BAD PRESIDENTS - NYOBS 41.26

BAD PRESIDENTS

  The TEACHER is always QUIET during a test.

A little Background

·         Where did the office of President come from anyway? – Well, the first time we see it referenced in the Bible, they are called Kings and each nation had one EXCEPT for Israel.

·         Israel was unique receiving their MORAL COMPASS directly from God through Judges, Prophets and Priests.

·         At some point the people decided that Samuel, who was their Judge, Priest and Prophet was too old and they felt like they needed to be ruled by a KING like all the other nations.

·         Samuel felt rejected by the people and went to God in prayer.  God told him that Israel had not rejected him as Judge, but it was GOD JEHOVAH that they had rejected.

1 Samuel 8:1-9 - Appoint for us a king like all the other nations
¹ When Samuel became old, he made his sons judges over Israel.
² The name of his firstborn son was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah; they were judges in Beersheba.
³ Yet his sons did not walk in his ways but turned aside after gain. They took bribes and perverted justice.
⁴ Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah
⁵ and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”
⁶ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the LORD.
⁷ And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.
⁸ According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you.
⁹ Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” (ESV)

The Warning

·         Samuel warned the people that a king will have his own ARMY as well as have their children as civilian laborers – He will take the best of everything that they owned, and will TAX them everywhere they turned. 

·         They said they didn’t care, that they wanted a king JUST like all the other nations; so God told Samuel that since they had rejected JEHOVAH as their God; to just GIVE THEM WHAT THEY WANT (and deserve).

·         You must get this – The rejection of the Biblical concepts is the rejection of Almighty God.

1 Samuel 8:10-22 - Warning – A king will TAKE from you.

¹⁰ So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him.
¹¹ He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.
¹² And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
¹³ He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
¹⁴ He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.
¹⁵ He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.
¹⁶ He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work.
¹⁷ He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
¹⁸ And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
¹⁹ But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, “No! But there shall be a king over us,
²⁰ that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”
²¹ And when Samuel had heard all the words of the people, he repeated them in the ears of the LORD.
²² And the LORD said to Samuel, “OBEY THEIR VOICE AND MAKE THEM A KING.” Samuel then said to the men of Israel, “Go every man to his city.”

(ESV)

Good Kings

·         I would like to point out that there were only SEVEN Good Kings and they were all from Judah (this included Benjamin) which was the Southern Kingdom; with Israel being the remaining ten tribes of the Northern Kingdom. (The Kingdom had split)

1.     David – A man after God’s own heart – 1 Sam 13:14

2.     Asa – His heart was perfect before the Lord all his days. – 1 Kings 15:11

3.     Jehoshaphat – He did not turn aside from doing what was right in the eyes of the Lord. –       1 Kings 22:42

4.     Uzziah – Did that which was right in the eyes of the lord – 2 Kings 15:1

5.     Jotham – Did that which was right in the sight of the Lord – 2 Kings 15:32

6.     Hezekiah - Did that which was right in the sight of the Lord – 2 Kings 18:1

7.     Josiah – Was like no other king in turning “to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might”. – 2 Kings 22:1 - (Meredith’s Second Book of Bible Lists)

Good Kings that went Bad

1.     Saul – Was given a new heart by God, but chose to disobey – 1 Sam 10:9

2.     Solomon – Loved the Lord, but in his old age, he was turned to do evil by his heathen wives. – 1 Kings 3:3

3.     Jehoash – Did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but he later forsook the Lord.- 2 Kings 12:1

4.     Amaziah – Did that which was right in the sight of the lord, but later turned away from following the Lord. – 2 Kings 14:1 - (Meredith’s Second Book of Bible Lists)

Bad Kings

1.     Jeroboam – Made two golden calves and appointed priest in high places. – 1 Kings 12:28

2.     Rehoboam (Judah) – Did evil by not preparing his heart to seek the Lord. – 2 Chron 12:14

3.     Abijam (Judah) – Walked in all the sins of his father. – 1 Kings 15:1

4.     Nadab – Made Israel to sin. – 1 Kings 15:25

5.     Baasha – Walked in the (evil) ways of Jeroboam. – 1 Kings 15:33

6.     Elah – Provoked the Lord to anger with his idols. – 1 Kings 16:8

7.     Zimri – Killed Elah to obtain the throne for a seven-day reign. – 1 Kings 16:9

8.     Omri – Did worse than all that were before him. – 1 Kings 16:25

9.     Ahab – Did sell himself to work wickedness like none other before him. – 1 Kings 16:30

10.   Ahaziah – Served Baal and worshipped him. – 1 Kings 22:51

11.   Jehoram: (son of Ahab) – Cleaved unto the sins of Jeroboam. – 2 Kings 3:1

12.   Jehoram; (son of Jehoshaphat) – Walked in the (bad) way of the kings of Israel. – 2 Kings 8:16

13.   Ahaziah (Judah) – did evil in the sight of the Lord. – 2 Kings 8:25

14.   Jehu – Took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord God of Israel. – 2 Kings 10:29

15.   Jehoahaz – Followed the sins of Jeroboam. – 2 Kings 13:1

16.   Jehoash – Did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. – 2 Kings 13:10

17.   Jeroboam – Did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. – 2 Kings 14:23

18.   Zachariah – Did (evil) as his fathers had done. – 2 Kings 15:8

19.   Shallum – He slew Zachariah to gain his throne. – 2 Kings 15:10

20.  Menahem – Departed not all his days from the sins of Jeroboam. – 2 Kings 15:17

21.   Pekahiah – Did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. – 2 Kings 15:23

22.  Pekah – Killed Pekahiah to gain the throne – 2 Kings 15:27

23.  Ahaz (Judah) – Sacrificed his son to idols. – 2 Kings 16:2

24.  Hoshea – Did evil and was finally carried away to exile in Assyria. – 2 Kings 17:1

25.  Manasseh (Judah) – Built up again the high places (idols) which Hezekiah his father had destroyed. – 2 Kings 21:1

26.  Amon (Judah) – Forsook the Lord God of his fathers. – 2 Kings 21:19

27.  Jehoahaz (Judah) – Did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. – 2 Kings 23:21

28.  Jehoiakim (Judah) – Did (evil) accordingly to all that his father’s had done. – 2 Kings 23:36

29.  Jehoiachin (Judah) – Did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. – 2 Kings 24:8

30.  Zedekiah (Judah) - Did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. – 2 Kings 24:18 - (Meredith’s Second Book of Bible Lists)

Five to One – Bad Presidents

·         For every good king of Israel there was FIVE bad kings. –

·         You can see how a king could start out seeking God’s face and His will and then start trusting in their own wisdom and knowledge; then eventually forsaking God. –

·         Every King had a Judge, Prophet or Priest to give them guidance, but the majority trusted ONLY in themselves.

·         This is where we are today, we as a nation have rejected God, wanting to make our own decisions about life, looking to our own experiences as the yardstick of measurement of what is right and wrong. – We surround ourselves with people of like mind – We call what is wrong, right and we ELECT our President based on who we are inside. –

·         In short, we as a nation have rejected Jehovah God and He has given us what we wanted. – If we have a bad President, it’s our own fault – It’s what we as a Nation wanted. – God says if you call darkness light; then just keep on doing it to the end; you will reap what you sow.

2 Peter 2:1-3 – Destructive Divisions – Spinning the Truth
¹ But there were also lying prophets among the people then, just as there will be lying religious teachers among you. They'll smuggle in destructive divisions, pitting you against each other—biting the hand of the One who gave them a chance to have their lives back! They've put themselves on a fast downhill slide to destruction,
² but not before they recruit a crowd of mixed-up followers who can't tell right from wrong. They give the way of truth a bad name.
³ They're only out for themselves. They'll say anything, anything that sounds good to exploit you.

(MSG)

Isaiah 5:20-21 - Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil
²⁰ Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
²¹ Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight! (NASB)

Revelation 22:11 – Let the wrong doer continue to do wrong
¹¹  Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.”

(NIV2011)

2 Corinthians 9:6 – You will reap what you sow
⁶ But this I say, He which sows sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which sows bountifully shall reap also bountifully. (KJV)

Bad Presidents

·         Kings, Emperors and Presidents are ALL put into power and authority by God Himself; they are ALL His servants.

·         King Nebuchadnezzar was the enemy of Israel and of God, but God calls him “His Servant”.  God uses those in authority to carry out His will, knowing their hearts fully.

·         NOTE: All through scripture, God would raise up a king “To Spank” Israel to get them back in line. – While each spanking was devastating, it did not wipe them out, but it did get them to seek God’s face once again. –

·         Did you ever think, that God would allow a person to come into power as our President to get our attention back on JEHOVAH GOD?

·         One of the best reasons I can think of to pray for our President is for a Peaceful and quiet life. – Prayers for our President should start way before he or she is ever elected.

Instead of asking God to bless America;

America should bless God.

Pray that we don’t get what we deserve.

·         You must get this – The rejection of Biblical concepts is the rejection of Almighty God.

Romans 13:1-2 – It is God that appoints our President

¹ Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
² Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. (ESV)

Jeremiah 27:6 – Evil Nebuchadnezzar – Gods Servant
⁶ Now I will give your countries to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who is my servant. I have put everything, even the wild animals, under his control.

(NLT)

1 Timothy 2:2-3 – We should pray for our President
² Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity.
³ This is good and pleases God our Savior, (NLT)

IF WE HAVE A BAD PRESIDENT,

IT’S BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT WE WANTED.

WE DID IT AND GOD WILL USE IT.

The Teacher is always quiet during a test.

God says; if my people who are called by my name humble themselves,

and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear

from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

 - 2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)

Editorial – Optional reading

·         Side Commentary; there is something called the PACK mentality.  Whatever the PACK wants is what’s considered the norm – Today our legislators are put into office with big money financing their elections; banking both sides of the election to be sure to win.  - Then the favors come in to GUIDE THE PACK in the direction they want them to go.

·         The President reflects the majority of the Nation. – If you can’t get the majority to vote your way, then pass laws, rules and concepts that can bend their voting. – There are Presidents that have won the majority of the votes, yet lost the election. - Go figure.

·         Please note; most of the “directing” is done through FEAR and once the PACK is operating in the FEAR zone, you can channel their energy whichever way you want to turn them. – Ten percent of the population perpetrates 100% of the crimes...  But if they were all locked up, we would have nothing to fear and that would hurt the economy. – Observe the commercials on TV and see the underlying motivation to buy a special product:  Fear of falling – Fear of a home invasion. – Fear of another religion. – Fear of credit fraud – Fear the offer will expire.

·         Want to get real upset? Who are those that operate the Federal Reserve? -  It’s a Private institution with laws that prevent us from knowing who they are and what they do, yet they print and control all the money with NO accountability. – Is there any gold remaining at Fort Knox? -  You may be surprised. – He who has the gold has the most toys.

·         More thoughts – When we are at war; perhaps the upper one percent is funding both sides. – When all the people are fighting the smoke screen of a common enemy, they don’t think about all the other things that are going on. – We are told what we need to know. – Look over here - Just watch my LEFT hand; don’t think about what my RIGHT hand is doing.

 

The Holy Spirit plants the seed

I get to water it 

God reaps the harvest.

I’m not responsible for planting the seed, nor the harvest. 

My purpose is just to water the seed.

Your purpose is to choose.

Life is choice driven and has eternal consequences.

In the multitude of counselors,

there is wisdom.

Proverbs 11:14

I am grateful to those that went before me providing concepts, ideas, historical information, and scripture verses.  Because of them I can stand on their shoulders and see further that I otherwise ever could have.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

A commentary – Critical, Experimental and Practical - Eerdmans

Antiquity of the Jews – Flavius Josephus

Bible on the Life Hereafter; The – William Hendriksen

Baker Commentary on the Bible – Walter A. Elwell

English Standard Version Bible – ESV

Expositor’s Bible Commentary; The – Frank E. Gaebelein

I’d like to Believe in Jesus, BUT – Bob Siegel

Matthew Henry’s Commentary – Zondervan

Meredith’s Second Book of Bible List - Meredith

New International Dictionary of the Bible; The – Douglas & Tenney

New International Version Bible – NIV

Who’s Who in the Bible - Gardner

Wycliffe Bible Commentary; The – Pfeiffer & Harrison

Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible; The - Tenney