Scott Pruitt resigned as Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency following a tenure filled with controversy and scandals. In reflecting on why he entered public service, and took the job of head of the EPA, Pruitt said, “I spent a couple years just earnestly praying, asking the question that I don’t think we ask enough, ‘God, what do you want to do with me?’” He then went on to answer that question, quoting from the Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament. What did he say?
A. Pruitt was reading the book of Isaiah, and God “really spoke to my heart” when He told Israel, “I will restore your leaders as in the days of old, your judges as at the beginning.” Pruitt explained, “There was just a desire that welled up in me to say, ‘I want to be like those leaders that we had at our founding, at the inception of our country.’ ”
B. Pruitt said, “I was in church and the Pastor spoke of the verse in Leviticus, Chapter 19, verse 16. ‘Do not stand by while your neighbor’s blood is shed.’ And that spoke to me, because I do feel like we’re facing a civil war in this country, between those who believe in God and the greatness of America, and those who do not recognize the Christian roots of our country and God’s plan for America. I knew at that moment that I had to be a soldier for God in this battle, and when President Trump asked me to be a part of his administration, it was clear that this was what God wanted me to do at that moment in my life.”
C. Pruitt spoke of his upbringing. “I was born in Danville, Kentucky, a town that was the epitome of small town America. My father was the minister at the Danville Baptist Church, so the Bible was always a source of inspiration for me. As a young boy my father taught me and my brothers the lesson from Proverbs 2:20, ‘So follow the way of the good, and keep to the paths of the just.’ Those words always guided me, and when the opportunity arose for me to serve the public, at first in Oklahoma and later in the Trump administration, I was driven by that message.”
D. Said Pruitt, “I always had a sense of how I wanted to serve God. I remember learning in Bible School about the verse from Deuteronomy, Chapter 16, verse 20: ‘Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may thrive and occupy the land that the Lord your God is giving you.’ God was speaking of the land of Israel that he gave to the Jewish people, but I also believe that God gave America to us to be a great Christian nation. And once we occupied this land, it was incumbent upon us to fulfill his mission. When I was called upon by the people of Oklahoma to serve, and later by President Trump, there was no question but that this was what God wanted of me.”
E. In a speech, Pruitt said, “I’ve always looked to the Bible for guidance in my life. When President Trump asked me to serve as the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, I opened my Bible and came upon the Book of Numbers, Chapter 31, verses 31-35: ‘Moses and Eleazar the priest did as the Lord commanded Moses. The amount of booty, other than the spoil that the troops had plundered, came to 675,000 sheep, 72,000 head of cattle, 61,000 donkeys, and a total of 32,000 human beings, namely, the women who had not had carnal relations.’ And I immediately thought, why shouldn't I get some of that action? So I called President Trump and signed up.”