President Trump has declared his determination to acquire Greenland for the United States, by any means necessary, despite the unanimous opposition of his allies. A recent poll revealed that many Americans worry about Mr Trump’s mental state. Meanwhile, President Putin presses on with his plans for territorial expansion in Ukraine, at huge cost in terms of the destruction of life and resources. As you’d expect, it’s less easy to gauge Russians’ opinions about Mr Putin’s mental state.
It is not our place to assess the mental state of leaders who are put in place by God, because: “the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (Daniel 4:25). (Note – the fact that God has put them there does not mean that He endorses what they do.)
Those words in the book of Daniel were spoken to the powerful Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, who had to endure a period of near insanity in order to learn their truth.
Centuries before, a powerful Pharaoh refused to accept the power of God. When Moses and Aaron asked him to let the Hebrew slaves leave Egypt, he responded:
“Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and moreover, I will not let Israel go” (Exodus 5:2).
God then sent plagues on Egypt. Through five of the ten plagues this stubborn man ‘hardened his heart’, and doggedly refused to let Israel go (Exodus 7:13,7:14, 7:22, 8:15, 8:19, 8:32). Pharoah’s magicians, who could not mimic the plagues after the first two, tried unsuccessfully to reason with the stubborn despot: “This is the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19). But Pharaoh seemed ‘crazy’.
Eventually God Himself hardened Pharaoh’s heart in order to show His supreme power (Exodus 10:1).
But there was more to all of this. God had said to Pharaoh: “For this purpose I have raised you up, to show you my power, so that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth” (Exodus 9:16).
And after the tenth dreadful plague, Israel escaped from Egypt in the great ‘exodus’. Pharaoh was utterly powerless against God. God was in control and His purpose was fulfilled (Exodus 7:4-5).
We can be sure that God is at work today, as He was then. No leader, whether mad or not, can thwart God’s purpose. So the message is clear. We need not fear any world leaders, or be dismayed at the decisions they might make. God is greater than all of them and is even working through them to fulfil His purpose. Ultimately, that purpose is to bring about His Kingdom of world peace, prosperity and righteousness (Isaiah 2).
Anna Hart