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Clamoring for a champion – revisiting ancient Israel's mistake



This past year of presidential jockeying is a tableau painted by an electorate feeling so violated that it has cried out for a champion. The desperation encouraged statesmen and women to enter the contest, but was also an invitation to anyone with a penchant for publicity and power. Motivation behind both the call and some who responded to it should be cause for concern, and how we arrived at this point in history is the question that requires hard answers. Years of reversing our educational system from admiring America’s founding to disparaging it, has reaped a harvest of younger voters (those 40 and under) who have been trained to yearn after any governmental organization other than our compound constitutional republic. Oddly, the seeming opposites of self-denigration and self-aggrandizement underlie the transformation. Many educators are groomed to loathe the Founders as elitists, who were actually the oppressed, and elevate themselves as advocates for those they consider oppressed – an elitist attitude. Paradox made simple, and explains the draw to other ‘isms.
Lately, a parade mentality has captured the exuberant millennial vote as well as some of the disgruntled. The young disenchanted constituency now relate to other, more flamboyant government forms which, to them, appear to be more responsive to street protests. American youth, viewing the colorful banner-waving crowds haranguing authority, including a rising tide of violence, are captivated by the emotional release of chants and tirades meant to influence politicians. Whether or not their demands are sensible isn’t part of the equation. And what they see via the media is capitulation by weak officials so eager to calm a crowd that nothing is inviolate, especially the law. But it’s all illusory. Throngs seething with anger are caught on video receiving immediate appeasement and, in those other countries, submission to generally foolish demands that undermine the very fabric of that culture. What appears from a distance to be a victory is, in fact, a crumbling of societal pillars that are replaced with impossible promises. The emotional uprising isn’t satiated, instead its intensity increases and spectators see a semblance of winning, not true victory. Universities and colleges are teaching an illusion of triumph that is disintegrating culture, and, by extension, governments. It is not a new phenomenon, nor is the resultant despondency that prompts the search for a champion.

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The fire is stoked. The mob burns hot, then fizzles. Personal responsibility for continuing the battle is then handed over to a surrogate to be a mouthpiece for their waning emotion, and carry the torch in their stead. This is the nature of human history. When the passion subsides, the whole mess is dumped onto someone happy to absorb the power virtually abdicated by the people. America is now going through these tumultuous throes, ending up latching onto bristling, blustering leaders that seem to express their distress. The people aren’t considering the consequence of unrestrained anger when it finally flames out, which is apathy. Apathy paves the way for loss - a path of losing autonomy, which halfway mark we passed in the last decade. It is a historical pattern that we fall into when we don’t recognize God’s hand in the establishment of good government. This kind of perception of strength, embodied in the physical kingships of surrounding lesser nations, enticed ancient Israel to demand a copycat system. Shepherded by judges for some 300 years after God liberated them from Egyptian slavery, the one pervading factor that drove Israel to this ill-advised decision was it’s own unwillingness to attend to God’s standards, worship, and identified prophets and leaders. That old adage, “the grass is always greener on the other side,” was just as true then as it is today. Israel wanted to be like the other nations, although God had purposefully set them apart as different (which ‘holy’ means). They envied the style of kings and, perhaps, the deferment of responsibility to someone else's shoulders, that is what a king or champion is – a proxy fighter and decision-maker, for good or bad. The prophet Samuel warned Israel what a monarchy entailed, that they would be subject to whims of corruptible man rather than reliable laws of God. (1Samuel 8:4-20) But they would not listen, earthly power was easier to fathom than the supernatural guidance of an all-powerful Creator. Man let what he could see overrule what he couldn’t experience with his five senses. And, God, who is good and honors man’s free will, granted Israel’s desire. By rejecting God in favor of a king,1 they got what they asked for.

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It’s interesting to note that further along in the Book of 1Samuel, after Saul is anointed king, (who is apparently chosen for his stature and looks as any other outstanding quality 1Samuel 9:2), he finds himself and Israel in quite a fix. Challenged by thousands of the enemy, he and his men have no weapons - Israel, at some point, having given the making and sharpening of them to the very Philistines now confronting them. (1Samuel 13:16-22) A cautionary tale considering the deal our current president, under fraudulent circumstances, has just negotiated with Iran, an enemy that chants “death to America” as it uses our money and favor to develop nuclear weapons by which to threaten us. Ironically, Obama was one who was looked to as a prospective unifier of the people, one for whom voters and their Congress foolishly turned over authority with which he is ultimately destroying the very nation he was expected to protect. He has become a virtual king due to the people getting angry, burning out their fire and handing the torch to a ‘champion’ who, in the end, was not. Bitten by their mistake, the anger is back a hundred-fold and the people attend rallies and demonstrations, prepared to do it all over again. For ancient Israel, God had to seek out a man “after His own heart” to replace a foolhardy, impulsive King Saul. Although David had his own shortcomings, he was a man of humility who loved God, first and foremost. Examining the roster of candidates left in the presidential race, can that be said of any one of them? Consider well just what kind of ‘champion’ America is poised to choose. 1. A. Dru Kristenev, 2012. “Anarchy – Not Chaos, but God as King”, Pg. 61. Scripture Led Politics… Mutual Exclusivity Be Damned. ChangingWind. A. Dru Kristenev


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A. Dru Kristenev -- Bio and Archives

Former newspaper publisher, A. Dru Kristenev, grew up in the publishing industry working every angle of a paper, from ad composition and sales, to personnel management, copy writing, and overseeing all editorial content. During her tenure as a news professional, Kristenev traveled internationally as a representative of the paper and, on separate occasions, non-profit organizations. Since 2007, Kristenev has authored five fact-filled political suspense novels, the Baron Series, and two non-fiction books, all available on Amazon. Carrying an M.S. degree and having taught at premier northwest universities, she is the trustee of Scribes’ College of Journalism, which mission is to train a new generation of journalists in biblical standards of reporting. More information about the college and how to support it can be obtained by contacting Kristenev at cw.o@earthlink.net.


ChangingWind (changingwind.org) is a solutions-centered Christian ministry.

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