Thursday, May 15, 2008

Saul and Politics

I was a little surprised to see the similarities

1 Samuel 8-11 tells the story of Saul becoming the first king of Israel.  In these passages, you see several things occur.
  • The people asking for a king because of protection
  • God allowing a king to be chosen
  • Samuel warning the people but anointing Saul king
Because of the book I have been reading, I am more sensitive to the issues of tying following God with political agendas.

Then I saw the start of chapter 11... Within a month of Saul becoming king, Israel was embroiled in war.  Now this seems to be a common occurrence with Israel but here is the "God-chosen" leader being sent into war right after he was made leader.

What similarities you ask?  8 years ago, a movement lead by political conservatives, including many Christians elected George W. Bush president. Within a year of him taking power, we were embroiled in a war against terror which lead to a war against Iraq. I am not going to make any judgments other than this....

Many Christians were putting their political hope for peace and righteousness in their choice then.  The Bible, however, shows us that God does not want followers of him (then or now) to put their faith in anyone or anything but God.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Nice connection Joel. Throughout history man has been looking for a "savior" while ignoring the Savior.