IS IT GOD'S WILL?

Apparently many people think that whatever happens "must be God's will." Otherwise he would have prevented it. There is a growing foolishness circulating on the Internet. The General Superintendent of a major church denomination helped start it and their local State Overseers dutifully sent it to all their churches. Others on the Internet are promoting it.

It goes something like this: "(Rom 13:1-4 NIV) "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. {2} Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. {3} For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. {4} For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer."

The e-mail I received put it simply like this: Romans 13:1-4

Barack Obama's presidency is appointed by God. (v 1)
Christians should lead the way in supporting Barack Obama's presidency. (v 2)
Barack Obama's presidency can be a force for good and a deterrent against evil. (v 3)
As president, Barack Obama is God's minister to you for good. (v 4)

Let's take a look at each of these Scripture verses. (Rom 13:1 NIV) "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God". God established government for the benifit of people. The long story of Moses and the Jews who were delivered from slavery in Egypt is filled with the creation of an honest government for these people.

This is not to be understood as meaning that every individual ruler is ordained of God. That would make God responsible for many acts of despotism and oppression.

Hitler was elected to high office by the German people in 1933, but no Christian can argue that he represented God's preference for the post, that somehow God was enthused and delighted about the prospect of a German ruler who would gas six million Jews and cause the deaths of 25 million people.

Adolph Hitler's elevation to power represented the will of the German people, not the will of God. And the German people paid a bitter and self-destructive price for choosing poorly. Adolph Hitler and Joseph Stalin comes to mind along with the incredible millions of Men women and children who were tortured, enslaved, and murdered by them. It was God who destroyed the selfish, sinful rulers who became despicable in his eyes.

The Holocaust (from the Greek ὁλόκαυστον (holókauston): holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt"), also known as (Ha)-Shoah (Hebrew: השואה), Churben (Yiddish: חורבן) is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, as part of a programme of deliberate extermination planned and executed by the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (Nazi) regime in Germany led by Adolf Hitler.

Taking into account all the victims of Nazi persecution, the total number of victims would be between nine and 11 million. No true Christian could ever say that God appointed this mass murderer to destroy families, children, and an entire population of Jews. Add another 20 million innocent people killed by Joseph Stalin in Russia and you have an incredible picture of what a leader elected by the people can do. In Russia it was the communist party that place a mass murderer in power - not God.

{Romans 13:2} Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. {3} For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. {4} For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer." (Paul knew well the awesome and cruel power of the Roman Government. He seems to be saying: "Unless God requires it - there is no need for senselessly courting death and disaster.)

The Bible does not teach the doctrine of passive obedience or nonresistance. However our resistance should be clearly directed by God. Wicked Rulers and leaders of any kind need to be opposed. At Babylon, Daniel resisted the reigning power. The royal mandate was issued, but Daniel did not obey it. “He kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.”


The Apostles Peter and John declined to obey the Jewish council at Jerusalem when they were commanded to speak no more in the Name of Jesus. They boldly answered, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and hear". Where the law of a nation or the command of an earthly ruler conflicts with the law of God, then it is clearly the Christian’s duty to obey God rather than men”.

If by the "will of God," we mean "what God desires," then it is impossible to imagine that God wants our president - the most powerful and influential man on earth to support infanticide, unimaginable and grisly "partial birth abortions and to support and promote the normalization of homosexual behavior. We have a Christian duty to oppose the things that God has declared sinful in the Bible.

It doesn't take a biblical scholar to discern that the Judeo-Christian Scriptures teaches us that homosexual behavior is "contrary to nature," that homosexual liaisons are driven by "dishonorable passions" and consist of "shameless acts" (Romans 1:26-27), and that marriage is the union of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:26, Matthew 19:4-6, 1 Corinthians 7:2).

There was no naive assumption that an evil king represented God's desire for the leadership of his people. The exact opposite is true. He sent his anointed prophets to confront those who abused the authority God had given to them. Evil kings came under withering censure because they knew better.

The Apostles Peter and John declined to obey the Jewish council at Jerusalem when they were commanded to speak no more in the Name of Jesus. They boldly answered, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and hear". Where the law of a nation or the command of an earthly ruler conflicts with the law of God, then it is clearly the Christian’s duty to obey God rather than men”.

Because of Corporate Greed and unimaginable fraud and corruption in our Govenment, and by people in high places, we are now looking at a world wide disaster. In 1873 The United States de facto standard for the value of our money was at 20.67 dollars to 1 troy oz (31.1 g) of gold. As we watch prices rise - and the government prints trillions of "paper dollars" it's anyone's guess as to what a dollar will be worth in the future.

Looking back over a long life I know from my experiences that God is watching over us and cares about each of his dear children. That gives me perfect peace when I go to sleep at night.