• God Removes Kings, and Sets Up Kings – God’s majestic name is “Jehovah”, usually written as “LORD” in all capital letters in the Old Testament of the King James Version of the English Bible, and Psa 83:18 declares, “That men may know that thou, whose name alone is JEHOVAH , art the most high over all the earth”. Psa 93:1, proclaims: “The LORD reigneth, he is clothed with majesty”. The Hebrew word for “reigneth” [malak] means “to reign”, or “to rule”, as a king and is the word from which “king” (melek) is derived. God raises up kings and He puts down kings, as we read in the below verses. God sets up all rulers, presidents and people in authority, and works in their hearts to accomplish His will throughout the history of the world. God’s Will, no way implies that He causes the ruler to act sinfully but uses the rulers sinful intentions to accomplish His Will, as Pro 16:9 teaches, “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but Jehovah directeth his steps”. It applies to earthly rulers such as King Nebuchadnezzar. God is the one that brought him against His own people of Judah. Remember what the Bible says concerning God’s relationship with King Nebuchadnezzar in Jer 25:9 “… saith JEHOVAH, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and an hissing, and perpetual desolations”. We also have a great example with Pharaoh, where God says in Rom 9:17, “For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth”. He was raised up to be a ruthless king and to be someone who would not let the Israelites go. This was all according to God’s plan and God’s purpose and Kings like Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh were established in their position of power and rule in order to accomplish God’s purpose as His servants of destruction. We do not understand a lot of things, but we do understand that God is in charge and that we are not to reply against God. God is a God who is righteous and He is a God who does everything perfectly and He makes it clear in Romans 9 that it is His sovereign right to do so. His divine will will ultimately sustain His everlasting glory. And sometimes, He will raise up the basest of men to be a king. Whatever government, whoever is in charge, God will make a way for His people and God is the One who is in control of the whole process. Finally, whoever is ruling will do so only at the will of God. They cannot do anything more or less than God will permit. And so, we just trust God. We do not necessarily trust the particular government, if it is a dictatorship or a communist rule or something where they are not maybe being all that honest. But no matter what the situation of the government, God’s people can be confident, they can just trust in the Lord, that He is going to work it out. Jesus Christ is the Supreme Ruler over all the kings of the earth, as Rev 19:15–16 proclaims. Rom 13:1 admonishes, “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God”.

Psa 75:5–7 “Lift not up your horn on high: speak not with a stiff neck. For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.”

Dan 2:20–21 “Daniel answered and said, Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:”

Dan 4:17 “This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.”

Pro 21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.”

John 19:10–11 “Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.”

Rev 19:15–16 “And out of his [Jesus Christ] mouth goeth a sharp sword [Word of God], that with it he should smite [judge] the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

• The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD – Literally, this is true of all kings, rulers and presidents. Let us look at what this means spiritually. We read in Psalm 23 verse 5, “Thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over”. It was customary to anoint the head of a new king of Israel with oil to signify that he was officially taking that position of authority. The Greek word for “Christ”, christos, is a translation of the Hebrew word rendered as “Messiah”, which means “anointed”. That is because the Lord Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, and those who have become saved are spiritually “anointed” as kings, prophets (Rev 1:5–6). We, the believers, are “a royal priesthood”, as we read in 1 Peter. We are, in principle, ruling with Christ in Heaven even while we are still on earth (Eph 2:6). What God accomplishes in saving someone from spiritual death to spiritual life is equivalent to what the Lord Jesus Christ experienced through His death, burial, and resurrection, as Eph 1:19–20 indicates. God is in complete control of the lives of His children – the Kings. And our heart is in His hands, as the hand represents the will, and He will turn us whither soever He would have us to go, “as the rivers of water”. God gave us a new heart that He will direct and guide, according to His way and according to His plan.

Rev 19:15–16 “And out of his [Jesus Christ] mouth goeth a sharp sword [Word of God], that with it he should smite [judge] the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.”

Rev 1:5–6 “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”

Eph 1:19–20 “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, Which he wrought in Christ, when he [God the Father] raised him [God the Son] from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places.”

Eph 2:5–6 “Even when we [true believers] were dead in sins, hath quickened us [made us alive] together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Pro 21:1 “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will.