Two types of people. (And politics, too.)

Sometimes I see Christians spend tons of time worrying about evil government and its conspiracies who will be the next president, etc. This does not surprise me, but it is a tactic Satan uses to distract us. Let me make some simple points.

There was a conspiracy against Jesus, and it even killed Him. There were horrifically barbarous and evil governments full of plots. And the record is that Satan and his angels are often behind world powers (Dan 10; 11, Eze 28), and they are supernaturally strong forces that resist even God's angels. The record is also that yes, Christians may be killed by governments or evil men for their beliefs. (Rev 12:11, Rom 8)

But you know what Christ didn't do? He didn't talk about who took down the world trade centers or if Sandy Hook was a hoax. That would have been a distraction. Christ realized that the real struggle isn't against governments, because there are two classes of people: those in Christ, and those captive to do Satan's will. (Gal 3; 2 Tim 2) Indeed, we should expect all sorts of evil, but this thought should not overtake us with shock and awe.

You see, Christ's example and God's word are what we should follow, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph 6)

There is only one way to change the world eternally and spiritually, and that's by making less people captive to Satan to do Satan's will. Otherwise, no matter how it seems, it's a passing, fleeting change, and it's not going to be stored up in heaven. Don't let Satan distract you. Follow Christ's example, even if it initially upsets you to ignore Satan's machinations playing out in the flesh and blood. 

Christian-esque political activism is doomed to fail.

Christian-esque political activism is doomed to fail.

BQ: Lots of Christians want to change the government of our country to one more...well, it varies. But often you'll see them posting anti-Obama rhetoric, or pro-Paul notes. Is this a good solution? 

No. In fact, trying to change America by political machinations, no matter how zealous, will never succeed. To figure out why, we'll start with Daniel 10. In this section, Daniel had a vision and had been praying and fasting for 3 weeks so that he might have more understanding. Eventually, an angel showed up to help him, and said,

"Do not be afraid, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart on understanding this and on humbling yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia." (12-13)

What we see here is that the governments of the world are backed up by unseen angelic forces. We'll see more on how we know this tomorrow. 







BQ: In Daniel 10, an angel was withstood by "the prince of Persia." Was this prince a physical one? The answer is no. Humans have never been a threat to angels, and the record is that one angel can take down any human or number of humans. Let's look at a couple of examples of the power of just one angel.
 

2 Kings 19:35 says, "Then it happened that night that the angel of the Lord went out and struck 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians; and when men rose early in the morning, behold, all of them were dead."

1 Chronicles 21:16 recounts an angel appearing after David sinned:

"Then David lifted up his eyes and saw the angel of the Lord standing between earth and heaven, with his drawn sword in his hand stretched out over Jerusalem. Then David and the elders, covered with sackcloth, fell on their faces."

Clearly, the prince withstanding the angel sent to Daniel was an angelic one, not a human one.







BQ: How else do we know that angels (including fallen ones) can be behind world governments? Well, because Satan is one of those mentioned. In Ezekiel 28:13, the king of Tyre is described as having had, "the seal of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God."

This is a description of Satan, and shouldn't surprise us, because Satan indicated his power in this world when he told Jesus in reference to the lands spreading forth, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”  (Mt 4:9)

Do you think that getting votes for Prop 28 would have changed the course of a country over which Satan was ruler?  






BQ: So what else do we know about princes of Persia and angels? Eph 3:10 mentions something important, saying, "...so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places."

Notice that the authorities and rulers do not exist on earth, but rather "in the heavenly places."  And we know from Colossians 2:14 that when Jesus died on the cross, "He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him."
 

Did Jesus disarm Pilate? The Romans? Nope. The rulers and authorities are very much in the heavenly places. Trying to get lots of signatures on a petition attempts to affect the physical nature of reality, not the spiritual, and is doomed to failure. 





BQ: Often Christians try to organize people to vote for some physical candidate, when the truth is that there are angelic forces behind world governments, and these forces can be so strong that heaven's angels even struggle with them. 

As Christians, we must realize that,  "our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." (Eph 6:12)

If we try to change our country through physical means, like organizing people to vote, we will fail.  All we are influencing is the physical facade, but the spiritual foundation is what must be changed, and that starts not when we try to get people to hate Barack Obama, but when we, "go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."  (Mt 28:19)