This distinction is important because the church is not to be confused with Babylon at any time and in any space… the church is commanded to “come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins and lest you receive her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven and God has remembered her iniquities” (Rev. 18:4-5). On the contrary, regarding the church, He says ” their sins and their iniquities I’ll remember no more” (Heb. 8:12). Your particular application to the church, of Hosea’s marriage to unfaithful Gomer, is debatable since there’s no support in the Apostle’s doctrine in the New Testament.
The contrast between Babylon and the New Jerusalem in the Book of Revelation are stark and the only similarity is in the one who introduces them to John and the wording of that introduction (compare Rev. 17:1 with Rev 21:9). It is therefore incorrect to say that they are one and the same.
Finally, on the point of “Beastly Governments” persecuting the church, this is not necessarily a divinely authorized “trampling” of salt that has lost its savor. In most instances it is a badge of honour on a church that is giving effective prophetic witness to the gospel… “blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you ” (Matthew 5:11-12)
Shalom.
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Errol, why ‘ this is not presently the case’ is exactly the reason for examining the theological motivations / inhibitions Christians have in engaging with or distancing from the processes of government. The dispensationalist / preterist approaches to eschatology are more than just theories of the end. They also inform present attitudes.
Whether wheat or tares, bitch or bride, true or false, Ammi or Lo Ammi, these all reference the Israel of God and in that sense Babylon and Jerusalem are the same body… but for the process called salvation by grace which Evangelicals believe is automatically conferred upon all who repeat the Sinner’s prayer (not sure who has the copyright for that…I’ve found the Lord’s prayer in scripture.) and Catholics believe is automatically conferred upon the church’s administration of baptism, both groups will nevertheless have to wait upon judgment to see their ideas authenticated or not by the One who recognizes or repudiates before the Father and his angels by His own high standards. If Peter himself, bedrock of the church seemed constantly a hair’s breadth away from a ‘Blessed be thou Simon Bar Jonah’ or a “Get thee behind me Satan” I don’t think any of us would be advised to assume anything by association, but fulfill the Biblical admonition to examine ourselves to see whether our faith is genuine…and that’s what the mirror exercise is all about.
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On Beastly Governments, the revelation reference cited gives the pattern. Consider that not only rain falls upon every housetop but the fire when it comes also destroys everything in its path. These processes are not selective in an individual sense but in a productive sense. Rain produces growth…as well. Fire produces change … as well. So Tribulation however Great is a blessing. Perhaps https://youtu.be/4Li8roSSSzk might be more representative of my fulsome thoughts…and https://reformationruminationsoctober2017.wordpress.com/2017/10/01/closing-ranks-the-unity-of-the-church/
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