Obedience to God-Given Authorities

Ecclesiastes 8:1-9

1 Who is like a wise man?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
A man's wisdom makes his face shine,
And the sternness of his face is changed.

2 I say, "Keep the king's commandment for the sake of your oath to God. 3 Do not be hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand for an evil thing, for he does whatever pleases him."

4 Where the word of a king is, there is power;
And who may say to him, "What are you doing?"

5 He who keeps his command will experience nothing harmful;
And a wise man's heart discerns both time and judgment,
6 Because for every matter there is a time and judgment,
Though the misery of man increases greatly.

7 For he does not know what will happen;
So who can tell him when it will occur?

8 No one has power over the spirit to retain the spirit,
And no one has power in the day of death.
There is no release from that war,
And wickedness will not deliver those who are given to it.

9 All this I have seen, and applied my heart to every work that is done under the sun: There is a time in which one man rules over another to his own hurt.

We are shown to obey authorities for God's sake, as is told us again in Romans 13:1, 4-5, Titus 3:1, and 1 Peter 2:13-14.  A wise man will understand that he does not know everything, but when God shows it to him he shines with the peace and security of sitting firmly in the had of God’s will.  We obey the ruler and laws of the land for the sake of our commitment to follow Him and thus those He puts over us accordingly to His plan, even when it does not make sense but does not contradict our own actions according to His word.  We should especially not take a stand against good in these matters just to be contrary or fight the political fight instead of the fight of faith for the gospel as far too many do today in these perilous times.  If we think that our power overrides the ruler, we may find our questions deny God’s purposes if we are not wise and discerning.  But if we keep the law it is for our benefit instead of punishment.  This takes time to judge correctly in order to know what is truly going on and how these things play out in the providence and provision of our Lord through the rulers He sets over us for good as we saw in Romans.  Even though the misery of citizens may get worse there are still times and seasons in God’s greater plan which we do not easily understand, and which require us to not tell Him or the rulers under Him what we think will happen.  We cannot read the future of where events will unfold.  The greater issue of whether we have power over life and death is a battle we cannot win and which our doing evil to alter that only causes disobedience to God, not our escape from death.  Nevertheless, there are times when rulers rule to hurt others and we can be assured they will be held a in this life as well as the eternal life to follow death.  This great evil of iron-fisted dictators will hold them to answer to God and bring hurt on their own heads with divine justice.  Sometimes God moves nations to war to stop these evildoers who misuse their authority given by Him, but not the individuals in sinful ways. May we learn this wisdom and be godly subjects with heavenly responses and responsibility in our obedience to God-given authority.