Shortly after he was unexpectedly elected speaker of the House in October 2023, Louisiana Republican Mike Johnson appeared before the awards gala of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers, a far-right group, and revealed that God had spoken to him personally and called him to be prepared for a “Red Sea moment.”

Johnson said he understood that God would be choosing a new Moses to serve as the new speaker. Because he was an obscure functionary, the lawmaker assumed that he would be an Aaron, Moses’ brother and supporter. But over the course of three weeks, as candidate after candidate was vanquished by the sharply divided Republican caucus, God woke him up in the middle of the night and said, “Wait, wait, wait.” Finally, Johnson was told to “now step forward.”

“Me?” Johnson said.

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