Government Under God

GOLDEN TEXT: “He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.” —Isaiah 42:4

ROMANS 13:1-10; ACTS 5:25-29

OUR Golden Text assures us of God’s purpose, through Christ, to establish governmental control over the affairs of men, which will guarantee peace and justice to all. The marginal translation is “broken” instead of “discouraged,” which means that the divine plan through Christ will not be destroyed, nor fail, that it is sure to be accomplished, for “of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end.”—Isa. 9:7

The “isles,” or the people of the isles, yea, of the whole earth, shall “wait for his law.” They are still waiting, not because God’s purpose has failed, but because his due time has not yet come for his government to manifest itself; but that time is near, even at the door.

Isaiah 25:6-9 presents another beautiful description of the messianic kingdom and the blessings it will shower upon the people, including the destruction of death. In response to this evidence of divine love the people are represented as saying, “Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, … we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

Paul’s admonition to be “subject to the powers that be” is directed to Christians living in this present evil world, waiting for Christ’s kingdom to be established, expecting that when it is they will be associated with him as “kings and priests.”—Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6

Paul wrote, “The powers that be are ordained of God.” This does not mean that they represent “government under God,” as one might infer from the caption for this lesson. Doubtless Paul understood what had occurred historically and prophetically when the last “prince [or king] of Israel” was overthrown and taken captive to Babylon in 606 B.C. At that time the Prophet Daniel said to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, “The God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom.” (Dan. 2:37) Daniel explained that this ordination was to carry through to three successive kingdoms after Babylon.

These were Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The Roman Empire held sway over the earth when Paul wrote that “the powers that be [the Roman] are ordained [margin, ordered] of God.” All he meant was that the Gentiles were permitted to hold the social fabric of the earth together pending the establishment of Christ’s kingdom.

That this grant of authority to the “powers that be” was not to continue forever is clearly shown by Daniel’s prophecy. In this prophecy the Gentile powers are depicted by a humanlike image of gold, silver, brass, iron, and clay. A stone is seen cut out of the mountain without hands, and it smites the image on its feet and destroys it. Then the stone becomes a great mountain that fills the whole earth. Daniel explains that this stone, and the mountain into which it develops, represents the kingdom of God.

It is clear, therefore, that the “powers that be” are not to be considered as “governments under God,” but merely a stop-gap arrangement to prevent anarchy in the world during the period in which the symbolic “stone” is being “cut out of the mountain without hands.” This is the work of calling from the world those who are willing to suffer and die with Jesus in order that they might live and reign with him. This has been the work of God in this age.

It is not always a simple matter for a Christian to be subject to the powers that be, for he can do this only insofar as his conscience will permit. True, there are some circumstances in which Christian conscience might be in conflict with the laws of the land in which he lives. One of these would be when the law asks him to take human life in carnal warfare, which would be in direct opposition to the divine command, “Thou shalt not kill.” This objection of Christian conscience is now generally recognized by governments in the English-speaking world, so the problem is resolved.

The circumstances recorded in Acts 5:25-29 is not directly related to obeying the “powers that be,” for here the conflict was merely with the religious rulers of Israel, the “council” and the “senate of the children of Israel,” or in other words, the Jewish Sanhedrin. With certain limitations this body was apparently permitted under the Roman law to exercise some authority over the Jews, especially in religious matters.

At the behest of the high priest and the captain of the temple, the apostles had been imprisoned and forbidden longer to preach Christ. An angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, set them free, and commanded them to continue preaching the Gospel, which they did. When asked by the authorities why they were disobeying their edict, Peter answered, “We ought to obey God rather than man.”

QUESTIONS

When will all mankind be blessed under a divine government?

In what sense are the “powers that be” ordained by God?

Explain Daniel’s prophecy relating to Gentile dominion and God’s kingdom.

Did the apostles defy Roman law by continuing to preach the Gospel? Explain.

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