Who Americans should vote for in the upcoming
elections
The Bible provides clear guidance as to the kind of leaders that God
expects His people to appoint, vote for
or otherwise represent them.
This advice is found in Exodus chapter 18 as Moses father-in-law, Jethro, gave to
Moses advice on how to select leaders to represent the people of
Israel. We find in Exodus chapter 18
what Jethro advised Moses to do:
Exodus
18:19-23
....Now
listen to me: I will give you counsel, and God be with you. You be the people's
representative before God, and you bring the disputes to God, then teach them the
statutes and the laws, and make known to them the way in which they are to walk
and the work they are to do.
Furthermore,
you shall select out of all the
people
able
men who fear God,
men
of truth,
those
who hate dishonest gain;
and
you shall place these over them as leaders of thousands, of
hundreds, of fifties and of
tens.
Let them judge the people at all times;
and let it be that every major
dispute they will bring to you, but every minor dispute they themselves will judge. So
it will be easier for you, and they will bear the burden with you. If you
do this thing and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in
peace.....
The four qualities to be looked for were as
follows:
1.
Able
men who fear God
Fearing
God is the first pre-requisite, but to lead also requires experience, sufficient
mental acuity to be able to analyze and understand problems and have good
communication skills. This ability
would be synonymous with having WISDOM.
The
fear of the LORD is the beginning of WISDOM; a good understanding have
all those who do His commandments; (Psalm 111:10)
The
fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; FOOLS DESPISE WISDOM and
instruction.(Proverbs 1:7)
Based
on the WORD of GOD you cannot have WISDOM unless you FEAR GOD, because wisdom
BEGINS with the fear of God.
2.
Love
the
truth
This
requires knowing what the truth is, how to find it and where to find it.
We
find the truth in the Word of God
You are near, O LORD,
And all Your commandments are truth
(Psalm
119:151)
The sum of Your word is
truth, And every one of
Your righteous ordinances is everlasting. (Psalm 119:160)
Jesus
said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the
Father, but by me.” (John 14:6)
Jesus
is the truth, therefore to love the truth is to love
Jesus.
3.
Hate
dishonest gain
This
primarily deals with bribe taking, that is making decisions not based on the
facts, the truth and what is best for the people, but making decisions based on
economic benefit to the decision maker. This leads to instability in the
government and a populace who cannot and will not trust the
government.
“The
king gives stability to the land by justice, But a man who takes bribes
overthrows it.” (Proverbs 29:4)
4.
Leaders
who represent the people
The
leaders were to represent the best interests of the people they are
representing and not for their own self-interests.
All
of the great leaders of the Bible were first and foremost SERVANTS, they sought
for the best interest of the people they represented above their own self
interest.
Jacob
– Patriarch to the nation of Israel
When
I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom
they are scattered, and will manifest My holiness in them in the sight of the
nations, then they will live in their land which I gave to My
servant Jacob. (Eze
28:25)
Joseph
– a servant in Potiphars house
prior to being elevated to Second in command in Egypt
He sent a man before
them, Joseph, who was sold
for a servant: (Psalm 105:17)
Moses–a
high ranking government official in Egypt prior to being leader of
Israel
Remember
the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances
which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. (Mal
4:4)
Daniel-
a prince in Israel and high ranking government official of
Babylon
The
king spoke and said to Daniel, "Daniel, servant of the living God,
has your God, whom you constantly serve, been able to deliver you from the
lions?" (Dan
6:20)
David-
King of Israel
Then
I will set over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he
will feed them; he will feed them himself and be their shepherd. (Eze
34:23)
My
servant David will be king over them, and they will all
have one shepherd; and they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and
observe them. (Eze
37:24)
Jesus-
King of Kings and Lord of Lords
For
even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."
(Mark
10:45)
"It is
not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you
shall be your servant, and
whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; and whoever wishes to be
first among you shall be your slave; (Mat
20:27)