Do we have the leader we deserve, need or both?

In the Old Testament, we read about God raising up (literally – allowing) leaders to come to power in order to teach His chosen people a lesson.  Think Pharaoh in Egypt and Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, for starters.  
Is that where the U. S. is now?

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So now God is allowing Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to be raised up as our candidates?

Yes – there are others, like Gary Johnson who is running in the Libertarian Party.  But let’s face it – he’s not gonna win.  And if he did – would he be any different?  From the Politics and Elections Portal, we read this about Gary Johnson (sorry, the article has been removed from libertarian-party.org) -So now God is allowing Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump to be raised up as our candidates?

In politics, compromises are frequently seen as a sign of selflessness which places the greater good of the country ahead of principled, yet divisive stances. Some would even venture to suggest that partisanships are shortsighted and the surest way to hinder progress, and represents the greatest challenge to national unity.

And yet, between 1995 and 2003, during his tenure as governor of New Mexico, Gary Earl Johnson vetoed almost 800 bills (including line items) sent by the state legislature which led to arguably the state’s worst ever legislative gridlock. But his principled stand also massively reduced government spending, decelerated spending growth and wiped off the state’s budget deficit. By the end of his term, the treasury even reported a $1 billion surplus – all achieved without raising any taxes!

The son of a public school teacher and a government servant has always been viewed as too principled for politics. But as he had demonstrated during his two terms as governor, his methods work. Not all the time mind, as evidenced by his failed school voucher proposal and calls to decriminalize marijuana and reform drug laws, but the results speak for themselves.

Let’s ask the question of all the candidates –

• Do we need any single one of them?
• Or are we getting what we deserve?

• Or – the worst possibility – both?
• Do we want both of them?
• And do we need both of them?

• Well – there is also the question of Bernie Sanders.  A socialist.  He’s also someone that lots of democrats – and probably independents – want as well. He’s planning on giving away lots of “free” stuff.  That certainly makes him popular.

No matter what – I submit – this is a sad state of affairs.

The answer to the Title Question

Remember, the title question is about – need, want, or both?

I submit to you that the answer is both. Let’s look at those three words: need – want – both

Do we Want them?

All four of the candidates I’ve mentioned are wanted – by someone.

Donald Trump got more Republican votes in the presidential primary than anyone else has ever received.  That sounds like “want” to me.

Hillary Clinton has moved further to the left the longer the election dragged on.
Why? Because a lot of people wanted Bernie Sanders. And she had to become ever more liberal to try to beat him and get the nomination.  Of course, that wasn’t really necessary in a Primary, since the democratic (lower case “d”) election process is so rigged that what the people want doesn’t really matter.  Those in power in the party will get what and who they want.  Gee.  What other country does that sound like?  Russia?  China? Any other authoritarian dictatorship?
And yet, many people still want her.

Bernie Sanders? Yes – a lot of people want him too.  I just talked about that above.

And the surprise? Gary Johnson.  No – he won’t win.  But there are more and more Libertarians every election.  Add the fact that he wants to legalize marijuana and he’s likely to pick up more support from that part of the population that wants to openly indulge in that form of “recreation”.

Do we want these candidates?  Absolutely!

Do we need them? 

This is where God comes in.  Remember the opening lines from above:

In the Old Testament, we read about God raising up (literally – allowing) leaders to come to power in order to teach His chosen people a lesson.  Think Pharaoh in Egypt and Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, for starters.  
Is that where the U. S. is now?

That all three of them are so far from what we would need to get us back on the track that our founding fathers started this country on – one that clearly involved the God of Christianity, no matter how strongly some will try to tell us otherwise today – can mean only one thing.

This is a slate of candidates that God thinks we need to have.  It’s what He wants us to have.

Why do we “need” them?

Because we need a wakeup call!

Because we need to reach a point where we decide whether we want Him to be part of our lives – part of the foundation of our country – or not.

When I first wrote on this topic, I included Nebuchadnezzar, from the Old Testament.  It was appropriate to show what I was talking about.
Now – it seems even more appropriate.  We seem to be even deeper into a cycle of wanting the wrong things – and God trying to show us that simple truth.

Now, let me include more detail on what that was about, from the Book of Daniel –

It starts with a dream by King Nebuchadnezzar.  The dream scares him.  None of his wise men can interpret it for him.

We probably won’t literally have a dream.  Plus – our leaders change every so many years.  At least they do until one of them declares some kind of emergency and suspends elections. (yes – I did write that line ten years ago and now it’s actually being talked about.)  However – we the people have enough true Christians – enough true followers of God to recognize where we are going. We do, don’t we?

King Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream

Let’s see the dream –

What’s the meaning of the dream – then and now?

He (King Nebuchadnezzar) knows there’s something wrong.
He knows it’s about God.
He knows it’s about himself.
But he can’t figure it out.
Because even though he knows it’s about God – he doesn’t “know” God – so he cannot possibly understand it.

And isn’t that like our leaders?
They all claim to believe in God.  But do they “know” Him?
Like too many of us – they don’t.
And so the leaders and too many of the people see things are wrong – they call out to “god” – but they don’t get it.
They don’t realize they’re calling out to a false “god”.
The “god” of themselves.
Just like Nebuchadnezzar.

Next- Daniel interprets the dream for the king.
Note – Daniel can do that because he is a man of God.

Also note, for us today – the leader – or at least enough people who are willing to speak up and get the attention of the leader – need to speak up loudly and correctly enough to get the message to the leaders / the rest of the people.

If that doesn’t happen – the dream will never be interpreted.
If that doesn’t happen – we will never realize that we’re worshiping the false god of ourselves.
Because those who worship the true God never made it known.

Daniel Interprets the King’s dream

Let’s confirm what I just wrote by looking at what Daniel said about the dream.

So – Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar what the dream meant.
And what was going to happen if the king kept on his present course.
And – Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar what to do to avoid the fate in the dream –

“Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”

Surely – with that kind of warning – the king changed – right?

Surely – our leaders will stop calling abortion “woman’s rights” – not only condoning but fighting for the “right” to murder an unborn baby because the child might be inconvenient – all in the name of “health”.  Think I’m overstating it?  Open your eyes.  God gave you eyes and a mind.  Use them.

Surely our leaders will stop hating other people who are different for whatever reason.  Surely our leaders will recognize that people are individuals, and not everyone from any single group – no matter what the group – are all absolutely identical.

Surely our leaders will stop looking out for themselves and start to put the people first.

Surely our leaders will realize that when they say things like “God bless America” – they should find out something about that God, instead of, in effect, calling out to a false idol.

Well – maybe not so surely.
Let’s see the example of Nebuchadnezzar –

Surely – King Nebuchadnezzar did change

And the result was …

Oops.

So much for the King learning a lesson.

Unfortunately – this example doesn’t bode well for our own leaders learning their lesson.

We need to clean house.  Get in the leaders that would be “God approved” – in the sense that they would follow Him.
If there even are any.

There’s this strange alliance between the “religious” right and the “conservative” Republicans.
Strange bedfellows, so to speak.
How can gun rights – selling of assault weapons be something the part of the true Christian supports?
How can a true Christian support keeping people in a life situation where they cannot support their families?
How can a true Christian be in favor of wars to kill other people?

And yet – this is where we are.
And it doesn’t seem like anything’s going to change any time soon.

Where are we headed?

I can’t help but think that we’re headed on the path Nebuchadnezzar took.
And I can’t help but wonder what’s going to happen when our leaders are out there eating grass.
Or – maybe they already are?

In any case – we have two ways to look at this.

One – God has us headed toward doom.
God’s going to crush this country.
God’s going to bring the U. S. to an end.

And, He might.

However – the lesson from Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar’s dream tells us something different –

Remember from Daniel’s interpretation of the dream –

“You, O king, saw a messenger, a holy one, coming down from heaven and saying, ‘Cut down the tree and destroy it, but leave the stump, bound with iron and bronze, in the grass of the field, while its roots remain in the ground. Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven; let him live like the wild animals, until seven times pass by for him.’

There was a stump left behind.  Anyone who has cut down a tree like that knows that the tree can regrow from the stump.  And, if not from the stump, multiple trees can grow from the roots.  So if not one leader from the stump – many leaders could come up from the roots.

Daniel said it would happen until seven times pass by.  This is a specific amount of time.  Something that God would know.   God would know if/when Nebuchadnezzar would have what we might call a “come to Jesus” (literally) moment.  Today – with our knowledge – we don’t know when – or even if.  It could go either way.  Maybe after a time.  Maybe never.  But in large part – it’s very much up to us which way it is.

How will it end for us?

As I said – I believe that very much depends on us.

If we are silent – if we continue to accept the leaders that keep coming up and perverting the message of God into a political message of what they want – we’re doomed.  If our leaders aren’t already out eating grass – they will be soon.

The thing to remember – this isn’t a death sentence from God for the country.
At least it doesn’t have to be.

It’s a warning.
God is letting us know that we’ve gone so far stray that He is concerned.  Very concerned.
But He want us to return to Him.

Way back in Leviticus – God made it clear how He felt about His people.

Let’s start with the warning – since that’s where we seem to be today.
We have rejected Him.
We have turned away from Him.
And this is what He told us would happen when we do that –

However – as I said – it doesn’t have to be that way.

When (assuming we even do this) we turn back to Him –

The choice is simple enough.

What will we do?

Believe in ourselves – and we stay on the path of our current leaders.

Believe in / Believe / Follow God – and life changes so much for the better.
As one of the candidates claims – this country would be great again.
The issue is – can anyone other than God actually make this country great again.

The answer – No.  Only God can do that. He did it the first time.  And He can do it again.

When I first wrote this in 2016, I was trying to understand what Scripture shows us about leadership, responsibility, and the spiritual condition of a nation. Those questions haven’t faded. Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar were both given opportunities to turn toward what was right—one refused, one responded. Their stories form the foundation for the next part of this series, where I’ll look at how God works through leaders, how He calls people back to Himself, and how these ancient patterns still echo in our own time.