I seldom write about politics; the reason being is that politics (in my humble opinion) is part of the problem, not the solution. The politics of a nation inevitably results from the culture; the social manifestations of what people believe and value. As a postmillennialist, I believe in long term social progress – i.e., that Christ’s Kingdom will expand until it fills the earth. And as that Kingdom expands through the preaching of the gospel, the conversion of sinners and discipling of the nations to obey Him in all areas of life, God will grant us social stability, economic prosperity and political freedom. However, true national restoration cannot occur until there has been genuine repentance and reformation amongst the people. Nations, in general, get the kind of leaders they deserve; and the choices we Americans have had and made during the last twenty years of elections demonstrate that we are a nation under judgment.

Evangelical Christians (with an assist from Ross Perot) gave Clinton his two terms as President; if “our side” had voted against him, then the Republicans would have won both elections. Yet at the same time, just think about who he ran against; George the Elder who repudiated Reagan’s conservatism and Bob Dole – well, enough said. The Republican Party itself is a product of the changing social mores in American culture; they insist on advocating “moderate” candidates that are simply “Democrat Lite;” i.e., who implicitly assume that government is the solution to social problems. Since the culture as a whole has rejected Jesus Christ as her king, we are in the same position as ancient Israel in 1 Samuel 8 – we have replaced liberty and self-government under God with a taxing, despotic civil government; just like all the other nations around us. Hence, we continue to have ever increasing tyranny because the people want it, they demand it and they will vote for it.

For what it is worth I genuinely LIKE George Bush – and despite all the comedians who revel in every malapropism, I think he is a basically a good man who has tried his best, to be the best president he could be. I just do not happen to think his best was good enough –or his advisers wise emough; the world is a complex place, actions often have unintended consequences and even good men can be overwhelmed by events that no human being can control. There is a sovereign God who governs every aspect of creation, judging the nations and glorifying His own name both by national blessings and curses (cf. Deut 28:1ff, Rms 1:18ff).

In my view, Mr. Bush’s greatest mistake in his foreign policy was to assume that men could have the blessings of liberty without the spiritual underpinnings of repentance and acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord. Democracy cannot be exported; one cannot have stable civil government, free markets and individual freedoms without Biblical presuppositions supporting them. All cultures and the values they hold are derived from their underlying religious beliefs; a people who have not internalized Biblical morality may have the form of representative government, but the people will inevitably choose tyrants to rule over them or descend into chaos and sectarian warfare. So while I applaud Mr. Bush’s war against those who harbor, train or support terrorists, I think he erred in trying to create a free, democratic Iraq or Afghanistan. However, the alternatives offered by his potential rivals were even more frightening.

With Mr. Bush being ridiculed and discredited by the left-leaning media, Election 2008 appeared to be the most dismal event for conservative Christian voters since the Bob Dole Debacle; we faced either the Lizard Queen or an Affirmative Action candidate – both radical humanists and socialists – people who simply could not be trusted with power. Unlike Bill (who seemed simply in it for the personal perks - insert favorite intern joke here), Hillary and Obama actually appeared to have an agenda they wanted to impose; and the only thing stopping them was John McCain. There was a lot of press about the possibility of Obama picking Hillary as his running mate; but I think that whole thing about the vice-president being but one heartbeat away from the presidency tipped the argument against her. Many people have noticed that a lot of unexplained deaths tend to happen around the Clintons; and after Hillary made that comment about the Bobby Kennedy assassination, perhaps Obama didn’t think he could get affordable life insurance with her on the ticket. Am I being overly nasty and cynical? Perhaps so – but as a Calvinist, I assume human depravity, especially when wealth and power are on the line.

McCain though was a troubling nominee for evangelicals; there simply was not much we found exciting about him, and we had no confidence that he either understood or cared about our most important views and values. Hence, there was real possibility that come Election Day, a great number of us were likely to say, “None of the above;” which would have given the election to Obama – not to mention doomed a lot of good Republican candidates who would never even have a chance.

Then McCain pulled Sarah Palin out his hat, shocking the Demoncrats and invigorating the evangelical, pro-life, pro-second amendment wing of the party. Many are already calling her a “New Deborah” for apparently she is a strong, godly woman who shows great potential to maneuver through the vicissitudes of politics and maintain her core convictions – clearly the best man in this election is a woman.

Unfortunately, most Christians today have never learned how to read their Bibles; and they do not understand who Deborah was or what she represented. The book of Judges is not just an interesting historical book with nice stories that the kids can color in Sunday school class; it is part of the indictment against Israel, justifying God’s judgment on her by the Assyrians and Babylonians. Israel’s national security was always dependant upon covenant faithfulness (cf. Deut 28:1ff). However, after the Conquest, she immediately and repeatedly fell into idolatry whereupon God brought judgment on her through various pagan nations. When she repented, God raised up a deliverer who secured her liberty – for a time - only to see that same liberty lost within a few generations as they people fell back into sin. This cycle is repeated right up until they clamored for a king; and got Saul.

One of those cycles occurred as the Canaanite King of Hazor, through his army commander Sisera, used his iron chariots to oppress Israel severely; the same period as Deborah was “judging Israel” (Judges 4:1ff). Now, several comments here need to be made because most evangelicals completely misunderstand the role of a “judge” in this period of the Hebrew Republic. First, a “judge” was NOT a king or a “supreme executive officer.” Israel would later get a king – but this again was a curse – not a blessing (1 Samuel 8:1ff). The “judges” were elected by the people to JUDGE, not legislate; their task was to apply the Law of God to various disputes between people (cf. Deut 16:18, etc.). Furthermore, there was not just one judge, but multiple ones; over tens, fifties, hundreds, etc.

Secondly, the text is perfectly clear that these “judges” were to be MEN (Deut 1:13-15); there was nothing in the Law or Israel’s history that allowed, endorsed or encouraged women to assume the position of a judge. Hence, since judges were “elected” by the people, for them to choose a woman to judge them meant that men had abandoned their covenant duties to be the heads of their households, family, clans and tribes.

Thirdly, we do not know, from the text, what kind of judge Deborah was; the text says that she was “judging Israel at the time” (Judges 4:4). Whether this meant that she was acting as the “supreme” court of her day, or that Israel had stopped electing other judges, or that she was just one of a number of judges we simply do not know (perhaps she was the only competent one?). However, as a judge, she did NOT exercise “authority” since Israel did not possess a centralized government. She was neither a “leader” nor a “head” of Israel as can be demonstrated that when an actual leader was needed, God raised up a man, Barak.

All we actually know about her was that she sat under a tree and people came to her and asked her advice (4:5). While apparently she was a “prophetess” and therefore presumable had supernatural insight into how the Law of God applied to the various disputes and differences brought before her, she had no bailiffs, police officers or armed troops to enforce her decisions. She did not issue orders, create laws or establish national policies; she simply helped people with problems.

Now, unlike every other MALE judge in the book, when a foreign invader came, she did NOT lead the army of Israel – instead, she received a prophecy from the Lord that Barak should muster the troops and fight. Now here is where it gets interesting; Barak agreed to obey God, but only if Deborah would go with him – which she agreed to do but warned him that as a result, he would not receive the “honor” that would otherwise be his reward – God would sell Sisera into “the hands of a woman” (4:8-9). Clearly Barak messed up here; he was supposed to be a leader, but he was afraid unless a woman went with him. He was chided for that and lost a great honor by his refusal to step up and take responsibility.

Thus, Barak’s response to God’s call is evidence of the moral and cultural depravity Israel had fallen into at this point in her history; and the reason why a woman was acting as a judge. The Apostle Paul, in a different context that nevertheless still applies to this situation, clearly states that one of the indications that God has judged a culture is gender role confusion (Rms 1:26ff). When men abandon God, they tend to either abuse or abandon their dominion mandate duties; It began when Adam did not protect his wife from the temptation then blamed her and God for when he followed her example. When God judges a culture, men no longer act as MEN.

Thus, the fact that Deborah was “elected” to serve as a judge is not an indication that God authorizes women to lead nations; but rather an indictment of wicked men, who in their rebellion against God, refuse to fulfill their calling to be leaders. And because Barak hid behind Deborah’s skirts as he led the armies of Israel, Sisera was eventually killed by Jael, a woman, who literally “nailed” him with a tent peg through the head (Judges 4:21).

So Deborah and Jael are extraordinary women; but they were living proof that Israel, though repentant, was still suffering from God’s curse on their culture. Her men had become cowards, they refused to study and apply the Law - which one presumes was the reason why the nation had fallen into sin and incurred God’s judgment in the first place. She certainly was not a model or a divine justification for a woman to become a queen, prime-minister, president - or even vice-president.

And therefore, Sarah Palin, who affirms so much that is good, true and praiseworthy, may well be another Deborah in that she is living proof that the Republican Party is gutless, effeminate and cannot find godly men willing to take a stand on pivotal moral issues – or that the ones who do will not be allowed to run for the highest office. Literally, she is the BEST that the Republicans can put forward – and that ought to make Christian men in America hang their collective head in shame as they realize just how badly we are being judged. I do not fault Mrs. Palin for having the wisdom, courage and ability to rise to the governorship of her state, or aspire to the office of Vice-President; but I criticize the party and the men who have rejected God and now face His judgment because they will not step up to the plate and be MEN.

The pundits seem to think that if elected, Mr. McCain might only serve one term because of his age; and he has a thirty percent chance, humanly speaking, of dying in office. Therefore, Mrs. Palin seems well placed to face off against Mrs. Clinton in 2012. Depending upon what happens in the next four years, with bank scandals, another potential Great Depression, Iranian nuclear weapons and ongoing wars against militant Islam, Mrs. Palin will likely inherit the blame for the mess that the world is in. Hence, pragmatically speaking, if she helps her party to victory today, it may only be setting them up for an electoral disaster in four years.

But again, in my view, politics is the least important aspect of long term cultural reformation. Mrs. Palin, with five children (one of whom being pregnant out of wedlock), has already failed in the most basic criteria of Biblical leadership; her household is not “managed well.” She certainly has helped the Republican ticket; but her family has already suffered – and will suffer even more if she is elected.

So, where does that leave all of us who have legitimate concerns about giving this election over to those whose views, values and policies we find abhorrent? I am not sure; it certainly seems as if we are once again being forced into the “lesser of two evil” decisions – a situation that causes us tremendous feelings of guilt – on the one hand, we do not want to enable a Democratic victory by staying away from the voting booths on election day - while at the same time we do not want to vote for candidates who do not represent our most basic beliefs and values.

When faced with this dilemma in previous elections, I have voted for third party candidates who were faithful Christian men. I even voted for George the Younger because I believed he was a Christian – and I hoped, naively perhaps, that as a professed believer, God would grant him wisdom – and wise advisors. But I am having a hard time even contemplating voting for McCain/Palin when if I was her pastor, I would have to counsel her to give up politics and take care of her family – sorry, I know that sounds sexist, even Neanderthal; but that is what I truly believe.

And I say that, knowing full well the dangers of having certain people in power – but I also say that because ultimately, our security, our prosperity and our future lies in the hand of a sovereign God who promises to bless and protect His people. We cannot let fear of what some evil men MIGHT do, force us to value expedience over principle. That the best qualified candidate for Christians this election is a woman is not an argument for her, but an indictment against our culture; how long before the Lord God lowers His hammer?

In the end, each one of us must solemnly listen to the voice of his own conscience, informed by Scripture and illuminated by the Holy Spirit. It is possible that Sarah Palin just may be used by God to save us from some terrible catastrophe; but that catastrophe is a symptom of a far more serious, underlying problem. There cannot be true national restoration, until there has been true national revival and reformation; a revival and reformation that begins with repentance for the sins that brought God’s judgment in the first place. May God have mercy on us all…