Some regimes never change...

"In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple." -Isaiah 6:1

Isaiah 6 marks the call of Isaiah as a prophet. It also marks an unsteady period in Judah's history. King Uzziah had just died and the people were frantic, because they were left without a strong leader and faced threats from Assyria, and even Israel and Syria. But though the king died, what did Isaiah see sitting on a throne? None other than Yahweh, the Lord. The message is quite remarkable, and I may add relevant, for us today as it was back then: the Lord still reigns. He is the king who is seated on the throne and builds up and puts down rulers. There is comfort in that, especially on this day in American history.

The Psalmist reminds us, "Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. " (Psalm 146:3) Augustine faced a similar experience when the Roman empire fell. Some Christians at that time despaired the fall of the empire, holding to a "Rome" theology that elevated the empire to undue admiration. Augustine wrote in response to this thinking the City of God, in which he sets for a different way of looking at history. Sure, God raised up the Roman Empire and sure, Christianity flourished by the blessings of Roman roads, etc. BUT Rome was not God's chosen people, nor the means by which God would bless the nations. Christianity, by God's faithfulness and promises, has surived and will survive many regime changes, and the rise and fall of many nations.

God intends to bless the nations, not through a country, but through his chosen and holy people, the church. It is important on this election day not to put undue weight or worry upon the fate of America and to take comfort in God's promise that HE is seated on the throne. The church will survive, even if America does not. America is not God's chosen people, and though she may be a blessing indeed to the church, she must not be loved too much. We should pray for our nation and take our responsibility as citizens seriously, but our hearts should be committed to loving the church and participating in advancing God's kingdom through the church to the nations.

Our God reigns.