After the incredible, miraculous victory of Elijah* in the “God vs the Baal Worshippers” bout, Elijah did an amazing “victory lap,” outrunning King Ahab’s horses and chariot all the way from Mount Carmel to Jezreel. He was pretty pumped by the experience and saw it as a clear mandate for God to reign supreme in the hearts of all the people. Until he saw Jezebel that is. Then she threatens him, invoking the names of her irrelevant and disproved “gods” and what does Elijah do? He looks her square in the face and . . . turns and runs for his life. What???

Let me back up here for a minute and put the story in context. You have Elijah, the only prophet of God that was not killed by Jezebel, challenging her “prophet team” to a huge God-off, he overcomes the odds, God brings down fire from heaven, hearts are changed, the false prophets killed, Elijah supernaturally runs several miles ahead of a team of horses, and a woman, with zero power at this point, puts such fear in him that he runs away and hides in the dessert. And, he was so afraid and bummed out he asked God to take his life.**

This just doesn’t compute. He just witnessed the most incredible display of God’s power on earth, totally eviscerating his enemy and the Wicked Witch of the West scares him so badly he wants to die?

The Republican party has so many similarities to Elijah. They have this uncanny ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. I can only hope, in light of this last election, that being handed an overwhelming mandate that they look fear in the face, they don’t run, they don’t hide, and the don’t forget why they were put in office.

With all the odds against President Bush’s reelection, he prevailed, while increasing seats in both the house and Senate, and the key issue for most voters was determined to be moral issues. Every move to keep marriage defined as between a man and a woman passed overwhelmingly in every state with it on the ballot.

There is no reason to fear the unknown or the threats of a woman whose “gods” have just lost their version of the “Super Bowl.” But, will the party gird up its loins of resolve, outrun the chariots of division, and face down the voices that have tried to silence the majority as they fight to maintain moral absolutes in society?

Well, I think it depends on the power they perceive our modern “Jezebel” to have. Republicans, conservatives, born again Christians, the military, homeschoolers, business executives and people who talk about a need to maintain strong moral values, have all been targeted for either destruction or defeat, by our nation’s Jezebel. This “threat” of reprisal serves to restrict the forward movement and vocalization of these beliefs and systems.

Why are conservatives, Republicans and the other “suspicious groups” which are identified by this “Jezebel” as right wing conspiratorial, radicals so intimidated by words when they comprise the majority of the voters in the nation? Elections have shown in the past when a candidate who knows who they are, what they believe, why they believe it, and has the courage to stand up to Jezebel, that they are a huge favorite of the electorate. Look at the Reagan paradigm. It is not a mystery that an entire moniker was coined for a huge block of voters called “Reagan Democrats” for people who liked everything about their party except their platform, their elected leaders, their views on moral issues and their stance on national defense. Other than that, they were proud to be Democrats.

But that image died on Mount Carmel when the false impressions and superficial characteristics of the old Democrat party were run through with the sword of truth and insight. The party that fought to keep slavery in tact, and then move to keep blacks from voting and disenfranchised from the body politic in the past two centuries, had to remake their personae in the light of changing values and shifting priorities. Also, in light of the fact that the Republican party was always there to keep them honest on the issues of racial discrimination, government control, tax increases, national defense, encroaching socialism and a deference to international control of our sovereignty. The only thing is . . . standing there in a face off with Jezebel, the Republican party never remembers the power it has by the numbers it almost always pulls in the polls. They shake in fear at a hollow movement and antiquated party because they have been told that to act on any of their beliefs would define them as “right wing extremists” and cause them to shrink in fear.

We need to put a mirror in front of Elijah so that not only does it reflect the incredible man of God that just believed for the most amazing miracles, but it blocks out the nagging, whiney, insipid voice of the Jezebel that has as its goal the destruction of greatness, replacing it instead with controllable, malleable mediocrity that can be frightened, manipulated and defined by her image.

So . . . as we see the incredible mandate that President Bush and the Republican party has just received from the American people, I pray that they don’t shrink in fear before the impotent forces that have as their goal the silencing of all opposing views and opinions. The President has a chance to shape courts in the image of the constitution with honorable men and women who will not legislate from the bench using judicial activism, but who will see the boundaries of their power in the four corners of the documents that define our laws and freedoms.

What would be so horrible about having as a litmus test the belief that a child in the womb should be protected? Common sense tells you that anyone who would condone the murder of an unborn child, would not stop there at injecting their mayhem in other areas of our society. If a child can’t be defined, then marriage can’t be, freedom can’t be, liberation of oppressed nations can’t be, ad infinitum. The failure to base decisions on absolutes paves the way for anarchy where everyone determines for themselves what they think is right and wrong. One man thinks it is their right to cut off another man’s head, while another feels that a pastor’s voice should be silenced for reading “politically incorrect” scripture from their church pulpit. The purpose of both views is to silence and intimidate, it is just their methods that are a different.

So, instead of shrinking in fear, and running to the dessert of political safety to hide out these next four years, the President, our elected officials and the Republican party need to stand firm in their resolve and finish the job they started. The Jezebel of negativity, divisiveness, oppression, intimidation and hypocrisy needs to be challenged, overcome and replaced. But that takes courage . . . it takes conviction . . .and takes a memory of past miraculous victories. We can chose to run and hide after such an amazing victory . . . or we can stand and finish the fight. The choice is ours.

*I Kings 18: 18-46 **I Kings 19: 1-4

This is the second part of a commentary I wrote the day before the election, called, “With This Much Water on the Alter . . . Expect a Miracle in the Election.”

If you want a copy, let me know. It is not posted any place.