And the king swore, and said, As Jehovah lives, who has redeemed my soul out of all distress, surely as I swore to you by Jehovah, the God of Israel, saying, Surely Solomon your son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne in my place, even so I will do today.
1Ki 1:29-30
David in his old age was unaware of what was happening in the administration of his kingdom. There was the danger of ruling authority and power slipping out of his hands and without his knowledge, going to the wrong person who was not of his choice. Look at the quick response of the king, when Nathan reminded David of his promise to Solomon.
“….surely as I swore to you by Jehovah,….. he shall sit on my throne in my place, even so I will do today.
The decision had immediate effect. “even today”. So Solomon was made king the same day.
There might be need of taking emergency decisions, taking up emergency travels, etc. Let the prophet’s heart and soul be alert and sensitive to all the situations, all the time. If they miss it, it might cause great dangers to the nation.
Nathan, the prophet of king David sensed this danger which is about to come in the political scenario of the nation, intervened at the right time and cleverly handled the situation with heavenly wisdom. He approached Bathsheba and request her to go to the king.
And Nathan spoke to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Have you not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith reigns, and David our lord does not know? And now come, please let me give you counsel, and save your own life and the life of your son Solomon.
1Ki 1:11-12
Upon his inspiration she goes to the king and by using her influence as the wife of David, saved the situation and the destiny of her son and of the nation. .
One of the main duty of a prophet is to see the Government goes to the right person and the nation gets the proper rulers.
If anything goes wrong in the political administration, or in any area or department of the nation, it is the duty of the prophets to identify it, take immediate action and save the nation from peril.
In the book of Esther we see a righteous man who did the above and saved the life of the king.
And it was found written that Mordecai had told of Big Thana and Teresh, two of the king’s eunuchs, the keepers of the door who tried to lay a hand on King Ahasuerus.
Est 6:2
It is the duty of the believers to pray for the rulers of the nations. Even if they are non believers, enemies of God’s children, we have to pray for them. Daniel did it by serving in the palace of Nebuchadnezzar. Joseph did it while working for Pharaoh as the Governor.
The Lord anoints a prophet to safeguard the nation., its rulers and its people. Since he is the mouthpiece of God, the Lord speaks through him.
In the New Testament, we know that all the believers have received this gift. All of them have to use it for the welfare of the nation. If they realize and take up this responsibility, they can arrest wrong leaders coming to power and all its adverse consequences.
I know one pastor who received a message from the Lord about the election result when the election propaganda was going on, but far ahead of the election date. He also received a command to go and inform the Prime Minister about it. Even though there was hardly any chance of his party winning the election, miraculously it happened and he came to the same post again.
Sr. Angelica AOJ