Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
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There are many kinds of anointings from God, and not all of them are for His people. Some anointings are for angels, such as the anointing that an angel had in the book of Revelation, of whom we are told simply that he “had power over fire” (14:18). This was his special anointing from God. It may have been this same angel, or if not, certainly one with an anointing like his, whom we see “standing in the sun” in chapter 19.
Beyond anointings for creatures in heaven and on earth who are in God’s kingdom, we find that some anointings are for earthly rulers and kingdoms. Knowing this, the apostle Paul warned the saints to submit to the authorities whom God had anointed to occupy positions of earthly authority. “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers,” he wrote, “for there is no [earthly governmental] power but of God” (Rom. 13:1). In other words, God has anointed certain men and nations to exercise authority on earth. It is as much a part of the gospel as anything else that God has not lost control of His universe to any extent. It is a fundamental part of the faith of Christ to confess that God has the whole universe firmly in His hands and that He raises up men and nations to heights of earthly power and casts them down to destruction whenever He wills. This is what Daniel told the proud King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, and it is the extremely humbling lesson that Nebuchadnezzar finally learned.
So, some people are anointed by God to be rulers on earth. But such an anointing is not given to any faithful child of God under this covenant because our ordination to exercise earthly authority will come when Jesus returns to reign with us on earth for a thousand years. In the meantime, child of God, stay out of politics and away from the entanglements of the ever-changing social causes of this life. Our cause is Christ. To be the light of the world, not to govern it, is the anointing that is on your life.
The righteous young King Josiah resisted an anointing that a heathen king had received from God when he attacked Pharaoh Necho, whom God had sent to fight with the Assyrians in northen Mesopotamia. It was to be a monumental battle at Carchemesh, a turning point in the history of the Middle East, and it cost the young king his life to try to thwart Necho in his purpose. What a tragic loss to the tiny, struggling nation of Judah was Josiah’s untimely death! But no one can safely resist the anointing that God has given to anyone else, or even safely impede them while they are moving under that anointing.
Paul warned the saints, “Whosoever resists the power [the man or nation anointed by God to rule on earth] resists the ordinance of God, and they who resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Rom. 13:2). God has decreed a death penalty for resisting His anointed people; therefore, it behooves us to learn to discern the many anointings of God and to stay out of His way!
God anointed the United States and its allies to be victorious in WWI and WWII. That is the only reason the United States and its allies defeated Hitler’s Germany and the Japanese Empire. Superior weaponry did not do it; superior numbers and better personnel did not do it. God did it. God determines the outcome of every war and every political battle, domestic or foreign, military or social, and He does it for the good of those who love and obey Him.
Stay within your anointing. That is your safety and your joy. Do not meddle with those who are anointed by God to rule the earth now, “lest you find yourselves fighting against God”.