Paul says that the rulers of this world did not understand the Truth about Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 2:6-8). That is still true today, as this world is still cut off from God and godly understanding. Satan, the god and ruler of this world, has deceived the whole world, so that good is believed to be evil and light is vilified as darkness (Isaiah 5:20).
Christ says that the Gentile rulers of this world exercise lordship over the people, even being (falsely) called “benefactors,” but that this is wrong and should not be done (Luke 22:25-26). But as we will see, that does not only apply to Gentile kings and nations. Christ even calls our political and religious leaders “blind guides” (Matthew 23:16).
God calls the leaders of the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand,and other English-speaking nations leaders of Sodom. Note Isaiah 1:10: “Hear the word of the LORD, You rulers of Sodom; Give ear to the law of our God, You people of Gomorrah…” God is charging the leaders and the people with the same types of sins Sodom and Gomorrah were famous for, leading to their utter destruction. They are supposed to hear and to heed, but they don’t.
Isaiah 3:12 says about our political leaders: “As for My people, children are their oppressors, And women rule over them. O My people! Those who lead you cause you to err, And destroy the way of your paths.”
Isaiah 9:13-16 adds to this, blaming both the political and religious leaders and the people following them:
“For the people do not turn to Him who strikes them, Nor do they seek the LORD of hosts. Therefore the LORD will cut off head and tail from Israel, Palm branch and bulrush in one day. The elder and honorable, he is the head; The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail. For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed.”
Here is one reason why God is so angry with the political leaders of our nations. Compare Isaiah 10:1-2: “Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, Who write misfortune, Which they have prescribed To rob the needy of justice, And to take what is right from the poor of My people, That widows may be their prey, And that they may rob the fatherless.”
God condemns the leaders who design unrighteous laws to withhold and even take away justice, financial support and sustenance from the poor and the needy, so that they can fill their own bellies. These warnings and condemnations are not limited to the ancient and modern Houses of Israel and Judah, but they apply to all nations at all times, since God does not play favorites and He does not show partiality and He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34; Authorized Version), and since all are guilty of the same misconduct.
As we said before, God also condemns the religious leaders, together with the political leaders, and the people who follow their bad example. We read in Ezekiel 22:6-8, 26-27:
“Look, the princes of Israel: each one has used his power to shed blood in you. In you they have made light of father and mother; in your midst they have oppressed the stranger; in you they have mistreated the fatherless and the widow. You have despised My holy things and profaned My Sabbaths… Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain.”
None of the political and religious leaders keep God’s Law. They do not cease from mistreating strangers; they do not stand up for peace and they do not forbid shedding blood by, for instance, fighting in war under any and all circumstances; they do not forbid abortion in any form since inception; and they do not keep the weekly and annual Sabbaths, nor do they tell their people that they must observe these days, while refraining from keeping pagan holy days, such as Christmas or Easter. Even the House of Judah does not keep God’s Holy Days in the way prescribed by God.
In what other way are the leaders of our nations described in the Bible, and what warnings are being given which our leaders should adhere to, but don’t?
Isaiah 28:14-18 states:
“Therefore hear the word of the LORD, you scornful men, Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem, Because you have said, ‘We have made a covenant with death, And with Sheol we are in agreement. When the overflowing scourge passes through, It will not come to us, For we have made lies our refuge, And under falsehood we have hidden ourselves.’ Therefore thus says the LORD God: ‘… Your covenant with death will be annulled, And your agreement with Sheol will not stand; When the overflowing scourge passes through, Then you will be trampled down by it.’”
As pointed out before, these comments are not limited to the city of Jerusalem or the House of Judah, as all leaders and nations are guilty of the same transgressions, including constantly lying to the people and breaking promises they made during election campaigns.
Note Proverbs 29:12: “If a ruler pays attention to lies, All his servants become wicked.” What leader is not guilty of lying and of listening to lying advisers? Otherwise, a politician would not have become a leader in this world ruled by Satan, the father of lies (John 8:44).
Proverbs 28:2 says: “Because of the transgression of a land, many are its princes.” The Good News Translation says: “When a nation sins, it will have one ruler after another.” There is really no stability in this world. In some countries, a leader may rule longer than in other countries, but then such a country may have other major problems, not to mention being ruled by an autocratic dictatorship. And those in opposition, when they eventually come to power, usually find that what they said they would do, and might have even intended to do, is just not possible through many different constraints, and so the pattern continues as there are no real, permanent answers.
Proverbs 29:4 adds: “The king establishes the land by justice, But he who receives bribes overthrows it.” The New American Bible says: “By justice a king builds up the land; but one who raises taxes tears it down.” The Revised Lutherbible 2017 writes: “… who demands high taxes destroys the land.” Overtaxing the people is such a common problem in this evil world. But make no mistake. God will hold those responsible who engage in such ungodly conduct.
God wants the rulers to stand up to plead the cause of the needy.
Proverbs 31:8 states: “Open your mouth for the speechless, In the cause of all who are appointed to die. Open your mouth, judge righteously, And plead the cause of the poor and needy.”
Proverbs 24:10-12 adds: “If you faint in the day of adversity, Your strength is small. Deliver those who are drawn toward death, And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?”
But none of the leaders will really look after and protect the needy, even though God’s commands in this regard and warnings are very clear. His words are to be and will be proclaimed. We will see later who is especially charged by God to fulfill that commission.
Notice the following admonitions to the religious leaders to warn the people, and God’s reaction to their failure to do so.
Ezekiel 13:4-6, 10 says:
“O Israel, your prophets are like foxes in the deserts. You have not gone up into the gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the LORD. They have envisioned futility and false divination, saying, ‘Thus says the LORD!’ But the LORD has not sent them; yet they hope that the word may be confirmed… they have seduced My people, saying, ‘Peace!’ when there is no peace…”
After charging the princes, the prophets and the priests with wrong (compare again Ezekiel 22:6-8, 26-27, quoted above), God continues in Ezekiel 22:28-30:
“Her prophets plastered them with untempered mortar, seeing false visions, and divining lies for them, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord God,’ when the LORD had not spoken. The people of the land have used oppressions, committed robbery, and mistreated the poor and needy; and they wrongfully oppress the stranger. So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”
Nobody among the political and religious leaders of the nations could and can be found to take a stand for the poor and to project, rather than oppress the stranger (whether they are in the country legally or illegally), nor was and is there a leader who stands up for the true God and tells the people to do likewise and do away their idols and false religious services, and to prevent the coming disaster to occur.
The same sad Truth that the land is full of evil, and that no leader is willing to do something about it, is pronounced in Isaiah 59:2-18:
“… your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, And your fingers with iniquity; Your lips have spoken lies, Your tongue has muttered perversity. No one calls for justice, Nor does any plead for truth. They trust in empty words and speak lies; They conceive evil and bring forth iniquity… Their works are works of iniquity, And the act of violence is in their hands. Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths. The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us… We look for justice, but there is none… Speaking oppression and revolt, Conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. Justice is turned back, And righteousness stands afar off; For truth is fallen in the street, And equity cannot enter. So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. Then the LORD saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice.
“He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him. For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay.”
(To be continued)
Lead Writer: Norbert Link