2 Chronicles 23:21 And all the people of the land rejoiced. And the city was quiet, because Athaliah had been slain with the sword.

This whole story reads like a movie script, as dramatic as anyone could ask for. The potential parallels with current American politics are huge, but I’ll restrain myself from naming names. The background here was that Athaliah had been the “Queen Dowager,” having killed off her male descendants and instituted Baal worship instead of proper worship of Yahweh. However, Jehoiada the high priest had managed to secrete Athaliah’s grandson Joash as an infant, and he made this move when Joash turned seven. From Athaliah’s perspective this coup was indeed treason, as she loudly proclaimed, but from the people’s perspective it was a return to right government. The fact that they rejoiced to destroy the temple of Baal is very telling, as is the fact that everything calmed down once Athaliah was dead. America has had more than its share of riots over the past two years, but they weren’t for the purpose of what went on in this chapter. America still has the framework for good government, so there is hope for restoration, particularly as so many people are waking up to what has really been going on. The recent reversal of Roe v. Wade was a major move toward the destruction of the “temple of Baal” in America, but there’s a lot more to go. America needs a lot of prayer, certainly, but it also needs people to stand up and take action, as did the “captains of hundreds” and the like in this story. We need to do all we can to avoid violence, but at the same time remember that violence will be directed against us, both physically and legally. What must not be forgotten is that God is still God, and no situation is beyond His reach.

As I have mentioned several times, I wasn’t in the least political for much of my life, but the events of recent years have grabbed my attention. Simply being angry accomplishes nothing good. (James 1:20) At the same time, good people doing nothing allows evil to flourish. As has been astutely commented, politics is downstream of culture. What needs most to change is people’s hearts. Living in Japan I have little direct impact on the US, but I am very much in the business of dealing with people’s hearts. I am to pray the first and last parts of the Lord’s Prayer consistently and sincerely, both for America and for the rest of the world, and I am to keep myself available as an instrument to that end.

Father, thank You for the reminder that nothing in human hearts is new. Help me trust You fully and follow You explicitly, so that I may be an agent of Your rule and reign being established in the earth as Your will is done, so that You alone may be acknowledged as holy. Thank You. Hallelujah!