“I have lived, Sir, a long time and the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men.” Thus Benjamin Franklin exhorted the Constitutional Convention to prayer on June 28, 1787. Franklin was no born-again Christian, but even this man of the Enlightenment could recognize from experience the truth that Scripture proclaims from every page. In a chaotic election season, let Christians cling to this truth, lest an unbeliever show more faith in God’s power than we do.

The book of Daniel bears particular relevance to the current situation. It opens with God’s people in Judah sustaining a devastating political defeat. King Jehoiachin surrendered to the besieging Babylonian army, and Judah’s best and brightest were taken away into slavery and exile (2 Kings 24:10-16; Daniel 1:1-3).

Some exiles hoped for speedy deliverance, but soon Jeremiah wrote to inform the exiles that they would remain in Babylon for 70 years, “Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. … seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare” (Jeremiah 29:4-7).

Such a devastating message met with skepticism and doubt. “Really, God? Your people should seek the welfare of their enemies? You have placed us as an oppressed minority in a nation that defies your word! Worse yet, they ridicule your name when they gloat in triumph over us!”

The book of Daniel counters both the doubt of Israel and the gloating of their captors by showing beyond any doubt that the God of Israel is the sovereign ruler of history, and no one can thwart his purposes. The book proves its case with three arguments: God knows the future, God humbles the pride of human rulers, and God saves his people.

First, God knows the future. The book of Daniel is known for its apocalyptic visions, especially its detailed predictions of history through the Babylonian, Persian, and Greek empires (Daniel 8-11), and the strange, fourth beast in Daniel 7. This beast “shall speak words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and shall think to change the times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand for a time, times, and half a time” (Daniel 7:25).

Why would God allow such a blasphemous ruler to “wear out the saints”? As Abraham Lincoln would say, “The Almighty has His own purposes.”

What we can know is the reason why God foretold these events to a prophet: so that God’s people would not become discouraged by bleak circumstances. After the beast rules, Daniel is told, “the court shall sit in judgment, and his dominion shall be taken away, to be consumed and destroyed to the end” (Daniel 7:26). “But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever and ever” (Daniel 7:18). Sinful human governments have their moment, but God and his people will triumph forever.

In fact, God’s plan for the future is so secure that he can “call his shots” ahead of time, alerting hostile rulers to his future plans, as if daring them to stop him. Thus, God gave King Nebuchadnezzar a vision of “what will be in the latter days” (Daniel 2:28), which none of his advisors could interpret. Daniel interpreted the statue of different metals as different kingdoms of dwindling glory, going all the way down until the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed,” which “shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44).

Nebuchadnezzar admitted that Daniel’s God was “God of gods and Lord of kings, and a revealer of mysteries” (Daniel 2:47), but then he turned around and built an image of solid gold (Daniel 3:1), as if defying the vision. But Nebuchadnezzar died, and his empire perished. And God has built a kingdom under the lordship of Jesus Christ that will never pass away.

It’s almost impossible to imagine such a revelation injected into American discourse today. Suppose that someone claimed: America will fall, China will fall, Russia will fall; the mightiest powers will all pass away, but the church of Jesus Christ will reign triumphant. Now suppose that God mystically revealed this to the most anti-Christian officials of our day, as if daring them: go ahead; try and stop me. Our God is the only one who “changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings; he gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding” (Daniel 2:21).

Second, God humbles the pride of human rulers. As if the previous revelations were not enough, God gave Nebuchadnezzar another vision with a more personal warning: he would suffer seven years of madness and live like an animal (Daniel 4:13-16).

When Daniel provided the interpretation yet again, he exhorted his master, “Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity” (Daniel 4:27). But Nebuchadnezzar did not heed the warning, and so the judgment came just as God had foretold — God was once again “calling his shots” (Daniel 4:31).

Nebuchadnezzar’s sanity only returned when he “blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever.” The king finally realized that “his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, ‘What have you done?’ … All his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (Daniel 4:34-37).

God taught a similar but more severe lesson to Nebuchadnezzar’s son (or grandson) Belshazzar. Despite knowing the history of chapter 4, Belshazzar drunkenly mocked the God of Israel (Daniel 5:2), a disembodied hand wrote a message of doom on the palace wall (Daniel 5:5), and the king was killed that very night (Daniel 5:30). God is still undefeated in every contest against a king who challenged him.

Third, God saves his people. Even when his people are up against the wall — nay, especially then — God loves to demonstrate his saving power. When Daniel’s three friends refuse to worship the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar, they survive a trip through the fiery furnace that scorched their captors without so much as the smell of smoke (Daniel 3:26-27). How is that possible? Only with God. When Daniel disobeyed an edict to pray to God, he survived a night in a den of hungry lions without so much as a scratch (Daniel 6:22).

Again, this is only possible through divine intervention. And it prompted King Darius to decree that “people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end” (Daniel 6:26).

This suggests an application still relevant for American Christians today. Instead of fretting over election results, let us resolve to keep following God. Love of neighbor should incite us to vote; but after we have done our duty, we can safely put the results in God’s hands. If the results turn out differently than we would wish, we can take comfort in the fact that God knows the future, that he can humble the pride of rulers, and that he can deliver us, too — both now and hereafter.

Daniel learned this as soon as he arrived in Babylon. Instead of succumbing to the enticement of Babylonian pleasures, he “resolved that he would not defile himself with the king's food, or with the wine that he drank” (Daniel 1:8). His faithfulness to God’s word was put to the test, and he came out so much healthier than his peers that his boss ordered everyone else to follow Daniel’s lifestyle (Daniel 1:15).

God also delivers his servants in the final judgment. When “those who sleep in the dust” awake to everlasting life or everlasting contempt, “your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book. … And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever” (Daniel 12:1-3).

We can hope confidently in this because we worship the risen Son of Man, who came and proclaimed a kingdom. As Daniel saw, “to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14). Compared to such eternal dominion, what is a single election?

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This article was written by Joshua Arnold and originally published on The Washington Stand. For more content like this, visit Real Life Network.