God Raises Up Kings or
Nations and Removes Them | Larry W.
Wilson
“Before
Him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by Him as worthless
and less than nothing. To whom, then,
will you compare God? What image will
you compare Him to?” (Isaiah 40:17,18 )
Civilizations
come and go, and governments rise and
fall. Because our Creator loves
people, He also blesses each nation
with a span of time so it might
prosper and do well, but this
blessing ends when a nation becomes
degenerate, rebellious, and unfit for
self-rule. When God determines
that extended mercy for a nation has
no redeeming effect, He marginalizes
or destroys that nation.
Many
Christians understand that God
destroyed the world in Noah’s
day because it became evil, but this
is only part of the picture!
God drowned all but eight people in
Noah’s day to free future
generations from the evil conduct
that belonged to their parents and
grandparents. The Lord created
the Earth and it belongs to
Him. He loves future
generations just as much as He loves
the present generation. When it
becomes evident to Him that future
generations will be ruined by the
behaviors passed down by parents and
grandparents, He wipes out the
present generation. He did this in
Noah’s day. In more recent
times, He did this with World Wars I
and II. Surprisingly, a God of
love imposed these wars during the
first half of the 20th century
so the world’s population would
grow and flourish 75 more years
before needing another world
war. “But the
Lord is the true God; He is the
living God, the eternal King. When He
is angry, the Earth trembles; the
nations cannot endure His
wrath.”(Jeremiah 10:10) ‘I
form the light and create darkness, I
bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the Lord, do all these
things.’ ” (Isaiah 45:7)
Many
Christians will not accept the
premise that a God of love destroys
nations when they become decadent and
degenerate. (Ezekiel 14:12-21)
Notice what the Lord said to
Ezekiel: “
‘Son of man, if a country sins
against me by being unfaithful and I
stretch out my hand against it to cut
off its food supply and send famine
upon it and kill its men and their
animals, even if these three men
– Noah, Daniel and Job –
were in it, they could save only
themselves by their
righteousness,’ declares the
Sovereign Lord. . . . ‘Or if I
bring a sword against that country
and say, ‘Let the sword pass
throughout the land,’ and I kill
its men and their animals, as surely
as I live,’ declares the
Sovereign Lord, ‘even if these
three men were in it, they could not
save their own sons or daughters.
They alone would be saved.’
” (Ezekiel 14:13-18)
World War III
is Coming!
Sooner than
later, the “sword” is going
to come again. World War III
will occur. Tensions are
mounting. Nations are preparing for
war. Secret alliances are being
made. Military spending has
increased. And now, for the first
time since World War II, Japan and
South Korea are building missiles for
protection. India is seeking to
purchase submarines that can carry
missiles. Iran is developing
its military prowess as fast as
possible. Israel is perfecting
its use of drones. China,
Russia, and the United States are in
an arms race and North Korea is
defying the world’s
nations. Like it or not, World
War III is coming; and when it does,
millions of people will die.
Meanwhile at
home, the United States is suffering
from paralysis. The leaders are
fighting each other. They are
bogged down with complex domestic
problems and cannot get anything done
because they cannot agree on a
solution. Partisanship has
created a do-nothing
legislature. The U.S. is facing
large, complex problems so expensive
that no one can offer a good
solution. Many governments in
the world are in a similar or worse
situation.
According to
the Bible, the longevity of a
government is determined by its
commitment to moral principles God
has dictated. When a majority
of people abide by these principles,
God blesses that nation with
prosperity and longevity. He
sends the Holy Spirit to prompt
honest hearted citizens to be good
neighbors. The Holy Spirit
helps people make good decisions
because good decisions bring good
results for individuals, families,
and ultimately, the nation. To
ensure continuity for oncoming
generations, God also raises up good
leaders and the result is a good
government that prospers and endures.
This is why King David
wrote: “Blessed
is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people He chose for His
inheritance. From Heaven the
Lord looks down and sees all mankind;
from His dwelling place He watches
all who live on Earth– He who
forms the hearts of all, who
considers everything they do.
No king is saved by the size of his
army; no warrior escapes by his great
strength. A horse [a
symbol of military might] is
a vain hope for deliverance; despite
all its great strength it cannot
save. But the eyes of the Lord are on
those who fear Him, on those whose
hope is in his unfailing love, to
deliver them from death and keep them
alive in famine.” (Psalm 33:12-19, insertion
mine)
Governments
are very complex organizations.
In fact, they are so complicated that
men cannot manage a government on
their own. Of course, a man or
woman can rise to the position of a
king, queen, dictator, or president,
but only with God’s
approval. God sets kings up and
takes them down according to His
higher purposes. Sometimes God
will raise up a king to serve as a
destroyer of other nations only to
destroy that king and his nation when
they pass the point of no return. (Jeremiah 25:9-12)
Because we cannot know or understand
God’s higher purposes until He
reveals them, we have to trust Him.
We have to accept that He is
carefully and thoughtfully managing
the political processes on Earth to
benefit the world. Daniel told
king Nebuchadnezzar, “He [the
Most High God] changes
times and seasons; He sets up kings
and deposes them. He gives wisdom to
the wise and knowledge to the
discerning. He reveals deep and
hidden things; He knows what lies in
darkness, and light dwells with
Him.” (Daniel 2:21,22, insertion
mine)
God Does Not
Guarantee a Nation Will Be Successful
History
indicates that prosperity and
longevity is not a guaranteed right
for any nation. A nation will
flourish or disappear depending on
the behavior of its people and the
wisdom of its leaders. God
enables a nation to prosper for as
long as the majority of its people
are honorable, living right, and
making wise choices. Think of
the billions of decisions, the
actions and consequences that occur
every day within every nation.
If a million immoral decisions are
made each day, a million evil
consequences will follow, because the
law of “cause and effect”
cannot be broken. Whatever we
sow, we reap. (Galatians 6:7,8) This
axiom is true for individuals and
governments.
For example,
when Dictator Mao Zedong implemented
“The Great Leap Forward”
program in 1958, he did not
anticipate that his efforts to
transform China from an agricultural
economy into a communist society
would cause mass starvation within
five years. We now know that
His decision resulted in the death of
some eighteen to fifty-five million
people! A God of love allowed
Mao to make such a decision even
though God foreknew the outcome and
He allowed Mao to rule over China for
twenty five years as dictator.
This is because Mao’s choices
fit within God’s plans for the
future of China and the world.
This is a hard concept to accept
because we cannot see the end from
the beginning as God does. In
fact, a time is coming when God will
allow the devil himself to rule over
the whole world! (Revelation 13:11-18)
Jesus
understood the curse of sin. He
knew that evil things happen to
innocent people, and He made it clear
that those who cause others harm will
be repaid: “Things
that cause people to sin are bound to
come, but woe to that person through
whom they come. It would be
better for him to be thrown into the
sea with a millstone tied around his
neck than for him to cause one of
these little ones to sin.” (Luke 17:1,2) “Do
not take revenge, my friends, but
leave room for God’s wrath, for
it is written: ‘It is mine to
avenge; I will repay,’ says the
Lord.” (Romans 12:19)
Because
adults have free will and a sinful
nature a nation always has the
possibility of rebellion and
chaos. This is why law
enforcement is necessary. To
help offset man’s propensity for
rebellion, and to help nations grow
and improve, God has given adults the
ability to recognize and appreciate a
need for law and order. He has
also given us a “natural
desire” to live in peace with
one another and in harmony with the
laws of the country. Paul was
aware of this phenomenon when he
wrote Romans 13. As you read
his remarks, keep in mind that Paul
was a prisoner in Rome when he wrote
this: “Everyone
must submit himself to the governing
authorities, for there is no
authority except that which God has
established. The authorities that
exist have been established by
God. Consequently, he who
rebels against the authority is
rebelling against what God has
instituted, and those who do so will
bring judgment on themselves.
For rulers hold no terror for those
who do right, but for those who do
wrong. Do you want to be free from
fear of the one in authority? Then do
what is right and he will commend
you. For he
is God’s servant to do you good. But
if you do wrong, be afraid, for he
does not bear the sword for nothing.
He is God’s servant, an agent of
wrath to bring punishment on the
wrongdoer. Therefore, it is
necessary to submit to the
authorities, not only because of
possible punishment but also because
of conscience. This is also why
you pay taxes, for the authorities
are God’s servants, who give
their full time to governing.”
(Romans 13:1-6, italics
mine)
When a nation
advocates and exalts evil, a patient
God removes His blessings from that
nation in small steps, hoping that
repentance and correction will
occur. If there is no change in
behavior, problems soon begin to
sprout like dandelions after a spring
rain. The nation’s economy
flounders. Poverty
increases. Sexual misconduct
ruins relationships, and families and
children are abused by
predators. Political problems
escalate until finally, war engulfs
that weakened nation. One of
the tell-tale signs of a
nation’s imminent downfall is
the arrival of poor managers.
When people are put in positions of
power that are self-seeking and
immoral, we know the end is near
because they only make matters
worse. When lies and suspicion
replace truth and trust, government
is doomed. God is no respecter of
persons. He will destroy
nations that He once blessed when
they become unfit for His purposes
because He owns and rules over the
Earth.
God Permits
Rebellion Against a Cruel Government
The Bible
teaches that man’s first and
highest duty is to obey God. (This is
why church/state governments are so
dangerous.) When man’s
laws run contrary to God’s laws,
civil disobedience is
warranted. When Jewish leaders
forbade the disciples from speaking
about a resurrected Jesus, “Peter
and the other apostles replied:
‘We must obey God rather than
men!’ ” (Acts 5:29) Jesus
highlighted the concept of “God
first” when He repeated the
first and greatest commandment.
He said we must love God with all of
our heart, mind and soul and the
second commandment is that we must
love our neighbors as
ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-39) Given
the order presented in these two
commandments, Paul’s counsel in
Romans 13 could be considered a
third commandment, “Everyone
must submit himself to the governing
authorities, for there is no
authority except that which God has
established.”
When a
government becomes cruel and
oppressive, tyranny occurs and under
such circumstances, God permits
revolt, civil disobedience, and
war. In fact, the United States
came to be a nation through acts of
civil disobedience and the
revolutionary war. Then, about
seventy-five years later, a civil war
broke out between the north and the
south and 620,000 people perished. In
spite of all the blood that was shed
in both wars, consider the
results. A great nation arose,
greater than England by far! A
nation having fifty united states
where no man is permitted to own
another as a slave.
Many people
have argued through the centuries
(using Paul’s comments in Romans 13:1-6 and a
concept called “the divine right
of kings”) that revolting
against government leaders is
forbidden by Scripture. But
Paul included an important qualifier
in his remarks. Paul said,
“For he is God’s
servant to do you good.”
When a government violates God’s
laws and when leaders become
dishonest, cruel, and oppressive to
maintain their power, they are doing
no good. God warns all
government rulers that they will have
to give an account for their actions.
(Psalm 2:10-12)
Citizens of
the U.S. are blessed to live in a
country that has the finest
constitution ever created, but the
nation is falling apart because
people have abandoned the moral
principles which God requires to
receive His blessings.
Corruption is replacing confidence
and there is no shortage of liars and
predators in politics. Forty
million of 360 million U.S. citizens
need assistance to buy food and the
median price of a home is beyond the
reach of three-fourths of the
population. The number of
people in poverty is swelling because
the middle class is
disappearing. Wages are
stagnant and student loans are
proving to be ruinous for millions of
young people. More than ever,
fellow Americans do not like or trust
each other; and more and more, we
carry guns because we are
increasingly afraid of each
other. America has fallen so
fast!
God Has a
Solution to National Degeneracy
There is no
human solution to the world’s
problems, but there is a divine
solution for both. The downfall
of all nations is near! During
the Great Tribulation a stern-faced
king will arise; he will take control
and utterly ruin everything on Earth
– a fitting end for a world
that insists on evil behavior.
Larry Wilson
