Rulers

Concept

Scripture addresses the institution of human government throughout both Testaments, presenting rulers as accountable to God as the ultimate sovereign. The OT ideal is the theocratic king who governs in accordance with God's law and leads his people in covenant faithfulness (Deut. 17:14–20). Israel's request for a king "like the nations" was a rejection of God's direct rule (1 Sam. 8:7), yet God accommodated it and worked through the Davidic monarchy to prepare for Christ. Daniel presents world rulers as instruments of God's sovereign purpose over history, however unaware of this they may be (Dan. 4:25).

The NT affirms civil authority as God's servant for good, ordained for the restraint of evil and the encouragement of righteousness (Rom. 13:1–4; 1 Pet. 2:13–14). Obedience to rulers is enjoined with the important limit that "we must obey God rather than men" when the two come into conflict (Acts 5:29). Revelation portrays earthly kingdoms that set themselves against God as destined for judgment, while Christ is declared "King of kings and Lord of lords" (Rev. 19:16).