GOD ... INTO APPOINTING KINGS AND RULERS?
by
Keith Hunt
In 1 Samuel 24 we have the account of David cutting off part
of Saul's skirt while he was "going to the washroom" in a cave,
where David and his men were hiding. Then David had second-
thoughts about what he had done, and said:
"The Lord forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the
Lord's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing
he is the anointed of the Lord" (verse 6).
Now we have seen already in past studies that INDEED Saul
was DIRECTLY chosen by God to be His anointed kind over Israel.
Because of this, and with certain passages in the book of
Daniel and in the New Testament, many in the past (maybe still
today) have taught a really UN-balanced idea about world
"leaders" and the awesome, practically to the point of "worship,"
idea that Christians should have towards "world-leaders of
nations."
The teaching is this: All world leaders are placed there by
God, so better have great and honorable respect for them."
While, as we have seen, this COULD BE TRUE, and the Lord
could DIRECTLY place a man in power to lead a nation, He is the
most powerful being in the universe after all, and certainly has
the power to place a man as leader of a nation, but we need to be
very careful as to how far we teach this idea. FOR, a little
common LOGIC (that, sad to say, is missing in some "theology"
teachings) would tell us that a man like ADOLPH HITLER should not
be respected, liked, honored, or given any kind of thought that
God had placed that man in power and rulership. As we look at
history, past, and even in the last 100 years, we can see men
taking power as leaders of their nations, only to brutalize,
rape, kill, and bring sorrow and death upon all whom they
considered their enemies.
True, it is that God may have ALLOWED those evil men to have
taken power and brought horrible sorrow and death upon tens of
thousands and in some case, MILLIONS of people; but ALLOWING is
one thing, but for God to DIRECTLY put into power such men over
nations, is another matter altogether.
We need to keep everything in the WHOLE CONTEXT of the
Bible, and in the context of history, and nations in power as to
the use of their power. The example is that in the context of the
Roman Empire in the days of the first century Church of God, the
overall context was that the Roman Empire ALLOWED the nations,
like the Jewish nation, under its Empire, to WORSHIP IN FREEDOM
their religion. This is self evident as we simply read the New
Testament. The Jews were allowed to keep their religion, have
their Temple, have their priesthood, have their sacrificial
services, observe the weekly 7th day Sabbath, observe the annual
holy days and Festivals of the Lord. All the Roman Empire asked
of them was that they would be decent and non-violent people
within the nations that constituted the Roman Empire. It is very
logical then for the apostles to teach Christians to have honor
and respect for such civil governments.
God is the master of the universe. He is the ever ruling
One. He is always the most POWERFUL and always the "authority" in
the universe. Hence when we read about how the Lord decided to
deal with Nebuchadnezzar in the book of Daniel, for his
outlandish VANITY and "big-head-ness" (see Dan.4:28-30), God CAN
and has the RIGHT and has the POWER, to STEP IN and personally
get involved with that ruler IF HE DECIDES HE WILL DO!! In
Nebuchadnezzar's case the Eternal Almighty DID DECIDE TO
PERSONALLY GET INVOLVED WITH THIS KING AND TEACH HIM A LESSON
(see verses 30-37).
As Neb boy found out in no uncertain terms, God is always
the KING and AUTHORITY in the universe. He CAN step in at any
time and get personally involved with any nation or any person
leading that nation, BUT HE DOES NOT DO IT ALL THE TIME, OR EVEN
THAT OFTEN IF WE LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF NATIONS AS A WHOLE OVER
ALL HISTORIC PERIODS OF MEN BEING ON THIS EARTH.
Yes, he did it in Egypt with JOSEPH, a true man of God,
being made RULER, AND THE KING OF EGYPT GIVING JOSEPH RULE, as we
see from the book of Genesis. God got personally involved in
Egypt in the days of Moses, as we see from the book of Exodus.
But the FACT is that by-and-large the Lord lets the nations
move along as THEY WILL, only intervening WHEN He sees fit, and
for the purpose He decides and wants.
Nebuchadnezzar LEARNT in a very agraphic way, that the
blessed MOST HIGH ONE LIVES and all the inhabitants of the earth
are as NOTHING to Him, and that He does ACCORDING to His WILL, in
the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and
none can answer Him as to what He does (Dan.4:34-35).
Most of the time God sits back and He lets the nations of
this earth "do their own thing" - pick their own leaders, bad or
good or in-between. Most of the time He lets man's heart go its
own way, as the Proverb He inspired to be written down say:
"There is a way that seems good unto the heart/mind of man, but
the ends thereof are the ways of death" (Prov.14:12).
God DID NOT put Adolph Hitler into power to bring the
bastardly horrors that his Empire brought on the world during the
Second World War! Men, the minds of men and women, put Adolph
Hitler into power. Now, on the other hand, I believe it was God
who had Winston Churchill, brought back from his planting flowers
in his garden, called back by the British Government to LEAD
Britain and her nation families, AGAINST THE EVIL HITLER, who
probably was often or all the time, being inspired by Satan the
Devil himself.
There is MUCH that goes on BEHIND THE SCENES in the "spirit
world" that we humans do not see or know about, as we get a
glimpse from the book of Daniel, as the power and angelic beings
of the Lord DO MOVE AND INTERVENE as God WILLS and WHEN He wills.
Now that is the truth of the nature of God concerning
nations and leaders of nations. God ALLOWS many things, and only
gets PERSONALLY involved in the affairs of nations and leaders
WHEN HE WILLS TO for any specific purpose so His plan here below
moves to the end of His time line, to bring to pass the promise
of the age to come, the restitution of all things.
.....................
To be continued
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