That is the troubling question that many believers struggle with during every election period. Often, it seems, the conclusion is that since none of the candidates are likable, the voter just stays home. Yet, there has never been a candidate in my memory who could walk on water. So what is the scriptural answer to the problem? We Christians are often brought back to that promise of God to the Israelites recorded in 2 Chronicles 7:14:

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

Some might want to say that those words were directed to the Jews and not Christians, but it is my opinion that words spoken from eternity by the God of eternity also transcend all time. As Jesus, who was from eternity, said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means not pass away” (Mark 13:31).

I am thinking of those principles of God’s character and His relationship with those who belong to Him as those principles are revealed in His promises to Old Testament as well as New Testament believers.

Since that Old Testament promise was given to “My people,” then what do we expect to see as the “healing of the land” if we pray and believe He will answer the prayer?

Are we expecting to see Sunday School classes in the White House? Or perhaps mandatory closure of stores on Sundays? Or the re-institution of Prohibition? Or a “litmus test” requirement for political candidates on their beliefs?

Probably, our expectations have not been clarified in our own minds to that extent, but those concepts have never worked in a land inhabited by believers and non-believers who are under  the authority of the same Constitution. The Founding Fathers wrestled much with those issues, no doubt.

However, the promise was for both spiritual and physical needs—forgiveness of sins and healing of the land. The latter, in the case of the United States currently, would be the restoration of a faltering and diminishing economy in every area of endeavor—agriculture, manufacturing, energy production, medicine, education—everywhere!

When we pray that prayer, do we think of those things? When we think of voting, do we think of those things as desirable from a Christian viewpoint? If our physical bodies hurt, we generally seek out medical help, perhaps getting a second opinion, even, but it is to someone with the insight, the actual experience of doing things right, and who has the confidence to tackle the problem.

How is it, then, with a Christian? The Christian is in a dual role while living in this world. As a Christian, he belongs to Christ and his citizenship is in heaven from where he is an ambassador for Christ to this world. He carries that identity into his physical life as a citizen of his earthly country, where he is subject to his respective government. God has ordained it to be so. Look at this Scripture:

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:1-4).

What was that line in the Declaration of Independence about “Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?” Is there not a hint of that in that Scripture?

Is there any one candidate who has made a commitment to those principles of freedom for citizens of this nation and the healing of its land?

In Chapter 13 of his letter to the Roman believers, Paul also wrote of submission to the authority of government and its leaders, for they are put in place by God to make a stand against evil. Peter, likewise, wrote of the same thing, submission to civil rulers and maintaining good works as a testimony to the non-believers (1 Peter 2:13–17).

One other issue is important, and Acts 4 is the source of that matter. Peter and John were arrested and put in custody for having healed a man and for preaching of Jesus and the resurrection from the dead, which was a “no-no” in the beliefs of the Sadducees there. The questioning began:

“And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, ‘By what power or by what name have you done this?’

“Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: ‘If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it” (Acts 4:8-14).

Then the religious leaders, including many of the family of the high priest, conferred on what to do:

“What shall we do to these men? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name. So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:16-18).

The response of Peter and John shows the courage of a Spirit-filled believer who is fully committed to “earnestly contending for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 1:3):

“But Peter and John answered and said to them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge, for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20).

Now, you are asking, what does all this have to do with voting in the 2016 election in America?

It ties in with the reasoning which Paul made in that quote above, from 1 Timothy 2:1-4, where he exhorts us to pray and give thanks for all who are in authority, “that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

The issue of “political correctness” has been challenging the provisions of our first amendment to the Constitution, which says, in regard to the rights of individual citizens, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, or abridging the freedom of speech…”

There is a problem, however, for if what we know of the core beliefs of Islam were to be freely expressed, all Christians, Jews, even all people, would be subject to their idea of conversion, or “death to the infidels!” Thus, any vote we cast that also allows that directly or indirectly advances their agenda would certainly not be favorable in God’s sight.

The conclusion of this line of thinking is this: If one candidate promises to lead and rule favorably in respect to those desired principles of godliness and wellbeing that Paul urges us to pray for, and another candidate’s proposals and historical record indicate otherwise, it would seem unwise  in the sight of God to cast a vote that would not support those favorable principles that Christians should hold dear to their commitment to Christ.

Or, to cast a vote that is meaningless in its potential effect on the outcome, or, not to vote at all for “reason of conscience.” Remember, we are not calling a pastor to the oval office, nor selecting a leader for our Bible study group. We are electing a civil leader for our civil government, yet we do desire one whose integrity of character is worthy of that office, as much as is possible.

I have voted in the presidential elections since the one of 1956, General Ike’s final one, and as I wrote above, not one of the candidates on either side could walk on water, and some could not even have come near it. Looking back, and knowing now how the inner core of the establishment has toyed with the American people to perpetuate their private agenda, it may be that my vote only went to delay that agenda slightly while allowing freedom of expression for Christian principles and giving more time to share the gospel.

Given the obvious trends in contrast to that freedom in our culture today, the choice in this election should be obvious if we think clearly and honestly about it.

God may have plans for judgment ahead, but that is His job. I do not want to be a tool in His judgment but a tool for righteousness, if at all possible—and hopefully my vote will have been counted in that category.

One more thing. Jesus identified the two sides of the issue when He said this, in John 10:10:

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.”

Which side will get your endorsement at the ballot box, even if you consider these two sides in a totally civil and moral light—like thievery, murder and destruction, or life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?

Contact email:  andwegetmercy@gmail.com

He concluded that alert with this timing factor, “For you do not know when your Lord may return.” So what are we to watch for, or how are we to be watching?

He used those cautions in various parables that illustrate that stewardship of responsibilities is to be accountable to Him at His return.

Yet, there was no guideline as to how long He would be gone, and for centuries we have had resounding in our hearing, “no man knows the day or the hour” of His coming. Match this situation with the fact that God has made promises that would have to be fulfilled before He could come and wind up human history as we know it, and as prophecy brings to light. For example, the promise He would return the Jews to their promised land and make of them a new nation:

“’And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord,’ says the Lord God, ‘when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land. Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols” (Ezekiel 36:23-25).

The beginning of that fulfillment was on May 14, 1948, despite the belief of many today who try to tell us that God reje3cted the Jews when they rejected Christ, and those promises now are for the church. Its called Replacement Theology and is an outright slap in the face of God and makes Him out to be a liar!

It looks like He has hallowed His holy name before that crowd also. A god who lies is no god at all, and if Numbers 23:19 is not true, then “We are, of all people, most miserable!” Remember this—memorize it and start every Bible question search with this truth in the front of your quest:

“God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

In regard to the watching issue, it seems that the first time we are told what to watch for is in Luke 21:28:

“Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”

What are “these things?”

In the context before that alert, He described the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple that occurred in 70 AD and told of the inhabitants of Jerusalem and Israel being “led away captive into all nations, and [that] Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (verse 24). His prophecy leaps ahead, then, to the time when the age of the Gentiles begins to be fulfilled:

“And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring;men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.  Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory” (Luke 21:25-27).

This picture of Jesus coming in great power and glory seems to be pointing to His Second Coming when He comes to the earth where “earth dwellers” will see Him arrive. He says “they” will see Him, not those looking for Him as it will be for the Rapture that comes seven years earlier.

In verse 24 two events are referenced—the return of the Jews to Israel and the fulfilling of the times of the Gentiles. Earlier I quoted Luke 21:28 and asked, “What are those things that are to begin  happening?”

The very next thing told is the parable of the fig tree. You may recall the time Jesus was passing by a fig tree on His way to the temple with the disciples and discovered the tree was all leaves and no fruit, and He cursed it (Mark 11:12-14). Immediately after, He entered the temple and drove out the money-changers and traders. A religion that bears no fruit, no positive eternal results, that was the picture that the disciples saw. The fig tree and the olive tree are used to illustrate Israel in scriptural comparisons.

This parable of the fig tree in Luke 21:29-33 relates to the blossoming of Israel again, just as Ezekiel 37 with the valley of dry bones taking on flesh and reviving again to become one people in one place instead of being scattered throughout all nations as their judgment has been:

“Then He spoke to them a parable: ‘Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near. So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.  Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all things take place.  Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away’” (Luke 21:29-33).

It is clearly this current generation now in the 21st century to which He is pointing toward, for that generation has passed away long ago. The “things” that  are happening now, today, should also tell us that this generation, not the next one, will be the one to experience them. When He says, “…you see and  know for yourselves,” it becomes a very personal and individual issue, not just “those other guys.”

Very appropriately, the next portion of that context, Luke 21:34-36, bears out the subject of this article—watch and be faithful and ready to stand without shame before the Son of Man:

“But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly, for it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

“How to be worthy” apparently is a fearful thing for some folks, and I have wrestled much with that issue over these past sixty years as a believer in Christ. The truth is, as I have found out as I began to believe the Word of God that was right before my eyes, I never could have saved myself, so how in the world could I have kept myself saved? My own “works of righteousness” are identified by Scripture as “filthy rags,” and not good for anything. It is just as Paul told Titus:

“…Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:5-7).

Earlier Paul had told Titus the proper attitude for us to have in these uncertain last days, an attitude of hope and expectation of blessing and joy unspeakable:

“…We should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,  who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works” (Titus 2:12-14).

There are more events to watch for that will be physically evident, not to discount or ignore those geophysical tragedies that the globalists want to call “Man-made climate change events.” There will be a confirmation of a covenant that will promise Israel a seven-year period of peace and allow her to rebuild the temple and restore its religious practices (Daniel 9:27).

That verse also tells us that halfway through the seven years he will void the agreement, enter the temple and declare himself God.  The New Testament Scriptures indicate that its signing, or an announcement for it to be signed, will trigger the Day of the Lord when “sudden de3struction” will envelope the whole earth. Paul wrote of this in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3:

“For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night, for when they say, ‘Peace and safety!’ then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.”

This Scripture says the triggering event will be when “they” shall exclaim, “Peace and safety!” Thus, it could be an announcement of an agreement having been made and a date set, sooner than later, when the signing ceremony is to take place. The Day of the Lord is that period when the “time of Jacob’s trouble” begins and God deals again with Israel’s restoration and their eventual recognition of Jesus as their true Messiah (Zechariah 12:10).

The Body of Christ, the born-again church made up largely of those “taken out of the Gentiles for His name” will have been taken to heaven, as Paul revealed in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17. Quietly and without fanfare to the world, like a thief in the night, He will take away those whom He has purchased with His own blood—His purchased possessions—to be with Him forever!

In the secular, physical world we should be watching for and seeing the subtle but steady developments of that beast of Revelation 13 as its seventh head begins to form. It will be the  seventh kingdom to rule the whole world, and some signs of its development are the efforts for a New World Order to emerge as the sovereignty of individual nations are destroyed. The capstone of that goal is the United States of America, and it is not hard to see how well the globalists in favor of this movement think they are doing when we consider President Obama’s statement on April 30 at the Annual Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C.—“The end of the Republic has never looked better!” [1]

Jesus said in Luke 17:26 and following that when the coming of the Son of Man is upon us, people will be buying and selling, marrying and giving in marriage, building and planting. They will be unaware of what is hovering over the world, and those statements of Jesus indicates that the “sudden destruction” that the Rapture will bring will be the expected economic and financial  collapse that is projected in news reports today. [2]

At this point in the chronology, our “watching” will have been finished, for that Rapture event changes everything! However, Peter writes that some are not so sure and apparently will make themselves heard, fervently:

“…Scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, ‘Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation’” (2 Peter 3:3-4).

Really, we must ask, in defiance? Without a doubt, it is a time for Christians to reject that old scoffing rebuttal, “Where is the promise of His coming,” and be prepared with daily close accounts with the Lord. For are we not “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ?”

End Notes:

[1] President Obama:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpbEg-zVcpU

[2] Crashing Economy:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZaqnsmCpbZI

Contact email: andwegetmercy@gmail.com