Politics and God's Government

<p>POLITICS AND GOD’S GOVERNMENT </p> <p>The Book of Isaiah is a story is of a people who are meant to live in hope, turning to God, waiting for God, and being surprised by God’s goodness to them.  After Solomon, the kingdoms of Israel and Judah were divided. There were 20 kings of Israel in the north and not one of them did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, and of the 20 kings of Judah in the south, only eight attempted to do what was right, and King Uzziah was in the top five of these. The Bible says of him; “Uzziah set himself to seek God … and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him prosper.” (2Chronicles 26:5)</p> <p>Isaiah begins to speak a message of warning and encouragement after King Uzziah dies (in Isaiah chapter 5), because when the King died God’s people turned away from trusting in God. Isaiah’s constant message of turning back to having hope in God all comes to a focus in Isaiah’s words of warning for their presumptuous attitude and desire for political power and control.</p> <p>Isaiah 30:9 a people who lie, A people unwilling to listen to anything God tells them. They tell their spiritual leaders, "Don't bother us with irrelevancies." They tell their preachers, "Don't waste our time on spiritual impracticalities. Tell us what makes us feel better. Don't bore us with obsolete religion. That stuff means nothing to us. Quit hounding us with The Holy One of Israel."</p> <p>Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel, because of your rejecting me so that you trust in a headstrong dictator and rely on him, therefore, may this guilt be for you like a bulge in a high wall which suddenly breaks up and collapses. It shall break up like a clay vessel being smashed (That dictator was Pharaoh – worldly power)</p> <p>Those words were said to God's people during a time when they had become tired of waiting for God to do something, and God was waiting for them to demonstrate that they trusted him.  Israel and Judah’s kings had been playing politics for generations, siding with different