"So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, “You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.” (1 Kings 12:28) A Bad Ruler I am hearing a lot of negative talk about President Trump these days because of the rapid pace at which he is moving to try to keep his campaign promises. It would be better to move more slowly because human beings have trouble with any change but especially fast change. But, if something is not done quickly, our nation could well become insolvent. I try to listen to various news broadcasts to hear both sides of the argument. So, the other day I was listening to MSNBC on the radio and the commentator referred to President Trump as a “bad ruler.” I thought about that. I asked myself, “How do we define a ‘bad ruler?’ What constitutes a “bad ruler?’” So, like I always do, I went to the Scriptures to see what God says is a “bad ruler.” If you read through the Old Testament, you will find examples of kings who God called good and kings who God called bad. Both the good and the bad made stupid decisions from time to time. Some of the bad were very popular with the people and conversely, some of the good were very unpopular. Both the good and the bad sometimes did good things for the nation. What defined good and bad, however, was not the leadership styles or the governmental policies. What delineated good from bad was the king’s relationship to God and his leadership of the people to worship God. Jeroboam was bad. He made calves of gold and told the people to worship them and sacrifice to them as the gods who brought them out of Egypt. That way all the offerings stayed in Israel and didn’t go to the temple in Jerusalem. Smart thinking on Jeroboam’s part, financially brilliant, but quite sinful in God’s eyes. Rather than encourage the people to worship the one true God, Jeroboam did what was expedient for himself and his treasury and encouraged the people to abandon the one true God. That is bad. So, is President Trump a good ruler or a bad ruler? Time will tell. We often cannot make any accurate judgements of a presidency until years later but the criteria seem to be this. If he does things that lead us to worship the one true God, he is a good ruler. If he does things that make it easier for us to be the true Church on earth, he is a good ruler. If he does things that conflict with God’s Word or leads others to do likewise, he is a bad ruler. I hope and pray that he will be a good ruler, and we will continue praying for him at Trinity every Sunday. Good or bad, he is our ruler on this earth for now. He was placed into power by God himself. By honoring him, we honor God. I don’t think the average Israelite really understood all the ins and outs of running a nation anymore than I do, but they knew this. When the leader encourages you to disobey God, you should be very concerned. Conversely, when the leader encourages you to be faithful to God, it might be difficult, but it is the right thing to do and he is being faithful to his calling as the leader. They knew, and yet they often still sinfully opted for convenience, or a fat wallet, or pleasure, over being faithful to God. The temptation is just as strong for us. Before you are tempted to jump on any movement, always run it through the Biblical test. Is this faithful to God and the Holy Scriptures? Is this congruent with what God says in His Word? That’s the only certain way to determine good and bad. Pastor Rogers |
