The Lord’s Anointed

The following essay was written more than three years ago; nevertheless, I believe the message (and the lesson) it contains still has relevance for us today:

On Wednesday March 3rd 2004 a news commentator on CNN was heard to say: “Senator John Kerry is now the newly anointed leader of the Democratic Party.” I wonder how many Americans are even vaguely aware of how important those words are and what they represent. More importantly; what does the concept of having an anointed leader mean to the people and the nation known to the world as the United States of America?

If John Kerry is the anointed leader of the Democratic Party, was George Bush at one time anointed as leader of the Republican Party? What about when George Bush became President of the United States; was he anointed to that position?

The Americans of today are a deeply divided people. There is seldom a subject of national importance where any unity of mind or purpose exists. The governing authorities, from the lowest to the highest powers in the land, have apparently agreed to disagree simply as a matter of course. Their leaders appear to follow their own personal and political desires rather than that which their conscience should direct them.

Common sense alone should tell us that a nation divided against itself cannot survive; and yet this truth has also been recorded for us in the instruction book God gave to mankind:

Mark 3:24-25 “If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”

Nevertheless; as problematic as this division has been for the United States of America, I believe an even greater threat can be traced to a far more specific sickness; a sickness that has afflicted almost all of the American people:

Exodus 22:28 “You shall not revile God, nor curse the ruler of your people.”

The time has come when no matter what the President of the United States does or does not do he will be seen as having done wrong! Everyone in America, from the lowest of the low to the highest of the high, has taken to themselves the right to revile and condemn their duly appointed leader.

George W. Bush is the President of the United States of America. He is arguably the most important and the most powerful man in the world today. If the Holy Scriptures can be believed, he is also the leader of the country and the people God promised as a national inheritance to the patriarch Abraham. If this is not enough; then if the Holy Scriptures can be believed, George W. Bush was raised to the position he now holds by the Almighty and Everlasting God -- and he was anointed to that position!

In the book of Acts, beginning in the 21st chapter, the apostle Paul was being questioned by the authorities of the temple in Jerusalem. Paul was being wrongly accused and beaten concerning matters related to what the authorities referred to as “that way.” Even so, when Paul came to realize who was in charge of his accusers, he understood it was demanded of him by God, through His written word, that he show the proper deference and respect:

Acts 23:1-5 “Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said: ‘Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.’ And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. Then Paul said to him, ‘God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?’ And those who stood by said, ‘Do you revile God’s high priest?’ Then Paul said, ‘I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’”

The Old Testament of the Bible speaks of a time when God ruled over the children of Israel. But the people of Israel wanted a human king; they wanted to be like the other nations round about them:

1st Samuel 8:6-7 “But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to judge us.’ So Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.’”

A man named Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, was chosen to be their king; and Saul was anointed to rule over the children of Israel:

1st Samuel 10:1 “Then Samuel took a flask of oil and poured it on [Saul’s] head, and kissed him and said: ‘Is it not because the LORD has anointed you commander over his inheritance?’”

Saul was a very poor king; so God chose instead a young shepherd boy named David to take his place. While Saul remained king, David grew in power and in stature as a man and as a warrior. David knew he would one day take Saul’s place as king over Israel; and yet, when David had the power and the opportunity to remove Saul from his throne he did not:

1st Samuel 24:1-6 “Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, ‘Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.’ Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) Then the men of David said to him, ‘This is the day of which the LORD said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.’ And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe. And he said to his men, ‘The LORD forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD.’”

David had already been anointed by the prophet Samuel to take the place of Saul as king over Israel. Nevertheless, when the opportunity was presented to him to make this happen, David chose instead to show respect to the one who at that time occupied the position of God’s anointed!

Because of the sickness that afflicts the nation and the peoples of the United States of America, they are and shall continue to be a nation divided against itself. Unless they can learn to show the appropriate respect and forbearance towards those who have authority over them, their nation and their people are headed for a sure and certain destruction:

Romans 13:1-3 “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For [those who have rule over us] are not terrors to good works, but to evil…”

Whether you like him or not; whether you respect him or not; George W. Bush is the President of the United States of America. If there is a God, and if the Bible is the written word of God, then George W. Bush is the anointed leader of the peoples of the United States of America.

Take heed! David once ruled as king over Israel -- and he shall do so again! The Scriptures tell us that David shall one day assume a position of authority directly under Christ in the soon-coming Kingdom of God here upon the earth! The very words of King David are recorded in scripture as a warning for us today: “Who can stretch forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?” Take heed -- be warned!

Finally: Someone witnessing before the committee conducting the 9/11 inquiry condemned George Bush for not attacking Afghanistan before the Trade Centre attack on September 11th 2001. My reaction to such nonsense is a profound belief that:

NOTHING CAN SAVE US NOW

(...written on March 24th 2004)

There seems to be no end to the condemnation of President Bush for his “so-called” unilateral attack on Iraq. It doesn’t seem to matter that for years the United Nations continued to warn, and to warn -- and do nothing!

He is now being condemned for not attacking Afghanistan before September 11, 2001.

If he had attacked Afghanistan before 9/11 and the attack had averted the destruction of the World Trade Centre so that the Centre would still stand today, he would have been condemned as a warmonger for attacking and killing innocent Afghanis for no good reason!

If he had attacked Afghanistan, and destruction of the Trade Centre had still taken place, the destruction of the Trade Centre would have been blamed on President Bush because of his attack on Afghanistan!

The condemnation of President Bush at the 9/11 inquiry for not attacking Afghanistan before 9/11 is apparently based on his failure to respond to what is perceived (in 20/20 hindsight) as a known threat!

If he had not attacked Iraq and Iraq had developed their resources to the point where they carried out another armed incursion on a neighbouring country, or a terrorist attack anywhere in the world, the world would have (in 20/20 hindsight) condemned President Bush, (not Saddam Hussein) for not responding to a known threat!

No matter what the President of the United States does or does not do from this point on, he will be seen as having done wrong! No matter what the country of the United States of America does or does not do from this point on it will be seen as having done wrong -- no matter who is President!

George W. Bush is reviled for his perceived divisiveness -- has everyone chosen to forget that he initially came to power by virtue of “the hanging chads of an obscure Florida constituency”? The nation was already divided long before the days of President Bush. The peoples of America will remain divided long after President Bush has washed his hands of their bickering, their back-biting, and their own self-destructive foolishness.

America is a country divided against itself; and a country divided against itself cannot stand. I have finally come to the realization (and to the acceptance) that nothing can be done to avert that which must now come to pass.

For my part, I shall no longer accept blame for not warning my people, my brethren, or my family. As far as I’m concerned, the times we now live in are an indelible repetition of the year 1936 and we are a family of Jews living in the heart of Germany. I have done everything one person can do to protect my friends and my loved ones, yet they have consistently ignored my warnings. I must now look to myself and leave them to face the coming devastation as best they can.

It can only be hoped that a few will make it past the horrors of the end-time; and if they do, I pray I’ll be given the opportunity to finally share with them the wonders of the life to come. How I wish I could have done more in this lifetime to save them from the unspeakable horrors of that which now must come.

Six million Jews died in what the world continues to refer to as “The Holocaust.” How can anyone even envision more than two hundred million of our own people being slaughtered within the next few years? By the end of this age, more than four billion will have been wiped from the face of the earth! Such horror could have been averted; but now must surely come to pass. And when it does: God help us all!

Note: Several weeks ago I published a selection of “Bits and Pieces” to this blogsite. I truly enjoyed working with what I had previously considered nothing more than snippets of information and suggested that I would publish more of these “snippets” some day soon. Next week I intend to do just that as I offer you “Bits and Pieces -- 2.”