Politics determines how people are to live here on earth. Religion determines how and where they will live in the present and in eternity. I think it is a very good idea to know about them and talk about them. The truth of the matter is that you cannot effectively separate either of these topics and have any kind of a good understanding as to how God designed His Universe to operate.

Make no mistake about it,…God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in or on them….that, of course, would include mankind. That, of course, would by necessity, include you!

Now before jumping into this discussion let’s establish some common grounds for agreement: (1) God created man, (2) God charged Adam and Eve to take control and have dominion over all that God created, (3) God gave His written Word to all mankind as His personal instruction as to how to live and interact with other people both here on earth and in eternity, (4) The Holy Bible is the infallible and inerrant truth of life, and (5) whatever God says within the pages of the Holy Scriptures is the truth. You can believe It, and completely trust It without a single doubt or question as to what It says or instructs.

All that being said, lets go to this Book of Truth and carefully examine just what God wants us to know and understand about living our lives in submission to His Instructions. Please notice that God has given us Ten Commandments…not ten suggestions. They are all recorded in the 20th Chapter of the Book of Exodus. Whenever God says something to man, He means what He says, and says what He means. Man, in all of his fleshly ignorance, constantly disagrees with God’s Word, argues with His commands, and rebels against the Truths He has recorded. Is there really any wonder why things are so messed up in our world today. No man or woman can blatantly disobey God’s Instructions and ever expect to receive any of His divine rewards and blessings.

A Fact of Life is this: All power in life is attained through submission to authority…never is there any power in rebellion.

So if you truly desire God’s full rewards and blessings to flow into your life, stay in submission and obedience to His instructions to you. I promise you will be happier if you do.

You cannot read the Bible and ignore the political realm. The Bible is chocked full of politics and the related activities of the people involved with them. A few examples of such inclusions revolving around politics would be as follows: God committed two books, 1 Kings and 2 Kings, that strictly deal with the rule and reign of government leaders. Remember, it was John The Baptist who condemned the immoral conduct of King Herod Antipas, which led to the prophet’s execution (See Mark 6 : 14–29). In Thessalconica, the Apostle Paul and his companions were charged with committing treason against Rome for insisting “that there is another King, Jesus” (See Acts 17 : 7). And in the greatest act of political and moral rebellion ever against God, the Antichrist will set up his worldwide government of pure evil, and he will rule the earth (See Revelation 13 : 1–10).

Remember God created the heavens and the earth and because God is the Sovereign Ruler of His Universe, it follows that He is intimately concerned with the political affairs of the nations. Psalm 22 : 28 declares, “The kingdom is the Lord’s and He rules over the nations.” A truth of life is that…There is nothing that happens in the governments of men that does not flow out of the sovereign rule of God. “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He wishes” (See Proverbs 21 : 1).

All through the Bible, we see God placing people strategically in the political realm. Remember how He moved Joseph into authority in Egypt (Genesis 41 : 38–49) and how He elevated Daniel to a position of great influence in Babylon and later in Persia (See Daniel 1 : 8–21; 2 :46–49; 6 : 1–3). God also placed Nehemiah in the Persian government so he could rebuild his community with government support (See Nehemiah 2,3, 4 : 15–21, 6 : 15). He also placed Esther as queen in Persia (see the Book of Esther) and Deborah as judge in Israel to accomplish His agenda (See Judges 4–5).

In fact, the greatest example of God’s involvement in the political affairs of a nation is Israel itself, where God established its constitution, legal structure, and laws that were to be the model for other nations to emulate (See Deuteronomy 4 : 5–7). Along with 1 and 2 Kings, in books such as 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Chronicles, God is active on every page: setting up this king, judging that king, and exposing yet another king. There is no escaping God’s political activity. This means that we cannot divide life down the middle, putting God on one side and politics on the other.

There are occasionally some “I-know-more-than-you-know” type skeptics who may argue that while God was intimately involved in the governing of Israel, that was only because God himself established Israel as a theocracy.
But when it comes down to the other nations of the earth, God is personally not that deeply involved. These skeptics always say this type statement with such strength and supposed authority.

However, The Holy Scripture would not agree with them because in Daniel 4 we see God getting very personally and very intimately involved in the life of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, the greatest secular ruler in the greatest pagan kingdom of the day.

A quick review of Nebuchadnezzar must begin by looking at his over-inflated ego that he got from spending too long gazing in his own mirror. He foolishly declared himself to be ruler in the universe, so God sent him a dream.

Following further on in the story, in the process of interpreting Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, Daniel told him that God had decreed that Nebuchadnezzar would be rendered insane until he recognized that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes” (See Daniel 4 : 25).

But then Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar he would get his kingdom back when he thoroughly understood that “it is Heaven that rules” (See Daniel 4 : 26). Whenever a government sets itself up as God, it is in for a very short run of existence, because there is only one King who reigns in power over the universe. God sits in judgment on kings and nations.

The rest of Daniel 4 records the fulfillment of Daniel’s interpretation: Nebuchadnezzar was driven from his throne for seven years. Some clergymen would refer to this as a heavenly political protest. God protested the unrighteousness of Nebuchadnezzar’s government because Nebuchadnezzar sought to usurp the authority that belongs to God, which is the sin of every centralized government. Nebuchadnezzar wound up making the very confession God decreed he would make (See Daniel 4 : 34–37).

THE FURTHER A GOVERNMENT DRIFTS FROM GOD (which means it seeks to become its own god), THE MORE IT SETS ITSELF UP FOR HEAVENLY POLITICAL ACTION.

The greatest political statement in the entire Bible is the declaration of Revelation 19 : 16 which reveals to us that when Jesus Christ returns to earth to rule, He will come as “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Back in Revelation 1 : 5 the disciple John had seen a vision of the glorified Jesus, who was declared to be “the ruler of the kings of the earth.”

The Bible also says that “by [Jesus] all things were created…whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities” (See Colossians 1 : 16). And He not only created heavenly and earthly kingdoms (v. 16), they are dependent on Him to “hold together” (v. 17) and exist by Him and for Him (V. 16).

When Jesus was on earth, He was perceived as a great political threat. At one of Jesus’ trials, the Jewish council brought Him to Pilate with this accusation: “We found this man misleading our nation and forbidding to pay taxes to Caesar, and saying that He Himself is Christ, a King” (See Luke 23 : 2). The charge that Jesus forbade people to pay taxes was simply not true, as we will see below in the discussion that includes Mark 12 : 13–17. Earlier in His ministry, Jesus protested the evil of King Herod’s reign (See Luke 13 : 31–32).

So, to talk about the activity of God, the Father, and God, the Son, both in history and in the future is to merge the sacred with the secular in the arena of politics.

After all, in the beginning, God was the government.

Under His governing rule and original blueprint for the structure of limitations and allowances for mankind, there was always intended to be maximum freedom. In fact, freedom was standard protocol. From every tree in the garden, except for one, Adam and Eve had complete and unhindered freedom to partake. This freedom also included the personal responsibility to manage, develop, and expand the assets God had provided them, the essence of free enterprise.

Yet in the context of this broad-based freedom, God also legislated strictly defined boundaries that came with quick repercussions. If anyone chose to go against the boundaries God had set up, the result would be not only immediate but also extremely dire. While the people always had the freedom to do wrong, they could not choose to do so without suffering severe and clearly defined consequences.

God’s own governing model, then, could be summarized as having broad freedom along with narrow restrictions, followed up with both quick and severe consequences for breaking those restrictions. Yet after the fall of all mankind had occurred in the Garden of Eden, God transferred the carrying out of the government of mankind to men. He had set the precedent for how His creation should function and then transferred that standard of government to humanity following sin’s entry into the world.

Therefore a government patterned off of the original design of the Creator is a government that does not seek to limit humanity’s freedoms but rather promotes freedom through the declaration of clear and just boundaries along with the carrying out of immediate and acute consequences for breaking those boundaries. It is in this type of government that individuals, families, churches, and local communities are best equipped to cultivate and maintain high levels of both productivity and enjoyment so that self-government and free enterprise can and will flourish.

All men and women have and always will have a great desire to be personally free. But what most do not understand is that economic freedom must always precede personal freedom. Financial success eliminates the burdensome and most restrictive limitations surrounding personal freedom.

This is the manner and way that God Almighty created and established the Universe and the people who live in it. Financial Independence gives rise to personal freedom. The freer man is economically, the freer he will be personally.

Please, do not ever tell me again not to talk about religion and politics. God designed them to go together like hand-in-glove.

 

Peace and Love to All of You……………..Poppa Bear