King Jesus and the Election

I received a comment to my post on "The Truth" and my response turned into this blog. The blogger asked me to read his blog and I responded with the following comments. You can check out his blog at: thinkinginreality.blogspot.com

Jesus is King, and I believe He will reign on earth for 1000 years just as the Scriptures declare. You are so right that our responsibility as followers of the King is to pray. Governments are legitimate institutions that are in the hands of our Sovereign God. Jesus acknowledged their role when He said "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's." (context Matt 22:15-22) When we look at the Old Testament, once God chose for Himself a people, there was most generally someone to whom He appointed and gave the authority as His representative to lead the people. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the initial Patriarchs, serving as heads of the Hebrews. God spoke to them and their descendants followed them. Under the leadership of Moses, and the advice of his father-in-law, he appointed judges to settle the disputes of the people. Joshua followed Moses as leader of the Israelites. The time of the judges was marked by everyone doing what was right in their own eyes. Eli and Samuel both led the people of Israel until the appointment of Saul, Israel’s first King. All this to say, God has ordained rule and order, without it, chaos and confusion coexist.

As I see it, the problem exists when the leader forgets that he is merely God’s representative, when he begins to believe his own press release about his own greatness. He forgets that it is the Sovereign God who placed him in that position and it will be the Sovereign God who will remove him. One of the best examples of this is King Saul. When Saul is first introduced In I Samuel 9, he is called “An impressive young man without equal among the Israelites....” He really didn’t think he was worthy of being anointed king as he protested to Samuel, “"But am I not a Benjamite, from the smallest tribe of Israel, and is not my clan the least of all the clans of the tribe of Benjamin? Why do you say such a thing to me?" (I Sam 9:21) In I Samuel 10, as Samuel publicly appoints him king, he was no where to be found, for “he had hidden himself among the baggage.” (I Sam 10:22) But by the time you get to I Samuel 13, you can already see his slide into disobedience and the Lord finally rejects him as king. (entire context I Sam 9-15) But I’m also often reminded that Scriptures clearly confirm that God places the “heathen” kings in their positions for His bidding. He called Cyrus “His anointed.” (context Isaiah 44:24-45:1-25) He also used Nebuchadnezzar to do His bidding with Judah.

Our responsibility is to pray for wisdom and insight, to be informed and with the information we have, to make wise and discerning decisions. Where does the candidate stand on issues that are important to the heart of God? Value of life?... marriage?... ability to worship the One True God without fear of ridicule and retaliation?....I agree whole heartedly that we shouldn’t vote for someone just because they claim to be a Christian, however, I also know that the “fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,” and He gives wisdom to those who ask for it. I also know based on Scripture, although I cannot explain the how of it, that when we ask of God, when we confess, repent and humbly ask Him to intercede on our behalf, He does and sometimes that even means the postponing of judgment. There are several instances of this, but Jonah and the Ninevites serves as a good example of this.

One big mistake we make is to think that we are voting for the president....no, God, our Sovereign King, has already determined, before the creation of the world, who would win this election in November of 2008. It will come as no surprise to Him, but will all fit perfectly into His plan. Isaiah 46:9-11: “I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that will I bring about; what I have planned, that will I do.