God and Human Government

God and Human Government

It is assumed by many today that God has lost control over human government and believers have no business dealing with it. History tells us that seemingly, human governments are spiralling out of control and becoming more and more independent of God and His precepts. When bad leaders emerge in history such as in the case of Hitler, men are grasping for explanations if God is still able to rule over the world and if so, why is he allowing these evil rulers to wreak havoc on earth. In this post, I will talk about what the Scriptures teach on God and His dealing with human government. I will try to answer an all important question that humans ask in this age, is God able to govern history and the conduct of human governments?

Jesus attitude towards human Government
While Jesus was ministering on earth, the nation of Israel was under the rule of the Romans. Caesar Augustus was the ruling emperor and the one who issued the decree of a census to be conducted in the whole Roman Empire. This was the reason why the Jews were anticipating a king that would come from the line of David. They were expecting that this king will liberate them from the tyranny of the Romans. They have mistakenly thought that Jesus is going to establish their kingdom when He entered Jerusalem. The Jews shouted as Jesus entered the city “blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!" (Luke 19:38). 

But as much as the Jews wanted to be liberated from the Romans, in contrast, Jesus showed His respect and obedience to Roman authorities. When the Pharisees asked Him if it is right to pay tax to Caesar, He said to them ‘Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's’ (Matt 22:21). When the Pharisees enticed Pilate to judge Jesus with the penalty of death, Jesus meekly submitted himself to Pilate’s judgment. In his defiance to the arrest of Jesus, Peter started to draw his sword and cut the high priest’s ear in the process. But Jesus calmly told him, “no more of this” and healed the ear of the servant. He then told the arresting parties that He is not leading a rebellion and that everything must happen so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled (Mark 14:48-50). 

All governments and earthly leaders are appointed by God
In the book of Romans chapter 13, Apostle Paul taught that all governments and human leaders are appointed by God and believers must subject themselves to them. He said further that there is no authority on earth that God did not establish and that those who rebel against the authorities are actually rebelling against God. He encouraged the early believers to do what is right so that the rulers will be delighted and commend them. Paul even called earthly rulers ‘God’s servants’ and ‘agents of wrath’ to wrongdoers and that it is imperative for believers to obey them because of their conscience. 

The extent of the believers’ obedience to Government
Church history reveals that all the Orthodox Church Fathers have subjected themselves under human government and authorities. They did not go against any of the laws of the land and they became salt and light to the unbelievers so that they may also see the light of the Gospel. They only disobeyed government and human authorities when they were prohibited to worship God and proclaim the Gospel of Christ to all people. They would rather want to be crucified upside down, like Peter; beheaded, like Paul; burnt at stake like Polycarp; stoned to death like Stephen and be exiled to a deserted island like John than deny Jesus Christ as their God, Lord and Saviour. For them, obedience to government and human leaders stops, when disobedience to God begins. Is it the same with us?

Scriptural Proofs on God's sovereignty (part 3)

In my previous blogs, I have expounded on God's total control over the inanimate matters, spirit beings (bad and holy angels) and animal kingdom. In this blog, I will talk about the most sublime yet probably the most controversial truths in the Scriptures. That God has complete control over all other created things is easily accepted by majority but that God has complete control over the children of men is commonly repudiated. It is understandable as man naturally wants to have freedom over his own decision. He naturally desires to exalt his own will uninfluenced and unrestricted because of pride. Men are sinners by nature and he will do all his best to defend his ability. 

For some, it is easier to accept that God has plan and control over the elect but the fact that God has a plan and total control over the heathens/unbelievers doesn't gain wide recognition. The popular notion even amongst Bible believers  is that it is Satan who governs the actions of evil men. The thought that Satan is the one ruling over them and that the sinner has become so unruly that God has somehow lost His grip on them becomes the general consensus. But the teaching that God has total control of all men cannot be  ignored however hard men try to deny or disagree with it. Here are the Scriptural proofs on God's total control over the heathens.
 

God's complete control over the heathens/unbelievers
The story of Joseph is a classic example on how God used the heathens to fulfill his purposes. As the brothers of Joseph were eating, a caravan of Ishmaelites passed by and did not hesitate to buy Joseph from his brothers (Gen. 7:25) Thus Joseph was brought to Egypt and  Potiphar who happened to be a high official of Pharaoh bought him from the Ishmaelites. Potiphar's wife had evil intentions with Joseph but that is God's way to bring Joseph to jail where God has providentially joined him together with the Pharaoh's bread maker and butler. God gave dreams to both of these men who were rightly interpreted by Joseph, an event who would later cause the butler to recommend Joseph to pharaoh when the latter dreamed peculiar dreams that foretell the future calamities that would befall Egypt and the rest of the world. These very dreams were the instruments of God for the Pharaoh to have high regard for a former slave who would later become the governor of the whole Egypt. Joseph recognized that everything that has taken place in his life, all the evil actions of his brothers and the Egyptians towards him are all part of God's divine plan. He said to his brothers "it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt" (Genesis 45:8).

To protect himself from harm, Abraham did not tell Abimelech who wanted to marry Sarah that she is his wife. So the heathen king took Sarah to his palace. But before Abimelech was able to touch her, God spoke to Abimelech in a dream and told him "you are good as dead because of the woman you had taken; she is a married woman...and I kept you from sinning against Me" (Genesis 20:3,6). And so Abimelech was not able to touch Sarah and immediately returned her to Abraham the next day.

For the purpose of displaying His power before the heathen nation of Egypt God hardened the heart of Pharaoh so that he would not listen to Aaron and Moses (Exodus 9:12; 10:1; 11:10;14:8). In fact apostle Paul says that this is the very purpose why God raised up the Pharaoh to his throne (Romans 9:17). It was also the Lord who hardened the hearts of ALL the heathen kings of the nations that formerly occupied Canaan to keep them from having treaty with Israel so that He would totally destroy them (Joshua 11:16-20). It was God who instructed Nebuchadnezzar the pagan king of Babylon to remove all the treasures in the temple of of Jerusalem (2 Kings 2:14).

God moved the heart of king Cyrus of Persia to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem and the temple of God. He even wrote in his own decree in 2nd Chronicles 36:23 "Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up."

In Isaiah 10:5-15, God declares that the pagan nation of Assyria is the rod of His anger and the staff  of His indignation. He used the proud and ungodly men of this kingdom as an instrument of His punishment to the Israelite people who turned their hearts from Him. Why can't he use all men when we are told that "the king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah, as the watercourses; He turneth it whithersoever He will," Proverbs 21:1. The evidences of  God having absolute control over all the actions of evil men are too numerous to mention. We will be discussing God's absolute control over His own children next.....

Scriptural Proofs on God's Sovereignty (part 2)

Very few dare to expound on the sovereignty of God as they think it will somehow remove or lessen human responsibility. But rightly interpreted, God's sovereignty and human responsibility do not contradict each other. In fact, the more we understand how God deals with His creations, the more we become responsible as His created.

In my last post, I tried to enumerate some of the evidences of God's sovereignty over the inanimate matters and irrational creatures. In this post, I will expound on the sovereignty of God over the spirit beings (Good angels and Satan and his demons).

God's sovereignty over Spirit beings

Polytheism is grounded on the belief that there is multiplicity of gods who  have the powers to rule over men. Little did they know that there is ONLY ONE GOD and even the demons believe in that truth and tremble (James 2:19). There is also a notion even among Bible believers that there are two kingdoms that co-exist, one belong to Satan who is the "god" of this world and the other is the GOD in the heavens who has limited powers over Satan and his demons. But the Scripture teaches that Satan is just a created being. He is formerly a guardian cherub who was created by God to serve and worship Him alone (Ezekiel 28:13-15). But in God's secret counsel he allowed Satan to rebel against Him so that He may use Him to make Himself known to man (Ezekiel 28:17). Had Satan not rebelled against God, there will be no agent to entice Adam and Eve to sin and we will not know about God's forgiveness and love. Even sin was allowed by God so that we may know of His character and in return we might appreciate His goodness and mercy as we appreciate light because of darkness.

That God is sovereign over the spirit beings is very evident in the Scriptures. In the book of Job we will read that Satan and the evil spirits went before God and asked for His permission to test Job (Job 1:6-12). Everything that transpired in Job's life, from the death of his sons and daughters to his sickness and to the restoration of his wealth and health, they were all by God's permission. Satan cannot simply do whatever he wants. How much more his demons?

Over the good angels, there is no question that they just do whatever God permits them to do. Like Satan, they are not independent beings who can do  whatever they please. They are doing only what God has commanded them such as in the case of angel Gabriel who announced to Mary the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, or in the case of the angel of death who killed only the firstborn of the Egyptians and spared the firstborn of the Israelites as per God's instruction, or the angels who are sent to take care of the elect (Psalm 91:11) and the angels who are tasked to guard the innocent children (Matthew 18:10). Good angels' primary duty is to worship and serve God and they are ones who will gather the elect 'from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.' (Mark 13:27) before the Great White Judgment.

Scriptural Proofs on God's Sovereignty (part 1)

Almost every single page of the Scriptures proves that God is sovereign over all things whether inanimate or endowed with life. From the great stars of the galaxies, to spirit beings, to the animal kingdom, to the heathens, to His chosen people and to the smallest bacteria that cannot be seen by the naked eyes, God is in complete control over them. 

God's complete control over inanimate matter

Genesis narrates how God commanded inanimate matters to come into being and obey His bidding. He said 'let there be light' and light came forth. He commanded the water that once enveloped the earth to divide itself and it was so. He ordered the planets and stars of the galaxies to bring forth light and they obeyed His command (Genesis 1:1-19). He commanded the heaven and the springs to release the water in them and flood covered the whole earth for about one whole year (Genesis 7:12) then He sent the wind to dry up the land and it was so (Genesis 8:1). 

When the Israelites were cornered by the Egyptians, God demanded the Red sea to let the Israelites pass through it and the sea parted and the Israelites were able to walk on dry land. Jonah wanted to escape from God, but the the wind and the sea on His order became violent which prompted the sailors to throw Jonah out of the ship (Jonah 1:3,17). Jesus rebuked the strong wind and waves  saying "be still" and they obeyed Him (Matthew 8:26). Was it not written that He is the One who commands the lightning to hit its mark? (Job 36:30,32). The examples of inanimate matters submitting themselves to God are too numerous to fit in this post.

God's complete control over irrational creatures

God ordered all the frogs of Egypt to assemble together in the Nile and go into the palace, bedrooms and ovens and kneading troughs of the Egyptians (Exodus 8:3-4). And just by His word all of them simultaneously give out their breath and make the air of Egypt foul with the exception of Goshen where the Israelites were living.

Noah did not gather the animals that were to be saved from the great flood but it was the animals who went into the ark two by twos or in pairs of seven just in time before the rain started. It was God who instructed them to travel from where they came from to the place where Noah constructed the Ark. And so the ferocious lions of the jungles, the innocent sheep, the elephants of the forests, the playful monkeys, the fragile butterflies, the monkey eating eagles and the creatures that move along the ground marched, crawled and flew to Noah and went inside the Ark as per God's instructions (Genesis 7:7-8). By God's order, a donkey talked and rebuked the prophet Balaam (Numbers 22:27), a fish swallowed Jonah (Jonah 1:17),  Ravens fed Elijah (1 Kings 17:6) and a fish with a drachma coin bit the bait of Peter (Mattthew 17:27). (to be continued...)

The Sovereignty of God Defined

The Word of God has firmly established the truth that God is sovereign. Daniel 4:5 declares, 'And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?' But the word sovereignty has become a foreign word to all nowadays. This is the age when people want nobody to reign and rule over them. It is the golden age of human freedom, when man's ways are being exalted and God's ways are relegated to the sidelines.

By definition  sovereignty means simply means the 'power to rule'. When ascribed to God, it means God's absolute power and control over all things, all creatures and all history. It means that God is the possessor of all power in heaven and earth so that none can defeat His counsels, thwart His purposes or resist His will. To declare that God is sovereign is to  acknowledge that He is 'the governor among nations' (Psalm 22:28) who sets up kingdoms and governments, overthrows empires, and determines the courses of all countries and dynasties according to what He pleases. this is the God of the Scriptures.

Sadly this is not the God that is depicted today in most pulpits. The God of the modern Christianity is very much different with the God of the Holy Bible. God is now being depicted not as a Supreme Ruler but as a weak, defeated, impotent deity.  The God of this century is a miserable caricature, a helpless effeminate being as A. W. Pink puts it, a pathetic travesty of truth.  This is the prevalent view of God even by those who profess to be believers of the Scriptures.

In the next post we will discuss further the evidences of God's sovereignty as seen from the Scriptures and in our everyday experience. Lord willing...