About Jesus Steve Sweetman

About Jesus Steve Sweetman

After The Election

The 8 billion dollar, 2012 American election that captivated the world has left some people ecstatic and others depressed. If you're one of the 78% of Canadians who would have voted for Barack Obama if given the opportunity, you're happy. You join many happy Europeans and even some Muslims throughout the Middle East. On the other hand, if you're unhappy with the election results as many are, let me suggest a Biblical perspective for you to consider.

To begin, this will convince some that I really am a right winged extremist, even though I don't consider myself to be one. I'm committed to what once was mainstream, that is, Biblical orthodoxy. I haven't moved to the far right. I'm cemented into the same old spot I've always been in. Society's move to the far left makes me look as though I'm on the far right.

The Bible is clear. God is not a Deist. He involves Himself in the affairs of men and nations. Because of this, and because of recent trends in America, I've maintained the 2012 election might well be a major turning point in American history. I expected President Obama to be re-elected, and it's not because of his popularity, abilities, or lack thereof. I felt it was God's will, but not for the reasons Obama and the Democrats would think.

For clarity sake, Jesus has no political affiliation. He's not a Republican. He affiliates Himself with those who willingly submit themselves to His authority, thus the reason for what I write.

Even though America is populated with many good Christians, the national trend has been to exclude Jesus from all things American. I see the outcome of the 2012 election as a continuation of this trend.

In typical American fashion, President Obama ended his victory speech by saying "God bless America", not once, not twice, but a number of times. So I ask, "can God bless America and still be true to Himself and to His word"?

In Romans, chapter 1, the apostle Paul states that God hands those who continue to reject Him over to their sins of choice. That is, the sins America chooses to embrace. Once these sins become embedded into the national consensus, ungodly leaders emerge, not merely through the electoral process, but by the will of God. Jesus puts people in power and He takes them out of power (Daniel 2:21). He's obviously left Obama in power for His own reasons.

God could bless America if America would honestly acknowledge that "the Most High is sovereign over the nations of men", including America. (Daniel 4:17) Submitting any nation to the rule of God these days isn't likely to happen. So, if God doesn't bless America, what comes next?

I think Governor Christy of New Jersey unknowingly told us what comes next. After Hurricane Sandy and a sudden snow storm slammed into his state, he asked, "What comes next, locusts and pestilences?" Even the Biblically illiterate understands that to refer to "plagues of Biblical proportions". Of course, I doubt if Christy understood the prophetic nature of his question.

Once the sins a nations chooses to embrace are embedded into the fabric of a nation; once God hands that nation over to sin, and once national leaders defy all things godly; what comes next is judgment, followed by the collapse of the nation. This isn't new. God caused Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia , Rome , and Israel, to fall from preeminence. How can we expect Him to act any differently today.

God's judgment is seen in some very familiar ways. He causes natural disasters, military defeats, economic collapses, civil unrest, moral decay, political deadlock, and more, to get our attention. Hurricane Sandy was a warning, another small sample of what comes next.

In Romans 13:1 Paul says that "there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God." From a Biblical perspective, it's not just the electorate who put Obama back into the White House. God might well have sent Obama back to Washington to spur on the process of judgment. Ironically, Hurricane Sandy seemed to have played an important part in putting Obama back in power.

I expect more seas to slam into our coasts (Luke 21:25). I expect men's hearts to fail for fear of the things coming upon them (Luke 21:26). As the rain falls on both the just and the unjust, (Matthew 5:45) so God's judgment falls on both the just and the unjust. Hurricane Sandy proves that. Psalms 118:9 becomes relevant. "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes." We can't trust our princes to guide us through judgment. We can however, find "refuge" in Jesus in the midst of judgment, whatever that might look like.

Consider Moses as our example for the days ahead.

He, along with God's people, suffered greatly as God brought Egypt down. Moses "… refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward
(Hebrews 11:23-26)."

The season of sin is about to end. We'll find ourselves in the same situation as Israelis when God judged Egypt. Like Egypt of old, our western nations are getting pretty cranky as judgment overtakes them. Like Moses, we'll feel both the affects of judgment and the anger of a frustrated society. Through it all, we will "refuse to be known by the sinful nations in which we live." We will "choose to be mistreated rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin." We will "regard disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of the western world". Our loyalty to Jesus will be rewarded. You can count on that. I wouldn't be disappointed over the results of the 2012 election. Rather, I'd stand in serious awe, realizing that the Most High is right now, activity demonstrating His sovereign will over the nations of men. That should drive any depression we may have over the outcome of the election to the outermost part of the universe.

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