Dear editor:
If the Bible is truth, every leader of every land has been placed into his/her rank by the deity described in the Bible:
Romans 13:1, There is no power but of God: the powers that are ordained of God.
That deity always appoints each leader in order for that person to do good. He knows all things; He knows if the person will do good, will do bad or will do some of both. He gives that leader opportunity to do good -- what is right, what is according to justice for the peoples over whom he has been placed. If the leader does otherwise, the leader will be held to account for all moral and ethical things that the leader did, just as each person in every rank will be held to account.
If the Bible is truth, only the true and living God can "know" motives:
In 1 Kings 8:39, Thou wilt give to a man as all his ways that thou wilt know his heart! For thou, thou knew -- thou alone -- the heart of all children of the Adam!
Those who assume to know the motives of others assume that they, themselves, have both the knowledge and the insight of God; and they judge others as if they themselves are God. That goes both ways: attributing good motives to someone whom they approve, and attributing bad motives to someone of whom they disapprove. Some do the very same thing to entire political parties and entire groups. Such attributions are the very making of racism. Racism could not exist without such attributions.
If the Bible is truth, God raised up President Assad of Syria to do his peoples good. Instead, he has done to his own peoples far worse than any enemy that attacked Syria would do. What some in the Syrian leadership desired to do to the Israelis has been done to the Syrians themselves by their own leaders. The Syrians are directly related to the Israelis (according to the Bible), and they are, therefore, brethren. Hatred without a cause comes back on those who hate; Syrian self-hatred has stunned the world.
Thus, just because the biblical deity raises up a leader and protects him in power, doesn't mean that the leader will benefit the peoples over whom he/she is a shepherd. Again, that deity doesn't raise up a leader to do harm to his/her peoples, but instead to do good. The question is whether that leader will do good and will do it "consistently."
One who truly fears the biblical God of Israel who is placed to work for the benefit of a leader, will do so with fear regardless of whether the leader is doing right or not, and if necessary, will save the lives of others from that leader, even while working for the benefit of the leader. (This moral and ethical point is almost never taught; it is biblical.) God will eventually remove each leader until the Millennium.
James Wilson
Hot Springs
Editorial on 02/20/2017