God Establishes Kingdoms, Therefore Rulers are to Follow God – (Proverbs 20:8)

Daily Bible Study
Kings and rulers affect the tolerance of evil in the nations in which they govern. Bad rulers increase the tolerance of evil amongst the people while decreasing discernment. Good kings increase discernment and thereby decrease the tolerance of evil. Moreover, bad rulers not only increase the evil during their reign, they entice the sin nature of people to rebel, and once this becomes commonplace, a fallen people will fight as hard as they can to keep evil and wicked behavior in place. And through the cunning of Satan and a fallen world, they will do so by masquerading evil as something different. And this is important to understand, they will do so even if it means destroying themselves, why? Because that's how strong our sin nature is when we give into it and rebel against God. In this verse and several of the next verses, God speaks to us about judgment and knowing right from wrong. In this passage the Lord speaks about the role of the king and those in authority and we know that God establishes kings as well as kingdoms.

Therefore, kings are to follow the Lord and rule with righteousness by placing their faith in God and following His guidance. This passage tells us through the correct judging of right and wrong (good versus evil), the king will scatter evil and bring health and restoration to his kingdom. This means part of the king's duties, which have been given to him by God, is to remove evil from his kingdom. Dealing with and stopping evil is part of the responsibility and duties of kings as established by God. The same principle applies to leaders in all walks of life today as well! All who serve as leaders are called to lead with honesty, integrity and as a godly example, before the people in their charge and before those who rule over them. Leaders are not to use personal bias, friendships or dishonesty in order to achieve personal gain or promote undue favors for others. And most importantly, they are not to influence evil, promote rebellion and encourage civil strife. We must therefore remember God is in control and those who are placed in positions of leadership have their actions observed by the Lord who judges all people. Especially those nations who claim the name of Christ and have been founded on faith in God through Jesus.