The Church, Culture, and God’s Appointment of Authority (Part 1)
In some ways, this study readdresses some of the issues we have already discussed in earlier studies; however, since many of these issues keep coming up, it is necessary that we not only understand how we engage the culture, but also that we understand God’s sovereignty over all things – including leaders. Recently, I was involved in a discussion about authority and God’s sovereignty over the world around us. In the discussion, it was stated that God raises up godly leaders, but only allows godless leaders to come to power. Nothing could be farther from the truth, and as we shall see, God Himself declares that even wicked leaders are lifted up by His hand. He also explains why He raises godless leaders as we shall also see.
It was interesting to see how many people struggle with the idea that God could appoint wicked leaders. Some argued that God allows the wicked to usurp power, while others believe God appoints all authority – including wicked rulers. How could a Holy God appoint a wicked leader? The question was also asked, “Doesn’t that make God the author of sin?”
These are legitimate concerns and something the Christian should understand. Since this topic has come up again, perhaps the Lord is showing that further clarification is needed. It’s fine to question these things – as long as we do not find ourselves disputing against God. Questioning why, seeking to find the truth, and wrestling with the scriptures as we try to come to grip with that truth, can be healthy practices in the Christian’s life. God does not condemn doubt; he condemns disbelief. A good example of this can be found in the account of Gabriel telling of the coming birth of Christ, and the forerunner of Christ, John the Baptist.
When the angel stood before Zechariah and foretold that he would have a son in his old age, and his name would be called John, Zachariah scoffed at the absurdity of the idea. He was old, and his wife had been barren and was now beyond child bearing age. He asked, “How can this be?”
The angel rebuked him by saying that he was Gabriel, the angel who stands before God. He was sent to bring these tidings to Zechariah, and he ends by saying, “because you did not believe my words, you will be mute until this takes place.”
A few months later, the angel stands before Mary, foretells that she will give birth to the Messiah, and she asks as similar question. “How can this be, since I don’t know a man.”
Both parties questioned the angel, but Zechariah was condemned and Mary was given an explanation. It’s not the words, but the heart that God used to distinguish between these two questions. Zechariah disbelieved the word, while Mary sought to understand it. It’s similar to the man who brought his possessed son to Jesus. The Lord said, “If you believe, all things are possible.”
The man cried out, “Lord I believe. Help my unbelief!”
Jesus responded by healing the man’s son. This is the difference between doubt and disbelief. Disbelief is rejecting the word of the Lord, while doubt is the inability of our flesh to understand. When we can’t see with our human eyes, we have to cry out for God to help our unbelief. It’s called wrestling with the scriptures. We struggle against our humanity to understand what God is teaching us. Even when we can’t understand, or can’t see how God will work, or why he does the things beyond our comprehension, we must not cast his word behind our back. Just because we don’t understand why God works in a certain way, does not mean God’s word is wrong.
Our flesh can’t understand the things of God, but through the mind of Christ, which we have been given (1 Corinthians 2:16), we can discern the truth and apply it to our lives. When our human understanding can’t accept the truth of the word, we are forced to make a choice. Do we believe the wisdom of the flesh, or believe the wisdom of God. We can’t have both. God’s ways are frequently contrary to our human understanding. We are told that we must deny ourselves to receive the promises. We must die to live. Give up all to inherit all things. So, don’t be afraid of God’s ways and don’t be shocked when the Lord contradicts what we think should be true. The measure of truth is the word, not our sense of truth.
Where does authority come from?
Let’s now look at the controversial passage of Romans 13:1-2
1 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.
2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves.
This contradicts the argument that God only appoints godly leaders, but sometimes allows the ungodly to usurp authority. To take this position, you must completely eliminate verse 1 from the scriptures. “There is no authority except from God.” Is there any way to misinterpret this passage? Every authority is appointed by God. To make sure we don’t skirt this instruction, the Bible warns that if you, I, or anyone else resists that authority, they are in rebellion against God and will bring judgment upon themselves. When Bush was in office, I heard people declare, “He’s not my President.” Now political power belongs to the other party and people are saying, “Obama is not my President.”
God appoints all authority. This is taught in both the Old and New Testaments. In Psalms, it is declared, “Power belongs to God,” and, “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness.” King Nebuchadnezzar was a pagan king. God called Nebuchadnezzar, “My servant.” Nebuchadnezzar was the servant of God in that the Lord exalted his kingdom for the purpose of judging the nations around him, including Israel. When Nebuchadnezzar looked over his accomplishments, he said, “Look what I have done.” Before the words left his mouth, God took away his sanity to show him that he was nothing more than a grazing beast without God’s hand enabling him.
When God visited him seven years later, the humbled king made the following declaration:
Daniel 4:35 All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing; He does according to His will in the army of heaven And among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand Or say to Him, "What have You done?"
Not only did God appoint Nebuchadnezzar, but He warned Israel that if they didn’t submit to him, they would be destroyed. Throughout the book of Jeremiah, the people are constantly warned to submit to this pagan king, or suffer the consequences.
What about the apostles who refused to cease from preaching the gospel? Weren’t they rebelling against authority? This is like looking at God’s command to obey our parents and saying, “What if they tell us to steal or kill?” If our parents give us a foolish command, does that nullify God’s word? Of course not. When anyone in authority orders us to violate the law, that specific command is a violation of the law and can’t be obeyed. But it does not give us the right to rebel against authority.
Consider how the apostles interacted with authority. Even in resistance, they submitted to authority. When Peter and John were commanded not to preach in the name of Jesus, they didn’t bring railing accusations against the leaders. They said, “Whether we should obey you over God, you be the judge. But we can’t obey man over God.” It was simply an explanation as to why that specific command could not be obeyed. And, they took their stand knowing there would be consequences. When arrested again, they submitted to the arresting soldiers and went without resistance. They were beaten for disobeying and counted it a joy.
Both Peter and Paul were severely beaten and both were eventually killed by the governing authorities, yet both warned the church not to rebel or bring accusations against them. Paul said, “Anyone who resists brings judgment upon themselves.” Peter said, “Those who walk according to the flesh…despise authority…[and] are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries.” In Jude, the warning is repeated by saying that these people defile themselves, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.
When the Apostle Paul was standing before his accusers in a court of law, the High Priest commanded his aid to strike Paul in the mouth. Paul had an angry outburst against the hypocrisy of being accused of breaking the law and then being struck contrary to the law. When someone said, “How dare you speak that way to the High Priest,” Paul apologized. He then said the following in Acts 23:5
Then Paul said, "I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.' "
Clearly we can see that the apostles refused to obey the command to deny Jesus, but remained in full submission to the governing leaders attacking them. God expects us to stand upon truth when we are commanded to disobey, yet we are to remain submissive to authority – even wicked authority. When the Bible was penned by the apostles, they were in the midst of persecution. The Jewish authorities were persecuting them from city to city, and the Roman government was torturing, killing, and trying to stamp Christians out of existence. Though they suffered under two corrupt governing systems, the apostles taught the necessity of obeying God and submitting to secular authority.
Some try to reshape Jesus and the apostles into their own image by calling them revolutionaries. Nothing is farther from the truth. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of Heaven was in the heart, in the church, and awaiting His return. When tax collectors came, Jesus sent Peter to find a gold coin to pay. When Peter took up arms against the Romans, Jesus rebuked him sharply. Never is the disciple of Christ told to take back the government or establish a political system on earth. The church does affect these things, but it isn’t by force, but by being salt and light. We’ll look deeper into this later in this study.
No matter how we examine the scriptures, we cannot escape the fact that we are commanded to submit to authority, for all authority is appointed by God. The Bible declares that God exalts one, casts down another, and does whatever is according to his own will. No one can question his works or give counsel to him. Though men often question God, their words are carried away by the wind. Disputing God’s will when he appoints authority only puts us contrary to His purposes. Nothing outside of his will shall stand.
We’ll delve deeper into this in a moment, but we must understand that God does indeed appoint many wicked leaders. In Revelation, God put it into the hearts of world leaders to give their authority to the beast. God raised up an evil king to persecute Israel, and when He sent Moses as the deliverer of his captive people, God said to Pharaoh, “For this reason have I lifted you up…to glorify my name.” God raised up Pharaoh, one of the most wicked and prideful leaders in biblical history. He took two nations living at peace among themselves, and created an oppressive nation that enslaved and abused God’s people. Pharaoh was wicked from the beginning, yet God declared that this leader came to power by the Lord’s hand.
Why would God appoint a wicked leader?
To understand the truth of God’s control in the world, let’s look at some of the wicked leaders in the Bible, and examine the circumstances around God’s decision to appoint them. Let’s begin with the clearest example – King Nebuchadnezzar. Jeremiah 25:8-9 provides a lot of answers to this question.
8 " Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts: 'Because you have not heard My words,
9 'behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,' says the LORD, 'and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations.
Nebuchadnezzar was raised to power by the hand of God for the purpose of judging his people, who had turned from his word. Every power on earth is a tool in God’s hand, for evil or for good. Some will say, “God would never do evil.” This is not true. God will never sin, but evil simply means something unpleasant, misery, and calamity. Look at God’s declaration in Isaiah 45:6-7
6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other;
7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.'
God declares, “I…do all these things.” God will not tempt you to commit a sin, but God will create calamity and raise wicked leaders in order to fulfill the council of His own will. Wicked rulers think they are following the dictates of their own hearts and operating from their own power, but the Lord alone creates peace or calamity, and He does so to accomplish his will. It wasn’t the King of Babylon’s idea to invade Israel. He thought it was, but after seven years of insanity, he learned otherwise. The Lord called him to action and raised him to power.
We see a similar example in 2 Chronicles 35:20-27, Pharaoh Necho went out to battle against another nation, but Josiah took it upon himself to attack the king of Egypt. Pharaoh answered him by saying, “I have not come against you this day, but against the house with which I have war; for God commanded me to make haste. Refrain from meddling with God, who is with me, lest He destroy you.”
Josiah refused to heed the warning and an archer from the Egyptian army shot him, and he died. Necho was a pagan king over a pagan nation, yet God used him to judge another pagan nation. Josiah was a righteous king, yet when he fought against the power God put in place, he suffered the consequences. In Isaiah and Jeremiah, we see God directly declaring that the pagan King of Babylon was God’s servant to judge God’s people who had turned away from obeying the word of God.
It is interesting that even in the midst of judgment, while the armies of Nebuchadnezzar were surrounding Jerusalem, God promised deliverance if the people would repent. Look now at Jeremiah 26:12-13
12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the princes and all the people, saying: "The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city with all the words that you have heard.
13 "Now therefore, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the LORD your God; then the LORD will relent concerning the doom that He has pronounced against you.
Obedience or rebellion? If Israel rebelled against the armies sent against them, God assured them of their death (Jeremiah 38). If God’s people would turn from their ways, keep His word, then God promised to relent from His judgment and then He went on to promise to turn back Nebuchadnezzar and even fight against the oppressors of God’s people. Keep in mind that these are wicked men sent to judge a wicked people. The wicked will be punished, and if God’s people repent, God’s wrath passes from disciplining His people toward the wicked who oppress them.
The message God is delivering here is the same as it has been since the beginning. When God fully established Israel as a nation and gave them rest from their enemies, He gave them the blessing and the curse again. He promised that when the people sinned and their land fell into disarray, the promise of 2 Chronicles 7:14 would apply. This was given to those who would one day suffer the consequences of their own sin. 2 Chronicles 7:14
14 "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
I’ve heard this partially quoted so many times it nauseates me. Everyone wants to say, “If my people will pray, then I will hear and heal their land.” To say such a thing is outright rebellion against the Lord. If God’s people don’t humble themselves, turn from their own ways, and seek God’s face, they have no right to pray for anything. As long as the church makes a mockery of doctrine and winks at sin, God’s hand will continue to be lifted and our enemies will continue to rise against us.
Enemies rise up because God appoints them as instruments of His judgment against sin. The Bible says that judgment begins at the house of God, so we should not be surprised to see ungodly people or groups rising up to oppose the church. It should cause us to examine ourselves and see if we are living for a man-centered gospel, or a Christ-centered gospel. If our gospel is teaching us to live like the pagan culture around us, and the distinction between the church and the world are being lost, then we know we are not following the truth, and God will begin raising up godless judges to discomfort the church. It begins with discomfort and progresses toward punishment.
Another excellent example of what we are discussing can be found in 2 Kings 19:20-28. It is a lengthy passage, but take the time and read it carefully. Take special note as to why this wicked king came to power.
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, "Thus says the LORD God of Israel: 'Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard.'
21 "This is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him: 'The virgin, the daughter of Zion, Has despised you, laughed you to scorn; The daughter of Jerusalem Has shaken her head behind your back!
22 ' Whom have you reproached and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice, And lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel.
23 By your messengers you have reproached the Lord, And said: "By the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, To the limits of Lebanon; I will cut down its tall cedars And its choice cypress trees; I will enter the extremity of its borders, To its fruitful forest.
24 I have dug and drunk strange water, And with the soles of my feet I have dried up All the brooks of defense."
25 ' Did you not hear long ago How I made it, From ancient times that I formed it? Now I have brought it to pass, That you should be For crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins.
26 Therefore their inhabitants had little power; They were dismayed and confounded; They were as the grass of the field And the green herb, As the grass on the housetops And grain blighted before it is grown.
27 ' But I know your dwelling place, Your going out and your coming in, And your rage against Me.
28 Because your rage against Me and your tumult Have come up to My ears, Therefore I will put My hook in your nose And My bridle in your lips, And I will turn you back By the way which you came.
There are several important things to learn from this passage. First, let’s look at the type of leader this is. Sennacherib was a pagan king who worshipped in pagan temples. This was during the time of the divided kingdom, when ten tribes rebelled against Solomon’s son and started their own kingdom. Both kingdoms fell into idolatry and were warned for generations to turn from their idols. The Kingdom of Israel had already been defeated by Assyria and the survivors were taken as captives. The Kingdom of Judah walked in the same path and watched their kingdom dwindle down until they were hiding behind the walls of Jerusalem. Hezekiah’s father, Ahaz, refused to obey the Lord, but now that Hezekiah was king, he and the people were turning to the Lord.
Still under siege, Hezekiah received a letter from the king of Assyria. In the letter, he mocked Hezekiah’s trust in the Lord, and warned that if he didn’t surrender, he would do the same thing to Hezekiah’s God that he had done to all the other gods of the nations around him. The pagan nations trusted in their gods, but Sennacherib destroyed these nations and then burned their gods in the fire. He then declared his plans to do the same to Hezekiah and his God.
Hezekiah poured his heart out before God and spread the threatening letter before the Lord, declaring, “They were able to do this to the other nations because their gods are no gods at all, but the work of men’s hands.” He put his trust in the Lord, humbled himself, prayed, and turned from the sins of his fathers. God intervened by sending a plague that struck down the entire army around Sennacherib.
The part which applies to this study is God’s explanation of this wicked king’s power. Notice the words, “have you not heard…how I have done it”. God said, “I have brought it to pass that you should destroy fortified cities…therefore, their inhabitants had no power.” God raised this king to power for the purpose of crushing those who were in rebellion. He then sent the King of Assyria against Judah because of their sins. When the people repented, God spared them and judged the wicked king. Later, when Judah turned against the Lord again, God raised Babylon up, and destroyed the nation, while preserving a small remnant in order to fulfill His promises in future generations.
Some say that leaders turn evil after God raises them up, but the Bible gives a great example of God raising a king while foretelling of the evil he will do. In 2 Kings 8, King Ben-Hadad was sick and sent his servant to ask Elisha to inquire of God to see if he would recover. 2 Kings 8:10-13 picks up the account:
10 And Elisha said to him, "Go, say to him, 'You shall certainly recover.' However the LORD has shown me that he will really die."
11 Then he set his countenance in a stare until he was ashamed; and the man of God wept.
12 And Hazael said, "Why is my lord weeping?" He answered, "Because I know the evil that you will do to the children of Israel: Their strongholds you will set on fire, and their young men you will kill with the sword; and you will dash their children, and rip open their women with child."
13 So Hazael said, "But what is your servant -- a dog, that he should do this gross thing?" And Elisha answered, "The LORD has shown me that you will become king over Syria."
God was foretelling that Hazael would commit treason to take over the throne, and then he would commit extreme wickedness against the nation. Hazael then placed a wet cloth over Ben-Hadad’s face while he slept to murder him, and then he took over the throne. Hazael grew to become a very wicked man, and fulfilled all that God said would happen. The reason for these things was for judgment against Israel for their own wickedness. Keep in mind that when God gave Israel the Promised Land, He said that if the people turned from the Lord, they would not be permitted to remain in the land in peace. God foretold that he would raise up the nations around them to judge them when they departed from his commandments. They could not expect to live in God’s prosperity while rejecting the Lord of that prosperity.
Eddie Snipes
Exchanged Life Discipleship
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/eddiesnipes
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