ENCOURAGING POLITICS: Commentary on the coming change of Government
These are incredibly disturbing times to be living in, with seeming madness all around. Is there anything positive to look forward to on the political spectrum? Doesn’t it seem like life was easier when we were young? Less crazy, happier days? Less politics and politicians?
Let’s look WAY back, to the beginning, when God was King — though more like a father in many ways. His kingdom was relatively small, containing only two humans and a large amount of animals that they were to care for and protect. (The first environmentalists.) It all started well according to Genesis 1:2: “In the beginning … He saw that it was good.”And according to prophecies within the Bible, it will END well as well. So the problem is really right NOW, the in-between stage, when God seemingly no longer has much of a say about what’s going on.
Daniel chapter two in the Bible and other prophecies teach us that all of this is not going to go on forever, that there will be an end to all the wrongs and injustices in our world, which we all agree need to be corrected. And that there’ll be a return to the original plan — a reboot, a starting over again, a “let’s try it again from the top,” so to speak.
The prophet Daniel foretold of the day when “the God of Heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed … and it shall stand forever.” [Daniel 2:44] John, the Revelator confirmed that in his revelation when he saw and said: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” [Revelations 11:18]
Our current political situations are extremely discouraging to say the least. We see the political unrest in many areas right now, and it’s tempting to get caught up in the politics of our local situations and lose sight of what’s just ahead, what’s coming. Right now it all seems more like this verse in Isaiah that foretold the coming of the Messiah:
“For, behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people…”
The good news?:
“But the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.” [Isaiah 60:2]
Sadly, in the midst of such darkness, we tend to lose sight of Jesus’ teaching about the coming kingdom of heaven, and how the world is meant to be in His mind. The promised kingdom was a big part of Jesus’ message, perhaps due in part to the discouraging and nearly hopeless situation He found himself and His people in when He lived among us. The earthly kingdom God had promised to Moses and the children of Israel had long since been dismantled due to human sin and failure. And they were living instead under oppression and racism in an unjust political climate, their only hope being the kingdom to come foretold by the prophets.
Remember Daniel chapter two? The King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream about a huge statue constructed of different metals, which Daniel later interpreted to be the past, present, and future governments of history, and how they would all come to an end:
“You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces.
“Then the iron…clay…bronze…silver and gold were crushed together, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors; the wind carried them away so that no trace of them was found.
“And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.” Daniel 2:34–35
That stone, it turns out is the rock Jesus Christ, and this is picturing His second coming. And that:
“…in the days of these kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed…and it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. [Daniel 2:44]
A big part of Jesus’ message was this coming kingdom. He refers to it 85 times in the gospels — that kingdom/government/nation where His Father’s will would be done “on earth, as it is in heaven.” He looked for it, taught it as fact, and told His followers to start building it, even in the midst of how things were in His day. Plus He promised that the faithful planting of the seeds of that kingdom whenever and wherever planted would result in a harvest of peace, harmony and wholeness now, as well as in the future.
So we mustn’t forget or lose sight of the fact that it willhappen, and that we are called to help build it wherever we are — even if we don’t see it. He taught us to that this government/kingdom/country was not of this world. — It wasn’t Israel nor Rome, but something else. He told Pilate, a powerful politician, as he stood before him:
My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight…but now is my kingdom not from hence.” [John 18:36]
Obviously believing all of this that is coming doesn’t fix things here and now, anymore than it did in Jesus’ day — He died a violent death at the hands of man’s government and religious officials, and little or nothing seemed to improve in any big way in His lifetime — like politically, for example. There was no change of leadership or anything, things just went from bad to worse.
Yet the far reaching consequences of that birth, life, and death, and His teachings began transforming human existence from that time until today, altering society as we know it, wherever those principles of the coming kingdom were applied and practiced correctly.
The overall results of putting His teachings into effect have been outstandingly beneficial to the human race. And when remembered and applied in the daily lives of faithful individuals, continue to transform lives at the grassroots level.
In reverse, losing sight of those truths and the overarching goal just leads us into failure and frustration on every level: political, societal, familial, and personal. And that’s what we are living in our present age. Perhaps that’s why we are taught to:
“Be not conformed to this world” and its ways, “but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” [Romans 12:2]
Because: “…the world and its desires will pass: but whoever does the will of God lives for ever.” [1 John 2:17]
So when tempted to be discouraged by what we see happening in the world around us, let’s look to the end of this great epic film trilogy we’re all in, to the final curtain and the happy ending, when:
“…the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
“The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!” [Revelation 11:15]
And let’s always pray the prayer He taught us to pray:
“Our father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day, our daily bread, and forgive us our debts. as we forgive our debtors; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil; For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever and ever. Amen.