Election Divide
Election Divide
By Dan L. White
The recent election saw the vote swing strongly back to the Republicans, reversing what happened a few years ago. America now is hoping for a change from hope and change. This wide swing reminds me a bit of what happened in Israel/Samaria right after the kingdom of the ten tribes was established.
The first king of the Kingdom of Israel was Jeroboam. God picked him to rule over the ten tribes, and the first thing Jeroboam did was to forsake the God who chose him. He set up idols at each end of his kingdom and changed Yahweh’s festivals. Consequently Jeroboam’s line was immediately disqualified to rule over Yahweh’s people.
Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel: Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you prince over my people Israel, and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it you; and yet you have not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in my eyes, but have done evil above all who were before you, and have gone and made you other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and have cast me behind your back: therefore, behold, I will bring evil on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam everyone who urinates on a wall, him who is shut up and him who is left at large in Israel, and will utterly sweep away the house of Jeroboam, as a man sweeps away dung, until it be all gone. Him who dies of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him who dies in the field shall the birds of the sky eat: for Yahweh has spoken it. (1 Kings 14:7-11)
Jeroboam was king for twenty-two years. His son Nadab ruled for only two years, when he was assassinated by one of his own people, Baasha, who took over as king. The first thing that Baasha did was to get rid of all of Jeroboam’s family, all who breathed.
It happened that, as soon as he was king, he struck all the house of Jeroboam: he didn’t leave to Jeroboam any who breathed, until he had destroyed him; according to the saying of Yahweh, which he spoke by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite; for the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and with which he made Israel to sin, because of his provocation with which he provoked Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger. (1 Kings 15:29-30)
The Kingdom of Israel began by forsaking God – and they then suffered internal division.
The third king of Samaria, Baasha, was no better than the first two. He ruled for twenty-four years, but because of his disobedience was told that his line would cease. His son Elah succeeded him for two years; then this happened.
In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years.
His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah: and Zimri went in and struck him, and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place.
It happened, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he struck all the house of Baasha: he didn’t leave him a single one who urinates on a wall, neither of his relatives, nor of his friends. Thus Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, (1 Kings 16:8-12)
Elah’s assasin Zimri committed suicide a week later, when he was attacked by Omri, a commander in the army who made himself king.
In the first fifty years of their existence, then, the Kingdom of Israel had six kings from four different dynasties or families. The nation was torn from the inside out because of their forsaking God. When they tried to get along without God, they couldn’t get along with each other.
This is one of the blessings for obedience –
Lev 26:6 “‘I will give peace in the land.
When the Kingdom of Israel disobeyed, not only did they suffer attacks from outside, but they couldn’t be at peace with themselves within their country.
That is America today. While many Muslims want to see our nation destroyed and seek to attack us however they can and Russia boldly rattles its sabres, internally we are extremely divided, with no hope of coming together.
With the Republican victory in this 2014 election, there will be many calls for the conservatives to be more inclusive, for political expediency. Those calls do not apply to the other side. They do not call for the liberals to abandon abortion or homosexual activism. They only call for conservatives to accept those enormous sins. Republicans may try to find a presidential candidate who is everything to everybody, even though that has not worked in the past. A candidate who tries to be everything to everybody doesn’t mean much to anybody. There will be much press about having a Big Tent, which means that conservatives should become like liberals. Such actions will not heal the divide, though.
Along with those election results, the Washington Times carried an article that shows the divide in America.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/oct/20/idaho-citys-ordinance-tells-pastors-to-marry-gays-/
Coeur d‘Alene, Idaho, city officials have laid down the law to Christian pastors within their community, telling them bluntly via an ordinance that if they refuse to marry homosexuals, they will face jail time and fines.
The dictate comes on the heels of a legal battle with Donald and Evelyn Knapp, ordained ministers who own the Hitching Post wedding chapel in the city, but who oppose gay marriage, The Daily Caller reported…
“On Friday, a same-sex couple asked to be married by the Knapps, and the Knapps politely declined,” The Daily Signal reported. “The Knapps now face a 180-day jail term and a $1,000 fine for each day they decline to celebrate the same-sex wedding.”…
“Many have denied that pastors would ever be forced to perform ceremonies that are completely at odds with their faith, but that’s what is happening here — and it’s happened this quickly,” Mr. Tedersco said, The Daily Caller reported.
But the city sees it differently. As far back as May, city officials were insisting that their ordinance is indeed in line with law.
“If you turn away a gay couple, refuse to provide services for them, then in theory you violated our code, and you’re looking at a potential misdemeanor citation,” said Coeur d‘Alene City Attorney Warren Wilson, to KXLY months ago.”
Notice the wide gap in thinking there among these Americans in a small city. One side believes that sodomy is sin, and the other side believes that people who hold such beliefs should go to jail. A similar incident recently took place in Houston, Texas, where pastors’ sermons were subpoenaed.
Many will try to end the division by compromising, but the center of the American divide is Christ himself. It is not just abortion or assisted suicide or legalized drug use or homosexual rights or women’s rights. All of this is about Christ himself, what he taught, how he lived, and how he expects his followers to live. To compromise is to go against Christ himself.
Those who are for Christ are supposed to be divided from those who are against him.
Again this goes back to the religion that is taught in the government schools. There is only one true God. Therefore there are only two religions, either for that God or against him. The socialist schools teach religion that is against that God and at least half of America now follows that religion. This election snapback was to be expected, but the anti-Christ socialists will not go away because of their deeply held religious beliefs, which were fed to them from pre-school through college.
The only response to this is a deeply held belief in Christ, what he taught, how he lived, and how he expects his followers to live. And that is the ultimate purpose of all that we see going on – to again look directly to the King of Kings, who is the soon coming King. Until that time, the divide between those for Christ and those against him will widen. At that time, and only at that time, will the divide end.
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