Message:
We have been witness to a national election in America. It was a very volatile and divisive election.
What we saw played out in the United States is as old as time. The Bible points us to a time when Israel wanted to be like other nations. We see in their actions ancient facts reflected as a modern parable for elections in our time.
They were not content to be subject to God and His laws, they wanted an earthly king like the other nations had. They willingly decided to forsake God.
God listened to them and then God told Samuel to tell them what life would look like under an earthly king.
The contrast was startling but still the Israelites cried out for an earthly king instead of their Heavenly King. 1 Samuel 8
We see in their example how we as broken and sinful people resist being subject to a faithful, loving and holy God.
We behave like little children who want their own way. We refuse to obey and trust what our Heavenly Father tells us.
The results in America this election may change some aspects of government in that country but it will not change the fact that the people remain in rebellion to God.
They like us and so many other countries in the world are living out the cycle of sin as it is clearly displayed for us in the Book of Judges.
As long as they served the Lord there was peace in the land. But when Israel did evil in the eyes of the Lord she was punished and enslaved. Then they cried out for release and God raises up a judge to lead them. The nation is then delivered and the cycle repeats itself.
The eminent Scottish scholar, and Professor Alexander Tytler taught that this cycle affects all human societies equally.
He noted that people go from spiritual faith to courage to liberty to abundance then to selfishness, complacency then apathy and dependence and then into bondage. This pattern repeats itself over and over again throughout history in all models of human government.
America has been a living example of Professor Tytler’s observations in our time. It is teetering on the edge and nearly imploding. For this reason the people have cried out and as expected they have looked to another human being to solve their dilemma instead of repenting and turning to God.
The entire world is now watching to see what direction America will take.
God instructed Samuel to give full disclosure to the people of Israel regarding the consequences of having an earthly king.
It is a depressing list that details how one’s personal property is confiscated and forfeited to the king. It not only speaks of the loss of personal property but also of sons and daughters becoming the property of the king.
In short, when we put another sinful human being to rule over us we become that person's property and we lose our personal freedom because sin rules within the human heart and even the best of our leaders are still contaminated with sin. Mark 7:20
Strangely societies have preferred this model of subjugation over the freedom we have when we live under Gods law instead of mans. In fact we embrace this unbroken cycle of sin just as Israel did.
This pattern of obstinate rebellion and open disobedience are the collective sins of our societies. Our God will have a day of reckoning.
The American musical artist Bob Dylan recently won the Nobel Prize for literature. He wrote a song years ago that is reminiscent of scripture Joshua 24:15 called “you gotta serve somebody”.
You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes
Indeed you're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Source: Bob Dylan - Gotta Serve Somebody Lyrics | Metro Lyrics
Well friends, who is your candidate for king in your life?
History has given us many, many choices but we keep repeating the same sad cycle over and over again. Trusting man instead of trusting in God.
Just as Joshua reminded Israel long ago that you have to make a choice about whom you are going to serve.
So too Americans and Canadians and all the other peoples of the nations of the earth must make a choice as to whom they will serve.
There is a saying in politics that when you vote you sometimes have to choose between the devil you know and the devil you don’t know.
While that may be true about politics you also have to make a choice about who you will entrust your eternal soul to.
Will it be a king modeled after our earthly kind or will it be the model of perfection – the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords?
When Jesus came to this earth He was crowned with a crown of thorns and mocked by soldiers who dressed Him in a robe and placed a sceptre in His hands. They then proceeded to beat Him and torture Him but Jesus did not cry out. He went to a cross as a convict in our place to pay for our sins. There He died and three days later He rose again alive and presented Himself to His disciples and many witnesses.
He ascended into Heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father, He is coming again to judge the living and the dead.
Have you chosen a king to follow while you live out your days on planet earth?
Be sure to choose the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, He will not disappoint you or cause you to live under a heaven burden.
Instead He asks you and me to lay our burdens down upon Him.
Lay your burdens down dear one’s and make Jesus your king today. – Amen.
