DHS Border Protection Video Citing Isaiah 6:8 Sparks Cries of ‘Blasphemy’

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Screengrabs from X / @DHSgov

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In 2021, President Joe Biden referenced the Old Testament verse after U.S. servicemembers died in Afghanistan, in a terror attack when Kabul fell. “We will hunt you down and make you pay,” he told leaders of the Islamic State group ISIS-K. “Those who have served through the ages have drawn inspiration from the book of Isaiah when the Lord says, ‘Whom shall I send? Who shall go for us?’” said Biden. “American military has been answering for a long time, ‘Here I am, Lord, send me.’”

In response, Pastor D.J. Jenkins posted, “No. Just no. This is the type of ridiculous attributing Scripture out of context to something directly in the United States that we’ve seen on the Right.”

“It’s no less wrong when the Left does it,” he said. “The Kingdom of the United States ≠ The Kingdom of God.” Retweeting those words from Jenkins, Pastor Dwight McKissic wrote, “Agreed!”

Dr. Ed Stetzer, dean of the Talbot School of Theology at Biola University, also wrote about Biden’s use of Isaiah 6:8. In a 2021 opinion piece titled “Don’t Confuse Military Action With the Mission of God,” Stetzer said the reference was “deeply jarring” because that Bible verse is “foundational for Christian mission.”

Explaining the passage’s context, Stetzer wrote, “This text is not about answering just any kind of calling—military, civilian or otherwise—the text is about the call of God on a man of God to spread the message of God and thus to fulfill the mission of God.”

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No matter the political party, Stetzer wrote, “It is never appropriate to take the mission of God in Scripture and apply it to the American military, the American dream or the American way of life.” He called it “dangerous” to equate American presence with a divine mission, “even if it is the right political, diplomatic and humanitarian decision.”

“It is easy to disparage the use of Scripture by one political side but justify its appropriation by the other as sincere faith,” Stetzer added. “When we do so, it reveals Christian nationalism is simply the new linguistic proxy for our decades-old culture war.”

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Stephanie Martin
Stephanie Martin, a freelance writer and editor in Denver, has spent her entire 30-year journalism career in Christian publishing. She loves the Word and words, is a binge reader and grammar nut, and is fanatic (as her family can attest) about Jeopardy! and pro football.

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