Does God interfere in politics?

By Ps PETER AGLUM
THE 2022 national election is just three months away and prophets, pastors, soothsayers, dreamers and all kinds of people will come out and say that God is going to do this and that.
Or God told me this and that; God sent me to tell you this and that, so and so is a God-given leader and all the sugar-coated words that you can think of will be spoken of the candidates.
Looking back to our recent past, there has been a lot of talk going on about our government and how it runs this country. When a new government is formed, there are always either praise or criticism leveled against them. People have the right to talk about the Government because their lives depend on its decisions, actions and omissions.
During Grand Chief Somare’s reign, the nation complained about there being a “kitchen cabinet” which made all decisions for their personal gain and which contributed to stagnation in growth. The accusation grew until that government was deposed by Peter O’Neill in 2011.
When Peter O’Neill’s PNC Party came into power, its major campaign platform was to fight and weed out corruption in PNG. He wasted no time in setting up the Taskforce Sweep Team. The nation thanked and praised the Almighty God that, O’Neill was the answer to their cries and prayers. Those praises seemed premature as the Taskforce Sweep Team was quickly extinguished.
During eight years of O’Neill’s rule, the people cried foul again that his government was the most corrupt. People were saying that the country’s economy was being mismanaged.
Foreign debt levels by comparision between Somare’s reign and Peter O’Neill’s were K8 billion and K40 billion respectively. O’Neill’s government is further “credited” with the chronic shortage of foreign reserves, and high taxes, and with very negligible budgetary contributions by oil and gas sectors, heath sector wows, etc.
Some people are praising Peter O’Neill while others are criticising and cursing him. During those times Bible-believing Christians were confused. Some even cursed God while others lost their hope and trust in God. Some people who normally prayed for the government were not praying anymore. Others held onto the belief that God would somehow intervene, and in doing so, remove this government, and install a new one.
Marape takes over
The talk of a corrupt Peter O’Neill government grew and grew until Peter O’Neill succumbed and resigned on the floor of Parliament and his Hela brother James Marape took over the reign in May 2019.
As soon as he ascended to the throne, he quickly made some grand statements and one of it he declared that he will make PNG the “richest black Christian nation on earth”. He even declared a curse on those who practice corruption in this nation on the National Repentance Day. This made the people open their eyes with amazement and say that James Marape was truly God-sent. Now after two years of James Marape’s reign and people are starting to make noises saying that Marape is a corrupt Prime Minister.
Is God involved?
Now that will make one wonder whether God is involved at all in human politics!
During these times of suffering, confusion, and uncertainty, we need enlightenment from the Holy Scriptures. This will shed light on the position of the Almighty God Yahweh, the Great I Am. In particular, we need to be enlightened on how, why, and when He intervenes in the affairs of nations.
The question we should be asking today is: Does the God of the Bible interfere in human politics and goverance?
According to Daniel 4:17, the answer is yes, and I quote. “This decision is by the decree of the watchers, and the sentence by the word of the holy ones, ….in order that the living may know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men”.
If God does intervene in human government, then when and how does He do it?
First of all, we have to understand the position of God. The God of the Bible is described as the “Lord of Lords and the King of kings” in Revelation 17: 14b. This means, all governments are under Him and were established by Him. In Romans 13:1 it says: “Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God”.
Foundation of God’s government
Almighty God’s government is the supreme government; He establishes his government on the foundation of justice and righteousness. Psalm 89:14 confirms thus: “Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne.”
God expects all human governments to rule on the platforms of justice and righteousness. It does not matter whether a Bible-believing man or woman becomes a king or prime minister, so long as they rule and reign on the foundation of justice and righteousness and accomplish the will and purpose of God.
God’s perfect will for His people is to see them live in prosperity and good health. In 3 John 1: 2, we read: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou may prosper and be in health as thy soul prospereth. This wish can only be realised if and when justice and righteousness reigns within the government of man.
There are different types of government systems in which kings and prime ministers are appointed. Ours is a liberal democracy where we, the people choose our leaders through the elections every five years. Through this process, we choose our leaders using the power of “free will” which God vests in each of us.
Whoever we choose, God respects our choices. However, God makes it plain that, if we choose wisely we will reap blessings and if we choose wrongly (or corruptly) we will reap cursing or corruption. In Deutronomy 11:26, we read: “Behold, I set before you today a blessing and a curse: and in verse 27: …blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord, your God which I command you today; and in verse 28: …and the curse, if you do not obey the commandments of the Lord, your God.”
The laws and regulations of this country are established by our government for our own good. If we breach any of these, we will surely reap the consequences. The electoral laws are there to guide us to vote good leaders. If we abuse these laws, we will vote in bad leaders and their poor performances and unrighteous conducts in the government are the outcomes of our decisions.
God respects our choices
In this case God does not just step in and overthrow the government; He respects our choice. Galatians 6:7. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. And in verse 8: “For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. Thus we are now reaping what we had sown in the past elections.
The people voted in the leaders who then voted for the Prime Minister so we cannot brand the leaders as corrupt. We are corrupt by voting in bad leaders and their performance is our choice.
Our God is a merciful God and He does intervene when things go out of hand and His people suffer as a result. However, before He intervenes, God expects all of us to repent as a nation. God by His grace enabled our leaders to gazette Aug 26 each year as the National Repentance Day. It is a very special day in which both the people and the government must repent of their ways as a nation.
The longer we refuse to repent, the longer we will suffer all manner of social and economic ills. If we humble ourselves and repent, God will surely forgive us and bless us with a new godly government according to His will. Thus in 2 Chronicles 7:14 God says: “If My people who are called by My name shall humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
God enthrones and dethrones
We must understand that God has His own timing to dethrone and enthrone kings and prime ministers. Thus in Daniel 2:21a we read: “And He changes the times and the seasons; He removes kings and raises up kings.”
We human beings cannot understand God’s plans, timing and seasons, and modus operandi because His ways and understanding are beyond human comprehension. (Isaiah 55:8-9).
But we must know and so believe that God can and does remove kings and prime ministers and replaces them with new ones at His own appointed

time. Thus when the appointed time for the removal of any PNG prime minister is nigh, no man’s thoughts and actions can and will sway God to change His mind.
God is God, man is man. God does whatever He does according to His will and there is nothing any man can do to stop Him. In Daniel 4:35 we read thus: “All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, “What have You done?”. And in verse 25, we read: …till you know that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses”.
God is the supreme judge and He has His own criteria for judging the performances of kings and prime ministers. However, as I stated earlier, the foundation of His divine government is based upon “justice” and “righteousness”. He therefore wants the governments on earth to be established and operated on these principles. Nothing more, nothing less.
What is “justice” and what is “righteousness? According to the Merriam Webster’s Dictionary, justice means: (a) the quality of being just, impartial, or fair. (b)(1): the principle or ideal of just dealing or right action, (b)(2): conformity to this principle or ideal. And righteousness means: (a) the quality of conforming to law. (b) the conformity to truth, fact, or reason.
That simply means that a nation’s wealth must be managed and distributed fairly and honestly to all citizens through just and transparent legal and institutional frameworks. Every law and institution of the land is intended for the good of the people. It is the people that make decisions and the people who voted them in are to be blamed for the ills of this country.
However, when a king or prime minister by-passes and operates outside of the established laws of the land then he is said to be above the law. This means he or she is the supreme authority and can do anything. There is no supreme being other than the one true Supreme God, and this is Yahweh, the Great I Am.
The danger is that, there is nothing governing the conduct of the king or prime minister so the people will suffer big time. The flip-side is that, that king or prime minister is taking the place of the Almighty God in claiming to be supreme (or infallible and immune) through his or her own conduct therefore opening his/her own exit door. Sooner or later, God will step in and dethrone that king or prime minister as He had done throughout history.
Daniel 5:19: “And because of the majesty that He gave him (the king), all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever He wished, He executed; whomever He wished, He kept alive; whomever He wished, He set up; and whomever He wished, He put down.
And in verse 20: “But when his (the king) heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him”.
So if the current government or any PNG government is operating out of the principles of God (that is justice and righteousness), then we expect to see a change of government in the coming election.
Big responsibility
However, the biggest responsibility lies with the voters. In other systems of government, people do not have the right to vote. In the democratic system of government such as ours, we are given the opportunity every five years to vote in a leader. This opportunity is arriving and we are going to go into the election. This opportunity must be used wisely and vote in leaders who truly can serve the people based on justice and righteousness.
How to choose a godly leader
The Bible gives us a clear guideline as how to choose a godly leader and I quote; Deut 17:14 “When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it and dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’15 “you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses; one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is not your brother.16 “But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’17 “Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. 18 “Also it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites.19 “And it shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes,20 “that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom”
We are not blind; we know who the candidates are. Let’s not vote for ourselves but vote for Papua New Guinea. Let’s make this election a successful election by voting in leaders who truly can serve the people.
God bless Papua New Guinea.

•  Ps Peter Aglum is a freelance writer