How Would Jesus Vote
Principles of Scripture to Guide Christians
as They Face Another Election
Part 2
In my last blog I laid out my
reasoning as to why Christians ought to vote in every election. In this blog I
want to address the issue of voting when there seems to be no candidate that is
“ideal” or even what we would consider “Godly”. It does present a dilemma for
us and it can seem that it might not make a difference who we choose. We might
even conclude that because, as we saw last time, it is God who sets up leaders
and removes leaders, so therefore, why bother when it is so difficult.
I believe it is important to vote
even in a very confusing election. Just because there doesn’t seem to be good
candidates to vote for, doesn’t absolve us from trying to choose the best one.
I want to use a Biblical example to illustrate how God chose leaders, even leaders
who did not end up following Him. For God did indeed choose leaders over his
own people who would, in the end, lead the children of Israel into great
wickedness. Why would God do that? Why wouldn’t God always choose Godly leaders
for His own people?
Let’s look at a story of one such
choice in the books of 1st Kings, 2nd Kings and 2nd
Chronicles. It is the story of Jehu. In 1 Kings 19:15 and 16, the Lord told the
prophet Elijah to anoint two people as king. One was to be Hazael, king over
Syria and the other was to be Jehu the son of Nimshi over Israel. The anointing
was not done until long after Elijah was gone. We find the story of his
anointing in 2nd Kings 9 where Elisha the prophet sent a son of one
of the prophets to find Jehu and anoint him as king.
2 Kings 9:1-3 (ESV) “Then
Elisha the prophet called one of the sons of the prophets and said to him, “Tie
up your garments, and take this flask of oil in your hand, and go to
Ramoth-gilead. And when you arrive, look there for Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat,
son of Nimshi. And go in and have him rise from among his fellows, and lead him
to an inner chamber. Then take the flask of oil and pour it on his head and
say, ‘Thus says the LORD, I
anoint you king over Israel.’ Then open the door and flee; do not linger.”
The rest of 2 Kings 9 and up through
2 Kings 10:11 tell the story of what Jehu did to destroy the house of Ahab. 2
Chronicles 22:7 (ESV) says this about why Jehu was chosen by the Lord to be
king over Israel. “But it was ordained by God that the downfall
of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came
there, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the
LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab.”
Ahab and Jezebel were two of the most wicked people to
ever rule over the nation of Israel. It was God’s desire to destroy their rule
over the kingdom, including destroying their entire family line, all Ahab’s
close friends and all the priests he had put into office. This was a complete
destruction of Ahab’s legacy. In addition, God also allowed Jehu to bring down
the wicked king Ahaziah who was over the kingdom of Judah at the time.
Jehu was not a righteous king himself either. We find his
legacy in 2 Kings 10:28-31.
“Thus Jehu wiped out Baal from Israel. But Jehu did not turn aside from
the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin—that is, the
golden calves that were in Bethel and in Dan. And the LORD said to Jehu,
“Because you have done well in carrying out what is right in my eyes, and have
done to the house of Ahab according to all that was in my heart, your sons of
the fourth generation shall sit on the throne of Israel.” But Jehu was not
careful to walk in the law of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He
did not turn from the sins of Jeroboam, which he made Israel to sin.”
Did
God know that Jehu would not be careful to walk in the law of the Lord? Of
course He was, but God had a higher priority in the bringing down of the houses
of king Ahab and king Ahaziah. In other words, there are times when God will
use people who are not perfect, to accomplish His will.
There are other examples throughout
the Old Testament that I could give, such as Nebuchadnezzar and others that God
used to bring judgment to His people, because of their sin. These were ungodly,
wicked people, yet God allowed them to rule over and even destroy the nation of
Israel and the nation of Judah.
So, as we think about this election
in America, we can readily see there are some problems with the candidates. I
have to ask the question then, “Is it possible that God is seeking to bring
down an evil regime or is He even going so far as to bring judgment to us as a
nation?”
As I looked at the scriptures
regarding leadership, I came across a number of verses that talked about what
type of leadership God puts into place over a nation that He has judged. Look
at these interesting verses.
Isaiah 3:1-4
“For
behold, the Lord GOD of
hosts is going to remove from Jerusalem and Judah both supply and support,
the whole supply of bread and the whole supply of water; The mighty
man and the warrior, The judge and the prophet, The diviner and the elder, The
captain of fifty and the honorable man, The counselor and the expert artisan, and
the skillful enchanter. And I will make mere lads their princes, and capricious
children will rule over them”.
Isaiah 3:12
O My people! Their oppressors are
children, and women rule over them. O My people! Those who guide you
lead you astray and confuse the direction of your paths.
Notice in these verses who God
allows to rule over his people when they come under judgment. They are the
young, childish people, oppressive people and women. So, I ask again, “What is
God wanting to do?” If we are a nation under judgment, then as we look at our
current leadership, are we seeing young, oppressive, capricious leaders ruling
over us? Is it possible that Hillary is one of those women that God allows to
be placed over a nation when it has been judged? I do not know the answer to
that question at this time.
On the other side is the question of
whether or not God is seeking to bring down a corrupt and wicked
administration. As you know, the past couple of years has seen gay rights
triumph and be celebrated by our president. We have seen the transgendered
people be embraced by our current administration. Have we been living under a
spirit of leadership like that of Ahab and Jezebel? Is it possible that the
time has come for God to remove the worst of the worst among the leadership in
this nation?
Really, only time will tell. But, as
for us and our decision on who we should vote for this time, let’s not throw up
our hands because we don’t have a wonderful candidate running for office.
Instead, let’s begin to seek the Lord, just as Elijah and Elisha did when the
Lord directed them to anoint Jehu as king. God does have a choice in this
election. Our job is to discern as best we can what that choice is. I pray that
it is God’s desire to remove the evil and not to bring us to judgment.
In my next blog I will begin to
examine the type of leadership God desires.
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