Politics and Creation

(3 Minute Read)

This is election season in the United States.  Many people feel very, very strongly, pro and con, about the two major-party candidates for president, Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Many are very concerned about what will happen to the country if Hillary Clinton is elected. Many are very concerned about what will happen to the country if Donald Trump is elected.

The two candidates represent very different approaches to issues fundamentally affecting the future of America: the economy, immigration, judicial appointments, right-to-life of the unborn and aged, marriage, religious freedom, health care, and states’ rights.

Polls show that a large segment of the population feels that the presidential choice is, to borrow a term from Hillary, a ballot of deplorables. Both candidates seem morally unqualified with major character flaws. Both are widely disliked. But one will be elected President of the United States.

Many good Americans yearn for a president that they can respect. What are they to do?

What Does the Bible Say?

The Old Testament is full of wars, good and bad rulers, corruption and treachery. Anybody in those times would worry about their leaders and governments. Anxiety must have been sky high often during Old Testament times. What advice were God’s people given in those troubling circumstances?

The Psalmist makes an intriguing connection between politics and creation. In contrast to trusting in a human leader, he encourages trust in the Creator, “Who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them.”
Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.
How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them;
Who keeps faith forever. (Psalm 146:3-6 NASB)

The clear message of Scripture is that the Almighty Creator appoints and removes rulers of nations.

The Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind, and He sets over it whomever He wishes. (Daniel 5:21)

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. (Romans 13:1)

Do you not know? Have you not heard?
Has it not been declared to you from the beginning?
Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
He it is who reduces rulers to nothing,
Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.
Scarcely have they been planted,
Scarcely have they been sown,
Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth,
But He merely blows on them, and they wither,
And the storm carries them away like stubble. (Isaiah 40:21-24)

The prophet Daniel said,
“Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever,
For wisdom and power belong to Him.
It is He who changes the times and the epochs;
He removes kings and establishes kings;
He gives wisdom to wise men
And knowledge to men of understanding.” (Daniel 2:20-21)

While the word was in the king’s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you, and you will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling place will be with the beasts of the field. You will be given grass to eat like cattle, and seven periods of time will pass over you until you recognize that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes.” (Daniel 4:31-32)

So What Should Voters Do?

First, trust the Sovereign Creator Who made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them and “Who works all things after the counsel of His will” (Psalm 146:6; Ephesians 1:11).
Second, vote according to the candidates’ stances on the issues.
Third, pray now for the election. After the election pray for whomever is elected, as the Apostle Paul instructed: “First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.” (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

Questions to Ponder

1. Why does it make sense to trust the Creator when rulers are “deplorable?”
2. How will the next president’s Supreme Court appointments affect our nation?

Share your thoughts on these questions in the comments below. It could encourage or help another reader.

Soli Deo Gloria.

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©William T. Pelletier, Ph.D.
“contending earnestly for the faith”
“destroying speculations against the knowledge of God”
“for the defense of the gospel”
(Jude 1:3; 2 Cor 10:5; Phil 1:16)
Wednesday October 19, 2016 A.D.

The Most High God is ruler over the realm of mankind, and He sets over it whomever He wishes. (Daniel 5:21)

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