Guide to electing our representatives to authority

Published by Morung Express, August 26, 2017
http://morungexpress.com/guide-electing-representatives-authority/

Confused on how to exercise your franchise as a Christian? Go through this article!!! :)

Text: Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17

God has given one great responsibility to each of us and that is the freedom and right to select and appoint our leaders! This is a divine responsibility! In the Bible, often times we see that God directly appointed leaders. However we also find that God also appointed leaders through the choices of his people like Moses appointing leaders to work with him in the wilderness (Deuteronomy 1:9-18) or Paul and Barnabas appointing elders in the church (Acts 14:23) based on certain spiritual and leadership qualifications.

Similarly, God has also shared His divine role with us to appoint leaders in the affairs of the world. Therefore, appointment of leaders whether through selection or election needs to be done prayerfully if we long to see God’s justice and righteousness, and goodness and mercies overflowing in our world.

Apostles Paul (Romans 13: 1-7) and Peter (1 Peter 2: 13-17) clearly give the model of God’s kingdom politics as they underline the reasons on who establishes governing authorities and why they were established. The apostles also clearly teach why and how citizens need to relate with the authorities. These same rationales can be used as the guiding principles to form political party and chart political manifesto. However our concern here is to help citizens to make realistic and well informed choices as they prayerfully consider in electing their representatives.

    i.        The first principle is based on righteousness and justice. Who and which political party esteem and would execute truth and fairness in all areas of life like history, culture, economy, environment, healthy, education, religion, society, politics and governance?

     ii.      The second principle is about responsible freedom. Who and which political party esteem and would be able to protect and promote responsible freedom?

    iii.    The third principle is mutual respect. Who and which political party esteem and would be able to protect and promote mutual respect in the midst of diversities?

    iv.    The fourth principle is the fraternity of believers. Who and which political party esteems and would be able to protect and promote the freedom of propagation of faith?

    v.      The fifth principle is the ‘fear of God’. Who and which political party esteems and would be able to protect and promote the notion and action of being accountable to God?

    vi.    The sixth principle is about ‘honouring the king’. Who and which political party would be able to self respect their given authority and execute their responsibility with integrity?

The opportunity to elect leaders to a position which has been instituted by God is a great responsibility! Therefore all our value formations, decisions and actions need to be “for the Lord’s sake”. So there is the urgency for every citizen to prayerfully elect their representatives based on the above principles and not for any other self-centered motives. This is our mission! This is the key to usher in God’s kingdom politics here on earth in our own nation and constituencies! If not, people who cast their votes based on narrow self centered interests are the agents of wickedness and they are responsible for our broken and corrupted world! The authority is in our hands! If each one of us can be the change for the world we yearn to see, then our future is worth venturing into! 

LEAH: The unfavoured lady who won God’s favour

Bible references: Genesis 29:1-35; 30:1-21

Narrative:

Leah was the elder daughter of Laban and she had a younger sister named Rachel. Her name (in Hebrew le’ah; Greek leia) literally means “weary” or “dull”. Unlike her sister Rachel who was beautiful, Leah did not have those lustrous and glowing eyes which were considered as prominent aspect of female beauty (Gen. 29:17). So, Leah was probably a simple and ordinary woman.

Leah became Jacob’s wife due to her father’s trick on Jacob. Laban had deceived Jacob by taking advantage of the oriental custom of heavily veiling the prospective bride by saying that it was against their custom to first give away the younger daughters for marriage (Gen. 29:21-26). In this way, Leah began her married life as the monopolized, unintended and unloved wife (Gen. 29:30).

Despite being treated unfairly by her husband and Rachel, God had His own greater plans for her (Gen. 29:30-31). Leah was regarded lowly, yet she remained faithful to God and her husband by enduring all ill treatments (Gen. 29:32-34; 30:10-21). At some point of time, Leah was even deprived of her husband’s intimacy (Gen. 30:15-16). So she really yearned for her husband’s love and attention.

Leah earnestly prayed to God to show her mercy and vindicate her. Then, God showered His mercies and blessings to Leah in great measures. Leah gave birth to six sons named Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and a daughter named Dinah. Then, she thought that her husband would begin to love her more because God had blessed her with seven children. Up to this time, Rachel had not even given birth to any child.

Leah was always committed to secure her husband’s love and attention. She yearned for her husband’s unbiased care. So, when Rachel cunningly resorted to use her maid Bilhah to bear two children for her husband Jacob (Gen. 30:6-7), Leah was not to be outdone. Leah also used the same method to win her husband’s favour by using her maid Zilpah to give birth to Gad and Asher for her husband (Gen. 30:9-13).

However, Leah hardly received any of her husband’s true love. Even in their journey to her husband’s land, Leah was told to be infront of Rachel when they were preparing to meet Jacob’s brother, Esua (Gen. 33.2). This arrangement was strategic because in case Esau sought to take revenge, then Leah would have to first face Esau’s fury while providing time to save Rachel. Even so, Leah faithfully accompanied Jacob into his father’s land in Canaan. Later, she died before her family moved into Egypt and she was buried at Machpelah where her husband’s parents and grandparents were buried (Gen. 49:29-31).

Leah’s life was a story of commitment, dedication and unwavering love to her God and husband despite the harsh realities of being the monopolized and unexpected bride, unfavoured, ill treated and dull looking wife. Even though Leah’s simple and ordinary appearance made her the sidelined wife, she remained faithful and committed to God and her husband. God is a just and merciful God who would not allow men’s biased love, cunning and worldly beauty to thwart His sovereign plan. So, in the later course of Israel’s history, we eventually find that god honoured her prayers and life with great descendants. Personalities like Moses, their greatest prophet and leader, was born from the family of Levi (Exodus 2:1-10), and the King David and the Messiah, Jesus Christ, were born from the family of Judah (Matthew 1:1-2). They were the descendants of Jacob and Leah!

Lessons for Reflections:

1.      Leah was a dull, simple and ordinary woman. Her father Laban monopolized her to be the unintended bride of Jacob. The result was that she was neither favoured nor loved but ill treated. Yet, God had His own purpose in all these situations of human monopoly, deceit, biases and ill treatments. Then, God gradually reveals and unfolds His plans through committed and faithful children. Similarly, a woman may end up marrying through monopoly and unwillingness, yet if she remains faithful and committed to God and her newly wedded family, God will definitely bless her and her children.

2.      God is not put off by our dull, simple and ordinary physique and personalities. Rather He delights in our sincere and unwavering commitment and faith in Him and His plans.

3.      God is just, merciful and sovereign! God honoured Leah’s unwavering faith and committed life with descendants who became the greatest personalities in both the histories of Israel and Christianity. Moses, King David and Jesus Christ were born from the line of Jacob and Leah.

Reference Books:

1.      Easton Dictionary, Bible Works CD-ROM

2.      Fausset Dictionary, Bible Works CD-ROM

ISBE Encyclopedia, Bible Works CD-ROM

MIRIAM: The lovely guardian sister who was later destroyed due to her flawed character

MIRIAM

Bible References-      Exodus 15: 20,12; Numbers 12: 1-15; 20: 1; 26:56

                                    Deuteronomy 24: 9; Micah 6:4

Narrative:

Miriam was the eldest child of Amram and Jochebed and the sister of Aaron and Moses. She had godly parents and so she grew up to be loyal to God and her people. Her name variedly means ‘a drop of the sea’, ‘the Lady of the sea’, ‘bitterness’ or ‘rebellion’.  

Miriam lived in Egypt when the Israelites were oppressed by the Egyptian kings. However, despite oppressions, discriminations, exploitation and suppressions in all areas of their Hebrew lives by the Egyptians, Miriam played a very important role in the history of the deliverance of Israel.

When Miriam was around 8-10 years old, Pharaoh—the king of Egypt—commanded all the Hebrew male babies to be drowned in the river Nile. So Miriam’s mother hid her son for three months and when she could hide him no longer, she put her son in a basket and placed it among the reeds in a river bank. Miriam carefully hid herself in a distance to observe what would happen. Then, when Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river to bathe and found the baby boy and took him, Miriam risked and seized the opportunity to step forward and approach the puzzled princess. Appearing to be curious, Miriam innocently asked the princess whether she needs a Hebrew nurse to take care of the baby. The princess agreed and even offered to give the nurse her wage. So, Miriam went and brought her mother to be the nurse and, thus, saved her baby brother—who, then, would liberate the Hebrews from the Egyptians’ bondage.

Miriam led the joyous acclamation of the multitude when Pharaoh allowed the Hebrews to go out of Egypt after the ten devastating plagues. She used her timbrel and led the women in singing: “Sing ye to the Lord, for He had triumphed gloriously, the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea” (Exd. 15:21). So along with her brother Moses’ song, Miriam’s song has also been referred to as one of the oldest National Song in Hebrew Literature and one of the finest. Being gifted as a poet and prophetess, and also because of her leadership qualities, she eventually became an ideal female leader for the Hebrew women. Miriam remained unmarried which was also a very rare thing to do during those days when marriage was considered to be the glory of womanhood.  

However, despite all her qualities as a poet, prophetess and leader, which allowed her to serve God along with her brothers Aaron and Moses in leading their people, she failed in her character. Pride, jealousy and competition crept into her life and, along with her brother Aaron, she challenged the leadership of her brother Moses, whom God had chosen, by sarcastically saying: “Has the Lord spoken Through Moses?  Has He not spoken through us also” (Num. 12:1-2). Then God spoke to reaffirm Moses’ leadership saying, “My servant Moses is not so. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently and not in dark speeches.” Such was God’s elective sovereignty, and so Miriam’s sin was grievous because she had rebelled against what God had spoken when she questioned Moses’ leadership.

The rebellious Miriam and Aaron were reprimanded by God for speaking against His honored servant—Moses. So, God’s anger was kindled against them and Miriam, the chief instigator, was struck with leprosy. Even so, Moses prayed for his sister Miriam and, after her separation from the camp for 7 days, she was healed of her leprosy. Miriam repented but her strength was broken and God took back the gift of prophecy from her. Like most of the Hebrews who came out from Egypt, Miriam also could not enter the Promised Land because of her sin. She died before the entrance to Canaan at the age of 130 and was buried in Kadesh-Barnea where the Israelites mourned for her for around 30 days. She was given a costly funeral and buried on the Mountain of Zin. True to her symbolism with water, after her death, God opened spring of abundant water for the people, called Meribah.

Summary points:

1.      The young Miriam was innocent and devoted, protective and caring, courageous and takes up risks, careful and wise, obedient and exhibited great leadership qualities. All these qualities helped her to lay the foundation for the liberation of Israel.

2.      She remained unmarried and devoted her life in God’s service and her people as a poet, prophetess and leader. These qualities helped her to serve her people in the praise and worship of their LORD and also in supplementary leadership roles.

3.      Despite her great qualities, she had a major spiritual and character flaw when she was driven by pride and jealousy. She began to claim equality with Moses, who was the chief leader.

4.      God punished Miriam for her rebellion and although she was later forgiven, God withdrew His grace and strength from her life. She could not live to see the Promised Land.

Lessons for reflection:

1.      We can nurture our young daughters to be like Miriam who was innocent and devoted, protective and caring, courageous and takes up risks, careful and wise, obedient and exhibited leadership qualities.

2.      Single women may devote their lives in God’s service and in serving people in praise and adoration of the LORD and in other leadership roles.

3.      Women in leadership roles or in any other forms of service should guard their hearts from negative comparisons, being discontented, proud and jealously desiring a higher place of honour which another holds.

4.      Small acts of service and wise words can do wonders beyond our imaginations if they are done with pure and loving motives, and courageously and wisely for God’s glory.

5.      God is always sovereign. He is merciful and gracious and yet He is also a just God. So as long as we remain humble under His grace, He lifts us up beyond our imagination and abilities but if we try to rebel and challenge His sovereignty He will punish us and reduce us to nothing.

             

Reference

1. The Pulpit Commentary.
2. E. Thelma Johnson. Women of the Bible.  Delhi: Published by ISPCK, 2000.



Herbert Lockyer.  All the women of the Bible. Grand Rapids Michigan: Zondervan, 1967.