God's Man
by Skip Heitzig |This week, the Democratic Party officially nominated its candidate for president, and next week the Republican Party will do the same. With the political season in full swing, here's one of my favorite stories.
Three men--a surgeon, an engineer and a politician--were arguing about which of their professions was the oldest. The surgeon said, "The Bible says Eve was made by carving a rib from Adam. That's the job of a surgeon." The engineer said, "But look back one chapter. It says the world was made out of chaos. That's the job of an engineer." And then the politician said, "Ah, yes! But who created that chaos?"
It's vital for a nation to have good, godly leaders. The nation of Israel gives an object lesson of this. Israel had good leadership--the judges--but they wanted to have a king like the other nations. God described their rebellion very succinctly when He told the prophet Samuel, "They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them" (I Samuel 8:7).
That's nothing to pass over lightly. God had His sovereign will about what they should do, and they chose to go against it. God warned them what would happen. The king would tax the people heavily, he would take their best land and livestock, and he would take many of their young men and women into his personal service.
But they still insisted on their own way, and they suffered the consequences. Saul, the first king of Israel, was everything God had warned them about. He quickly became arrogant and brought Israel into a kind of chaos, because of his on-again, off-again obedience to God.
You see, God had a man He wanted to make king over His people--David, the shepherd of Bethlehem, "the man after God's own heart" (see I Samuel 13:14). David was the first in the royal lineage that eventually led to the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings.
But here's my point: God promotes and removes leaders on this earth. And God's will and His timing are always best. We should ask His counsel, and trust the future to Him. As Daniel 2:21 says, "He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings." And, as Psalm 33:12 says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."
Three men--a surgeon, an engineer and a politician--were arguing about which of their professions was the oldest. The surgeon said, "The Bible says Eve was made by carving a rib from Adam. That's the job of a surgeon." The engineer said, "But look back one chapter. It says the world was made out of chaos. That's the job of an engineer." And then the politician said, "Ah, yes! But who created that chaos?"
It's vital for a nation to have good, godly leaders. The nation of Israel gives an object lesson of this. Israel had good leadership--the judges--but they wanted to have a king like the other nations. God described their rebellion very succinctly when He told the prophet Samuel, "They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them" (I Samuel 8:7).
That's nothing to pass over lightly. God had His sovereign will about what they should do, and they chose to go against it. God warned them what would happen. The king would tax the people heavily, he would take their best land and livestock, and he would take many of their young men and women into his personal service.
But they still insisted on their own way, and they suffered the consequences. Saul, the first king of Israel, was everything God had warned them about. He quickly became arrogant and brought Israel into a kind of chaos, because of his on-again, off-again obedience to God.
You see, God had a man He wanted to make king over His people--David, the shepherd of Bethlehem, "the man after God's own heart" (see I Samuel 13:14). David was the first in the royal lineage that eventually led to the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings.
But here's my point: God promotes and removes leaders on this earth. And God's will and His timing are always best. We should ask His counsel, and trust the future to Him. As Daniel 2:21 says, "He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings." And, as Psalm 33:12 says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord."
In His strong love,
Skip Heitzig
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