7 Reasons Why God Allows Bad People to Rule:
Reason #1: So that we might distinguish between unrighteousness and righteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-12)
Reason #2: So that we might choose between unrighteousness and righteousness in our own lives. (Revelation 13:1-4)
Reason #3: So that a righteous leader might arise to stand against the unrighteous him or her. (Exodus 3:10)
Reason #4: Because we ourselves have sinned and turned from God and He needs to get our attention and draw us back. (Judges 3:7-11)
Reason #5: So that we will set our hearts upon our eternal home and not get so comfortable in this one.
(Matthew 6:21)
Reason #6: So as to allow for the person in charge an opportunity for repentance. (Jonah 3:6-10; Romans 2:4)
Reason #7: So that we might turn our gaze upon (especially if we’ve been distracted from) the only One worthy of ruling over people’s lives. (Isaiah 9:6)
Question:
"Why does God allow evil men like Hitler and Saddam to come into
power?"
From GotQuestions.org
Answer: The Bible says that God is sovereign.
This means that He is ultimately in control of everything, not
just some
things. He is in control of the weather (Psalm
148:8), life and death (Psalm
104:29-30), and even
seemingly inconsequential happenings (Proverbs
16:33). God’s sovereignty extends to the rulers of nations.
“Wisdom and
power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them”
(Daniel
2:20-21).
One hundred, fifty years before the birth of Cyrus the Great, God
was already calling him by name and promising
to set him on the throne of
Persia: “I will raise up Cyrus in my righteousness” (Isaiah
45:13). God’s sovereign plan
allows for the pagan Cyrus, the proud
Nebuchadnezzar, and yes, the Hitlers and Husseins of the world. From GotQuestions.org
Romans
13:1 tells us, “There is no authority except that which God has
established. The authorities that exist
have been established by God.” This is
a startling statement, given that the book of Romans was probably written
in
A.D. 56-57. The emperor at the time was Nero, a decidedly evil ruler. Nero led
one of the severest persecutions
of Christians in the history of the church.
When Paul wrote this portion of Scripture, he was aware of Nero’s
wickedness,
yet he does not question why God put him in power. In fact, Paul never mentions
Nero specifically;
the general truth that authorities are “established by God”
applies to all rulers everywhere.
In Acts 8,
we see that governing authorities led a persecution against the early church.
It was a hard time and
there were probably believers who began to doubt God’s
sovereignty or question His care. Yet, the persecution
had the effect that the
church in Jerusalem was “scattered throughout Judea and Samaria” (verse 1).
Thus, in
part because of evil men in places of authority, the Great Commission
was put into action, the gospel spread and
the church grew.
God does not explicitly say why He allows evil men to rule. At times, God has
used evil rulers to bring judgment on
His people and bring them back to
righteousness. It is worth noting that all rulers are accountable to God for
their actions. For example, God raised up Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon in order to
punish Judah for their repeated idolatry
(2 Kings 20:17-18). Later, after Babylon had
fulfilled its purpose, it was judged for its own wickedness (Isaiah
13:19; 14:4).
Their king, Nebuchadnezzar, suffered an individual judgment (Daniel 4).
God did the same with Assyria,
allowing its rise for a purpose and then
judging that nation’s pride and cruelty (Isaiah
10:5-19).
God sometimes allows an evil kaiser, czar, fuehrer, sultan, or despot to rule
and the reasons for His choice are not
readily apparent. But we know this: God
always sets boundaries for the potentates (see Psalm
74:12-17). Human
rulers are not omnipotent, they are not eternal and they
are not immune from punishment. There will be a day
of reckoning. Rulers who
die in their sins will face the ultimate punishment, eternity in hell. Hitler,
Lenin and others
who have rejected Christ and abused the people of God have
been serving their sentence in hell for a long time.
