Vote Trump? Vote Clinton? Or just forget about it this year?
There is a biblical comparison to our two leading presidential candidates that'll help you decide what to do Nov. 8th: King Jehu and Queen Jezebel. No, these weren't married to each other. Quite the opposite: they hated one another. They lived in the same country and at the same time in history. (II Kings 9 &10)
The "Never Trump" crowd has a problem with their reasoning. So do people of faith who can't bring themselves to vote for this candidate who is clearly flawed, because they believe their vote would also be an endorsement of his very public character flaws and outrageous statements. But a simple election vote is not the same as an approval for the man "in toto"; in other words, for the man overall. Think about it: even certain Hillary-supporters are well-aware of and disapproving of their candidate's criminality and public sins but they support her because she will advance certain policies and social changes. My point is: you can do the same. Consider II Kings 9 & 10 ...
Two people vied for rule in Israel in those days: the Queen Mother Jezebel, wife of the dead king Ahab but still very powerful in her own right - who had spared no effort to institute the cult of child-sacrifice. Opposing her was Jehu, a military man but a man with no ties of heritage to any past dynasty. And Jehu uprooted her entire family line and began a fresh line of kings in Israel. He did a thorough political "house-cleaning". Flawed though he was, he was anointed by God through the prophet Elisha to do this very thing (II Kings 9). Here's my point: if God Himself is not beyond choosing the lesser of evils when He chooses who will rule over us, who are we not do the same? For when He makes that choice, it's not an endorsement of the sins of of the one He chooses. Rather, it's an endorsement of what a flawed servant of His will do to protect God's people and establish a measure of righteousness in the earth. Keep that in mind, because that reasoning can and should, help you vote for Trump.
Now no ancient comparison is entirely consistent with our own day and age. Israel's theonomic Old Testament monarchy is not the same as America's modern democratic republic with its church-state separation. God works through these two governmental forms differently. What is consistent however, is His purpose in choosing national leaders to deal with a nation's sins. What's also consistent is the nature of sin itself and of His intent to punish it, especially institutionalized, officially sanctioned sin: sanctioned by a government. Child murder is one such example. Or laws compelling churches to condone sodomy, or breaches of trust by officials who take vows before God to protect and defend the State. Or state-sponsored theft, (i.e. the oppression of the poor) condemned repeatedly by the Prophets. All that was true in Ahab and Jezebel's time and all that is true today. My point is, this should influence the way you vote, even if needs be, for an unsavory candidate.
Consider Romans 13: 1-7 and I Timothy 2:1-3 Here, St. Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit's inspiration, lived at the time of two of the most perverted, wicked emperors ever to rule Rome. His entire adult life spanned the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. When you read in the Scriptures that he "appealed to Caesar" for redress of injustices (Acts 25:11) done to him, he likely meant Nero Caesar, who reigned during the last 10 years of his life. But regardless, Nero or not, under the Caesars were various appointed kings, governors and other servants of Rome; King Herod's sons Agrippa, Archelaus and Phillip; as well as Felix, Festus and Pontius Pilate being key examples. These are the rulers Paul spoke of in Romans 13. Needless to say, these were not sterling examples of Christian virtue. But what they did was uphold Roman law. And in the First Century that law protected the people of God and maintained, in a rough and imperfect way, the restraint of evil in the world.
"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do what is good, and you will have praise of the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil."
Notice again Romans 13. The appointees of Caesar were called "God's ministers", not ministers in a church sense, but ministers politically. Yet most of them were pagan, were often dishonest, were self-serving and were manipulative. But the Scriptures boldly and unequivocally call them God's servants and ministers. Now for what purpose are they called this? Consider I Tim. 2:1-3 ...
"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior ..."
Notice two things here: 1) the ruler rules by God's choosing for the purpose of blessing and protecting God people through good government. And 2)? This blessing is conditional, not automatic. In other words if God's people are not consistently praying for God's restraint of the ruler and for wisdom given to him to rule well, then they will not reap the benefits. Notice how the text itself brings this out. Also notice the kinds of prayer God's word says to offer. And if your wondering what "supplications" means, it implies you're praying with your whole heart as if this was one of the most important things in the world to you; and probably on your knees. The times we live in require such prayer.
This national election of ours goes way beyond issues of personal preference, private scruples or a candidate's "likeability"/personality. Simply put, there is too much at stake now. What's at stake today is nothing less that whether or not the wrath of God falls upon our country through war or famine or worse. Or will that wrath be suspended? Will it be held back for another time than ours and our children's? Take for example the shedding of innocent blood, true in our time and in Jezebel's time, and how God punishes a nation that does it.
"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground." (Gen. 4:10)
The story of Cain and Abel is the first instance in history of the shedding of innocent blood. God is not beyond using figurative language to drive a point home. Of course shed blood doesn't have a literal voice, but what this verse means is that the shed blood of the innocent gives loud testimony to God that He will not leave unpunished. And this is not just an ancient "Jewish" judgment confined to how God dealt with Old Testament Israel. For this same sin He punished Gentile nations too. Notice Leviticus 18, where He warns Israel to refrain from certain sins, including the slaying of the innocent:
" ... for all these abominations the men of the land have done who were before you, and thus the land is defiled, lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations which were before you." (Lev. 18:28)
Nor is this vengeance confined to Old Testament judgments from a bygone era, having nothing to do with nations today. It's relevant to our own New Testament times: Consider Rev. 6:10:
"How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
Who's doing the speaking? The martyred saints in heaven. If you thought it was wrong for Christians to ask for revenge, or that this kind of language is inappropriate for saints today, then explain this verse. The point? God avenges the shedding of innocent blood in all ages and with all nations. He punishes entire countries for slaying the innocent, the unborn, and those in "partial birth" status.
We have two viable candidates running for office: one who is in favor of this and one is against it. One presidential candidate vows to continue the abominations of Planned Parenthood and its "harvesting" of living tissue from living persons in the womb, and to continue partial-birth abortions. The other candidate vows to oppose it.
According to Numbers 35:33, the shed blood of the innocents defiles a land in a way unique from other sins:
"So you shall not pollute the land where you are, for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it."
Repeatedly in Scripture God calls Himself the defender of the orphan and widow, the avenger of the poor and helpless and those who have none to speak for them. (Prov. 24:11,12) Among these victims are the aborted. Your vote (or non-vote) should not be about a single issue only. But this "single issue" is among the most important. According to Scripture, a nation's punishment for innocent blood is war or famine or exile; or all three. What form that wold take in our modern America I shudder to think.
But "doom and gloom" is not inevitable in our lifetimes. God's wrath has been known to skip a generation, or several, if a country shows repentance, and "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land." (II Chron. 7:14) He did exactly this in the days of good King Josiah and reserved his wrath for a future time. (II Kings 22). As an American citizen, you're responsible for doing what you can, and not to opt out of the process of voting and deciding, even though you may find both candidates not to your liking.
When St. Paul penned his famous words in Romans 13:1-7 and I Tim. 2:1-3, roughly 10% of the populace were Roman citizens. Paul himself was a citizen (Acts 22:28). This was a rare privilege, and a citizen of Rome had certain rights that the other 90% didn't have. For example, he could appeal directly to Caesar for redress of grievances. Make no mistake, Paul used those rights. But what a Roman citizen could not do was vote for the election of his leaders. You, on the other hand, can.
You have that privilege as a gift of God. As St. Paul did in his time, use that privilege this election season in this very close race between not merely two persons, but two widely divergent political and moral platforms. And don't forget to pray for your candidate before, during and after the election.
There is a biblical comparison to our two leading presidential candidates that'll help you decide what to do Nov. 8th: King Jehu and Queen Jezebel. No, these weren't married to each other. Quite the opposite: they hated one another. They lived in the same country and at the same time in history. (II Kings 9 &10)
The "Never Trump" crowd has a problem with their reasoning. So do people of faith who can't bring themselves to vote for this candidate who is clearly flawed, because they believe their vote would also be an endorsement of his very public character flaws and outrageous statements. But a simple election vote is not the same as an approval for the man "in toto"; in other words, for the man overall. Think about it: even certain Hillary-supporters are well-aware of and disapproving of their candidate's criminality and public sins but they support her because she will advance certain policies and social changes. My point is: you can do the same. Consider II Kings 9 & 10 ...
Two people vied for rule in Israel in those days: the Queen Mother Jezebel, wife of the dead king Ahab but still very powerful in her own right - who had spared no effort to institute the cult of child-sacrifice. Opposing her was Jehu, a military man but a man with no ties of heritage to any past dynasty. And Jehu uprooted her entire family line and began a fresh line of kings in Israel. He did a thorough political "house-cleaning". Flawed though he was, he was anointed by God through the prophet Elisha to do this very thing (II Kings 9). Here's my point: if God Himself is not beyond choosing the lesser of evils when He chooses who will rule over us, who are we not do the same? For when He makes that choice, it's not an endorsement of the sins of of the one He chooses. Rather, it's an endorsement of what a flawed servant of His will do to protect God's people and establish a measure of righteousness in the earth. Keep that in mind, because that reasoning can and should, help you vote for Trump.
Now no ancient comparison is entirely consistent with our own day and age. Israel's theonomic Old Testament monarchy is not the same as America's modern democratic republic with its church-state separation. God works through these two governmental forms differently. What is consistent however, is His purpose in choosing national leaders to deal with a nation's sins. What's also consistent is the nature of sin itself and of His intent to punish it, especially institutionalized, officially sanctioned sin: sanctioned by a government. Child murder is one such example. Or laws compelling churches to condone sodomy, or breaches of trust by officials who take vows before God to protect and defend the State. Or state-sponsored theft, (i.e. the oppression of the poor) condemned repeatedly by the Prophets. All that was true in Ahab and Jezebel's time and all that is true today. My point is, this should influence the way you vote, even if needs be, for an unsavory candidate.
Consider Romans 13: 1-7 and I Timothy 2:1-3 Here, St. Paul, writing by the Holy Spirit's inspiration, lived at the time of two of the most perverted, wicked emperors ever to rule Rome. His entire adult life spanned the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. When you read in the Scriptures that he "appealed to Caesar" for redress of injustices (Acts 25:11) done to him, he likely meant Nero Caesar, who reigned during the last 10 years of his life. But regardless, Nero or not, under the Caesars were various appointed kings, governors and other servants of Rome; King Herod's sons Agrippa, Archelaus and Phillip; as well as Felix, Festus and Pontius Pilate being key examples. These are the rulers Paul spoke of in Romans 13. Needless to say, these were not sterling examples of Christian virtue. But what they did was uphold Roman law. And in the First Century that law protected the people of God and maintained, in a rough and imperfect way, the restraint of evil in the world.
"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do what is good, and you will have praise of the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil."
Notice again Romans 13. The appointees of Caesar were called "God's ministers", not ministers in a church sense, but ministers politically. Yet most of them were pagan, were often dishonest, were self-serving and were manipulative. But the Scriptures boldly and unequivocally call them God's servants and ministers. Now for what purpose are they called this? Consider I Tim. 2:1-3 ...
"Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. For this is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior ..."
Notice two things here: 1) the ruler rules by God's choosing for the purpose of blessing and protecting God people through good government. And 2)? This blessing is conditional, not automatic. In other words if God's people are not consistently praying for God's restraint of the ruler and for wisdom given to him to rule well, then they will not reap the benefits. Notice how the text itself brings this out. Also notice the kinds of prayer God's word says to offer. And if your wondering what "supplications" means, it implies you're praying with your whole heart as if this was one of the most important things in the world to you; and probably on your knees. The times we live in require such prayer.
This national election of ours goes way beyond issues of personal preference, private scruples or a candidate's "likeability"/personality. Simply put, there is too much at stake now. What's at stake today is nothing less that whether or not the wrath of God falls upon our country through war or famine or worse. Or will that wrath be suspended? Will it be held back for another time than ours and our children's? Take for example the shedding of innocent blood, true in our time and in Jezebel's time, and how God punishes a nation that does it.
"The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto Me from the ground." (Gen. 4:10)
The story of Cain and Abel is the first instance in history of the shedding of innocent blood. God is not beyond using figurative language to drive a point home. Of course shed blood doesn't have a literal voice, but what this verse means is that the shed blood of the innocent gives loud testimony to God that He will not leave unpunished. And this is not just an ancient "Jewish" judgment confined to how God dealt with Old Testament Israel. For this same sin He punished Gentile nations too. Notice Leviticus 18, where He warns Israel to refrain from certain sins, including the slaying of the innocent:
" ... for all these abominations the men of the land have done who were before you, and thus the land is defiled, lest the land vomit you out also when you defile it, as it vomited out the nations which were before you." (Lev. 18:28)
Nor is this vengeance confined to Old Testament judgments from a bygone era, having nothing to do with nations today. It's relevant to our own New Testament times: Consider Rev. 6:10:
"How long, O Lord, holy and true, until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?"
Who's doing the speaking? The martyred saints in heaven. If you thought it was wrong for Christians to ask for revenge, or that this kind of language is inappropriate for saints today, then explain this verse. The point? God avenges the shedding of innocent blood in all ages and with all nations. He punishes entire countries for slaying the innocent, the unborn, and those in "partial birth" status.
We have two viable candidates running for office: one who is in favor of this and one is against it. One presidential candidate vows to continue the abominations of Planned Parenthood and its "harvesting" of living tissue from living persons in the womb, and to continue partial-birth abortions. The other candidate vows to oppose it.
According to Numbers 35:33, the shed blood of the innocents defiles a land in a way unique from other sins:
"So you shall not pollute the land where you are, for blood defiles the land, and no atonement can be made for the land for the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of him who shed it."
Repeatedly in Scripture God calls Himself the defender of the orphan and widow, the avenger of the poor and helpless and those who have none to speak for them. (Prov. 24:11,12) Among these victims are the aborted. Your vote (or non-vote) should not be about a single issue only. But this "single issue" is among the most important. According to Scripture, a nation's punishment for innocent blood is war or famine or exile; or all three. What form that wold take in our modern America I shudder to think.
But "doom and gloom" is not inevitable in our lifetimes. God's wrath has been known to skip a generation, or several, if a country shows repentance, and "If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land." (II Chron. 7:14) He did exactly this in the days of good King Josiah and reserved his wrath for a future time. (II Kings 22). As an American citizen, you're responsible for doing what you can, and not to opt out of the process of voting and deciding, even though you may find both candidates not to your liking.
When St. Paul penned his famous words in Romans 13:1-7 and I Tim. 2:1-3, roughly 10% of the populace were Roman citizens. Paul himself was a citizen (Acts 22:28). This was a rare privilege, and a citizen of Rome had certain rights that the other 90% didn't have. For example, he could appeal directly to Caesar for redress of grievances. Make no mistake, Paul used those rights. But what a Roman citizen could not do was vote for the election of his leaders. You, on the other hand, can.
You have that privilege as a gift of God. As St. Paul did in his time, use that privilege this election season in this very close race between not merely two persons, but two widely divergent political and moral platforms. And don't forget to pray for your candidate before, during and after the election.
