We often think we know best how the world should run and who should run it. We cast a vote and are disappointed when our choice of candidate is not elected. Yet compared to God, our human thinking is minimal. Our scope is a few years; God’s is eternal. So, in our questioning, does God appoint godly leaders?
As the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe, God’s purposes are directed by His goodness. He alone is omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. He has no equal and rules in love, mercy, and justice. And out of that character, God appoints leaders according to His divine purposes.
God Is Sovereign and Good
God’s overarching purpose is to bring people to repentance so that none should perish. When God led the Israelites to the Promised Land, they agreed to a covenant. The covenant provided an abundant way of life with protection from Israel’s enemies, provision, and blessings from the Lord.
God warned them against breaking the covenant by doing all the “detestable practices” of the nations, which the Lord had driven out before them (Leviticus 18:2,11; Deuteronomy 23:17-18; 1 Kings 14:24).
When the people broke the covenant and engaged in pagan idol worship, sexual immorality, male shrine prostitutes, and child sacrifice at high places, God sent prophets to call the people back to the covenant relationship. When they refused, God raised adversaries to get their attention.
“Be careful not to forget the covenant of the Lord your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the Lord your God has forbidden…The Lord will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the Lord will drive you” (Deuteronomy 4:23,27).
As a parent, we understand the need to discipline an unruly child. God also disciplines his people. Through that discipline process, and in His sovereignty, God desires to bring rebels to “righteousness” and “grant salvation” (Isaiah 46:8-13).
God Appoints Leaders According to His Divine Purpose
In the Old Testament Book of Judges, the people’s rejection of God led the nation to chaos. “Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit” (Judges 17:6). Through God’s chosen judges — Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson — the people served the Lord.
There was peace in the nation. But after the judge was gone, Israel again embraced idolatry and “once again did evil in the eyes of the Lord” (Judges 3:7, 3:12, 4:1, 6:1, 10:6, 13:1).
Following on the heels of the last judge of Israel, the people asked for an earthly king to be like other nations.
God chose Saul to lead Israel. But Saul didn’t follow God and God removed him.
God chose David. While Saul ruled, God anointed David as King, a man after God’s own heart. David didn’t ascend the throne until God’s timing came through Saul’s demise.
With David’s faithfulness in leading the nation to serve the Lord, God promised, “Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7:12, 13, 16). The “forever” part of the promise to David will be through Jesus and the Kingdom of heaven.
God chose David’s son, Solomon. He started well but turned to idolatry through his foreign wives, leading the nation away from God. Because of Solomon’s rebellion, God raised up adversaries against him (1 Kings 11:23-43).
God appointed Jeroboam with the promise that if he obeyed the Lord, he would enjoy a dynasty as enduring as David’s (1 Kings 11:38). But Jeroboam did more evil than all who lived before him, and God severely judged him and destroyed his line (1 Kings 14:7-11).
Many more wicked kings, “set up without God’s consent” (Hosea 8:4), led the people further into sin. Eventually, God’s warning of exile became a reality.
God appointed the fearful and dreaded Assyrians and the Babylonians as God’s “rod of my anger” to take Israel into exile (Isaiah 10:5). Their captivity lasted 70 years (Jeremiah 25) but included the promise that a remnant would return to Israel (Ezra 2:1).
The Final Great Oppression and Invitation
From biblical times through our present generation and beyond, God’s love continues to reach every tribe and nation.
During the Great Tribulation, a final proclamation of the gospel will be given: “then I saw another angel flying in midair, and he had the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live on the earth — to every nation, tribe, language, and people” (Revelation 14:6).
Those who turn to God will know eternal life in heaven. Sadly, those who reject God will find eternal punishment (Revelation 20:10, 14-15).
God controls the circumstances of people and nations as the Sovereign God who “deposes kings and raises up others” (Daniel 2: 21).
God established governing authorities (Romans 13:1), but when a nation ignores God’s laws, resulting in wickedness and ungodly leaders in power, God acts according to His will. In those times, God is listening to the people’s cries for deliverance.
What Does This Mean for Us Today?
When wicked leaders rule, is God involved in ending evil? The prophet Habakkuk had similar questions. “How long must I call for help, but you do not listen?” And, “Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves? (1:2,13).
The Lord answered Habakkuk: “look at the nations and watch — and be utterly amazed (1:5). God responded by saying there was an “appointed time” that deliverance and justice would come: “though it lingers, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay” (2:3).
God’s answer and Habakkuk’s response give insight into the magnificence and the majesty of the Sovereign Lord who is in control of heaven and earth: “the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him” (2:20). God is the Supreme Ruler over every aspect of our lives and our nations.
God Delivers Those Who Call Upon the Lord
Our nation was founded with God’s blessings, “all men are created equal, endowed by our Creator with Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” Our schools taught from the Bible, and churches and government honored God until our nation chose to remove God from society.
We live in similar times to that of the Judges when everyone did what was right in their own eyes. As a society, we ignore God’s commandments and laws. Idolatry is prevalent. Sexual perversion is rampant. Pride, greed, and evil are on the rise.
Removing God from our nation brings chaos.
But, as in Judges, God answered every time the people cried for deliverance. God controls world events, whether through a godly leader, a great revival, a time of tribulation, or the church’s rapture. And his purpose is for all to come to repentance (John 3:16-17).
In our limited human understanding, we may question how much God is involved in our world. Does God appoint godly leaders? Like Habakkuk, we can trust God’s sovereignty and goodness to appoint godly or ungodly leaders to accomplish His divine will.
God hears our cries for deliverance and will answer in His time: “Though it lingers, wait for it. It will certainly come and will not delay” (Habakkuk 2:3).
For further reading:
Is it Biblical to Pray for Political Leaders?
How Can Believers Reconcile the Spread of Christianity Within Imperialism?
Why Did the Romans Care about Jesus?
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