The whole assembly then agreed to celebrate the festival seven more days; so for another seven days they celebrated joyfully. – 2 Chronicles 30:23

Today’s Scripture Reading (February 1, 2017): 2 Chronicles 30

Hillary Clinton has a message for all those peacefully protesting Donald Trump’s presidency around the world. Don’t stop. I read a Facebook post from an American acquaintance that had something similar to say. The difference between the two messages was found in Clinton’s inclusion of the world. For my Facebook Friend, his message was, and I am paraphrasing, “If you are from the United States, you have a right to peaceful protest. If you are from outside the United States – ‘back off.’ This isn’t your fight; it is ours. You have no right to voice your opinion about our President.”

I have to admit that I had a similar reaction to the protests during a recent stop in at ‘McDonald's.’ It was there that I glanced at a Newspaper that was telling the story of the Women’s marches that were held ‘outside of the United States,’ along with pictures from those marches. The numbers were astounding, and my question to a friend was “why is there such a vehement reaction to this election from Canada, Great Britain, Australia and other foreign places?

And then the ‘Doomsday Clock’ moved thirty seconds closer to midnight. The Doomsday Clock estimates how close the world is to destroying itself. The closest the Doomsday Clock has reached to midnight was in 1953. Then it was set at 2 minutes to midnight. Last week’s move of the Doomsday Clock makes it current setting at 2 ½ minutes to midnight. And this was not because of a change in the world environment. For the first time in history, the Doomsday Clock moved closer because of the words of one man – President Donald Trump. You see, he may be the President of the United States, but what he says has a real influence on the world in which I live. This is my world too; it doesn’t just belong to my neighbors to the south. So if Trump is going to be a threat to the world, then Australians, and anyone else who so desires should have a say – and a right to protest.

We are not sure how often the Passover was really celebrated in the Judah before the Babylonian exile. On this occasion, it was observed late, and because of the generosity of King and his family, it was celebrated longer than normal. Israel and Judah didn’t have a ‘Doomsday Clock’ but if they did, the time might have read one minute to midnight. The Assyrian army was on the march. If Israel had not already fallen at the date of this celebration, it would soon fall. Expert opinion was that Judah would not last much longer than their Northern neighbors. The world, as they knew it, was coming to an end.

So the people marched. Not against a single king or political person, but in celebration of their God. This was a celebration opened to the world. People from Israel joined in on the celebration, even though they were not ceremonially ready for the party. But none of that seemed to matter. The march to Jerusalem was on - and the king looked down on the people and echoed Hillary Clinton’s words – Don’t Stop.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 2 Chronicles 31