The Day After

The election is over. The campaigning is done. The counting is complete (in most cases) and the winners and losers have been declared. Now the pundits will analyze and scrutinize and tell us what really happened or not (In most cases these pundits are no longer part of the process because somewhere along the way they or their candidates lost.  Maybe they aren’t experts after all.)

I can’t speak for you but as for myself I already know what happened. It’s explained in the Bible book of Daniel. Daniel, a Jewish follower of the Most High God in pagan Babylon, has just been given the interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream by the aforementioned Most High God. In Daniel 2:20-22 we get a glimpse of what happens behind the scenes, beneath the ballot box, even beyond the smoke-filled rooms that politics is known for. It reads:

²⁰Daniel answered and said: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. ²¹He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; ²²he reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. – Daniel 2:20–22

Fire the talking heads. Here’s what really happens. It is God who changes the times and the seasons. He holds that prerogative in His hand. It is also God who removes kings and sets up kings. This shouldn’t surprise us. The Most High God of the Universe is after all the Most High God of the Universe. His plans and His purpose are behind everything that happens. He is firmly and completely in control.

The bottom line is that it is God who has the final say in who gets to govern and when they get to govern and for how long they get to govern. In a democracy, from this side of heaven, it may appear we elect our leaders. In reality, it is the Lord who selects our leaders. That is a pretty heavy thought for the day after.

Oh, and one more thing.  God also directs the leaders He selects. Proverbs 21:1 say “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.” The unseen hand of God is at work diverting the decisions in the State House and the White House in the direction that works with His ultimate plans and purposes.

This truth should drive us to our knees in fervent prayer for God’s work in the hearts of our leaders. Paul writes 1 Timothy during the reign of the Roman Empire in general and the immoral Emperor Nero in specific (37 AD – 67 AD).  In that letter to Timothy, his son in the faith, he says:

“First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. – 1 Timothy 2:1–2.

Today in our country our “kings and those in high positions” are Presidents, Vice President, Senators, Congressmen and Congresswomen, Governors, State Senators, Assemblymen and Assemblywomen and Mayors and Councilmen and Councilwomen. No matter their party affiliation we are obligated to pray for them so that we might lead a quiet and peaceful life and so that they might find salvation for God desires all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Timothy 2:4)

In Isaiah 6 the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah had a vision which gives us some amazing insight on political leaders and political change. Isaiah 6 begins “In the year that King Uzziah died”.  King Uzziah had ruled over Judah, the Southern Kingdom of divided Israel, for 52 years. His reign was so prosperous that it came to be known as the “Golden Age of Judah”. Can you imagine how distraught everyone would be with his death and the changing of the guard. The uncertainty alone would have caused panic on the Jerusalem Stock exchange. The next words of Isaiah 6 put everything in perspective. The prophet say’s “I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.” I take great comfort in this verse. The election is over but it is not the democrats or the republicans who hold the power. It is the Lord. This day after the election, the Lord is still on the throne and He will be on the next day after as well. Amen

Blessings

Pastor Dave Watson