Whomever He Pleases!

The God of Israel changes the times and seasons, removes kings, and sets up kings as He sees fit. 

Church leaders often exhort us to work diligently for the election of politicians of whom they approve, claiming it is God’s will to do so as well as our “Christian duty.” They warn of the dire consequences that will befall the church and the nation if we fail to immerse ourselves in partisan politics and promote the values and social policies of the candidates and political parties supported by them. They do this despite what Scripture declares.

It seems the followers of Jesus must fight tooth and nail for the candidates chosen by their “spiritual” leaders, even using the corrupt methods of this fallen world order to do so when necessary.

[Photo by Benjaminrobyn Jespersen on Unsplash]

How do these good men of God know which politician or political party represents God’s will, or which proposed policy will advance His cause on the Earth? Can our Christian leaders see “the end from the beginning,” or do they know what is truly in the heart of any candidate or officeholder? How do they know what the plan of the Almighty is? The arrogance, ignorance, and presumption of such men are stunning.

The Book of Daniel begins by declaring that God gave the king of Judah, Jerusalem, and the “vessels of the house of God” into the “hand of Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon,” the pagan ruler who later destroyed the Kingdom of Judah, the City of Jerusalem, and the Temple, and exiled many Jews to Mesopotamia.

What patriotic Israelite would have elected that idol-worshipping despot to the imperial throne? Nevertheless, with that very king in mind, Daniel praised Yahweh as the one who “removes kings and sets up kings,” and later, pronounced to King Nebuchadnezzar:

• “You are the king of kings, for the God of Heavens has given you the kingship, the might, the power, and the dignity; and wherever the sons of men dwell, the wild beasts of the field and the birds of the air He has given into your hand and made you ruler over them all.”

One evening, after attributing his might and majesty to his own power, an angel pronounced punishment on the Babylonian King so he would learn that the “Most-High has dominion over the kingdom of men, and to whomever he pleases, he gives it and sets up over it even the basest of men.”

Consequently, Nebuchadnezzar was removed from the throne for “seven seasons” until God restored him to office. Humbled, the mighty ruler of the World Empire declared:

• “I gave praise and honor to the God of Heaven, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation, before whom all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and according to his own pleasure he deals with the army of the heavens and the inhabitants of the earth, and none there is who can smite upon his hand, or say to him,  What have you done?”

Nebuchadnezzar discovered that Yahweh alone has dominion over all political powers, and He gives the right to rule to whomever he pleases to accomplish His purposes. Why are so many of us seemingly incapable of accepting and applying this lesson from Scripture to the events of our own day?

GOD’S ARRANGEMENT

Writing to believers living in the center of the World Empire, the Apostle Paul exhorted them to respect governors, magistrates, and the king. It seems “there is no authority except by God, and the existing ones have been arranged by Him, therefore, he who opposes the authority, opposes the arrangement of God” - (Romans 13:1-7).

Paul wrote this when members of the church had few if any civil “rights” under Roman law. They certainly had no ability or opportunity to elect their political rulers or influence the government’s policies.

This new and politically powerless religion was “illegal” in the eyes of the Roman government, and Caesar certainly was no champion of democracy or religious and individual liberties. The emperor was an absolute ruler whose word was law, yet Paul warned believers that resisting the existing government constituted rebellion against God’s “arrangement.”

At the time, the Empire was ruled by Nero, one of the most despotic rulers in Roman history, a man who murdered his mother, kicked his pregnant wife to death, and became the first emperor to persecute the Church of Jesus Christ. Ironically, Paul was probably executed in the ‘Neronian Persecution’, yet the Apostle exhorted believers not to oppose Caesar’s government.

God's hand is not limited. He can save His people by many or few. He is well able to employ evil, good, and even incompetent politicians to achieve His plans, and despite its irresistible military and economic power, today, the Roman Empire is no more.

The same fate awaits today's most powerful empires and regimes. In the end, only the Kingdom of God will prevail. All the existing political systems, parties, and ideologies of this present age will prove to be little more than “perishing meat.”

When Satan offered Jesus all the political powers of this world, the Son of Man refused the offer. Instead, he submitted to an unjust death at the hands of the World Empire., and he taught his disciples to walk that same path – To deny themselves, take up the cross, and become servants of all men who are in need.

We must not be like the tyrants of this world who oppress and exploit their subjects. Instead, Jesus summons us to be “servants and slaves of all.” There is no greater display of love or higher honor in Christ’s kingdom than to lay down our lives for him and his “brethren.” Through his unjust death on the Empire’s Cross, Jesus of Nazareth overcame sin, Satan, and death. He sacrificed his life for us when we were yet “enemies of God.” This is certainly not how the political systems of this world operate.

This is not a call for passivity or disengagement from the world, but a summons for true disciples to engage humanity and governments in the same way that Jesus did - Through faithful witness, prayer, enduring unjust suffering, and when necessary, martyrdom.

Unfortunately, having arrogated to themselves the right to decide who should govern, and according to their own likes and dislikes, far too many church “leaders” have presumed to violate what is God’s prerogative alone.

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SEE ALSO:

• The Recurring Empire - (Babylon is both a historical kingdom and the symbol of the repeated rise of the World Empire)

• Calvary or Rome? - (When offered by Satan, Jesus refused the political power of Rome. So, why do we continue to seek what he rejected?)

• Idolizing Caesar - (The World Empire’s propagandists encourage men and women to give allegiance to and idolize Caesar, the Beast from the Sea)

• Selon Sa Volonté! - (Le Dieu d'Israël change les temps et les saisons, supprime les rois et établit des rois comme Il l'entend)