God Doesn’t Take Sides

“Is God for us or for them?”

God is not a Republican. He is certainly not a Democrat. He is also not American. He is not Canadian, Russian, Ukrainian, British, French, Egyptian, Iraqi or Iranian. Shockingly, He is also not Israeli. Jesus was Jewish (and from the tribe of Judah) by blood, but that is different than present political nationality.

Our tendency in any conflict–be it a war or political fight–is to claim that God is on our side. There seems to be biblical precedent for making such a claim. In Haggai 1:13 the prophet makes the incredible claim that God is on their side.

Then Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, spoke the Lord’s message to the people, saying, “I am with you, says the Lord.” 

But wait a minute!

Is that exactly what God is saying? “I am with you” didn’t mean the same thing in Haggai’s day as we mean by the phrase in our common vernacular. There is a difference between saying that God is on our side and saying that God is “with you.” In this context, “with you” means that they were now enjoying God’s approval and blessing. But that blessing was the result of repentance.

God sometimes opposes people who claim to follow Him.

If we go back further in the chapter, the conditions are different. The remnant of Jews that had returned from the exile had gotten distracted with selfish priorities and were living, unwittingly, under the opposition of God.

God made promises to the Jews through Jeremiah—that there would be 70 years of judgment on the nation and that He would bring them back to the land of Abraham. God did this. He moved upon the Persian kings to bring the people back into favor and into the land. Despite the blessings they received, they turned their hearts from worshipping God to their own selfish goals. Though the Temple had been providentially commissioned by God to be built, they left it unfinished for 17 years. These people who were blessed by God, then found themselves opposed by Him. Consider Haggai 1:6-11.

Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, ⁴ “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” ⁵ Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!

⁶ “You have sown much, and bring in little;
You eat, but do not have enough;
You drink, but you are not filled with drink;
You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm;
And he who earns wages,
Earns wages to put into a bag with holes.”

⁷ Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways! ⁸ Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified,” says the Lord. ⁹ “You looked for much, but indeed it came to little; and when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house that is in ruins, while every one of you runs to his own house. ¹⁰ Therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew, and the earth withholds its fruit. ¹¹ For I called for a drought on the land and the mountains, on the grain and the new wine and the oil, on whatever the ground brings forth, on men and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.”

It is only when the leaders and the people responded to the voice of God and repented that they enjoyed His blessed presence rather than opposing presence.

God does care.

When we say that God does not take sides, we are not saying that God does not care about our lives and the political and moral issues at the core of public debate. God cares deeply. The scriptures make that abundantly clear.

He cares about public integrity. A false balance is an abomination to him according to Proverbs 11:1. God hates cheating in all forms—this would include voter fraud.

He cares about cheating, thievery, lying, violence, and public corruption (Proverbs 6:16-19).

He cares about justice and will judge individuals and nations for their injustice (Jeremiah 18:7-8).

He cares about life and demands that governments and individuals treat life as sacred and protect the lives of the innocent (Genesis 9:6, Proverbs 28:17, Revelation 21:8 and many more verses).

He cares about whether nations acknowledge Him or not—even gentile nations and will eventually demand worship of all the nations of the world (Daniel 4:34-35).

The question is not whether God is on our side or not. The question is whether we are on His side. In certain situations, we can act rightly. As nations, we can feel justified in pressing our influence, protecting our people, or even prosecuting a war to make the world a safer place.

 However, God’s favor isn’t about just one thing.

We can be right in one thing—even many things—and still be under the opposing hand of God. One great flaw of humanity is to proudly point to one issue of morality, declaring our righteousness, while ignoring all the other corruption that infests our lives.

We must repent of our arrogance, self-centeredness, sexual immorality, attack on the family unit, murder of the unborn, and so much more. Revival occurs when people who do know Christ admit their sin and selfishness and turn back to their Lord in true repentance, then people who do not know Christ turn to Him in true faith.

If God’s people continue walking in selfishness, immorality, greed, bitterness, hatred, lying and more, there is no revival.

It’s a fearful thing for an unrepentant nation (or nations) to enter a war without having submitted to God. All public officials who lead a nation into such circumstances should be on their knees submitting every known aspect of their lives to the Almighty and begging God’s blessing on the nation they lead. No wartime tech can stand against the Hand of God, and no one should ever presume His favor.

God does not join our team. We must join His.

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Audio version of this post: God Doesn’t Take Sides – the Proclaim & Defend Podcast