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.

Presumptuous and Profane

God allows evil rulers to govern nations and uses them to accomplish His purposes, and He summons believers to show them due respect.

The Bible claims that God gives political power to whom He pleases, “even to the basest of men.” He “removes kings and installs kings” to accomplish His purposes, including rulers we may find objectionable. When we assume that certain politicians should hold governmental power we trespass on God’s prerogative. This is especially problematic for Christians living in Western-style democracies.

The True Emperor

Messianic promises from the Psalms are applied to the present reign of Jesus who possesses all authority in Heaven and on Earth. 

Jesus has reigned as Sovereign over the Earth since his Death, Resurrection, and Ascension, already, he is seated on the Messianic Throne. Because of his obedience, he is the “Ruler of the Kings of the Earth.” Before his Ascension, he declared that God had bestowed all authority on him - “In Heaven and on Earth.” His authority is without limits and a present reality. Thus, working for competing political entities becomes, at best, a waste of time. Only God’s Kingdom will endure.

Idolizing Caesar

The Empire’s propagandists encourage men and women to give allegiance to and idolize Caesar, the imperial Beast from the Sea.

In the Book of Revelation, the “False Prophet” uses religious symbolism and economic control to coax the inhabitants of the World Empire to render homage to the Imperial Throne. Whether by force or persuasion, the goal remains the same. Men who refuse to submit and venerate the “Beast” are excluded from economic activity and thereby impoverished.

Fleeting Power

Only God’s kingdom will prevail and endure. All other political powers and regimes are fleeting. Already they are passing away.

Despite human pretensions, History demonstrates without exception the impermanence of political power, human ideologies, and governments. Rome endured for a thousand years, but that Empire fell all the same. Like human life, political power is impermanent, and regimes and even the greatest empires collapse unexpectedly and often quickly when their allotted time expires. Only the “Kingdom of God” will endure forever.

Calvary or Rome?

Jesus refused the political power of Rome when offered it by Satan. So, why do we continue to seek what he rejected?

I was taught not to be “unequally yoked together” with this world and its values. Conditions around the globe may be tragic, but what do we expect from a system enslaved to sin and under Satan’s boot? Humanity needs the Good News of the Kingdom of God, not another flawed political philosophy. Since the “forms” of the present age are already “passing away,” why do we waste time “working for the meat that perishes”?

The Idolatrous Conceit

‘Christendom’ is an idolatrous term used often to invoke Divine support of national and political institutions, agendas, and ideologies.

In popular usage, the English term ‘Christendom’ refers to “that part of the world in which Christianity prevails,” either because the majority of a nation’s citizens claim to be Christian, or because a specific sect or denomination is recognized by the State as the country’s official religion.

Caesar or Calvary?

Satan tempted Jesus by offering him political power over “all the kingdoms of the world,” an offer he emphatically refused. Instead of power and grandeur, he submitted to the way of the ‘Suffering Servant’ that led inevitably to death on the Roman cross. The most startling detail of this encounter is that Jesus did not dispute the Devil’s claim to have jurisdiction over the political systems of the world.

Beastly Economics

The book of Revelation warns of a future entity that will use economic control to suppress all those who refuse to render homage to the “Beast from the sea.” And today, there is a government that issues economic sanctions promiscuously and unilaterally against those nations and individuals that resist its dictates.