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The emotional impact of the election of Donald Trump has been breathtaking.

You will have observed responses ranging from hysterical despair through to something that approaches worship, and all shades in between. Can it really be all that bad or all that good? Apparently.

The Rule of God

As Christians, the degree to which the pendulum of our emotional responses swings will be the degree to which we know God. As Isaiah wrote to a troubled Jerusalem, “He (Yahweh) will be the sure foundation for your times.” (Isaiah 33:6)

Of course, our emotions get involved. Mine are. However, our hope and well-being are not centred on a human leader, the economy, or national military security. Each is under the rule of God.

I think we know that instinctively, but it is hard not to get caught up in the euphoria or despair of the recent US election, or to have our equilibrium disturbed as we look forward to our own.

Times of Plenty

There was a time in Israel when these things came to the fore. God has been good to record it for us. (cf. Isaiah 22:14-25)

The story begins with Shebna, the chief steward of the palace in Jerusalem. At the time, Jerusalem was a city of accumulated wealth.

Their land is full of silver and gold; there is no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses; there is no end to their chariots. (Isaiah 2:7)

Satiated with wealth. Secured by chariots, the “blitzkrieg” weapons of the day. (Weapons expressly forbidden by God, by the way.) The inhabitants of Jerusalem had transferred their hope and loyalty to their economy, infrastructure, and military.

… they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. (2:8)

They even laughed at the prophets’ warnings of impending invasion, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die (joke, joke.)” Their wealth was their demise. Their military security was their nemesis.

In Isaiah chapter 22, when they should have been lamenting and grieving over their creeping idolatry, they were holding banquets and celebrating the glory of their invincibility. They just couldn’t hear or heed the call of Yahweh. But in reality, they were as indestructible as the Titanic.

The Lord, the Lord Almighty, called you on that day
to weep and to wail, to tear out your hair and put on sackcloth.

Shebna, chief steward of the palace, dismissing as nonsense the prophecy of a foreign invasion, carved out a magnificent tomb for himself in Jerusalem. He had absolutely no doubt that he would live to a ripe old age and die in his beloved city.

In a powerful metaphor, Yahweh said to Shebna he would “roll you up tightly like a ball and throw you into a large country. There you will die…” Shebna’s tenure would not only come to an end; it would end in Babylon.

A Peg in a Firm Place

God said He would appoint Eliakim in Shebna’s place. Eliakim would be given all the accoutrements of office — the robes and sashes of a ruler. He would be given the keys to the house of David. That is, he would have control over the palace and all the affairs of the king. God himself would place him securely in that role.

“I will drive him like a peg into a firm place…”

In response, all of Eliakim’s family and those who lived in Jerusalem would bask in Eliakim’s glory. They would hang their confidence on him.

And therein lies the continuing problem. Instead of turning to Yahweh — who had raised Eliakim to replace Shebna — the people transferred their hope and allegiance to the man. Glorying in the man rather than the God behind the rise of the man.

And so, the prophecy of chapter 22 ends in tragedy.

“In that day, the peg driven into the firm place will give way. It will be sheared off and will fall, and the load hanging on will be cut down.” (verse 25)

Eliakim will fall. And not only Eliakim, but all those who were hanging onto him, who found their glory, strength and security in him, will fall. The passage ends with the simple yet profound statement, “Yahweh has spoken.”

Transient Empires

There is a tremendous foundation for strength and wisdom in these events. They were written for the people of Jerusalem concerning their leaders, but the back story is ever the same: the political and geopolitical events, the rise and fall of leaders, our securities and insecurities, come at the hand of Yahweh. When He speaks, it is done.

Were I an emotional man, I might even say, “Hallelujah!”

What those surrounding Eliakim were doing is common to humanity. Without God, humanity is without hope, always seeking a hero to put their faith in. As followers of Jesus, we stand on a very different foundation. Neither our King nor His kingdom are of this world. Our hope and our allegiance settle not on Shebna, Eliakim or (fill in the name), but on Christ.

In His time, God will shear off every “peg driven into a firm place”, and the entire political landscape will undergo seasonal change. Every empire in history has proved to be transient, a servant of God for a time. Under God’s hand, a new despot might arise, the fear of whom turns many towards God. God might incubate a political autocracy, such as in China (and other closed societies), through which the Gospel shines like a beacon, drawing millions to Christ.

Or God may give a period of peace and rebuilding, a rest along the way. But in it all, it is God whose plans will stand. Every empire of history has come and gone. Our hope remains.

For Our Times

What do we take from all this?

I don’t know whether the USA or Australia have Shebna, Eliakim or another derivative of human leadership. Time will tell. But I do know this: behind the rising and falling of leaders is the sovereign hand of Yahweh.

If what Paul said is true, it is God who places leaders in power and removes them. “From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.” (Acts 17:26)

In this, Paul was simply stating what was blindingly obvious to him throughout the Old Testament. God raised up and brought down the kings of Israel, as well as the tyrants of Assyria, Babylon, Edom, and Medo-Persia… And God has not retired! He is still the active player in human affairs. His purposes still stand.

We are about to face our own election. It is good to pray for a government whose values most closely align with ours. But above that, the real need is for God to install a government that will turn people’s hearts towards Jesus, even if it is accomplished by the decline into complete moral and economic bankruptcy of our nation.

As we pray, we may actually be praying for the next generation, or the next. God might bring the reforms we desire, but work at a pace different from our felt urgency. But by praying, we acknowledge that there is one, always and ever, above the political processes of the age. In praying, in our minds we hand the sovereignty back to Yahweh. It is an act of worship.

Our hope is in Yahweh alone. “In Him, we live and move and have our being.”

“To Him be the glory for ever, Amen!” (Romans 11:36)

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Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.