Integrity in Times like These
When God established an earthly monarchy for Israel, He prohibited anointing a king from outside the nation. Moses told the Hebrews in Deuteronomy 15:14-15 (NKJV):
14 “When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.
America used this same concept in the qualifications for President of the United States. Our presidents are not to be from outside the US. Article II, Section 1 of the US Constitution sets forth the eligibility requirements for serving as president of the United States under clause 5 (emphasis added):
No Person except a natural born Citizen or a Citizen of the United States at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty-five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.
If Israel had a foreign king or if we have an outsider as president, their loyalty would likely be to their homeland rather than the nation they were ruling. Real patriotism and seeking their nation’s best interests are worthy goals for any national leader. Dr. Benjamin Rush wrote:
“Patriotism is as much a virtue as justice and is as necessary for the support of societies as natural affection is for the support of families. The Amor Patriae is both a moral and a religious duty. It comprehends not only the love of our neighbors but of millions of our fellow creatures, not only of the present but of future generations. This virtue we find constitutes a part of the first characters in history. The holy men of old, in proportion as they possessed a religion, were endowed with a public spirit. What did not Moses forsake and suffer for his countrymen? What shining examples of Patriotism do we behold in Joshua, Samuel, Maccabeus, and all the illustrious princes, captains, and prophets amongst the Jews! St. Paul almost wishes himself accursed for his countrymen and kinsmen after the flesh. Even our Savior himself gives a sanction to this virtue. He confined his miracles and gospel at first to his own country.”
So many Christian Americans believe patriotism to be a sin or at least a conflict with the kingdom of God. Our forefathers didn’t think so. They connected the country’s best interests to the stewardship of believers. On the other side of the fight for independence, we have disconnected this virtue from faith. Our government now views Patriots as terrorists, and most Christian Americans suppress their patriotic spirit, playing into the hands of the New World Order.
Having a natural-born citizen as our national leader should be a cinch for Americans. He can identify with his fellow citizens and express concern for them. He feels the pain of their circumstances as though they were his. When Ronald Reagan ran for the presidency, an older lady asked him not to forget the senior citizens when he became president. He retorted, “Forget you? I’m one of you.”
As a side note, one of the reasons Jesus came into the world in the flesh was to identify with us. God knows everything, how we feel and what we are enduring. Now that Jesus has come in the flesh to live and die as He did, we know He knows. Listen to these verses (NKJV):
Hebrews 4:15,
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
Hebrews 5:2,
He can have compassion on those who are ignorant and going astray, since he himself is also subject to weakness.
Philippians 2:7-8,
7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.
When King Jehoshaphat died, Jehoram succeeded him. The new king did not do what was right before God. He was a descendant of David but did not have the character of his father, grandfather, and their ancestor, David. Listen to 2 Chronicles 21:1-4 (NKJV):
And Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. Then Jehoram his son reigned in his place. 2 He had brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat: Azariah, Jehiel, Zechariah, Azaryahu, Michael, and Shephatiah; all these were the sons of Jehoshaphat king of Israel. 3 Their father gave them great gifts of silver and gold and precious things, with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave the kingdom to Jehoram, because he was the firstborn. 4 Now when Jehoram was established over the kingdom of his father, he strengthened himself and killed all his brothers with the sword, and also others of the princes of Israel.
You would think that of all the people you could trust, your family would be at the top of the list, but not with Jehoram. In his insecurity and pride, he wanted to be sure he had no competitors for the throne and killed his brothers and the lesser Judah leaders. He displayed the same character as Cain, who killed his brother, Abel, in scripture’s first recorded murder (Genesis 4:8). “The ends justified the means” for Jehoram. He saw people as expendable to his tyrannical agenda.
We can sit back and say that Jehoram was an evil man, close our bibles, and go on our way. Typically, that happens in most preaching today; we leave off contemporary applications. Let’s stop for a moment and compare our society with the reign of Jehoram.
America has a leadership regime today, not an administration. The latter is elected correctly, and the former is installed illegally. The current government views people, even its citizens, as expendable, even though its leader is a “natural-born American.” He appears not to hold America and its citizens in esteem, almost as though he intentionally tries to undermine the country’s foundations for assumed personal gain.
There is no remorse for the American military personnel who died in the Afghanistan withdrawal or regret for leaving billions of dollars of equipment to our enemies there. No public sorrow exists for the thousands harmed by the COVID “plan demic” or those harmed by the oft-required COVID jabs in the arm. There is no sympathy or evident concern for the residents of Palestine, OH, and the chemical spill that has poisoned their town. Our “Resident-in-Chief” has not bothered going there but was quick to go to Ukraine with your tax dollars to bail out their retirement program while Americans suffer in various ways. His priority is not in protecting the American people.
Some people view questioning the outcomes of elections as foolish. They say we have the “most secure elections in history,” but the evidence is contrary. Even Joe Biden stated on October 24, 2020:
“Secondly. We are in a situation where . . . and you guys did it is for our administration, for President Obama’s administration before this, we have put together what I think is the most extensive and inclusive voter fraud organization in the history of American politics.”
We might ask, “How can Americans knowingly participate in voter fraud?” Kari Lake is asking the same thing in her gubernatorial election in Arizona. I answer, “These are not real Americans; they are sell-out traitors.” Marxists have infiltrated our nation and brainwashed, blackmailed, or bribed people to adhere to their tactics to overthrow the greatest nation in the earth's history.
God puts leaders in positions of power. This is the concept of “elect” in “elections.” God’s people are His chosen or “elect” in the Bible. He works with and through His special ones. In having elections, we affirm God’s choice of candidates with our votes. We affirm God's picks if we sincerely and prayerfully weigh the issues and vote according to God’s principles. However, when we ignore God’s standards and put unworthy people in the sacred leadership role, we open the door to countless issues that adversely affect us.
Having integrity in our voting system can avert certain national disasters. Yet how many even care that there are reasonable questions about the last two elections? Samuel Adams made a point about how seriously we should take our elections. He stated:
Let each citizen remember at the moment he is offering his vote...that he is executing one of the most solemn trusts in human society for which he is accountable to God and his country.
God specifically warned the Hebrews not to forget Him in their prosperity. He warns us indirectly, too. Listen to their (and our) warning regarding forgetting God in our prosperity in Deuteronomy 8.11-20 (NKJV):
11 “Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today, . . .
17 then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gained me this wealth.’
18 “And you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. 19 Then it shall be, if you by any means forget the LORD your God, and follow other gods, and serve them and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish. 20 As the nations which the LORD destroys before you, so you shall perish, because you would not be obedient to the voice of the LORD your God.
We are where the Hebrew people have been. We have emphasized profit, power, and prominence more than principles. As Barrack Obama stated, we have rejected God and His will, and for all intents and purposes, we are no longer a Christian Nation.
Let’s not stop our applications of the Jehoram story with the political. There are personal applications, too. We don’t have to pick up weapons and physically kill someone. We can assassinate their character. The tongue is a powerful constructive or destructive tool. We can use our speech to build up or tear down, to bless or curse, as James points out in James 3:5-10 (NKJV):
5 Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! 6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. 7 For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind. 8 But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison. 9 With it we bless our God and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the similitude [or likeness] of God. 10 Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be so.
How often do we speak ill of others and run them down? This kind of harmful speech goes against the proverbial grain. God prefers that we say things to encourage rather than discourage. Paul wrote, “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear” (Ephesians 4:29, ESV).
The current regime is bent on destroying America by encouraging illegals to enter the country and feed off of hard-working taxpayers. This illegitimate leadership has shut down jobs and afflicted Americans with mandates and ultimatums over COVID and its shots. They threaten our unalienable rights, which our ancestors secured and for which we should be outraged. As citizens and Christian citizens, are we building up or tearing down our nation? Going along with the contemporary government agenda contributes to America’s end just as the evil kings and citizens of Israel and Judah destroyed their nations.
Let’s go back to 2 Chronicles and notice 21:5-6 (NKJV):
5 Jehoram was thirty-two years old when he became king, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 6 And he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done, for he had the daughter of Ahab as a wife; and he did evil in the sight of the LORD.
Jehoram was like Ahab and married into the family. He revealed his character by choosing his wife from the household of Ahab and Jezebel. He was a wicked man whose evil was increased by his wife’s influence. Jehoram and Ahab remind us that we should be careful in choosing our relationships, especially the closest ones of the family. I wonder if the two kings could identify with Proverbs 21:9 (NKJV):
Better to dwell in a corner of a housetop,
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.
Jehoshaphat was a good king of Judah, but he made mistakes. He made regrettable alliances with Ahab (2 Chronicles 18) and Ahaziah (20:35-37). These lapses in judgment adversely affected his son, Jehoram, and some of his decisions. Instead of remembering and imitating the good kings of Judah, he accepted the evil. This is the power of parental leadership and why we must care about how we lead.
For some reason, it is easier and more enticing to avoid the will of God than to embrace it. We seem to think the Bible is a book of made-up stories, and the incidents it describes didn’t happen. They are just good moral stories that suggest a better alternative. This is a lack of faith in God and His word. We may not have seen the same biblical stories we read, but we can see the principles displayed daily.
We may also do as many Bible characters and express our lack of faith in God and His word when we assume we can escape our sins’ consequences. We think, “That may have happened to David (or another character), but it won’t happen to me.” So, we proceed with self-indulgences expecting cheap grace instead of judgment for our sins.
When people rise to positions of power, they assume that they control the laws and can do as they please. God gives us time to repent of neglecting Him, but eventually, we “reap what we sow.” Usually, tyrants fall in their lifetimes, but if not, they will fall eternally when they give an account of their lives at the judgment. Romans 14:10-12 (NKJV) reads:
For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the LORD,
Every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall confess to God.”
12 So then each of us shall give account of himself to God.
Certain people have been used to preferential treatment, but none will be given at the judgment. The ground is level at the foot of the cross and the throne of God. God will judge us all, and a mysterious reversal will take place. “But many who are first will be last, and the last first” (Mark 10:31, NKJV). All of those tyrannical people who persecuted godly people will regret their actions, for the godly will be praised and the tyrants condemned.
We typically forget the truth that God is observing us. He sees the sparrow fall and counts the hairs on our heads. If He knows us in such minute detail, He knows the intentions of our hearts too. Our words and actions reveal our character. Hebrews 10:31 (NKJV) reminds us that for the rebellious and apathetic, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” We can forget or ignore that truth and do our business, believing Satan’s lies and being shocked when the Lord moves.
God deals with us and our sins but also keeps His promises. Notice 2 Chronicles 21:7 (NKJV):
7 Yet the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that He had made with David, and since He had promised to give a lamp to him and to his sons forever.
God has kept His covenants with Abraham and David. That does not mean that He overlooked the activities of their descendants. They received the consequences of their actions, and so will we. God keeps His covenant with us through Jesus but also disciplines us.
We have looked at America as a great nation that God repeatedly blessed. We have made the false assumption that those blessings would automatically continue. Though we covenant with God through the cross, He does not alleviate our responsibilities before Him or the impact of our sinful choices. Paul tells us “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap” (Galatians 6:7, NKJV). Jehoram and Judah learned it the “hard way,” but we don’t have to. We can learn it by observing others, as in our text.
According to Romans 13, the government is for our good. Paul calls us to submit to the leaders who have our best interests in mind. What happens when our legislators turn away from doing the right things to inflicting ungodly burdens on us? We must resist their tyrannical rule and realign our nation with God and His standards.
Jehoram’s realm rebelled against his tyrannical rule. Let’s look at 2 Chronicles 21:8-10 (NKJV):
8 In his days Edom revolted against Judah’s authority, and made a king over themselves. 9 So Jehoram went out with his officers, and all his chariots with him. And he rose by night and attacked the Edomites who had surrounded him and the captains of the chariots. 10 Thus Edom has been in revolt against Judah’s authority to this day. At that time Libnah revolted against his rule, because he had forsaken the LORD God of his fathers.
Tyrants should not be surprised by rebellion; people naturally resist them. Christian resistance is proper and natural though unpopular among church-goers. The opposition does not have to be “armed resistance”; it can be by speaking out and educating others on the truth. God established the government for our good, and we have the right to redress when our leaders overstep their God-given authority.
God clearly states that the reason for the rebellion of Jehoram’s realm was because he was a wicked man who had forsaken God. Whenever we leave God, we have troubles. King George III was a similar man who forgot his role. The American colonists resisted and defended their lives, families, and property when Great Britain attacked them.
At the end of the War, when we had won our independence, our Congress assigned a committee to create a “Great Seal” for America. Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin were on the committee. The group devised our first attempt at the Seal, which showed Pharaoh’s army drowning in the Red Sea with the inscription “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.” I wonder how that little-known story affects modern submissive believers.
We do not like the dirty game of politics. In fact, a good friend who served in the Oklahoma State Legislature said he felt dirty the whole time he was there. We prefer to do other things than engage in politics, even good things. But we are spiritually obligated to stand with God and confront evil. Our forefathers established our rule of law based on the Holy Word of God. We are not in Rome, controlled by the tyrannical Caesars when God birthed Christianity into the world. We are (or were) a Christian nation focused on God and His authority, encompassing countries. He empowered us to prominence because we chose Him. Today Americans are rejecting Him like Jehoram and Judah.
We see that the government can corrupt its people. Our schools have become indoctrination centers. The courts block free speech and freedom of religious expression. Businesses cater to the ungodly and punish the righteous. Consider verse 11 of our text:
11 Moreover he made high places in the mountains of Judah, and caused the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit harlotry, and led Judah astray.
Israel and Judah embraced the pagan gods in their high places. Jehoram’s father, Jehoshaphat, was a good king overall but made some mistakes. He did not destroy the improper worship sites but led the people to serve the God of their fathers. Some resisted and remained at the high places for worship. Jehoram set the pace and led the people to the idolatrous worship of these entities, corrupting his citizens.
Many past American leaders tried to live by scripture, and despite their shortcomings, we were a better country. Thomas Jefferson, for example, rode his horse to church services in the Capitol building every Sunday because he thought he should be an example for Americans. James Madison similarly followed suit.
America does not have identifiable worship centers for the pagan gods as Israel and Judah developed, yet we, too, worship the demonic. Baal, Ishtar, and Moloch are present in our society, and many governmental leaders lead the way in bowing before them, even within our churches. So often, we follow our leaders even into corruption and decadence.
Think of America’s moral decline. Our congressional, executive and judicial leaders have made and upheld laws endorsing immorality. Our leaders have done everything they can to destroy families and obliterate God’s standards. We are living in the days of Romans 1, where, unless we repent, God will give us up. Listen to these verses from the first chapter of Romans and see if they apply to us.
• Romans 1:22-25 (NKJV) – 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man—and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things. 24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves, 25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
• Romans 1:26-27 – 26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their [i]women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. 27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the [k]woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
• Romans 1:28, 32 – 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; [he lists numerous gross sins] 32 who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
Political scientists and historians have observed that governments can control the immoral better than people of faith who think rationally and spiritually. Therefore, our government has changed laws to corrupt our morals and control the population. As a result, most Americans no longer crave freedom. They prefer government assistance and provision for their livelihood and entertainment, a throwback to the Romans’ use of “bread and circuses” to control their residents. The price for governmental providing is our souls. Samuel Adams saw it and said:
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animated contest of freedom -- go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen!"
Patrick Henry also recognized the price of ease and compliance. He concluded his famous speech with:
"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains or slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"
Our government is at war with its citizens taking captive those who prefer the illusion of freedom to the reality of liberty. We have to choose whom we will serve (Joshua 24:15). For years, Christian Americans have naively prided themselves in abstaining from political involvement and focusing only on the world to come. In so doing, they have failed to realize that the spiritual realm and the natural abhor a vacuum. When godly people opt out of civic responsibilities, evil fills the void. Wicked governments corrupt our lives and the lives of our children and grandchildren, removing the possibility of a satisfying eternity. What we do in this life affects the next. We are accountable to God for our choices.
We have a gracious and merciful God who gives us opportunities to repent. In 2 Chronicles 21:12-15, Elijah wrote a stern letter to Jehoram. Interestingly, Elijah was a prophet for the northern kingdom of Israel, while Jehoram was the king of Judah. The prophet dealt with the wicked royalty of the north and turns his attention to the evil king of the south who had corrupted his nation.
The civil uprisings within his realm and the spiritual confrontation and warning of God’s man indicate that God gave Jehoram a chance to change his ways and those of his nation. He could right the wrongs and return to God, but he refused. Here is Elijah’s letter:
Thus says the LORD God of your father David:
Because you have not walked in the ways of Jehoshaphat your father, or in the ways of Asa king of Judah, 13 but have walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to play the harlot like the harlotry of the house of Ahab, and also have killed your brothers, those of your father’s household, who were better than yourself, 14 behold, the LORD will strike your people with a serious affliction—your children, your wives, and all your possessions; 15 and you will become very sick with a disease of your intestines, until your intestines come out by reason of the sickness, day by day.
The nation of Judah felt the afflictions of their apostasy when nations outside the realm began assaulting them. Note 2 Chronicles 21:16-17 (NKJV):
16 Moreover the LORD stirred up against Jehoram the spirit of the Philistines and the Arabians who were near the Ethiopians. 17 And they came up into Judah and invaded it, and carried away all the possessions that were found in the king’s house, and also his sons and his wives, so that there was not a son left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons.
This reminds me of America. Our leaders have sold military and industrial secrets to our enemies, undermining our national security and economy. We are engaged in a different war with them today but may find old-fashioned warfare inevitable. God may very well take us down for our ungodly behavior, and as a nation, we deserve it. Russian President Putin mocks American immorality, and if he sees what we are, what must God see?
Jehoram’s reign and life came to a horrible end. Imagine what he felt as we read verses 18-20 (NKJV):
18 After all this, the LORD struck him in his intestines with an incurable disease. 19 Then it happened in the course of time, after the end of two years, that his intestines came out because of his sickness, so he died in severe pain. And his people made no burning for him, like the burning for his fathers.
20 He was thirty-two years old when he became king. He reigned in Jerusalem eight years and, to no one’s sorrow, departed. However they buried him in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
If you had received Elijah’s letter, would you have had second thoughts about your policies and lifestyle? Though warned, Jehoram died a painful death from a God-inflicted illness without a cure. The people offered “no burning” for him, which indicates they did not honor him as they had honored other kings by burning certain spices. In other words, no one was sorry to see him go and did the minimum for his burial. It would be like refusing to lower our flag to half-staff and not burying a president in Arlington National Cemetery.
I have to say that as I watch some of our public leaders, I wonder if the signs of mental decline are from the hand of God. Has HE inflicted people with issues? I can’t say that for sure. It makes me wonder because God still controls governments and nations, even if we forget. Daniel 2:21 (NKJV) reads:
And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise And knowledge to those who have understanding.
Our nation and its leaders must repent before God in “sackcloth and ashes.” We have distanced ourselves from Him intentionally or by default, and it is time to wake up and resume our vigilance regarding our personal salvation and Republic. We need to reassemble our nation under God, it can be no other way. On October 11, 1798, John Adams said:
“We have no government armed with power capable of continuing with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Greed, ambition, revenge, or seduction would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.”
We may or may not see the end of tyranny in our lifetimes, but God will end it one day. I want to ask our tyrannical leaders the same question Jesus asked in Mark 8:34-38 (NKJV):
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
When Judgment Day comes, will it be worth sacrificing our souls to obtain a name no one will long remember? How about wealth that will burn up?
Those questions aren’t just for tyrants or good-hearted political leaders. They are for us, too. In light of eternity, it is not worth giving up the ways of God for a brief exchange of earthly pleasure. It will not be worth sacrificing eternal life for a life of ease and pleasure.
Time is our current medium of exchange. We must sacrifice our time and resources to have God’s presence and liberty for our nation. We would all prefer to “eat, drink, and be merry,” but there is too much to do. Contact me if you need help getting involved in “Reclaiming America for Christ” and future generations. My information is at the bottom of the notes.
Keep The Light of Godly Integrity Burning!
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