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Around the world, nations are losing their leaders of many years. Old statesmen are fading from the scene, and younger rulers are being replaced with STARTLING frequency. What does this mean for our world, and for our future? How should we react, as citizens and as Christians? What does the BIBLE say?
Around the world, nations are losing their leaders of many years. Old statesmen are fading from the scene, and younger rulers are being replaced with STARTLING frequency. What does this mean for our world, and for our future? How should we react, as citizens and as Christians? What does the BIBLE say?
Yes, governments around the world are in TURMOIL. In Israel, Labor Party leader Ehud Barak has replaced Likud's Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister. Favored by Israel's Arab population, Barak is seen as more favorable toward Palestinian interests than was the conservative Netanhayu. Some predict that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat will declare a Palestinian state by the end of the year.
Israel is not alone; many other nations are facing instability or WORSE. In Russia, massively unpopular President Boris Yeltsin recently survived an impeachment attempt. India's government is in chaos; its Hindu nationalist Prime Minister has been ousted and a Roman Catholic-born leader, Sonia Gandhi, may soon become the ruler of this overwhelmingly Hindu and Muslim nation. Who will end up leading this nuclear power in which nearly one-sixth of the Earth's population resides? No one yet knows!
Facing such instability, we may wonder: can any human being lead a nation unless God permits? Of course not! We read in Daniel 4:17 that God sets rulers over the nations as He wills: "…The Most High rules in the kingdom of men, gives it to whomever He will, and sets over it the lowest of men." Yes the LOWEST OF MEN! God may use a corrupt or evil leader for His purposes, but this does not mean that He APPROVES of such a leader or his conduct.
Yet how must we respond to our leaders? Jesus Christ tells us, in Matthew 22:21, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." Yes, we are to render unto governments their legitimate due. If a government demands that we violate our Christian responsibilities, we must be ready to die for our God, as were the early Christian martyrs. But we must not MAKE martyrs of ourselves simply as an excuse for our own LAWLESSNESS and refusal to be governed.
As Christians, we DEPLORE the approach of those who withhold their taxes and say that the civil government is not a legitimate authority. Indeed, we are told in Romans 13:6–7, "For because of this you also pay taxes, for they [civil rulers] are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor."
Yes, "HONOR TO WHOM HONOR." Rather than urging us to rebel against a leader whose conduct does not meet our self-imposed standards, the Bible tells us that leaders are put in place by God, and that we are to respect their authority. In Romans 13:1–3, we read, "Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same." Yes, that is our hope and our calling—to do what is GOOD.
Only the FOOLISH will rest their hopes for peace and prosperity on any human leader. Whether Ehud Barak of Israel, Gerhard Schroeder of Germany, Boris Yeltsin of Russia, or any other in the changing parade of world leaders—we must remember that Matthew 22:21 exhorts us to render to God the things that are God's. We must give all HONOR to our human leaders, but as we read in 1 Corinthians 11:1, we must only IMITATE them as they imitate Christ.
Jesus Christ—the perfect leader—is RIGHT NOW the spiritual Head of His Church, and He will SOON at His second coming be the PHYSICAL Head of all the nations. God speed that day, when under the physical rulership of our Savior there will be no more injustice in civil government!
But until that day, no matter how good or evil our leaders may be, we have a Christian duty to pray for them. In 1 Timothy 2:1–2, the Apostle Paul tells us, "Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions and giving of thanks be made for ALL men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence."
Yes, we must pray for ALL men, whether saints or Saddam Husseins, knowing that they are all instruments used by God to carry out His will, as God sets the stage for the coming turmoil that will lead to the GLORIOUS establishment of Jesus Christ's millenial rule on this Earth!
I'm Dr. Roderick C. Meredith, for the Living Church of God.
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