Political Upheaval

by Mike James

WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: Protesters interact with Capitol Police inside the U.S. Capitol Building on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden's 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. A group of Republican senators said they would reject the Electoral College votes of several states unless Congress appointed a commission to audit the election results. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

On January 6, 2021, we witnessed something at our Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., that many of us would never have imagined. Our own people were breaking into and ransacking the building we formulate our laws in. Five people died during the events that occurred that day.

Over the summer, we saw violence in a number of our major cities. Some of that violence also has roots in political differences in our country.

Much of the anger of the far right and far left stems from the perceptions both sides have of the other. Social media and mainstream media have fed the fire that burns on both sides of the political spectrum. Lies, half-truths, innuendo, opinion, and speculation are accepted as if it is the word of God. Leaders on both sides have played a part in the fraying of our culture.

My leader is Jesus Christ. My government is the Kingdom of God. I'm going to follow the example of Christ (John 18:36), and I hope you do, too. All of this noise does not matter when you step back and look at the big picture. It's all a blip in the record of history.

Please read history. Look back over all the years of human history and you will see the same story repeated. These ideas versus those ideas. This faction against that faction. This reasoning versus that reasoning. And what has it gotten us?

Look at ancient Israel, God's peculiar people. God wanted them to follow Him and Him alone. But what did the people want? The people wanted a king. You can read the beginning of the story in 1 Samuel 8. God allowed the people to have it their way. God gave the people their freedom from Him.

As we read the story throughout the Old Testament we see corruption taking over in the nation of Israel. There were good kings and bad kings, but slowly and surely, the nation of Israel moved further away from God. God sent prophets to warn His people. But the people did not heed the prophets.

Israel became a powerful nation at its zenith, but it did not last long. Eventually, it got so bad that Israel broke apart. It became the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom. But something I find interesting about the history of Israel is it was often a house divided.

Even in the beginning, the sons of Leah and the sons of Rachel had their problems in Jacob's time (Genesis 37:1-11). In the time of the judges, Benjamin (Rachel's son) took up arms against the other tribes (Judges 20). After a long war (2 Samuel 3:1), David was able to unite the twelve tribes (2 Samuel: 5:1-5).

Later, David's son Absalom promoted himself as the new king and drew many Israelites away from their allegiance to David (2 Samuel 15). A later revolt was led by a man named Sheba against David and the tribe of Judah (2 Samuel 20:1-2).

During Solomon's reign there was more unrest when one of the king's servants, Jeroboam, rebelled (1 Kings 11:26-40). Jeroboam was informed by the prophet Ahijah that God would give him authority over ten of the twelve tribes of Israel. God's reason for dividing Israel is found in 1 Kings 11:33: "Because they have forsaken me . . . and have not walked in my ways."

After Solomon's death, his son Rehoboam was set to become the next king. Jeroboam returned from Egypt and led a group of people to confront Rehoboam with a demand for fewer tax obligations. When Rehoboam refused the demand, ten of the tribes rejected Rehoboam and David's dynasty (1 Kings 12:16), and Ahijah's prophecy was fulfilled. Only Judah and Benjamin remained loyal to King Rehoboam. The northern tribes crowned Jeroboam as their king. Rehoboam made plans to assault the rebel tribes, but the Lord prevented him from taking that action (1 Kings 12:21-24). Jeroboam consolidated his power by instituting a form of calf worship and declaring that pilgrimages to Jerusalem were unnecessary.

From God's viewpoint, the division was a judgment on not keeping God's commands, specifically the commands prohibiting idolatry. There are many parallels between the United States and ancient Israel. The biggest one is the claim by most of our peoples to worship the true God. But just like ancient Israel forsook God and His ways, so have the people in the United States.

Unlike Israel and the United States, the people in God's church need to stay united. We cannot allow our country, leaders, or politics to become idols for us. Our country as great, as it is, was never a utopia. The utopia we are all waiting for is the Kingdom of God (Matthew 6:33).

Looking at Israel's history, we see that God allowed the breakup of Israel because of their sins. God might be allowing the political upheaval in our country for the very same reason. Let us never forget who is in ultimate control of this world and the governing authorities in the world (Romans 13:1). God's will be done as He sees fit (Matthew 6:10).

The good news is that God will reunite Israel (Isaiah 11:12-13). When Jesus Christ returns in His millennial kingdom, all hostility, jealousy, and conflict in and among the nations will be put to rest.

Sources: "Why Was Israel Divided into the Southern Kingdom and Northern Kingdom," Got Questions, https://www.gotquestions.org/Israel-Northern-Southern-kingdoms.html.