To whom do the kingdoms of the world belong to?
God's or Satan's?
God, through
his heavenly messengers, prophets, and apostles, has told us that the kingdoms
of the world are His, and that He appoints whomever He wants to rule. On
the other hand, Satan once said that the kingdoms of the world are his and
that he appoints whomever he wants. Who should Christians, especially pastors,
writers of evangelical books, and those who teach doctrine to brethren,
believe?
There are Christians who, influenced by the russellistic
heresy, think that Satan is the one who rules the world and sets rulers in
power. The Bible says just the contrary; it says that God sets kings in
their kingdoms. The only thing that Satan and demons can do is tempt rulers
according to their lusts, trying to derail God's plans. But it doesn't mean
that they rule this world or that they set kings in their kingdoms. Satan and
demons also tempt Church leaders, pastors, and denominational leaders to make
them go astray. They try to twist God's plans. This doesn't mean that Church
leaders, pastors and denominational leaders are set in their positions by the
Devil, nor that churches and denominations belong to Satan. God permits, till
certain limits, wickedness in government, churches, denominations, etc., but
this doesn't mean that Satan rules over these institutions.
The Scripture speaks very plainly about who puts and removes
kings. Let us read what the Prophet Daniel has to say about this.
"And he changeth the times and the seasons; He removeth
kings, and
setteth up kings; he giveth wisdom unto the wise,
and knowledge
to them that know understanding. He revealeth
the deep
and secret things; he knoweth what is in the darkness,
and the light dwelleth with him." ( Dn 2: 20-22 )
As we have read,
Daniel, who knew best, more than all the members of the ruling body of the
russellites, declares that God is the one who removes and appoints kings.
It is not a vague statement that you have to ponder about, it is a plain
statement that you just have to hear in order to understand.
If we read Dn 2: 37 we will see Daniel telling
Nebuchadnezzar, the most powerful king who ever reigned, that his kingdom and
power was given by God. Daniel does not say that Satan gave it Nebuchadnezzar.
Nevertheless, that is what many Christians and all russellites believe.
"Thou, O king, art a king of kings, for the God of heaven
hath
given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, glory.”
( Dn 2: 37 )
A couple of chapters later, in Dn 4: 13-17 the Bible says that a "watcher and holy" told Nebuchadnezzar about this issue.
"13 I saw in the visions of my
head upon my bed, and, behold,
a watcher
and an holy one came down from heaven. 14 He cried
aloud, and said thus….. 17 This matter is by the decree of the
watchers, and
the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the
intent
that the living may know that the most High ruleth in
the kingdom
of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and
setteth up over it the basest of men."
( Dn 4: 13-17 abbreviated )
It is perfectly clear who the kingdoms of the world belong to. Or maybe the russellites know more than this "watcher and holy" that came to Earth sent by God? Could it be? After this declaration of the watcher, Daniel affirms again twice more that the kingdoms are God's. Let us read.
"25 That they shall drive thee
from men, and thy dwelling
shall be with
the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee
to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet
thee with the dew of
heaven, and
seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know
that the Most High ruleth in the
kingdom of men, and
giveth it to whomsoever He will.
26 And whereas they
commanded to
leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom
shall be sure unto thee, after that thou
shalt have known
that the
heavens do rule."
( Dn 4: 25-26 )
"31 While the word was in the
king's mouth, there fell a voice
from heaven,
saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is
spoken; The
kingdom is departed from thee. 32 And
they shall
drive thee from
men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts
of the field; they shall make
thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven
times shall pass over thee, until
thou know that the Most High
ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth
it to whomsoever He
will." ( Dn 4: 31-32 )
A voice sent
from God told Nebuchadnezzar that God appoints kingdoms to whomsoever He
wants. Satan, russellites, and sadly some Christians, say that it is
Satan who appoints the rulers of the world. Is there any hesitation about to
whom we should believe?
Many years later, in chapter 5, Daniel, speaking to
Belshazzar about his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar's experience, reiterates who
the kingdoms of the Earth belong to.
"And he was driven from the sons of men; and his heart was
made like the beasts, and his
dwelling was with the wild asses;
they fed him with grass like oxen, and
his body was wet with the
dew of heaven; till he knew that the
most high God ruled in the
kingdom of men, and that He appointeth over it whomsoever
he will." ( Dn 5: 21 )
It is
interesting to notice that all this is said to a gentile king, so that the
russellites could not allege that the only kings that God appointed were those
of the Israelite theocracy.
Now let us see what Jesus says about this issue. When
Jesus was presented before Pilate, this Roman governor arrogantly told Jesus
that he could crucify or release him. At that time Jesus told him that his
power came from God. Let us read.
"Then saith Pilate unto him: Speakest thou not unto me?
Knowest thou not that I have power
to crucify thee, and have
power to release
thee? Jesus answered:Thou couldest have
no power
at all against me, except it were given thee from
above.
Therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the
greater sin." ( Jn 19: 10-11 )
Here Jesus
reiterates what was said by Daniel, by the watchers, and by the voice that came
from heaven. Are more testimonies needed to convince anyone that God appoints
kings, governors and rulers of the Earth?
But, anyway, what is the "biblical" base for those
who affirm that it is Satan who sets forth kings and kingdoms? It is Satan's
word, therefore, they believe him.
"And the Devil, taking him up into a high mountain, shewed
unto him all the kingdoms of the
world in a moment of time.
And the
devil said unto him: All this power will I give thee,
and the glory of them, for that is delivered unto
me, and to
whomsoever I will I give it. If
thou therefore wilt worship me,
all
shall be thine. And Jesus answered and said unto him: Get
thee
behind me, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship
the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”
( Lk 4: 5-8 )
Some may ask:
Why did Jesus not refute Satan's statement? If a man comes to the door of an
honest married woman and promise's to give her a million dollars if she
goes to bed with him, what should this honest woman do? Should she start a
discussion to demonstrate to him that he does not have so much money, or should
she kick him out of her home? If she would start a discussion to demonstrate
that he does not have that money, everybody would think that if he had the
money she would go to bed with him. Therefore, the only alternative for an
honest woman is to drive him out without any discussion.
If Jesus argued with the Devil to demonstrate that he did
not have the power to give him the kingdoms of the Earth, Christ's enemies
today, including russellites, would be saying that Jesus did not accept the
Devil's proposal because he knew that the Devil did not have that power. That
is why Jesus did what he did: ordered Satan to leave at once.
Satan faked that he had doubts about if Jesus was or not
the Son of God. Satan asked Jesus to give proofs of that, by converting
stones to bread or throwing himself from the Temple peak. Jesus did not refute
Satan about that; he did not start a discussion to demonstrate that he was the
Son of God. Nevertheless, the fact that Jesus did not refute Satan does not
mean that Satan was saying the truth. By the same token, the fact that Jesus
did not refute Satan when he said that the kingdoms of the world were his does
not mean that the Devil was saying the truth.
Another thing alleged by those who hold up that heresy is
that if Satan were not the owner of the kingdoms he would not have offered
them to Jesus. It seems that they think that Satan was honest enough not to
offer what he could not give. Even Satan knew that Jesus knew that the kingdoms
of the Earth were God's. It seems that he was hoping that after his forty days
fast his mind was feeble enough to become confused. Satan also knew that Jesus
knew that he should not convert stones into bread nor throw himself from the
Temple, and he asked Jesus to do it anyway.
Paul the apostle, who knew better than all these
charlatans, stated clearly that the kingdoms and authorities belonged to
God.
"Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For
there is no
power but of God. The powers that be are
ordained of
God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power,
resisteth
the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall
receive to
themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror
to good works, but to the evil. Wilt
thou then not be afraid of
the
power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise
of the same. For
he is the minister of God to thee for
good.
But if thou do
that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth
not the
sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger
to execute wrath upon him that
doeth evil. Wherefore ye must
need be subject, not only for wrath, but
also for conscience sake.
For this cause pay ye tribute also, for they
are God's ministers,
attending continually upon this
very thing.”
( Ro 13: 1-6 )
Saint Paul
clearly says that governments do not exist but only those that God sets up. God
puts rulers in their position. After being in position those rulers,
enticed by Satan, may corrupt their ministry and do ungodly things, but it does
not mean that they were not placed there by God. It happened so with Saul.
Similarly, God calls a person to be a pastor or to be a founder or director of
a denomination, and after being in position, incited by Satan, they may corrupt
their ministry and do ungodly things, but it does not mean that God did not
place them there. It does not mean either that Satan rules the churches.
It is illogical to think that Paul exhorted his brethren
to pay taxes to Satan's agents. If he exhorted them to pay taxes is because
governments are of God, not of Satan. In the former passage Paul says: a)
that there are no powers but God's ordained; b) that those that exist
are ordained by God; c) that he who opposes the government opposes God; and
d) that governments are ministers of God; he says that three times. Is
that vague or confusing? Who says the truth, Satan and the russellites or Saint
Paul? It is not only Paul who affirms this, but also Peter.
"Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the
Lord's sake:
whether it be to the king, as supreme, or unto
governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the
punishment of
evildoers, and for the praise of them that do
well. For so is the will of God,
that with well doing ye may
put to silence
the ignorance of foolish men. As free, and not
using your liberty for a cloke of
maliciousness, but as the
servants of
God. Honour all men. Love the brotherhood.
Fear God. Honour the king." ( I Pt 2: 13-17 )
As we see Peter
also tells us that the governments are God's. If the kings were agents of
Satan, appointed by Satan, Peter was not going to exhort his brethren to
honor an agent of Satan. Could it be that not even Peter knew as much as
the russellites?
There are some who have the absurd hypothesis that the
Earth was Adam's and that he yielded to Satan its dominion. In no place of
the Bible does it say that the planet belonged to Adam nor that Adam yielded its
dominion to Satan. These are distorted lucubrations of people who try to
explain what is happening around them without taking the Bible into
consideration. If we read in the Bible the books of Kings and Chronicles, we
will see that God was always the one who appointed kings to their position.
But even without appealing to the Bible, by mere use of
common sense we can conclude that the kingdoms of the world are not Satan's.
Let us try to imagine what our concept of Satan would be if the kingdoms of the
world were really his.
a) Since there are hundreds of thousands of churches, and millions
preach the gospel, we have to come to the conclusion that Satan is easygoing
and tolerant; he permits that the gospel be preached in his kingdom.
b) There are so many
hospitals and orphanages in Satan's world that this tells us that he is very
kindhearted.
c) Given that Satan rules the
world, and that he didn't kill at once all the apostles, it is necessary to
think that he is not as bad as he is depicted.
d) He rules the world and
does not terrorize Christians by appearing to them to instill fear in them;
therefore, he has to be pretty moderate.
e) Yes, he is the one who put
in the minds of corrupted people to print pornography, but as ruler of the
world he also permits Bibles and Christian books to be printed; in consequence
he is a very democratic being.
These are the absurdities that we have to get to, if we
think that the kingdoms of the Earth are Satan's and that he is the one who
appoints kings.
Not only is it false and blasphemous to say that Satan rules
the world, it is highly flattering for him. True Christians must think deeply
about all this before teaching others such a heresy.