I have no special insight into what will happen this week. Only God knows what is about to happen to the United States of America, and He is in control of all things.
Regardless of our inability to see the future, we all feel in our hearts that there is a turn of events coming that none of us have ever seen in our lifetimes.
Over the past few weeks, my church's daily reading plan has had me in 2 Chronicles - a book dedicated to the history of the ancient kings of Israel. You can't read that history without seeing how God involves himself in the politics and prosperity of nations, or how He doles out judgement on wicked rulers and wicked kingdoms.
The United States was a country founded for a "moral and religious people" that served Jesus Christ alone as King. Our Founders were well versed in biblical history. They knew the warnings that God gave the Israelites about the rule of kings hundreds of years before Israel demanded a king (Deuteronomy 17:14-20).
They were to ask God who their leader should be and appoint someone from their own people.
The king must not acquire a large cavalry, which would entice him to put his faith in military strength instead of God.
The king must not have many wives, who could lead his heart astray.
The king must not have a horde of treasures.
The king was to personally write out a copy of God's commands so he would know them by heart.
Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, he will not turn from this command to the right or the left, and he and his sons will continue reigning many years in Israel.
Our Founders were also aware of the fact that the Israelite's decision to ask for a king was a sin against God. After God rescued them from slavery in Egypt and they conquered the land promised to them, their sons and daughters quickly put God to the side. For multiple generations, God allowed enemy tribes/nations to plunder Israel every time they forgot Him. When they cried out for help, he would send a leader (called a judge) to save them.
But after the rape of a woman sparked civil war, the Israelites were tired of trying to live as free men. God had set up a system of self-governance where the Israelites would prosper if they would only follow Him, but because they were unable to do this, they thought having a king would fix their problems.
And so, they asked the prophet Samuel for a king (1 Samuel 8).
When they said, 'Give us a king to judge us,' Samuel considered their demand wrong, so he prayed to the Lord. But the Lord told him, "Listen to the people and everything they say to you. They have not rejected you; they have rejected me as their king. They are doing the same thing to you that they have done to me, since the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, abandoning me and worshiping other gods. Listen to them, but solemnly warn them and tell them about the customary rights of the king who will reign over them.'
A king would tax them and take their sons and daughters into service. They would lose their liberty and their inalienable rights would be infringed upon.
But still, Israel persisted in their demand.
The first king, Saul, didn't obey God and was ultimately deposed, proving that the system of monarchy was not superior. After him came a new dynasty through the infamous David, who followed God with all his heart ... but after David, the monarchy began to fracture again.
America's founders were aware of the danger of putting trust in kings. As George Washington said in his farewell address, when people get tired of the back-and-forth fighting between one faction and another:
The disorders and miseries which result gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of public liberty.
But our Founders, living in a world where even the poorest farm boy knew the Scriptures, were aware of more than just the despotism and ineffectiveness of monarchy. They were also aware of how God's providence directly turns the wheels of history.
Israel's kings are an amazing example of how government's actions may cause God to either give or withhold his blessing - and sometimes, when wickedness has reached its full - to allow evil to befall a nation that has abandoned Him.
I often wonder at what point of history's cycle America now finds herself in.
Are we at the end of the golden age of King Solomon, where our vast riches and knowledge is about to be split in civil war because we allowed ourselves to be dominated by our lusts and our self-obsession?
Are we in the time of King Asa, who sought God when he was young, pleading with God to save his nation when an African army invaded ("Do not let a mere mortal hinder You") ... but turned his back on God in old age and tried to create international treaties and heal himself without asking for God's help ("Even in his disease he didn't seek the Lord but only the physicians").
Are we entering into the time of Kings Jehoshaphat, who brought revival to the land and revitalized the military by trusting in God, but also made alliances with wicked kings that sullied his record?
Are we in the time of King Jehoram and his son King Ahaziah, both of whom were evil and had short reigns before Ahaziah's mother seized the throne and killed all the rightful heirs except one?
Are we in the time of Joash, the infant prince who was saved from the evil queen by the daughter of the king, who was married to the priest Jehoiada, who hid the boy in God's temple for 7 years until he could rally the troops and execute the queen?
Perhaps we are instead in the later years of Joash, who forgot the loyal love of High Priest Jehoiada when Jehoiada died many years later, then worshipped other gods and killed Jehoida's son Zechariah for calling him out on it?
Or perhaps we are in the days of King Josiah, where there will be revival that comes too late, and we are doomed to spend the next few generations circling the drain before we are eclipsed or conquered.
And these are just some of the kings of Judah - I'm not even including the dynasties of northern Israel!
Our Founders knew all of this. The understood how history and human nature work. They understood that power corrupts. They saw how various systems of government had failed time and time again. They set this nation up as a safeguard against our more evil proclivities while knowing that those walls (the federalist system, three separate branches of government, the Electoral College, etc.) would never hold against a people who were determined to follow their own passions, lusts, and self-centeredness.
Throughout the books of the Bible that deal with the times of the kings, God intervened directly in the political affairs of men.
Of the Israelites, it says God "handed them over" to their enemies in verses like Judges 2:14, Judges 6:1, Judges 13:1, 1 Samuel 12:9. 2 Kings 13:3, and 2 Kings 17:20.
Perhaps the most damning passage is 2 Chronicles 36:15-17:
But the Lord, the God of their ancestors sent word against them by the hand of his messengers, sending them time and time again, for he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But they kept ridiculing God's messengers, despising his words, and scoffing at his prophets, until the Lord's wrath was so stirred up against his people that there was no remedy.
So he brought up against them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their fit young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary. He had no pity on young men or young women, elderly or aged; he handed them all over to him.
In addition to this phrase "handing over," the Bible says God orchestrated a "turn of events" in specific places where no human effort could change what was about to happen.
In 1 Kings 12:15, King Solomon's son didn't listen to his people and threatened them, which ignited civil war: "The king did not listen to the people, because this turn of events came from the Lord to carry out his word..."
In 2 Chronicles 25:20, King Amaziah also didn't listen and ended up being defeated in war, "for this turn of events was from God in order to hand them over to their enemies because they went after the gods of Edom."
Why is this important?
Because sometimes, God doesn't merely hand over an evil nation to its enemies.
He actually hardens the hearts of its rulers so that ruin is guaranteed.
When was the last time that America put its trust in God instead of the military-industrial complex? When was the last time it inquired of God or His commands in Scripture when seeking out advice to conduct a war or supply munitions to proxies in countries like Ukraine?
Do our leaders see themselves as equal to their countrymen, or do they disdain us as "deplorables" and "garbage"?
Are our leaders using our taxes to help us, or are they enriching their own coffers?
Do they use fair weights and measures, or are they driving up inflation and fees to benefit themselves?
Are they administering impartial justice, or are they withholding justice from some and cracking down on others based on characteristics like skin color?
Do they encourage people to follow the true God that our Founders worshipped, or are they encouraging us to follow after our sexual lusts and personal identities, even sacrificing our own unborn children so we can have pleasure and opportunity?
America has enjoyed her prosperity because she was built upon a deep acknowledgement of God and his laws. Our Constitution, John Adams said, was only meant for people who feared and followed God: "It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other."
And so, we come to the eve of the 2024 election.
Kamala Harris is the type of wicked ruler who signifies God's judgement upon a nation. She is woefully unprepared to lead a small town, let alone the most powerful empire in world history. She mocks God with her support of policies that fly in the face of God's commands, even ironically (and likely unknowingly), jabbing protesters who were being escorted out of her rally while they shouted "Jesus is Lord."
If Kamala Harris is comparable to Queen Jezebel of the northern kingdom, then Donald Trump is one of the squishier kings of Judah. He does not see a need for personal repentance and remains wrapped in his own veil of vanity, but he does acknowledge God and does not consider himself to be high and mighty above his countrymen.
The choice for the believer who fears God is clear: Trump may not be set on removing the high places and he may put too much trust in chariots and he certainly has been led astray by his sexual affairs and he has amassed gold for himself ... but he does not want to set up sex shrines to Baal, sacrifice children to Moloch, and persecute the faithful. In fact, he actually has quite the backbone.
Salvation comes from God alone, but that does not mean that Trump has not been used by God to bring prosperity and blessings in what might be the last days of our Union. Trump wants to restore our liberties, protect our borders, cut the bureaucracy - and he is more than willing to appoint wise and godly leaders to places like the Supreme Court, where our separation of powers allow them to do more than a single president ever could.
What about those who are worried that Trump may rule like a king?
(I'm looking at you, 32 million American Christians who don't want to vote.)
I am sad to inform you that you are ruled by petty kings already.
Add to that the fact that you kept all your freedoms the 4 years that Trump was in office.
With Trump, there is a chance that America may yet appoint godly men and women in positions of power to turn the people's institutions and hearts back toward God. A Trump administration will be crawling with such people.
Under Kamala, our fate seems absolute. If God has hardened our hearts to choose such a leader, then America's time has passed.
Either way, may God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Whether we rise or fall, God's kingdom advances.
