Choosing A Government

Choosing A Government

2/7/17

Choosing the leaders of a nation has always been a tumultuous period in a country’s timeline.  The confidence in a human being to do what is correct can often become skewed through personal vendettas or group parties that all have one thing in common, throw out the challenger or incumbent, to find a better suitor for the position.  It is through this same process that we choose the leader of our hearts as well and one can easily state that the physical is a reflection of the spiritual in this manner.  Choosing the world over God is never a good option but according to the loudest voices humanity has accomplished this feat many times over much to our own disbelief without understanding.  God is in the restoration business and He is still wishing for His children to return to Him so that He can repair the damages that this world has inflicted.

God has shared with us a few times in the past about how politics can harm an individual, a group, and even a nation and His chosen people are even subject to such a fiasco.  There is no doubt that when humans elect a government that both the people and the ones running for that specific office have good intentions according to their own beliefs and party platform.  It is here where things become messy because those political platforms are human derived which means that the very foundation of that stance is flawed and can come crashing down at any moment.  Almost every western cultured nation has to have at one time claimed to have a Christian running for a high office, but if they are elected most do not follow their proclamations and instead follow the party line instead.  As any other elected official the time that anyone is in office runs out and someone else must fill the shoes, a sign of a temporary setting that will vary in the future due to other varying wills and notions.

It is also easy for humans to rely on the physical without even considering the spiritual aspect of our life for if things were reversed it would require that faith be first and self second.  It is this truth and confliction that brings such agony to every part of the world when it comes to finding the correct leader.  When these same people are involved in God their problems do not fade away for God has never promised that if people who choose Him will have easier times according to worldly standards, but what is more important is that when people who do trust God for their leadership understand to keep their eye on His Word and not become swayed by the world while walking the journey of life.  It is this aspect that our enemy uses in order to take our eyes off of God and place it onto what seems like a better deal, but in the end causes much harm and a deeper hurt because the leaders of the world have moved on without caring one bit but for themselves.

A good while back when we were approaching a general election a close friend of mine and myself was having a discussion about who we were going to vote in the election.  It was clear that both of us had differing opinions but we had no intentions of starting a rift between us because we valued our friendship much more than an event that had the potential of division.  My friend said to me that she had made her decision about her vote because the party she once affiliated herself with had left her meaning that their views changed enough so that hers did not line up exactly with the political party so she switched.  She stated that things had become so different that it was not easy for her to change her affiliation, a move that she praises to this day.  I often wonder how many people can say this about themselves and about their personal beliefs, and by the looks around me today, I do not see this type of solid stance portraying itself in the masses.  What I do see and what God is showing me is that our lives have approached the exact same positions as Israel was in during the passage time of 1 Samuel Chapters 3-8.

It is apparent that God is not done with His Word for our lives when it comes to this passage of Scripture and as long as He guides my ears, heart, and spirit to these verses I shall honor Him through His Word and tell His people what they need to hear and to understand.  But this time God is going to share with us what occurs when the government that we choose disappear and who is left standing when the waves are gone, for it is a huge gap that will be present and one that many shall never recover.  In 1 Samuel Chapter 3, we have the setting where Samuel is learning the voice of God and when the priest Eli tells him to recognize God instead of Eli things begin to change in Samuel’s life.  A prophecy against the priest and his house is given to Samuel and he obeys God by sharing this prophecy to Eli.  Eli hears it but does nothing according to Scriptures to change the setting and the prophecy is fulfilled in 1 Samuel Chapter 4.

1 Samuel Chapter 5 opens with the Ark of God in captivity yet God still proves Himself as Creator of everything and causes havoc on the Philistines until the return the Ark to Israel in 1 Samuel Chapter 7.  Through all of this hoopla, one would believe that Israel would have learned their lesson and returned their hearts to God without any further compromise, but as 1 Samuel Chapter 7 moves along we see that Israel does not learn their lesson and by the end of this chapter they are ready to ditch God for an earthly leader, a mistake on the highest level but God is willing to grant it to Israel because it is the will of the people.

It is apparent that not all of the leaders of Israel follow God’s laws and commands for when Samuel receives the prophecy against Eli it includes Eli’s entire house which meant that his sons were involved.  They were the judges and did not adhere to the ways of God and when 1 Samuel Chapter 8 arrives we find that Samuel’s sons were not living under God’s laws either, a pattern that could not have gone unnoticed on any level of Israeli life.  As time passed the people of Israel accepted this behavior from their judges and came to the conclusion that if these leaders were not following the ways that had been historically set in front of them, why should they be “bound” to the same laws that the leaders obviously did not believe in?  A logical surmise then truth when nothing occurs when public notice is realized.  The eyes of the heart focus on things, events, or people around them and notice that the fruit on their trees looks more appetizing than what is already provided.  A pinpoint accuracy of the prophecy that was given to Eli about his house is now coming to pass on the children of Israel and they had no idea what was being fulfilled.

The next logical step is to find a leader who may be willing to lax the laws of the present in order to boost the morale of those who are in agreement with other rules and regulations.  It is a normal human progression to have such thoughts when options are noticed and over time those options become beliefs and then rules of the heart until laws are established according to the boosted opportunities of change.  It is this picture that we see being painted in 1 Samuel Chapter 8 when the people come to Samuel and demand that they be like other nations and have an earthly king instead of God as their eternal Creator.  Israel knew about God and His Ways but rather chose to follow the people around them instead and when this choice was made campaigned desperately to follow the opportunities that others indirectly provided.  Israel had forgotten God enough that while He was still a part of their lives He was not first and the newness of their focal point had won their hearts from God.

The problem with this setting now comes to play and it is this setting that we see unfolding in our societies today and in both settings, the people involved fail to recognize what is actually transpiring around them even though both settings have been directly involved in warnings concerning their lack of obedience to God.  When Israel demands that they have an earthly king God grants their request without cause because He knows that they have made a choice by using a gift that He created inside all of us.  What is so frightening about this setting is that Israel could not have missed all of the issues that these other nations were having amongst themselves including all of the strife that those other nations had against other surrounding nations.  Even though there were not modern technological communication systems present, word of mouth through visual witnesses cannot get more specific, and yet Israel chose to live in these standards rather than standing firm against the stupidity of sinful leaders and follow God with new leaders who followed God’s Ways.

As we take a quick scan of what occurs after God allows this change to occur we find that God does not just let this drop without His warnings about what will occur after this choice is made.  I find it scary that God holds nothing back when He is making His final case against Israel becoming as other nations, ignoring their separation status from the world and desiring to be a secular nation.  The part that is so scary is that each one of the warnings that God gave to Israel back then is still evident to nations who do not live under God’s Ways today.  Every single item that God makes in 1 Samuel Chapter 8 has come to life and is still considered a slaveholder and master to God’s people.  This message and warnings from God to Israel should have been another sign to them that they should not follow the ways of friends and neighbors but stick to the one who gave them complete freedom from those conditions.  Just as Israel did we have done as well, chose the world and to be common with others rather than follow the only One who shall not waiver, leave, change or be defeated.

It did not take Israel too long to understand that the choice they made was one that would cause them uncountable grief and pain, further proof that Israel knew about God and His history with them but chose the world instead.  The populous overrode God and the vote had no other goal than to become equal with the world.  The pursuit of equality without God being first in the wisher’s existence is a gross failure due to the origins of the pursuant of the world.  God still wanted Israel to follow Him in the best capacity as possible for when God agreed to allow Israel to have a king He chose a man that would be best suited for their voices. 

But this truth is immediately revealed when the people of Israel chose Saul as their leader deepening their desire for an earthly government.  It must have been vastly important for them to be accepted as other nations around them, a status of trends that they believed would prepare their status higher than what God offered.  This human government dependency grew fast and was generally adhered to within a short period of time and once this level was achieved and applied there was no turning back to God as their leader, a move that would literally cost them their kingdom and almost their entire existence as time passed along.

It is this future truth and warning from God that continues to haunt Israel today not just the physical aspects of their existence but their spiritual establishment as well.  At one point in Israel’s existence their king’s wife threw the prophets into jeopardy and ended up killing many of them for their differences in beliefs; furthermore, Israel eventually was destroyed by an enemy and placed into captivity for centuries and it was in this captivity that the worldly governments’ influences came into practice by creating oral interpretations of God’s Laws as the standard of living for Israel.  Israel had devastatingly learned that by not following God and having Him as her leader, the consequences of the world were as violent as God had warned, plus now their spiritual guidance was based on verbal beliefs instead of the true and holy Word of God.

Israel learned that the government that they had chosen over God was no longer in power either.  It must have been unimaginable to look over their people’s land the one God gave them, and realize that everything that they had wanted had been destroyed by the same likened governments that they chose over God.  How could their “buddies” do such a thing, especially since Israel considered their leadership and standards to be equal in stature as the other nations?  A hard lesson that once again Israel should have been able to identify and easily correct but in truth a living space that created another ethnic group that Israel came to despise.  And today the nations of the world are on the verge of imploding in the name of earthly equality again.  No longer does the world need a leader, for the nations believe that together united they can solve the world’s issues and bring prosperity to everyone who wants it.

Just as the nation of Israel found out so long ago when their earthly government fell, ours shall fall in like manner if we do not stop and turn around and choose God as our Supreme leader again.  When one studies history, they will find that all human governments change hands over time and when a new leader is chosen – by whatever method – people have doubts and fears. But when a nation deliberately and voluntarily chooses the world over God nothing good shall come from this choice.  The world cannot offer anything but lies, pain, and hardship without any answers being given.  Only God can offer a peace that passes all understanding when things go wrong.  The reason that God can say this and the ONLY reason that mankind can know this is because God is always present for He has always been here and is the only entity and living being that has never been defeated. So why wouldn’t we readily receive His authority and guidance over our lives?  Especially since He provides complete and true freedom?  God is the only guarantee that shall stand the test of time yet instead we fail to allow Him access to our hearts and choose the death march instead.

Today we are witnessing basically the same markers that Israel gives us in 1 Samuel Chapter 8 but with a few additional steps present in our midst.  One can almost hear the people arguing and protesting while God is laying out His case as to what will occur if they go ahead and choose an earthly kingdom instead of Him.  Up until a very short time ago, I had never realized just how detailed God’s message was to Israel after they had made up their minds to choose an earthly king, it is shocking quite really for it mimics so much of the voices heard today. 

But in this society, it is being made public that when the voices that have not been accepted by the proven grounds of voting we riot instead and pitch a tantrum, cause further divide and anguish instead of trying to organize a peaceful solution with those that disagree.  Once again, human actions of selfishness rule when God is taken out of the equation as the Head.  From our beginning, God has always done His best to warn us of when we are going to make bad choices and He places every known fact in front of us before we make up our minds.  But when we choose to go our own way He allows us to follow our choices and up until this time, He has always been there to pick up the pieces after the crash occurs.

It is far more important that we understand that it is not just the physical realm involved here as much as it is the spiritual realm, because if one is following God their eternity is set and will not need to be worried but when the physical voluntarily lines up against God the eternal settings are in jeopardy of personally witnessing an eternal separation from the only steadfast authority that we have.  This truth was in place when Israel decided to move away from God, throughout history when people chose the world over God, the Church when she collaborated into becoming the church, and modern societies today, all are examples of what occurs when God is taken out of the hearts of people.  Repent while there is still time and it is guaranteed that if we choose God and put Him first our entire world will change for the eternal better.

DLB