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When one reads Colossians 1:15-16, Romans 13:1-7, 1 Peter 2:13-14 and Daniel 2:21; Daniel 4:17, I have to conclude that God sets up all world rulers. How do you square that circle?
While these scriptural passages do show that God has the capacity, authority and the power to both set up rulers and remove them, they do not actually say that He always exercises this power. Ultimately all things are under our Creator’s overall sovereignty and He reserves the right to use it as necessary to fulfill His purpose on earth.
A case in point is when God specifically intervened and raised up Cyrus to be king over Persia to further the working out of His plan for the exiles from the nation of Judah to return from Babylonia and rebuild Jerusalem and the temple (Isaiah 44:28).
Although God the Father is "Lord of heaven and earth" (Matthew 11:25; Acts 17:24), He has allowed Satan to remain on earth as "the god of this age" (2 Corinthians 4:4) until Jesus Christ returns and orders him removed from all authority and power (Revelation 20:1-3). Clearly the devil is the on-site, behind-the-scenes ruler of this present world or age.
The apostle Paul referred to Satan as the "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2). Jesus called this evil being "the ruler of this world" (John 12:31; John 14:30; John 16:11). The devil even offered Jesus all the world’s kingdoms if He would only fall down and worship him (Matthew 4:9). Jesus totally rejected Satan’s offer (verse 10), but He did not dispute the implication that the devil had these kingdoms to give.
God does not tempt or influence anyone to sin (James 1:13). But the devil has shown himself to be a master at tempting people, beginning with Eve in the Garden of Eden. Dictators and even democratic leaders are certainly no exceptions. The evidence of the devil’s work is everywhere on this planet, and not least among rulers. Just read your daily newspaper or watch the news on television.
Of course, the Bible does teach us to respect and pray for our rulers, no matter what their lifestyles happen to be (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Timothy 2:1-3; 1 Peter 2:13-14). Apparently the corrupt tyrant Nero was Roman emperor when Paul gave this instruction to the Christians in Rome.
One of the spinoffs of sin is confusion, and God is certainly not the author of confusion, wanting mankind-especially Christians-to do everything in proper order (1 Corinthians 14:33,40). It is Satan who is the author of the chaos and confusion we see in our world and its governments! (To learn more, read the Bible study aid Is There Really a Devil? )
Another basic principle we should all understand is that God has granted human beings the power of choice-the capacity to exercise free will. Our Creator always wants us to choose the right way (Deuteronomy 30:19), but just as He allowed Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit, so He also has allowed their descendants to choose the wrong way and then suffer the inevitable consequences. As was pointed out in the article, God allowed the Israelites to have a human king when they sinfully demanded it (1 Samuel 8).
It is true, as the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar came to admit, "that the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men" (Daniel 4:17), but we should understand this in the sense that God exercises overall direction to ensure that His great purposes are worked out on earth, including the fulfillment of promises and prophecies He has given.
Although God has made a number of major exceptions during this present age of man, He has largely adopted a "hands-off" policy so that humanity in general will eventually learn through hard experience that we desperately need Jesus Christ to come and directly reign over us. Christ is the King and Ruler in the life of true Christians now, but after He returns He will establish the Kingdom of God over all nations in the direct sense of a ruling world government.
In the meantime, God Almighty has and exercises the power to move the pieces on the chessboards of history and prophecy so that the overall human experience fulfills His plan and purpose for mankind. Our Bible study aid booklets God’s Holy Day Plan: The Promise of Hope for All Mankind and What Is Your Destiny? outline the whole plan of God, adding many details.
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