Secrets to Success in the Political World According to God’s Word
Good Morning,
We took a break last week from the series on Christians and politics. Now that the election is over we are going to hit a couple more in today’s prayer and worship help and then start something new after Thanksgiving. I’m undecided on where to go next so if you have a hankering or an idea please feel free to let me know via email, text, comments, whatever is best.
In God’s providence the text we looked at Sunday morning at Bethany in Adult Sabbath School was 2 Kings 11 and 12. In those words we saw witness to the fruit of a wicked mother in Athaliah and the faithful witness of the king’s daughter Jehosheba in the salvation of Joash. While there can be good help brought to our souls in meditating on the love of neighbor exhibited in her selfless, and sacrificial act, I want to spend out time together today thinking about what happened when Joash “won” the election and became king. As we know in many areas of life getting there is only half the battle, it is what you do with what you have that matters in the end.
At the beginning of his reign, and even before Joash is officially crowned we see the priest Jehoida, whose name means, “Jehovah Knows” taking action. Talk about hitting the lottery of cool. One of the ways his appellation draws attention to his life is how he faithfully puts things in the right order. What I mean by that is how he first brings all of the court officials into the presence of God and has them covenant with the LORD. Making a promise that we would all be wise to know and to see. Verse 4 says:
“In the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of hundreds—of the bodyguards and the escorts—and brought them into the house of the Lord to him. And he made a covenant with them and took an oath from them in the house of the Lord, and showed them the king’s son.”
There is a long history in the Scottish Reformed tradition of men taking vows to God to do that which is right and good in Church and State. Those of us in the Seceder tradition, descending from Ebenezer Erskine and the Gairney Bridge men are no different. Alexander Moncrieff wrote a short book on why it was important for the Associate Synod to re-confirm the National Covenant of 1638 and the Solemn League and Covenant of 1643. He testified that men need to, as the Westminster Confession of Faith, Ch.22, Sect. 6 says:
“It is not to be made to any creature, but to God alone: and that it may be accepted, it is to be made voluntarily, out of faith, and conscience of duty, in way of thankfulness for mercy received, or for the obtaining of what we want, whereby we more strictly bind ourselves to necessary duties: or, to other things, so far and so long as they may fitly conduce thereunto.”
What this has to do with Jehoida and Joash and our lives today will be plain in a moment. It is a wise course of action for men given the responsibility of leading a nation to ask help of the one who is king over his country. It is not a mixing of church and state to do so. Recognizing the Lord’s sovereign care over nations, and the fact Jesus would have all nations be Christian (as the ARP Westminster Confession 23.3 makes clear) is in keeping with common sense. Some would say that it is wrong to ever talk about an earthly country in any way that sounds like it has a purpose in God’s redemptive work. They would make the argument that it is sullying spiritual things with sinful men’s politics. However, it seems kind of strange to think that Christ only is concerned with the Church and what it does when He specifically notes in places as diverse as Psalm 2 and Revelation 19 that the leaders of political entities, like the United States, are going to have answer to Him on the day of judgment with how they not only treated God’s covenant people, but how they treated Him. A nation who has a leader that is unwilling to submit, at least in action, to the King of Kings will find himself at the business end of a rod of iron.
That is why it would be incredibly smart of someone like our President-elect to take a moment before he is re-sworn in as the forty-seventh leader of our great land to consider asking for Jesus’ help in ensuring that he serves with fidelity and proper attendance to his duties to the Lord of Lords, and to the people he has sought to serve. This is where the oath and vows of the WCF and the example of Jehoida and Joash comes to pass today. If you are going to seek to be elected to high office then you must take all that arrives with the benefits. There is a humility witnessed in taking the time to sign a promissory note to Christ, noticing in your own heart the reality that no one single person is capable of taking on all that is necessary to do a good job in such an office as the President of the United States.
Yet there is also something else to note in what Jehoida and Joash do. They do not just sign a covenant with the Lord, they actually follow-through with what they promised. All through the Bible there is a concern from prophet and apostle that with confession comes fruit. Athaliah’s fruit was killing children so that she wouldn’t lose her power. Joash’s was burning down the false idols built by his predecessors. If we want to make America great again it is going to take more than just electing the right people. We need those people to identify what the God of providence who gave them this opportunity to be in charge would have them to do. Especially if we want the promises of a 2 Chronicles 7:14 to become a reality.
In closing, we need ask the question of how we as the church can encourage our leaders to not just takes oaths and vows to do well in accord with the known wisdom of Jesus, but to do so with cheerful hearts. As with most things in the Christian life the answer is quite simple: prayer. When the apostle tells us to pray for those in authority over us that we may live peaceable lives this type of oath-taking, of covenanting with the Lord, is what he had in mind. Make sure that when you pray for our new President that you are asking first of all that he might remember his duty to the highest of all powers. For the only chance he has at real, lasting success is if he plows in the field and sows seeds that he has received from above.
Last word:
Blessings in Christ,
Rev. Benjamin Glaser
Pastor, Bethany ARP Church
