Did God Choose Biden?

QUESTION:

Kim from California writes in.

David, I have a Christian friend who is a Trump supporter and a patriot. She said that “God chose Biden,” and that He often chose bad leaders in history, referencing Joseph, Daniel, etc. from the Bible. How would you reply to this?

ANSWER:

Hi Kim, your friend is not alone in believing this. Many believers that hold to this position believe that God is in control of everything. Sometimes you really can’t reason with them because it is easier for them to blame God then to take any responsibility in their Christian lives. Romans 13 tells us that God established all authority. I have no issue with that until a believer says that it is God that put the person in the place of authority. This doesn’t say God established the person, it says God established the authority. This authority was established to punish evil and to be a terror to evil. (Romans 13:1-6)

The authority that is established according to these Scriptures is civil government and it has a purpose to secure a place for those who do good. It is to create a place of safety for those who do good and a place of punishment for those who do evil. The people in the place of authority (civil government) are called ministers of God. God takes this very seriously. He tells us in Hosea 8:4 concerning Israel, “they set up kings, but not by Me; They made princes, but I did not acknowledge them.” This emphatically tells us God DID NOT choose these rulers!

God has given us 4 places of authority, and all can be referred to as a type of government. All 4 come under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. (Isaiah 9:6-7)

1. Self-government (Genesis 2:15-17; Romans 14:7,10,12)
2. Family government (Ephesians 5:22-33; 6:1-4)
3. Church government (Ephesians 3:9-11; 4:10-15; 5:24,27; Hebrews 13:7)
4. Civil government (Romans 13:1-7; Genesis 9:6; Exodus18:21)

Remember, God hates evil! Here are some examples in His Word: James 1:16,17; Proverbs 6:16-19; Proverbs 8:13; Deuteronomy 16:22.

Sometimes the Old Testament referenced God as the One who did the evil. We must understand that these writers were not born-again, and they did not have spiritual understanding. They were looking and understanding things through a natural mind, so everything that happened was attributed to God.

Proverbs 14:34 tells us, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”        If we are fighting against God and sin, then we are completely hopeless! We are not hopeless! God gave us hope through sending us His Son to remove the sin and bring righteousness.

Finally, Proverbs 29:2 tells us: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” The issue that we must understand is that authority is established by God, not the person. You can see over and over in the Old Testament that God always delivered Israel from evil rulers when they (His people) chose to repent. He would raise someone up to go against those who did evil and deliver them. You can’t have it both ways! God is not in cahoots with evil nor is he condoning rulers who do evil.