Does God Pick Our Leaders?

It says in Romans 13:1,

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

This means simply, that all authority – every leader – has been selected by God for a season.  Those that aspire to lead, may try to do so – by peaceful means or by force, but God hasn’t  chosen that person, then that person will fail.

To see a classic example of this, let’s look at King David.

The order of succession for kings back then was clear – the firstborn son was to assume the throne on the death of his father, or if he abdicated the throne.

David’s firstborn was Absalom, who decided that he wasn’t going to wait for his father’s demise, so he tried to assume the role, and kill off his father, King David.  We read all about it starting in 2 Samuel. chapter 15, and where Absalom is killed by David’s men in chapter 18.

Not to be outdone, but not to make the mistakes of his brother,was David’s second son, Adonijah. He waited until David was up in years, and thought he could get away with his plan to set himself up as king.  So a bloodless coup was planned – 1 Kings 1:5-10:

Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, “I will be king.” And he prepared for himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. His father had never at any time displeased him by asking, “Why have you done thus and so?” He was also a very handsome man, and he was born next after Absalom. He conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and with Abiathar the priest. And they followed Adonijah and helped him. But Zadok the priest and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and Nathan the prophet and Shimei and Rei and David’s mighty men were not with Adonijah.

Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen, and fattened cattle by the Serpent’s Stone, which is beside En-rogel, and he invited all his brothers, the king’s sons, and all the royal officials of Judah, but he did not invite Nathan the prophet or Benaiah or the mighty men or Solomon his brother.

Why wasn’t Solomon invited to join in the sacrifice? Because Solomon was to be the next king – per Nathan the prophet, also not invited. He was clearly planning a coup.

But word gets back to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, who gets word to David, starting in verse 11 of 1 Kings, chapter 1:

Then Nathan said to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, “Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king and David our lord does not know it? Now therefore come, let me give you advice, that you may save your own life and the life of your son Solomon. Go in at once to King David, and say to him, ‘Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your servant, saying, “Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne”? Why then is Adonijah king?’ Then while you are still speaking with the king, I also will come in after you and confirm[b] your words.”

So Bathsheba went to the king in his chamber (now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was attending to the king). Bathsheba bowed and paid homage to the king, and the king said, “What do you desire?” She said to him, “My lord, you swore to your servant by the Lord your God, saying, ‘Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.’ And now, behold, Adonijah is king, although you, my lord the king, do not know it. He has sacrificed oxen, fattened cattle, and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the sons of the king, Abiathar the priest, and Joab the commander of the army, but Solomon your servant he has not invited. And now, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are on you, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king sleeps with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon will be counted offenders.”

David heard his wife’s words – put in place a plan  with Nathan and Zadok the priest, to put Solomon on a mule and parade him into Gihon – and install him as king – as Adonijah was partying it up at his “inaugural party”.  Zadok the priest anointed Solomon as king and the trumpet sounded announcing it.

Adonijah, not knowing what was going on, was informed – starting in verse 41:

Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard it as they finished feasting. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “What does this uproar in the city mean?” While he was still speaking, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. And Adonijah said, “Come in, for you are a worthy man and bring good news.” Jonathan answered Adonijah, “No, for our lord King David has made Solomon king,  and the king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And they had him ride on the king’s mule. And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king at Gihon, and they have gone up from there rejoicing, so that the city is in an uproar. This is the noise that you have heard. Solomon sits on the royal throne.  Moreover, the king’s servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying, ‘May your God make the name of Solomon more famous than yours, and make his throne greater than your throne.’ And the king bowed himself on the bed. And the king also said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who has granted someone[d] to sit on my throne this day, my own eyes seeing it.’”

What would you do if you were Adonijah? Let’s finish the story, starting in verse 49- to the end of 1 Kings, chapter 1:

Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and rose, and each went his own way. And Adonijah feared Solomon. So he arose and went and took hold of the horns of the altar. Then it was told Solomon, “Behold, Adonijah fears King Solomon, for behold, he has laid hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘Let King Solomon swear to me first that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’” And Solomon said, “If he will show himself a worthy man, not one of his hairs shall fall to the earth, but if wickedness is found in him, he shall die.” So King Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and paid homage to King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”

Solomon as wise beyond his young yeats, and pardoned him. He could have had him killed, but he didn’t.

The point is – God will always have  His way, even when we try to get in His way.

God gave us many years of evil – maybe to show us that we needed God, not a man, for “hope and change”.  His people prayed fervently for godly men to be brought to leadership, and God delivered.

Why do you think that people are protesting? Because they don’t want God telling them what to do!  It was sad to see so-called “believers”  protesting this inauguration, and especially at this woman’s march – which was nothing more than a march for the killing of the unborn and rights for the sodomite sinner.  They should know better, and yes, they may not be truly saved and could be going to hell when they die! They need to repent now!

People say that a fetus is not a person and shouldn’t have rights, but God told Jeremiah:

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jeremiah 1:5)

And God told David:

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:13-14)

So, if God knows all about us before we’re even conceived – and God causes us to be created in our mother’s wombs – who are we to rip His creation from the uterus? Who are we to play God?

Abortion is wrong – period! It’s murder, and God commands against murder!

Are you a believer that fears what God has instituted? Repent! There is nothing to fear. But if you don’t repent, and continue to fight God’s plan, remember David’s sons – one was killed for his rebellion, the other was pardoned after finally repenting.