At the present time two great viewpoints prevail in the world, as far as its national, political and social life is concerned. They are radically different, but may yet be brought together in a kind of amalgamation, and the prophetic Scriptures confirm this. The two great ideas are, respectively, the democratic and the imperialistic.
Democracy presents itself to us as the finished product of the wisdom of the ages. After the long and dismal record of human experiments in government, the democratic idea has been evolved and now holds the field among enlightened nations. It is, to use Abraham Lincoln’s famous phrase, “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” In practice it comes to this, that government is by a majority of the people (for they are never unanimous), and hence the minority must give way. It is presumed that “the majority” should rule by its accredited representatives for the good of all the people and not for the majority’s interests only.
The imperialistic idea has as its watchword that “union is strength.” In national life it leads to groups of nations and powerful alliances and leagues. In politics it expresses itself in groups of parties to achieve together what they cannot hope to enforce singly. Socially it produces giant trusts, federations of industries, and unions. It even threatens to appear in the religious world in the form of a federation of “churches.” It is really a reversion to the old idea which animated the post-diluvians in their schemes at Babel (see Genesis 11:1-91And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. 5And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. (Genesis 11:1‑9)).
Our present concern is not with the political advantages or disadvantages of democracy; rather, we want to get the light which the Word of God sheds upon it.
God’s Delegation of Government
In the first place, then, we must inquire of Scripture as to what God’s way for the government of the earth may be. In the beginning, Adam, as yet unfallen, was placed in the position of sole authority. He was God’s image or representative and had dominion over the lower ranks of created beings (Gen. 1:2626And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. (Genesis 1:26)). Sin having invaded creation, a long period elapsed during which there was no further authority delegated to man by God. That age terminated in the flood.
The post-flood age opened, however, with a further delegation of authority. Noah and his sons after him were responsible to maintain God’s rights in man, and God hereby delegated to certain men authority over men, even to the execution of capital punishment. Patriarchal authority was thus established.
The Patriarchal Order
Among those who soon thereafter cast off the fear of God, not liking “to retain God in their knowledge” (Rom. 1:2828And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; (Romans 1:28)), this authority evidently changed its form. It was no longer patriarchal in character, but fell into the hands of men of prowess and renown, such as Nimrod (Gen. 10:8-108And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. 9He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. 10And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. (Genesis 10:8‑10)), and after the confusion of speech at Babel, nations with their “kings” appear (Gen. 12:1515The princes also of Pharaoh saw her, and commended her before Pharaoh: and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house. (Genesis 12:15); Gen. 14:11And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations; (Genesis 14:1)-2).
Moses, “King in Jeshurun”
However, those who still feared God adhered to the patriarchal order until God set His hand to deliver Israel from Egypt and raised up Moses. Moses was invested by God with an authority in Israel far beyond anything that Noah received. Moses was indeed “king in Jeshurun” (Deut. 23:55Nevertheless the Lord thy God would not hearken unto Balaam; but the Lord thy God turned the curse into a blessing unto thee, because the Lord thy God loved thee. (Deuteronomy 23:5)), but it was a kingship of an informal order. Properly speaking, theocracy was established in Israel with Moses as the spokesman and mediator, and therefore in that sense king.
For centuries authority in Israel was of that order, but the power of it declined; those who wielded it were far inferior in faithfulness and in force. The resultant feebleness led to an outcry for a king like the nations (1 Sam. 8:55And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations. (1 Samuel 8:5)), and after the episode of the willful king of the people’s choice, God raised up David and established kingly authority on a proper basis. David’s authority was absolute, and he was to rule, but his rule was to be wholly beneficent.
Authority to the Gentiles
With the failure of David’s descendants, the glory of it departed, and at last God transferred authority into Gentile hands. It was entrusted first of all to Nebuchadnezzar, as stated in Daniel 2:37-3837Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. (Daniel 2:37‑38), and though the king’s dream foreshadowed the changes that would supervene as to forms of government, yet it showed that the authority that lay behind government, whatever its form, would remain in Gentile hands until the execution of divine wrath brought in the kingdom which “shall stand forever” (Dan. 2:2020Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: (Daniel 2:20)). This rapid sketch of the course of government among men is enough to show that the ultimate authority is always God, and God alone.
Turning now from government as presented to us in Scripture to the practice of it by those to whom it has been entrusted on earth, we at once see that it has been terribly abused, as has all else that has been entrusted to fallen man. Tyranny and self-seeking have everywhere flourished, and history is a record of the long and painful struggles by means of which nations have turned from one form of government to another, or have introduced modifications into their various governmental systems, in the vain hope of evolving ideal conditions. Of all these changes, democracy is the latest, and its advent is not surprising to anyone at all versed in the abuses which gave it birth.
The Will of the People
Comparing it, however, not with its predecessors, but with the ideals of Scripture, we see that it is more hopelessly condemned than any other form of government. It deposes God as the source of authority and puts man — “the people” — in His place. To the democrat, only one question really matters: What is the will of the people? What the people desire is regarded as the right thing, and the functions of a truly democratic government are to carry out the people’s desires, whether right or wrong.
In this matter, as in all others, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ provides the Christian with a supreme test. At that solemn hour, Pontius Pilate was the representative of Caesar, and at his autocratic bar Christ was arraigned. Yet in an unusual moment of weakness, autocracy abdicated its functions. He “gave sentence that it should be as they required” (Luke 23:2424And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required. (Luke 23:24)). Viewed as a setting forth of democratic principles, this might be passed as all right. Viewed from every other standpoint, it was the most outrageous wrong of the world’s history.
From Gold to Clay
Reverting again to Nebuchadnezzar’s dream as recorded in Daniel 2, we may now be better able to grasp the significance of the clay which entered into the image when the feet of it were reached. God started the “Times of the Gentiles” with an ideal form of government, but as the empires developed, men deviated from the golden ideal, and introduced human modifications. The government became silver, brass, and iron, as divine thoughts were forgotten and human policies came to the fore.
It is, however, in the last stage of the Roman Empire that we find for the first time the introduction of clay. The clay is not a further modification of the old, but is fundamentally different. Because of it “the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken” or “brittle.” Daniel’s interpretation of the clay and iron mixed is “they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay” (Dan. 2:4343And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. (Daniel 2:43)). The “they” of this passage appears to be those in whose hands authority rests.
We have no hesitation in seeing here a prediction of the uprising and prevalence of democracy in the last days. The authority which finds its source in God and that which finds its source in man are as different from one another as metal is from clay. The two things may be mingled, but only weakness and brittleness are induced.
However, in practice the transition from democratic to imperialistic forms is very easy. Let a man of transcendent genius appear, and nothing is easier than for him to assume for himself supreme power. The people, fickle and easily led, will be glad to have it so. The career of Napoleon I. springing out of the French Revolution, is a case in point. The coming “beast” of Revelation 13 will assume power in the same way, and will quite likely uphold democratic institutions in theory while carrying on autocratic rule in practice — iron mixed with clay.
Full well we know that nothing but the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord can effectually lift our souls above the level of the world and its thoughts, yet the exposure of world politics and schemes by the light of Scripture has its value, and this has been our present endeavor.
The world system is doomed. Out of the impending catastrophe, souls are being rescued by the abounding grace of our Lord. It is ours to seek them, bearing witness to our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us then not waste time in vain attempts to shore up the tottering structure, but let us busy ourselves in the great work which our Lord has allotted to us. To be thoroughly for Him and His interests is to be thoroughly outside the world system and its hopes. As far as this earth is concerned, we look, not for a perfected system of democracy, but for the setting up of the kingdom of Christ by the God of heaven, which shall never be destroyed but shall stand forever.
F. B. Hole (adapted)