Ordo Trumpis?

So, last week, a commentary on a very direct theological issue which arose up through the Trumpian world. This week perhaps less directly: is there a theological issue around Trump and team's approach to Israel (and thus to Palestine and thus to the extraordinary announcement made by Trump that he sees the USA taking over Gaza and Gazan Palestinians should move to Egypt and Jordan (or beyond))?

I was intrigued towards theological rumination by a Tweet I saw which alleged that Calvinism is responsible for thinking that God's "old covenant" (i.e. with Israel = nation/people) is still in force alongside the "new covenant" (i.e. that God now covenants through Jesus Christ with the whole world), and thus such an idea influences thinking which favours Israel in many Christian communities, including many influential communities in the USA. The point of this post is not to attack or defend Calvinism on this allegation.

Before ruminating, let me be quite clear: unless Trump is very cunningly leveraging this moment and his announcement to get (presumably) the wealthier Arab nations to fund the reconstruction of Gaza instaed of the USA doing it, what he has announced is appalling: it amounts to precisely the imperialism of a former age which (at least) the West has been moving away from, ever repentant for the errors of past eras, including that expansion of interest which ethnically cleansed peoples from various regions, as would happen if Palestinians are forced to leave Gaza.

If Ordo Amoris raises the question whether love has limits and gradations depending on factors such as kith and kin (or not) and geographical distance from lover to potential beloved (a question being answered in a very particular way this past few days as USAID is dismantled), then Ordo Trumpis (the Trump approach to ordering the world) raises the question - on the particular matter at hand of Gaza - whether a muddled approach by Christians to the nature of God's covenantal promises is influencing the otherwise well-known Trumpian predilection for a great property development deal.

At great risk of being labelled a supersessionist (the church replaces Israel), I cannot see how we read the Bible from cover to cover and get past the fact that all God's promises find their fulfilment in Jesus Christ, with the consequence that focus on land/promised land for the Israel of the Old Testament/old covenant becomes a non-geographical focus on Jesus Christ and the fulfilment of life found in him. More succinctly, the kingdom of God as taught by Jesus is not a bounded area of land on the surface of the earth.

Note, of course, that in the christocentric kingdom of God, justice and mercy matter for all, and that includes for all Jews ... and for all Palestinians. The new covenant of God through Jesus Christ does not shift the commitment of God to the well-being of the Jews; it extends that commitment to all. They way forward for Gaza, in Christian perspective, is a way forward for justice, mercy and peace; ditto for Israel; ditto for the West Bank; Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon.

In this theology there seems no room for a US led property development; but there is opportunity for a US-led humanitarian effort in reconstruction, generously funded because ordo amoris trumps ordo Trumpis. Please don't tell me ordo amoris doesn't include Gaza for America because this week President Trump has clearly seen some kind of kith and kinship with Gaza!