Choosing a president, a congress, judges, a bureaucracy and civil service leaders requires some level of spiritual quotient, being able to discern spiritually the heart of God. Personally I am always fond of several candidates but we have the ability to discern as Christians who God has in mind for a particular position. In so doing I allow God to turn my heart towards His desire.
The Samuel Model
1 Samuel 16:7-13 records the 1st Presidential line-up and shows the preferred model for selecting a leader.
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.”
And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
In every circumstance there is always a man or a woman who God is pointing to for a particular task, someone He has raised up, prepared for such a time and we must discern who that is including the person himself. Also as an application God is pointing to each of us for particular specific tasks.
Like the ancient prophet Samuel who found several more mature candidates appealing, Jesse's sons, let's discern who God favors & allow Him to turn our hearts to agree with and to rejoice in His will. As a biblical model 1 Samuel 16:7 requires a level of spiritual quotient to discern the heart of God in light of personal & partisan likes. Like Samuel we have a propensity to choose by external profile such as Saul who was tall and commanding in stature.
Have you ever said "he looks like a president!" Saul looked the part because he was tall and commanding but David was cute, of an average height, had a healthy red color complexion, rosy red pink cheeks complexion, redhead, handsome appearance because of his countenance, striking beautiful innocent eyes. David was 'eye candy' but not presidential looking.
David was an 'Admoni' Hebrew for redhead, red all over as Esau was. David's brothers were more impressive in their overall presentation than David was. Picture a presidential debate and your propensity to judge based on visual and verbal stimulation. Samuel discerned God's favor was with David who didn't fit the profile of a king. Only spiritual discernment sees Gods choice.
God's hand was with David to be king. The term 'God's Hand' means to select by pointing to, to extend the scepter to, coronated already in God's mind, to lay your hands on to bless and to anoint, God has a tender feeling towards, favorable, wishing good things for, supervises, watches over you closely, keeps his hand on you applying loving pressure in order to guide as a mother does with a young child when in public, desires a specific purpose designed just 4U. Have you felt any of these active in your life?
The hand of God can be upon a human being for good or for bad. For good, it brings aid, while the negative connotation judges, hinders and causes distress (Amos 1:8 ). What is fixed is God uses His hand to uphold and to guide the righteous (Psalm 37:24; Psalm 139:10 ).
The Hebrew word for 'hand' is 'Yad,' Yadim (plural) hands and several tenses of the root word Yad is used throughout the Bible. The word 'Yad' can also mean a location far from you translated location or place. God's hand is a very significant expression for example the ten commandments were written by God's very hand thus the pointer used during Torah reading is also called a 'Yad' which is a silver metallic pointer in the shape of a long arm with a closed fist and the index finger pointing. Yad can also mean the finger of God. If God's hand is on you for good to bless you this can be discerned so that all can come into agreement with His specific plan for your life.
Samuel discerned the specific plan for David's life, agreed with it, celebrated it and communicated it to all so they in turn could agree and celebrate God's intentions for David. This level of spiritual quotient is very important to enable all to be at peace with God and to be blessed by God. In this sense or with this model is the following scripture fulfilled:
Proverbs 29:2New King James Version (NKJV) 2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.
This model is crucial so that our cities, states and countries thrive and where the citizens live in peace. We experience groaning inevitably when we choose out of an evil heart, selfish heart or choose a candidate without acknowledging God in all our ways. Lets decide to choose God's person because He knows best the heart and true motives of the human heart beyond campaign promises made on the stump. Lets petition God for spiritual maturity so we can choose accurately especially when all the candidates are impressive with natural talent even charismatic. Lets ask God to send those who may have a high spiritual quotient among us until we get there ourselves.
A spiritual quotient is ones ability to commune with God intimately, deeply and the ability to hear and to understand what God is saying. We each are gifted in many areas and some Christians are gifted to be able to live closely to God and to commune with God at a very deep level for the benefit of the entire Church, to encourage, to edify the Church and society. The truth is one can know who God desires for a given position even before the debates. The debates may verify what we already know. Remember society may reject God's man or woman but if times are critical as in the case of Joseph who was promoted from the status of prisoner to the status of prime minister Genesis 41:38-46 God will intervene. No matter the outcome, as Christians we "have faith in God."
Because we love God deeply a Christian learns to give a back seat to our personal preferences rejoicing in God's preferences.
There is another Biblical model - The Cyrus Model
God used as a precedent to be considered in subsequent similar circumstances. We must be able to discern this provision of God placed in a secular leader who is influenced by God to meet God's righteous objectives. As a precedent look back at God's relationship to Cyrus an ancient Persian leader from present day Iran 576 B.C.E. Geo-political influences can cause us to exclude foreign leaders, those at home who are secular for example, those of another partisan persuasion, those who are populist by motivation who extol God and country or those of another belief system entirely from being the answer to national and global problems. When there isn't a person available among our group God can achieve His goals through non-traditional means as He did by way of Cyrus, an Iranian leader. God can effect change through a leader whose heart attitudes are known to God, who shares similar values but who has different religious beliefs. These basic values derived from the seven Noahide Laws which are according to the Talmud, universal laws God gave to Noah. These are laws of common decency, humanity and benevolence, such as do not steal, be kind to animals, do not murder, don't be promiscuous, estblish a just court system, don't deny God and put God first.
Isaiah 44:28, 45
28 who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd,
and he shall carry out all my purpose’;
and who says of Jerusalem, ‘It shall be rebuilt’,
and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’
45Thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus,
whose right hand I have grasped
to subdue nations before him
and strip kings of their robes,
to open doors before him—
and the gates shall not be closed:
Here are critical facts about Cyrus the Great. King Cyrus the Great mentioned by Isaiah was a Zoroastrian as was the Persian King Darius I, 550 - 486 B.C.E, the belief system dated approximately 1,000 B.C.E., an ancient religion that preceded Islam in ancient Iran whose monotheism and beliefs are similar to Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Zoroastrian beliefs align with those of Abrahamic religions but certainly has different foci. The religion is almost a perfect fit and almost fully congruent to Abrahamic religions especially Christianity which can be disconcerting to young Christians and seekers. Cyrus although not a Jew already had strong values similar to those of Judaism and felt so strongly he implemented policies that were consistent with his values and many of his beliefs.
The 'wise men' who visited the young Jesus in Bethlehem bringing Him gifts were literally Zoroastrian priests also called Magi, who shared similar values with Judaism and today Christianity just as King Cyrus did. Why did the magi feel such a strong affinity to the person and status of Jesus? Because the beliefs and concepts within Zoroastrianism include the virgin birth of a Savior and the beliefs are almost the same as those of Christianity the more recent belief system except for the lordship of Christ. What can be troubling is Zoroastrianism that preceded Christianity by approximately 1,000 years may have influenced Christianity and it's concepts as well as Judaism and Islam. However, the concepts of Zoroastrianism were derived from Noahide Laws, the laws given to Noah. Zoroastrian beliefs include the following:
1. One single sovereign god referred to as Ahura Mazda who is supreme who is an all powerful God worthy of being worshipped .
2. Satan an evil spirit, Angra Mainyu, who will be completely destroyed at the end of time and who opposes Ahura Mazda
3. Free will of man to choose to serve God or to follow evil.
4. The virgin birth of a Savior referred to as Saoshyant.
5. Creationism not evolution.
The focus of Zoroastrianism is Ahura-Mazda the sovereign God honored monotheistically as the one true God. God knew Cyrus' heart, his values and the similarity of beliefs and values of the ancient Zoroastrian religion based on Noahide Laws.
Ancient archeological cuneiform wedge-shaped inscriptions, pictograms and syllabograms such as the Cyrus Clay Cylinder discovered 1879 and dated 539 B.C.E, Herodotus Histories Book 1, Achaemenid Inscriptions 640-590 B.C.E and Greek texts of Plato, show Cyrus was a devout man and valued the welfare of others, treating others with dignity, being humble when dealing with others, and being trustworthy. Inscriptions indicated Cyrus' Zoroastrian belief system motivated him to shun wealth but nevertheless to embrace meeting goals. It is easy to see why God would choose a 'Cyrus' to release the Jews from Babylonian exile.
So it was this Persian leader who God used to release the Jews from their Babylonian exile and to rebuild the Jewish temple. Isaiah had discernment and was able to articulate what he discerned to his community so that each had the opportunity to agree with what God was doing and not be fearful. When leaders are elected who seem strange, non-traditional, we can discern what God is doing and we can begin by listening to their comments in support of justice, equity, Noahide Laws, the Ten Commandments and impartial treatment for religious groups such as your own. Cyrus felt so strongly about human rights, a firm tenet of his religion, his actions were proof of his convictions. This non-traditional model can only be discerned because the person influenced by God often unaware may seem foreign to us and may traditionally have been among those who have been outside our national, political or religious circle. When God uses the 'Cyrus model' to select a leader often the leader seems like a fish out of water, totally different in every way to predecessors. Only spiritual discernment can aid to bring comfort, acceptance and an attitude of support.
I'm All in & Hope UR2!
