Does God Ever Determine Election Outcomes?
A commentary by Don Hooser
United Church of God Pastor, Sedro-Woolley WA
According to the Bible, God has directed world events countless
times in the past and says He will do so again in the future. That
sometimes will include determining who will become a nation's
head of state. But why? The answer may surprise you.
Many people wonder why the outcomes of elections are often so hard
to predict. In the aftermath of the current Canadian and U.S. elections,
practically everyone will try to analyze why and how the winning
candidates won and why and how the losing candidates lost.
Let us consider what may be happening behind the scenes—what
God could be doing without our knowing it.
Does God ever determine who becomes a head of state and when? That
idea might seem preposterous to many people who seldom or never
read the Bible or don't believe its veracity. But according
to considerable evidence from the Bible and from history, the answer
is yes. This commentary is merely a brief introduction
to that subject.
A related question is this: If God causes a person to receive a
high office, does He always choose the "best" person
for the job? Again, what the Bible says may surprise you.
Let's begin by taking note that God explained to the prophet
Jeremiah that He was in the process of making Nebuchadnezzar of
Babylon a world-ruling king (Jeremiah 27:4-7). Then the
book of Daniel tells the fascinating stories of Daniel at two different
times interpreting dreams of Nebuchadnezzar. When Daniel was praising
God for revealing the interpretation of the first dream, he said, "Blessed
be the name of God forever and ever . . . He removes kings and
raises up kings" (Daniel 2:20-21, emphasis added).
This should not surprise anyone who believes that God is the Creator
of the universe. If God is all-powerful, He can do anything He desires.
When He wants a regime change, He can and will bring it about.
The prophecies in Daniel (especially in chapters 2, 7, 8 and 11)
accurately predicted the rise and fall of four world-ruling empires:
the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, the Greco-Macedonian, and the
Roman empires. Only God can predict something that far in the future
and then make it happen (Isaiah 46:9-10). The fact that God can
foretell the rise and fall of nations proves that He "removes
kings and raises up kings."
And the Bible has many, many examples of God doing that! Consider
how God intervened to bring about the reigns of many kings of Israel
and Judah, including Saul, David and Solomon.
In Daniel 4:17, Nebuchadnezzar related his second dream. God's
message to him included a warning "so that the living may
know that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and
gives them to anyone he wishes and sets over them the lowliest of
men" (New International Version).
That part of God's message has three points. God always has
supreme and active authority over all mankind. He at times determines
who gets into leadership positions. And sometimes He punishes a
nation by giving it a lowly ruler. This can mean low in
character, in wisdom, in experience, in ability or all of the above.
This makes complete sense. Good government is a great blessing,
and bad government is a great curse. If God wants to bless or punish
a nation, one of the most powerful things He can do is to give the
nation either a wise or unwise leader. "When the righteous
are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules,
the people groan" (Proverbs 29:2).
Take comfort in knowing that God knows much better than any of
us what kind of leader will best fulfill His purposes. Perhaps God
would want a national leader who would bring about the long-range
strength and well being of the nation. On the other hand, perhaps
God would want to put in power a different kind of ruler—one
whose policies would enable the members of His church to finish
the work of preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God to a world
that desperately needs to hear it (Matthew 24:14; 28:19-20).
Regardless of which leaders are in office, the Bible teaches the
importance of good citizenship and respect for authority (Romans
13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-17). It also teaches praying for those in authority
(1 Timothy 2:1-2).
God is especially interested in what happens in major nations and
empires. Much can be learned from the Bible that relates to the
history and future of the United States.
 For a thorough explanation of God's
direct influence on America, simply download or request our free
booklet, The United
States and Britain in Bible Prophecy.
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