Is it? Is it right that those needing to be ruled should rule the ruler? What, then, must the ruler do? Simply rule as the ruled rule him to rule?
Democracy can be almost synonymous with Christianity in the minds of many. Take the political “religious right” in the United States, for example, which holds sacred the ideal of a democratic republic. The truth is that democracy (whether in the form of a republic or not) is a Gentile government, not theocratic, and therefore not Christian.
The Babylonian, Persian, Greek, Roman, and all other empires throughout man’s history have been heathen governments. Communism, socialism, and all other forms of government other than theocracy are carnal, of men and of men’s wisdom. Democracy happens to be the bottom of the barrel, as represented by the feet of iron and clay of the image Nebuchadnezzar dreamed about, as recorded in Daniel chapter 2. Believe it: The preceding empires were greater, the head of gold having been the greatest.
Still, these are all under the sovereignty and will of God Who, the Scriptures declare, made Nebuchadnezzar the head of gold. Daniel said God had given Nebuchadnezzar a kingdom, power, strength, and glory. It is by God’s determination that all kingdoms, nations, and rulers either exist or cease.
So today we live in the days of the feet and toes of clay and iron – strength and weakness – the two unable to adhere by nature, destined to crumble under the power of God. These are the democracies, the Western nations which have generally ruled the world at present. But as some can perceive, those days are also over. The image is on its way down, never to rise again.
Question: It was around 600 B.C. that Nebuchadnezzar had the dream and Daniel interpreted it. How could anyone know the Medes and Persians would defeat and succeed Babylon? How could anyone know that Alexander would come conquering the Medes and Persians and that his kingdom would break up into four parts? How could anyone know Rome was to overcome the Greek empire?
The events this dream foretold extended more than two millennium into the future. Yet there it was, recorded in Scripture with perfect accuracy and preserved to this very day, 2600 years later. What reasonable person can argue against God’s doings? The world is filled with unreasonable people, however, who are corrupted by sin, their minds degenerated to the point of great unreason.
Now we’re at the time of the feet and toes of iron and clay, called the democracies. But think of it – ought the sheep to rule? Is that not the case in a democracy?
The people elect whom they will. The government is representative and a product of the people. In a democracy, ideally speaking, if elected representatives don’t satisfy those who elect them, they’re replaced by the people. The ruled are granted opportunity to choose their rulers. Is the majority right? Much can be said about how democracy is ineffective, counterproductive, and destructive.
In communism, the wolf rules; in democracy, the sheep rule; in theocracy, the Shepherd rules. Which would you choose? Man has been given thousands of years of opportunity to do things his way, presumably independent of God, to learn folly and its consequences. He has now run out of ways and means, courting destruction in these last days as never before, and now is the time of the Kingdom of kingdoms to be established, and that, forever.
“And in the days of these kings, the God of Heaven shall set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And the Kingdom shall not be left to other peoples, but it shall crush and destroy all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever” (Daniel 2:44 MKJV).
HalleluYah! We will have the Shepherd calling the shots, and any competitors or gainsayers will no longer be able to gain the ascendancy and impose their wills upon people. Their thrones will be forever taken away, and the throne of righteousness upon which the Lord of lords, the King of Righteousness, sits will be established forever, reigning supreme.
Then will be learned the value of living according to God’s laws, of submitting to His authority. Swords will be beaten into plowshares, oppression will cease, and true peace, without paper treaties, will prevail. Suffering and sorrow will be no more, and tears will be wiped away. Doors will no longer need to be locked, and insurance will be unnecessary. Lawyers won’t prosper at the expense of clients in bogged down courts where justice is at best a hope and no guarantee.
Tyrannical institutions will cease to exist, and the wicked will be uprooted from power forever. What a wonderful day is upon us – a day of theocracy wherein God rules, and men live in harmony with Him and with one another – a fearful nightmare turned into a dream come true! Glory halleluYah!
Read in our section “Thy Kingdom Come” – God’s Political Perspective, especially “The Voting Trilogy”: For Whom Do We Vote?, Why Do We Vote for Jesus Christ?, and How Do We Vote for the Lord Jesus Christ?
Consider the alternative to this doctrine: Vote for God, not men; acknowledge the right of the Shepherd, not the sheep or wolves, to reign over all.