The Scourge of Politics and Politicians
The Scourge of Politics and Politicians
By Bud Hancock
The Creator
The heavens and the earth were created in a six day ‘earth period’, they did not ‘just appear’ as a result of some ‘big bang’ event that occurred spontaneously billions of years ago in the universe. These facts are well-documented in the Book of Genesis, as well as numerous scripture references throughout the Bible. Use your concordance and research them in order to prove to yourself the truth of God’s word concerning the planet on which we all live.
As a result of His creation, God had provided a perfect environment for His crowning achievement: Adam, the human being that God ‘formed out of the dust of the ground’ on the sixth day of creation (Genesis 2:7 KJV). There were no imperfections or flaws in ALL of His creation, it was absolutely perfect in every way. Everything needed to sustain life was there and available without working for it.
The First King and Kingdom
Very soon after they were created, God charged Adam and Eve, to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.” (Genesis 1:28 KJV). The word ‘dominion as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary is: a) “the power to rule, b) control of a country, region, etc. and c) the land that a ruler or government controls. This establishes that Adam was made a king over all the earth and all that God had made on the earth. But remember that Adam was not a king as a matter of birthright, or as a result of some ‘election’; the creator of all things placed him in that position of authority over all the earth.
Since God exists outside of time (He is eternal and not subject to time), He instituted ‘time’ for man’s existence on earth. His creation took six ‘earth days’, and on the seventh day, He rested (the first sabbath). The scripture in 2 Peter 3:8 states “that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” This pattern, comparing days to years thus established man’s ‘lease on the earth’. Man was given 6000 years (six days) to establish a righteous government on the earth and to take dominion over it, and the seventh day (or the seventh thousand year period), was to be the sabbath (the rest) for both man and the earth. Man’s treason ended that plan and brought the earth and man under the awful curse: agony and a lack of complete functioning for the earth and death and hard work for man under a brutal political dominion.
God has always known the end of things from the beginning of things and is able to look into any time period and see what will occur, so He was aware that man would fail and that He (God) would need to provide a means of redemption (a way to purchase man back from the curse). That magnificent plan was the insertion of a God/man into the human world who would offer Himself as a perfect sacrifice that would satisfy God’s demand for righteousness and obedience from all humanity. So, at the perfect appointed time, Jesus was born with the flesh and blood body of man, born of a virgin human woman, but whose life source was created from the seed of God (The WORD of God). In this way, he qualified as the Lamb (the planned sacrifice) demanded by God’s holiness and perfection. He entered the realm of man as the Lamb but will one day return as the King, the rightful King over Gods earthly creation.
People, when considering a king or queen, might think of them as the ones who have risen up and assumed control, or dominion, over a people and who then use them as pawns or chattel and they would, for the most part, be correct. This was NOT the case with Adam; he and Eve were given, not just awesome authority, but an awesome responsibility, that of maintaining control over the entire earth and all its inhabitants, and caring for, or ‘dressing and keeping’ the garden which God had made for them. By God’s own definition, a king does NOT just issue commands and demand total obedience from his subjects. The king has total responsibility for the well-being of all those under his kingship or dominion. His is the ultimate authority as well as the ultimate responsibility.
The First Politician
We are not told in the book of Genesis how much time elapsed between their creation and the moment when Eve was approached by the serpent, an animal/’beast of the field’ being used by Satan to try to steal the authority of Adam’s dominion. We are told that the serpent was ‘more subtle’ (crafty, cunning) that the other beasts of the field (Genesis 3:1 KJV). As a willing tool of Satan, he used that craftiness and cunning to bring about the fall of all mankind.
This is a good place to insert the real definition of ‘politics’. Per Dictionary.com, politics is the “use of intrigue or strategy in obtaining any position of power or control”. Further, the word ‘intrigue’ is defined as (a) “to plot craftily or underhandedly, and (b) “the use of underhanded machinations or deceitful stratagems.” The word strategy means “a plan, method or series of maneuvers or stratagems for obtaining a specific goal or result”. The word ‘machinations’ is defined as “crafty schemes; plots; intrigues.” ‘Deceitful’ is defined as “intended to deceive, misleading, fraudulent”. ‘Stratagem’ is (a) “a plan, scheme, or trick for surprising or deceiving an enemy” and (b), “any artifice, ruse, or trick devised or used to attain a goal or to gain an advantage over an adversary”. There are further definitions at Dictionary.com as well as other respected dictionaries, but I think what I have provided is enough to set the stage to understand the arrival and first known use of politics, the evil plan of Satan.
So, let me sum up the TRUE definition of ‘politics’: “The use of underhanded, crafty schemes, plots, intrigues and deceitful plans, methods, or series of maneuvers (machinations and intrigue) in obtaining any position of power enabling one to do or act, providing the capability of control, domination or command.
When Satan saw that God had made his new creation, the man Adam, and given him dominion over all the works of His hands, his plan was to use whatever he could to steal that dominion from the rightful king of the earth, and the serpent, working with Satan, played his part with great cunning. Since Adam was a new creation with little exposure to an enemy like Satan, it is little wonder that his evil plan worked so well. This was certainly a life-changing event for Adam and Eve; due to one bad decision they lost the authority given to them by God and they not only lost the perfection of the beautiful garden planted for them by God, but the earth was cursed because of their treason and their own bodies were cursed and doomed to die. What a terrible loss not only for them, but for all humans who would proceed from them.
They had been deceived and robbed by the first politician (Satan) and the first political event (their temptation and fall from perfection). The true kingdom that Adam was given by God to establish on earth was turned over to Satan and thus, Adam’s dominion that was meant to be ruled through love and righteousness, was lost and became a ‘political’ kingdom, ruled by the cruel craftiness and cunning of politics and politicians.
It was not very long before that loss and its consequences became evident when the two sons of Aam and Eve, Cain and Abel, allowed animosity over the acceptance of the offerings that each brought before God, to boil over into a violent confrontation. The elder son Cain, rose up and slew the younger son, Abel, and so the first murder as a result of the political event was recorded. It had now become evident just how great was the loss that Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden. Abel, their second son, was dead and the elder son, Cain was banished from the presence of his family in the area of Eden and became a ‘fugitive and a vagabond’. Throughout the many centuries that have passed since that first murder, many more have occurred as a result of the corruption and foulness of politics.
Kingdoms, Empires and Governments
In the nearly six thousand years since man was created, and the first kingdom was stolen by Satan through ‘politics’, many other kingdoms and empires have arisen, existed for some time, and then, for the most part, disappeared. There is much historical data that proves this and provides information on how these empires and kingdoms began, functioned and either fell or were destroyed. These empires were a part of the evil political system started by the first politician, Satan. In some way, they were under his control or influence. This is confirmed by the words recorded in Matthew 4:8-9 and Luke 4:5-7 KJV. Had these kingdoms not been Satan’s to offer as a means of tempting Jesus, the word would have stated so. The political event of the Garden of Eden had ‘delivered’ all the kingdoms of the world into the hand of Satan. Since nothing has occurred to this day to reverse that treason of man, all the world’s kingdoms, empires and governments are still under the control or influence of Satan.
Though there are still a few true ‘kingdoms’ on earth, they are mostly small and have little impact on the world. Instead, most of the people on earth are ruled by ‘governments’ that are in turn controlled by individuals or political groups who, through the use of cunning and craft, use politics to gain and maintain control over the masses in their geographical areas.
For the most part, these kingdoms and empires were ruled by one ‘strongman’ who had the physical power, or the charisma, to entice large numbers of people to follow him and allow him to become the dominant, though evil, leader. And also, for the most part, these kingdoms and empires were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions of people.
Since the day that Satan, the first politician, the master politician, wrested the dominion over the world from Adam, many ‘leaders of governments’ have come and gone. There have literally been thousands of evil men and women who sought total dominion over all the earth (think Nimrod) and managed to kill millions of people in the process. But, they all had their day and eventually faded away. The earth, cursed and damaged due to man’s sin and treason, patiently waits for the removal of the curse and has groaned in agony since man’s treason.
Our recorded history, especially as it relates to man’s ability to ‘govern himself and others’ proves that there has not been one successful, lasting human government. All have become corrupted and failed die to that corruption. Man’s nature, especially in those who are not born again, prohibits him from being able to fulfill the commandment God gave to Adam and Eve to ‘take dominion’ over his earthly creation.
The Corruption of Politics
Fast forward to the relatively current time of the 1960’s. The mid to late 60s were tumultuous years for the United States; the Vietnam War, which was a ‘political war’ started and continued at the behest of politicians working with the Military/Industrial Complex, was raging and the numbers of dead and wounded American soldiers were beginning to increase. The nation was becoming more and more divided on the war, with many questioning why we were there at all, while others exuberantly waved their American flags, promoting the awesome American military power and the glory of imperialism. Divided indeed, and the culture showed that divide daily.
I had become an admirer of JFK while still in high school in 1960. I knew little about him, but he was very charismatic and charming, and a deep thinking ‘intellectual’, a man of great intelligence. I was mesmerized by the statement he made in his inaugural address on January 20, 1961, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country”. I had not at that time considered what I might do for my country. I had considered enlisting in the military after high school, but not because of any inherent desire to assist my country. Service would of course be a part of that decision, but for most young men such as myself, military service was considered more of a learning experience and a possible training/career move. But circumstances after high school precluded that move, for which I am now very thankful with so many young men dying in horrible combat in Vietnam. However, listening to Kennedy opened my mind to politics and began a long journey into the exploration of politics, what it is, what it is NOT, and what it was supposed to accomplish.
I only learned later, after his assassination, of the statements JFK had made regarding the dangers of secret societies and clandestine organizations. He obviously knew the repercussions he might face as a consequence of his statements, especially those that threatened to expose those secret societies and groups in the intelligence ‘community’. Like his predecessor, Dwight D. Eisenhower, he warned of the expanding power of the Industrial Military Complex and I believe he was explicitly telling people what that group would try to do if the war expanded in Vietnam.
A presidential election had concluded in 1964, with Democrat Lyndon B Johnson, who, as the VP under Kennedy, assumed the presidency when JFK was assassinated in 1963, becoming the 36th POTUS. Johnson won the 1964 election, prevailing over Republican Barry Goldwater. As a runup to that election, George Wallace, who had become the governor of Alabama in 1962, later became one of the Democrat Party’s candidates for the presidency in the 1964 racer; however, Wallace lost to Johnson in the primaries and remained Alabama’s governor until 1966 when he was not eligible to run again due to Alabama law that set a governor’s time in office to one four-year term. He was succeeded by his wife, Lurleen Wallace, who won the governorship in 1966 and was inaugurated in January 1967. After the 1966 election, she was, in effect, a ‘shadow governor’ with George Wallace actually running the state behind the scenes. At that time, Wallace had decided to seek the Democrat Party nomination to face Richard Nixon in the 1968 election, and around that time, Mrs. Wallace died, at the age of 41 years while governor of Alabama. Her term was completed by the lieutenant governor and Wallace’s control over Alabama politics ebbed. With this historical perspective, it is easy to see that politics is a corrupt and corrupting practice luring men and women in with its promise of money, power and glory.
Johnson, who had won the presidency in 1964, decided not to run for reelection in 1968; with Johnson out of the picture, Wallace was hoping to become the Democratic nominee to face Richard Nixon. However, Wallace eventually lost out to Minnesota senator, Hubert Humphrey, who had been Johnson’s VP from 1965 to 1969.
It was around this time that Wallace made his famous statement re the ‘non-differences’ between the two major American political parties: “There’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Democrat and Republican parties”. That statement, made by Wallace in 1966, was as much of an eye-opener for me as was JFK’s famous inauguration statement. As a young man at that time, I had been following politics on the national level since the 1952 race between the Republican candidate, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Democrat candidate, Adlai Stevenson. For some, it may be a stretch to assume that the words spoken by the racist Wallace are spot on, but, for the sake of argument, let us make that assumption with the caveat that, if proven incorrect, I will make that correction in all caps in a future article.
Though I found Wallace’s words on ‘politics and political parties’ eye-opening, I did not agree with his racial policies or his fiery rhetoric. During all the chaos that was happening at that time, with the recent assassination of JFK and the ongoing and increasing savagery of the Vietnam War, the nation was in turmoil and was being divided along cultural, racial and political lines. It is times like those when people are prone to listen to, and vote for, the politician who has the most charisma, the best campaign managers, the best speech writers and the best speech delivery, rather than seeking out the best person, based on character, honesty, moral standards and ethics, to select for a position of high authority such as the US presidency.
During all American political campaigns, the candidates make promises that they know they either cannot deliver on or have no intention of delivering on. Harry Browne, the Libertarian Party candidate for POTUS in 1996 and 2000 once said: “For those looking for security, be forewarned that there’s nothing more insecure than a political promise”.
While all candidates for high offices such as the US Congress or especially the US presidency make such promises, the purpose of them is to catch the attention of potential voters and NOT to actually follow through on them. In some cases, their failure to follow through could be a blessing in disguise. I have found that the more promises politicians make that will supposedly improve the lives of the average American family, to solve the problems facing the nation, to allocate taxpayer funds for the most beneficial projects, in reality, the more the politicians promise, the more conditions worsen for the ‘average American’. In fact, most of the problems facing the nation and indeed the world, were CAUSED by politicians and their useless promises. It is amazing to me that there are still so many Americans who actually believe the politicians promises and still trust them to solve problems. Most, if not ALL, the problems we face in the United States, are the result of politicians decisions, and since politics is an evil spiritual force, started by Satan himself, those problems are spiritual in nature and NOT political. Bonnie Harvey of Hebrew Nation Radio once said, “There is no political solution to a spiritual problem”. If politicians could solve any problem, they would all have been fixed a long time ago, but the truth is that the persons who actually cause the problems are NOT capable of solving them, nor do they desire to solve them.
So anyone hoping for, or praying for, a politician to show up with all the answers needs to realize the apparent contradiction between their hopes and prayers and reality. The famous author Ayn Rand stated in her book, “Atlas Shrugged”: “Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think that you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong.” If your premise is that politicians WANT to solve problems and are CAPABLE of doing so, check that premise; you will find that it is wrong.
Based on my first hand observations of the presidential elections I followed during my youth, I eventually reached the conclusion that there was little, if any, truth, and honesty, in DC politics. However, I still held out some hope that local and even state politics was more honest and above board, and I ran for a seat on the local school board during this time. But that idea also gave way to the belief that, even at the local and state levels, politics was corrupted, mostly by people who desire not the nest for their neighbors and community but are possessed by a ‘spirit of ‘self-promotion. I learned that there was no way to determine whether any candidates were what they tried to appear to be. That belief is a part of my political ideas even to this day.
‘Political Wars’ are Actually ‘Pseudo-Wars’
As you continue reading, look back at the definition of politics given at the beginning of this article to keep the proper perspective of what politics truly is. Remember that ALL politics is craftiness, cunning, deception, lies and coercion intended to give the victor in any political struggle a benefit at the expense of the other contender(s).
The ‘political wars’ we have observed for decades in the DC Political Theater, those which we continue to witness in America, are often only ‘pseudo-wars’, ‘smoke screens’ if you will, to keep Americans distracted and off-balance. To think otherwise is to actually believe that the two major parties differ in ideology. In fact, they differ only in their outward actions, their deceptive words and tactics presented to the public, to put on a false face as a cover for their true identities. On the surface, the parties and their minions speak words that would seem to indicate they are different, but their actions tell a very different story, the true story of behind-the-scenes ‘political give and take’ that actually IS politics on every level.
In a political ‘tug of war’ between two forces, one a force of ‘greed for money and power’, and the other a force of ‘right-thinking and conscientious action’, intended to offer true representation to those who cast votes, the force driven by greed for money and power will always SEEM to win because there are so many politicians on the ‘greed for power’ path, especially when they begin to realize the awesome potential to enter politics relatively poor, spend a few years in DC and leave as multimillionaires, and so few politicians that truly are on the side of right-thinking and conscientious action.
The political arena, both the overt and the covert, whether local, state or national, is where all politics actually happen, and those political activities are merely ‘theater’ whose main function is to distract and deceive the citizens into believing that they actually have a ‘choice’ when it comes to selecting/electing their representatives. In reality, the ‘powers behind the players’ determine which candidates are allowed on the ballot in every state. Some believe that the political parties choose the candidates, and that may be true to a certain extent, but most of the money that pays for political campaigns comes from outside the parties and the ‘big money donors’ have a lot of influence in determining who is allowed to run for office.
To the unskilled viewer of ‘political theater’, it seems the members of both parties in Congress are constantly fighting against each other. One party initiates a bill in either or the House or the Senate and the other party usually ‘seems’ to be working feverishly to shoot it down before it can come up for a vote. This begs the question: Are the political parties actually fighting over the bill and/or its wording? Or could it be possible that it’s only ‘theater’ to make Americans think they’re fighting? Historically, Americans have become accustomed to seeing the ‘outward animosity’ between Democrats and Republicans that has become ‘the illusion’ that deceives so many. That animosity is mostly fake and is solely intended to keep most Americans believing that their ‘chosen’ representatives are fervently working to make their lives better by showing how combative they can be with ‘the other side’. All smoke and mirrors. Do NOT be fooled and deceived by the theatrics (Ephesians 5:6 KJV).
Interconnected Politics
It may seem inconceivable, but politics is a system that is not just American, Russian, British, etc., but the entire world political system is owned and operated by Satan and his evil minions. This was a fact when Satan used the ‘empires of the world’ to tempt Jesus (Luke 4:5 KJV) and it is just as much a fact today.
When you read the book of Daniel, the archangel Gabriel that was sent to Daniel to explain his dreams and visions and to bring an answer to Daniel’s prayers, told Daniel about the empires of the world, each of which had an evil fallen angel ‘over it’ as its ‘head’. These evil angels did battle with the righteous archangel of God to try to stop him from ministering to Daniel. Those evil angels, servants of Satan were real then, they are real now and they are still working feverishly to stop God’s people from hearing and following the truth. It may seem unlikely, but these fallen angels are as much ‘political’ as Satan himself. Satan has used his position of authority in the heavenlies to direct and control the politics of the entire world. All of the evil governments and kingdoms/dictatorships march to the tune played by Satan, and the public is only allowed to see what the evil ones want seen.
The Last Empire, the Empire of the Beast
Of all the empires that arose in the last six thousand years, remnants of them, at least the devilish ideological parts of them, have remained and are embedded in the political philosophy of ALL the governments of the world. History has shown how those ‘parts’ managed to continue into the succeeding empires and change some cultural aspects of them.
The final empire that will arise and become the empire of the Antichrist is here on earth presently, awaiting the time for its unveiling. The person who will control this evil empire is a man who, using charisma, ‘craft’ and cunning, aided by the full power and authority of Satan over the governments of the world, will convince the most powerful leaders of the world’s governments to cede their power and control to him. Like most ‘charming, charismatic and silver-tongued’ politicians, he will convince the world that he has all the answers to all the problems plaguing the world. Those problems will be seemingly ‘unsolvable’ and overwhelming as the Tribulation Period begins and God’s wrath begins to be poured out on the people of the world. In return for ‘solving’ those problems, he will expect and demand the worship of himself as god.
Though he will exercise a tremendous amount of authority over a large part of the world, his will NOT be a worldwide empire, and it will completely cease to exist as did all the other evil empires that preceded it. However, unlike all those empires, his will be totally destroyed and NONE of it will carry over into the glorious Millennial reign of Jesus Christ. The actual reign of the Antichrist will last only three and a half years, the last half of the seven year Tribulation Period, the span of time known as the 70th week of Daniel, when he sets himself up in the Third Jewish Temple, showing the world that he is ‘god’ and demanding worldwide worship. When the time given to him to exercise his demonic power has elapsed, he will be destroyed by Jesus Christ at His appearing. But, until that occurs, he will do more evil than all other previous evil leaders before him. He will go further in his hatred of God than they did and will attempt to destroy God’s chosen earthly people, the Jews, as well as all Gentiles but especially those who decide to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
The last the world will see of the antichrist (the man) will be when he is thrown alive into the lake of Fire, along with the False Prophet.
The Final King and His Earthly Kingdom
All people who have been hoping to see a ‘good person’ enter the political arena with the resources and wisdom needed to solve the problems of a depraved humanity and all the misery it has caused will soon admit their hopes were seriously misplaced. The four year administration of the 45th US POTUS, Donald J Trump, caused much jubilation among his followers and supporters, as they believed he would restore America to its former greatness. Although he did some very good acts during that four year period, his administration ended in abject failure as had all those that preceded it. Instead of being the ‘knight in shining armor’, riding up on a white horse’, ready to undo all the corruption of DC politics and ‘drain the swamp’, he actually fell victim to the corruption and foulness of that swamp because he chose advisers FROM the swamp, and those advisers not only led him astray, they turned against him and betrayed him. Such is politics, as the man Donald Trump has now realized.
When the Antichrist has been sentenced to eternity in the Lake of Fire, Satan has been bound and imprisoned in the bottomless pit for a thousand years, the world will finally enter a time of righteous rule, with NO politicians, no political agendas and only ONE government on earth. Just as the world, and the earth, suffered through 6000 years of cruel, unjust and brutal political control, the last 1000 years of time before eternity will be a time of righteous rule by one man, the man who originally entered the world as the Lamb of God, but who will return as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Messiah, Jesus Christ, the rightful King of the earth and indeed, the universe. His will be a kingdom of truth, justice, honesty and righteousness with NO lying, corrupt politicians trying to increase their wealth at the expense of others.
All earthly flesh and blood people who survive the tribulation will be separated as either sheep or goat nations and their separation will determine their fate in the millennium and beyond. All who would try to rise up against King Jesus will be immediately judged and punished. The ‘Lord of the Earth’ will tolerate NO disobedience, hence his rule will be with a rod of iron. Jesus will spend the last 1000 years of time proving that the only way man can govern himself is with the Righteous King at the head of the government, ruling and reigning as both man and God.
Read the prophecy of Jesus time as world ruler in Isaiah: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:6-7 KJV).
During His millennial reign, He will begin to rebuild the earth and restore it to the beauty and perfection it had before man’s treason brought it under the curse.
The End of Politics and Politicians
The events that transpire through the Tribulation Period and beyond into the Millennial reign of Jesus will usher in the age of truth and righteousness, both of
which are the direct opposite of politics (go back and read the true definition of politics again). The earth that has groaned in agony since man’s treason will finally breathe a sigh of relief and will once again prosper and blossom under the righteous reign of our Lord.
The cruel and barbaric actions of politicians, who have no regard for God or His Son, will end when Jesus takes control. No longer will people worry about being cheated and lied to by politicians who seek only their own prosperity and wealth accumulation.
I love the interpretation of the word ‘maranatha’, a compilation of two Aramean words Maran’ and athah, meaning, “our Lord comes” or “is coming”. If the latter interpretation is adopted, the meaning of the phrase is “Our Lord is coming, and He will judge those who have set Him at nought” (see I Corinthians 4:5 KJV, James 5:8-9 KJV).
Personally, I am so ready for this to occur, and to see the end of all politics and politicians, that I will end this article by simply saying: “Maranatha”. Even so, come quickly Lord Jesus!
Blessings!