In Moscow stands the New Tretyakov Gallery, a museum that displays art and artifacts from the days of the former Soviet Union. Scattered along the banks of the Moscow River near the museum are statues of once-powerful leaders that have been smashed and disfigured. Images of Stalin and Lenin have their noses knocked off and their heads separated from their bodies.[1]
That graveyard of crumbling monuments reminds me of the dream of King Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 2. As the most powerful man on earth tossed and turned in his royal bedchamber, he saw a statue with a glorious head of gold, a chest and arms of silver, a torso of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron and clay (Dan. 2:31-33). Daniel interpreted the dream explaining that the metallic man portrayed the succession of four powerful nations which rule the world—Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. The dream ended as a stone “cut out of the mountain without hands” (2:45) fell from the heavens and smashed the statue to smithereens. This pictured God’s judgment of those four kingdoms and His supremacy over all the earth.
One day God will judge the nations of the world, and their monuments will lie in ruins. The “Rock of Ages,” Jesus Christ, will then rule the planet in unprecedented peace, justice and prosperity. Until then, we must not place our ultimate hope in government, but in God. Presidents and princes come and go. Nations rise and fall, yes even mighty America. Psalm 146:3 reminds us, “Put not your trust in princes, in whom there is no salvation.”
With an election looming in the coming days, I was reminded how often in the Scriptures God used kings and rulers to do His bidding and accomplish His will. As the old saying goes, “Only God can write straight with a crooked stick.” It’s amazing how the Lord, time and again, has allowed wicked rulers to rise to power only to use them as His instrument to accomplish His greater plan. As we already saw, Jehovah used Nebuchadnezzar’s nightmare to declare His sovereignty over the nations. Here’s a few more examples:
· Paul explained in Romans 9:17 that God used Pharaoh in the book of Exodus, “For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, ‘For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.’ A knotty oak was more malleable than the Pharaoh’s heart. We are told in ten places that Pharaoh hardened his heart, and in ten additional places that God hardened his heart. The more Pharaoh resisted the more miracles that God performed, and more miracles meant that God’s power and justice was further advertised across the world.
· The prophet Isaiah gave the name of the Persian king whom God would use to execute an edict allowing the Jewish people in Babylonian captivity to return to Jerusalem and begin rebuilding their ruined temple. “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’” (Is. 44:28-45:1). Amazingly, Isaiah revealed the name of Cyrus and the role he would play on the world stage about 100 years before his birth! You can read the fulfillment of this prophecy in 2 Chron. 36:22-23.
· When Jesus stood trial before Pilate, the pompous and cowardly politician didn’t have the courage to do what he knew was right and release Jesus. ‘And Pilate said to the Chief Priests and to the crowd, “I find no fault concerning this man.’” (Luke 23:4). Pilate pushed Jesus even further saying, “Don’t you know who I am? I have the power to crucify you or release you?” Jesus gave an unbelievable answer, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 19:11). Even Pilate, who washed his lily-white hands of Jesus and allowed him to be crucified, received power to do so because God had granted it to him. Pilate, evil and spineless as he was, was instrumental in the death of God’s Son—which was simultaneously the most tragic event in all history and that which was divinely ordained before the foundation of the world as the means of salvation (Acts 2:23).
We ought to keep these
examples in mind during this election season. If the candidates we support do
not get in office then we ought not lose hope. If the wicked and godless assume
the reins of power, it hasn’t thwarted God’s plan one whit. Jesus is bigger
than any election, president or nation. God uses evil and crooked politicians like
pawns on a chessboard. Sometimes, God allows evil rulers to find places of authority
to give us the kind of government we deserve. Other times, he uses leaders with
questionable morals and shady character flaws to do positive things for a
nation that leave us befuddled (i.e. Solomon and Samson). As the Psalmist
reminds us, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name
of the Lord our God” (Ps. 20:7). -DM
[1]
David C. Enger, “Broken Statues,” Our Daily Bread, 3 August 2003 <https://odb.org/2003/08/03/broken-statues/>
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