Who would YOU vote for? (Part 2)
Who would YOU vote for?
[Written in 1996.]
Elections, elections, everywhere! But who would YOU vote
for?
Israel
In Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu has been elected Prime Minister
by the narrowest of margins. He has now formed a coalition government (in
Israel, there is no other kind!) consisting of his own Likud Party and various
right-wing and religious parties. The Labor Party of the assassinated Yitzhak
Rabin and his successor Shimon Peres is now out, and along with it (probably)
the whole Oslo/PLO peace process.
You are, of course, a believer in peace. "Pray for the peace
of Jerusalem" (Psa 122:6). "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Mat 5:9). So you would
have voted for Peres and the Labor Party, who were instrumental in negotiating
peace with Yasser Arafat, right?
But you also believe that Jerusalem is to be the eternal
capital of Israel. So how could you have voted for a party with plans to cede
part of God's Holy City to the Arabs? Instead, you would have voted for the
Likud Party, which promised an undivided Jerusalem in Israeli hands,
right?
It's all very difficult, isn't it?
Russia
In Russia, Boris Yeltsin has now won a new four-year term as
President, with vows to continue economic and political reforms. Making a
prudent alliance with the third-highest vote-getter, Yeltsin was able to capture
a runoff over the Communist candidate Gennady Zyuganov, who had finished a close
second in the general election.
You are, of course, a believer in freedom and economic
opportunity; you know what terrible atrocities the Communists perpetrated under
Stalin. And it would certainly be a good thing if Russia kept its doors open to
Western influences. So you would have voted for Yeltsin, right?
On the other hand, the democratic reforms in Russia over the
past five years have stimulated the growth of a whole criminal class, a Russian
"mafia" which controls a vast system of drugs, pornography, prostitution, and
every other vice. The Communists would never have tolerated this. And, for that
matter, the Communists had the means -- and the will -- to intervene in the
Middle East and to fulfill Bible prophecy (Ezekiel 38?). So they should be in
power. And you would have voted for them, right?
Again, very difficult.
The United States
In the US, Democratic President Bill Clinton -- all but
written off last year as the "victim" (?) of a whole host of scandals and
misadventures -- now looks strong again for the November election. His probable
opponent -- Republican Bob Dole -- has seemed, by comparison to Clinton, old and
dull and uncertain. Dole has a tendency to grouchiness, while Clinton can be
smooth and charming. But it's still a long way to November.
The Democratic Party in America has been, and continues to be,
the party dedicated to protecting the rights of minorities -- those shut out for
so long from the political process. The Democratic Party has, since the days of
Franklin Roosevelt, championed the cause of the poor and the disadvantaged. So
you will vote the Democratic ticket in '96, right?
On the other hand, the Republican Party has long been the
party of Christian conservatism, the opponent of abortionists and homosexual
activists, the party of fiscal responsibility and family values and law and
order. So you will vote Republican, right?
But on the OTHER other hand, the Republican Party has also
long been the party of the wealthy and the special interests -- and is the party
most likely to turn its back on Israel. So it's back to the Democrats,
right?
But don't forget the OTHER other other hand... the Democratic
Party has most often favored the "rights" of gays and pro-abortion advocates.
And Bill Clinton has become notorious for his marital infidelities (real?
alleged? some of both? whatever).
So you will vote for... whom?
The right choice
How sad it would be if all our hopes rested upon any mortal
man, or upon any political party.
But we know that the Almighty rules in the kingdom of men (Dan
4:17,25,32; 5:21), and that He sets up whomsoever He pleases, and that His
purposes will prevail. The parties, and the men, to whom He gives temporary
power and authority -- whether in Israel, Russia, the United States, or any
other nation -- are His choices, for His purposes, whether we understand or not.
"Now [God] commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when
he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed" (Acts
17:30,31).
May that man, the Lord Jesus, return soon!