Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - Politics Won't Thwart God's Plan | Historical Books | 1 Kings 15:33-16:14

Episode Date: September 3, 2025

Do you worry about today's political chaos? What do we do with the world's injustice? What makes Jesus different than worldly kings? In today's episode, Jensen shares how 1 Kings 15:33-16:14 reminds us that God is in control. If you're listening on Spotify, tell us about yourself and where you're listening from! Read the Bible with us in 2025! This year, we’re exploring the Historical Books—Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, and 1 & 2 Kings. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passages: 1 Kings 15:33-16:14

Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work. I'm Jensen Holt McNair. I've been able to vote for the last 10 years of my life. And before that time, admittedly, I didn't really pay attention to politics beyond knowing who the president was. I lived in a world where it seemed like everyone around me agreed about who should be president and how you should be voting. Then I went to college. I started at the University of Missouri in the fall of 20, 2014, Michael Brown had just been fatally shot and killed in the neighboring city of St. Louis, which was my hometown. There was unrest, injustice all around me. Then the next fall,

the University of Missouri was in the news a lot for protests on campus surrounding racial discrimination and inaction by the university. Constant debates were being had on campus in classroom, sorority houses. When I went home, family and friends would ask me what it was like on campus. The following year, I returned to campus and cast my first vote in a presidential election, the 2016 election. And no matter how you feel about the candidates who won or who should have won, it was a turbulent election. More than that, it seemed to solidify a large shift that had been widening from the beginning of my college years. There was a major political divide in our country, and it was having major consequences.

Not just on the national political scale, but in the lives of everyday Americans, families ripped apart. Political opinions in who someone voted for immediately cast that person's integrity, faith, morality, and worth into question. I don't have to tell you that the politically turbulent landscape that marked my years in college

has continued to this day. If you're anything like, me than the last 10 or so years of your life have caused you at one point or another to feel anxiety, fear, and worry over what is happening in this nation, in our world. It's hard not to. Wars raging, violence looming, those in power abusing the system, children being killed, families ripped apart, biblical foundations of justice, truth, and love being trampled on, discarded. and twisted for the benefit of those in power. Sometimes it feels like no one is innocent.

No matter who we elect, no matter what powerful nation rises to the top, evil still seems to seep into the hearts of those in power. Injustice reigns, and nations of people fall into desperation. See, 2016 may have marked a huge shift in the American political landscape, but it certainly was not the first time in history that politics have devolved, and tribalism and division have become prevalent across the world stage. The state of American politics over the last 10 years is not the first time that the powerful have abused their power. We are not the first people to live in a world that feels unstable,

unsafe. In today's passage from 1st Kings 15 and 16, we'll read about the next three kings of Israel. Jeroboam has died, his son Nadab reigned for two years, then Basha can kills him and takes over the throne. When he reigns, he destroys the entire house of Jeroboam in accordance to the word of the Lord for Jeroboam's idolatry. But Basha is no better than Jeroboam. He leads Israel astray, and in our passage today, he receives almost the exact same prophecy from God as Jeroboam. His house will be completely destroyed. So when he dies and his son Eliah takes over, we should not be surprised that he's on the throne for just a little over a year when he's killed by Zimri, one of his commanders. And Zimri, once on the throne, destroyed all the house of Basha,

according to the word of the Lord which he spoke against Basha by Jihu, the prophet, for all the sins of Basha and the sins of Ila his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. Spoiler alert, Zimri only ends up reigning his king for six days before another king kills him and takes the throne. Now, I want you to imagine, just for a minute, living in a political landscape that looked like this. Kings on the throne, not following the Lord, doing evil in the Lord's eyes, falling into idolatry, perpetrating violence again and again and again, political coups every few years. upheaval of the current government, we aren't given a look into the lives of the average

Israelite during this time. We're only told about the kings and their successions. But imagine them. Imagine being them. Imagine the fear, the uncertainty of life, the anxiety, the unrest. It should be hard to imagine at least a fraction of what they must have felt when our world feels uncertain, anxious, and restless in similar ways. So what can we take away from these verses chronicling the failure of those in power and the upheaval of an ancient political landscape? We don't get a picture of the average Israelites' reaction or experience of this turbulence, but we do get something else.

The only times that the narrator diverges from his historical recounting of what happened to who and when is when he speaks of the fulfillment of the word of the Lord. And all the turbulence and all the power grabs and all the plans and schemes of the most powerful men of Israel, at the end of the day, the author makes it clear that it is the Lord, Yahweh, the true king of Israel, who is ultimately in control. Basha is a tool used by God to enact the divine justice of God

on the House of Jeroboam, and then Zimri is the same, on the house of Basha. For all the chaos, all the turbulence, God is the one who is truly on the throne, which can be hard to grapple with sometimes. Like if God is in control, why does he allow these men, these kings of Israel, to sow violence and chaos and injustice? Why does the sin and the evil continue king after king? It's a hard question, and I can't fully know the mind and intentions and ways holy and infinite God, for one. But we can also look back on the story and see that the nation of Israel rejected God as their

king. They asked for men over them. They wanted to look like the other nations. They wanted a human king no matter the consequence. They rejected their good and just king and put their hope instead in broken, fallen, and corruptible men. And this is what has come of it. So God, he relented to their request, but being outside of time, knowing the full bent of history, he did not fully abandon them, even as they rejected him. He stayed. His plans to restore creation, to remain faithful to the steadfast remnant of his people, to provide an everlasting king and kingdom remained strong, and could not be thwarted by any human king, no matter how evil, no matter how unjust, no matter how violent. God's plans prevailed. He provided a human king whose heart did not turn to evil,

who did not do evil in the side of the Lord, who did not lead the people astray. He provided a king who did not choose violence. He provided a good and just king who led people to life, to justice, to purpose, to love and mercy and goodness and peace. Jesus established a kingdom that was built for the least of these, not for the personal gain of those in power. He is humble, gentle, lowly. And just like in the days of Israel's turbulent political landscape, God is king, Jesus is king, he is on the throne today. No matter who claims to have power in this world, you and I can have total confidence that God's plan cannot be thwarted, that things that are evil and unjust are not coming from our good king and will not escape his judgment. But what does that mean practically for you

and for me today? It means that when anxiety threatens to overwhelm you, when fear starts to make you want to scramble, to question God, you can remember. Remember that even when the world looks turbulent, even when our kings and the men in power are doing evil in the eyes of the Lord, God remains steadfast, sure, powerful, in control, and on mission. He is at work all around us, spreading his kingdom, raising up leaders and organizations and voices to speak for and care for the vulnerable. God's plans will prevail. And this should not leave believers to a ignore the turbulence, to stay out of the fight and say, well, God's got this. No, quite the opposite. It should implore us to join God's mission, to build the kingdom that Jesus came to build.

God's kingdom is expanding. His people are fighting the injustices of this world. They're caring for the needy, they're loving the loss, they're giving generously to supply the needs of the poor. When you see the turbulence of our world, when you feel the unrest, be like the author. author of kings, acknowledge it, and then look for where God is at work. See that his plan prevails, that his promises never fail, and then step up, step in, and follow Jesus. Be part of the work that he's doing in the world today. He is not silent. He is king. No political candidate or president can thwart what he has called you to do. So do it today in whatever way you can, and whatever environment and sphere of influence you have,

small steps of faithfulness by millions of followers of Jesus, trying to establish his kingdom of love, justice, and mercy are exactly what the world needs today. It's exactly what the people of God are called to do. Will you answer the call? God, would you be with us today? Give us the courage, the gentleness, the humility that we need to acknowledge you as the good and true.

king and to fight for the kingdom that you established in your Gospels. Give us the humility to live lives that are for the benefit of others, and give us the eyes to see the people you have called us to love today, and give us the wisdom to know and follow your truth. May we be a people marked by how well we follow the ways of Jesus. That God's people today would be known by the same countercultural and transformative love, justice, and mercy as the ministry and life. of Jesus. May your Holy Spirit convict us when we fall into traps of division and hatred. When we're led to do evil in your eyes by those in power, Holy Spirit enable us to remain steadfast and sure in your ways, by your strength, and for your glory. We love you, God. Use us today

to further your plans in your kingdom. Amen.