By Jack Glover

The longest presidential election campaign in history is finally over, and we soon will have a new president taking office.

Over the centuries God’s people have lived under about every type of government imaginable. Some were good, but most were, or became, morally bad. In many cases the wickedness was almost beyond description. Even the chosen people of God became guilty of joining with the people of nations around them, and thus incurred God’s wrath and punishment.

Just one of many instances of what God thought of their disobedience is found in Lev. 26:27- 33:

“Yet if in spite of this you do not obey Me, but act with hostility against Me, then I will act with wrathful hostility against you, and I, even I, will punish you seven times for your sins. Further, you will eat the flesh of your sons and the flesh of your daughters you will eat.

“I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for My soul shall abhor you. I will lay waste your cities as well and will make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your soothing aromas. I will make the land desolate so that your enemies who settle in it will be appalled over it.

“You, however, I will scatter among the nations and will draw out a sword after you, as your land becomes desolate and your cities become waste.”

During Old Testament times, God had chosen one nation of people, Israel. With the coming of Christ, after his death and resurrection, a new kingdom was established that included people of all nations. The old Law was superseded by the law of Christ, and all nations were subject to it (Gal. 3:8, I Pet. 2:9). Christians today are told to pray for their leaders (I Tim. 2:1) and be subject to their government (Rom. 13:1-7).

President-elect Barack Obama claims to be a Christian, although his exposed knowledge of the Bible and his political positions cast some doubt on that. He may view being a Christian as most of the world does, but most of the world follows writings of men (Matt. 15:9), not those of Jesus and his chosen apostles. One is not a Christian unless he follows Christ.

Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen (I Pet. 4:11).

Christians do not think beyond what is written (I Cor. 4:6). We know that “anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son” (II John 9).

Be it known that the president-elect is one of the most liberal men in the Senate, supports abortion and stem-cell research, says he is not sure about life beyond Earth, and has spent most of his religious efforts in very liberal denominations or Muslim associations. His positions on marriage, gay rights, etc., show agreement with such, as well as a rejection of scriptural teaching and a misunderstanding of proper interpretation of the Bible.

The Sermon on the Mount and Romans do not contradict one another, despite what Obama wrote in his book “The Audacity of Hope”:

For many practicing Christians, the inability to compromise may apply to gay marriage. I find such a position troublesome, particularly in a society in which Christian men and women have been known to engage in adultery or other violations of their faith without civil penalty. I believe that American society can choose to carve out a special place for the union of a man and a woman as the unit of child rearing most common to every culture.

I am not willing to have the state deny American citizens a civil union that confers equivalent rights on such basic matters as hospital visitation or health insurance coverage simply because the people they love are of the same sex — nor am I willing to accept a reading of the Bible that considers an obscure line in Romans to be more defining of Christianity than the Sermon on the Mount.

The heightened focus on marriage is a distraction from other, attainable measures to prevent discrimination and gays and lesbians (pg. 222-223).

Another quote gives us an idea of Obama’s understanding of what religion is. Apparently the will of God has little to do with his thinking:

I was not raised in a religious household. For my mother, organized religion too often dressed up closed-mindedness in the garb of piety, cruelty and oppression in the cloak of righteousness. However, in her mind, a working knowledge of the world’s great religions was a necessary part of any well-rounded education.

In our household the Bible, the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita sat on the shelf alongside books of Greek and Norse and African mythology. On Easter or Christmas Day, my mother might drag me to church, just as she dragged me to the Buddhist temple, the Chinese New Year celebration, the Shinto shrine, and ancient Hawaiian burial sites. In sum, my mother viewed religion through the eyes of the anthropologist; it was a phenomenon to be treated with a suitable respect, but with a suitable detachment as well.

This spirit of hers guided me on the path I would ultimately take. It was in search of confirmation of her values that I studied political philosophy (pg. 202-204).

I am certain this type of philosophy is not just that of the president-elect. Few people want to accept the Bible as written. Things are not much different in our nation than for the nations of Jesus’ time. He classified them as hypocrites who worshiped Him in vain even as they taught the precepts of men as doctrine (Matt. 15:9).

In spite of similar lip service today, it is evident by their actions that most lawmakers in the House and Senate hold the same position. Our nation is moving away from God and His unchangeable truths to their own ways, a position that inevitably will lead to our destruction, as has been true of all powerful nations that reject Him.

Man does not have the authority to tamper with or change the laws God has made (Rev. 22:18-19). Our leaders need to understand what God meant when He said: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways. … For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Is. 55:8-9).

The recent election may pose some problems for those who are concerned about sinfulness, and the increase of it, in our nation. Many will be like Lot, who was vexed by the filthy conversation of the wicked. In spite of what appears to be rejection of God’s law, under the guise of fairness and equality, Christians have obligations to government (Rom. 13:1), even if officials support evil.

We must respect and honor our leaders even when we don’t agree with all of their decisions, as Peter said in I Pet. 2:13-17:

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.

Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God. Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.

From the beginning of the church our brethren have, from time to time, lived under evil governments. They obeyed the laws, but never stopped preaching against it, or submitted to those who supported it. The truth will only be supported by those who know it, and love it. We cannot expect those who are making every effort to change our nations morality, to support truth. It is up to us, and we must not fail.