Political Intrigue Based On Deceit Is Always Answered By God
Word-of-the-Day: ‘No one who practices deceit will dwell in my house; no one who speaks falsely will stand in my presence.’ (Psalm 101:7); ‘A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will not go free.’ (Proverbs 19:5)
It seems like we read in the news every day about some form of political intrigue, something happening in the body politick that just seems a bit strange or doesn’t sound very plausible. With the sudden death of one US Senator over the weekend, and another US Senator unseen for a month with unknown health issues and varying reports of his condition, from being on life-support to fully awake but recovering from pneumonia, the conspiracy theorists are working overtime, and the secrecy, or the lack of any verification, has people questioning what is true and what is false.
A conservative political pundit, Steve Bannon, is quoted as saying, “There are no conspiracies, but there are also no coincidences”. This is a very profound, and mostly true, statement. Typically, US Senators, like the rest of us, are indeed human and as they age, like we do, they are more pronounced to illnesses and injuries. Occasionally, one passes away while serving in office. It happens with Presidents as well, with Franklin Delano Roosevelt being the last one to pass away due to illness while serving very early in his fourth term in 1945 (which became the impetus for the ratification of the 22nd Amendment to the US Constitution, limiting Presidents to serving two terms).
It also is not a coincidence that these two Senators had sudden illnesses; the one currently hospitalized has been in poor health for some time; the one who passed away was in his early seventies, and his family had a history of heart disease, a contributing factor to his passing. As Congress members now serve for many terms, often decades in office, they are now more geriatric and more inclined to passing away or becoming incapacitated while serving, so it should be no surprise there is an increase in these reports.
Health issues are not the only intrigue in our state or national politics. There are other forms of scandals and questionable dealings that we often hear about; financial dealings, activities, and meetings that may not necessarily be illegal but appear to be illicit, or having bad optics. Visits to or from questionable people from questionable nations, sudden increase of wealth, and rumors of debaucherous activities by members of government call into question their motives and judgement, especially if their legislative voting goes against the platform they ran on. These actions undermine their character and their constituents’ trust in them, and provide fodder for politicians to be stereotyped as crooked and self-serving.
Political intrigue is not new, and there are several examples in the Bible that record Israel in the Old Testament having similar woes with their leaders. In David’s family circle, his oft-renegade Absalom devised a plan to woo the Israelites and win their support in order to overthrow his father, plunging Israel into a civil war. Absalom ruled for a short time while David and most of his officials fled, before strengthening and returning to retake the throne, resulting in Absalom’s death by the hands of Joab (2 Samuel 15:1-18:18). Another example is Queen Jezebel taking by the vineyard and land of Naboth, by accusing him of cursing God and her husband in order for him to be executed, in order to free the land up as a gift to King Ahab (1 Kings 21:1-16).
When Israel and Judah were exiled to Babylon, there were several political events attempting to kill Jewish leaders within the Babylonian and later Persian Empires. There are two accounts in Daniel, the first where Nebuchadnezzar proclaimed himself a god, and tried to execute Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendigo in the furnace for refusing to worship his idol, which ended with the three young ‘pep boys’ surviving the fire through the protection of Jesus (Daniel 3:1-30).
The second involved Daniel himself, when he refused to stop praying to God despite an edict given to King Darius, was made to have him stop by his fellow (and likely non-Jewish) administrators. Daniel was ordered to be thrown into the lion’s den, but God protected Daniel and the next morning the King pulled Daniel out of the den – and threw the other administrators in, much to the culinary delight of the lions (Daniel 6:1-28).’
The Book of Esther is an account based on King Xerxes taking Esther, a Jew, as Queen, who finds out a plot by Haman, a Persian official, to have the Israelites exterminated. Esther set up a banquet to expose the plot to Xerxes, and God influenced the King to honor the Esther’s Jewish counselor Mordecai, who Haman wanted to impale on a pole. Instead, it was Haman who was impaled, and Mordecai and the Jewish people rewarded and honored by Xerxes. Later, Xerxes would provide funding to have Jerusalem and the Temple restored under Ezra and Nehemiah.
In each of the Biblical examples, the deceit and false narratives provided for these destructive actions were answered by God. Absolom, Haman, and the administrators were all punished, killed for their evil. Even Nebuchadnezzar was punished for elevating himself as a god; in Daniel 4:28-35 he had his sanity taken away and forced to live as a feral animal until he acknowledged God as his Lord. The proclamations made in Psalm 101 and Proverbs 19 are proven true.
It may seem like for today, those who practice political intrigue enrich themselves and live out their lives ruled by greed, debauchery, and a lust for power. They are not Righteous and show no regard for our Lord Jesus or His precepts, and so we know that without Him, they are condemned to an eternity in the Lake of Fire, forever tortured by eternal separation from Christ and the torment forever placed upon their souls. The best thing we can do? Pray for your elected officials, that the scales on their eyes fall off and that they open themselves to accepting the Holiness of the Lord and his gift of Salvation.
