Acts 23:1-5 “Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, "Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day." (2) And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. (3) Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?" (4) And those who stood by said, "Do you revile God's high priest?" (5) Then Paul said, "I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, 'You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.'”
We have already seen that the rulers of the nations are God’s ministers, appointed by Him. And so because they are His ministers we are not to speak evil of them, for to do so is to speak evil of God Himself who appointed them. God made that point very clear to us in the Old Testament (Exodus 22:28), and in the above quoted passage of scripture the apostle Paul confirms that the principle remains unchanged under the New Covenant. Even God’s angels dare not speak evil of Satan and his angels, because they recognize that God is the one who has given them their positions of authority (Jude 1:8-10). Many in the world love to revile their leaders, but believers are not to join them but rather they are to set the example by walking in obedience to the Lord on this issue. Sadly however, all too often Christians are heard making derogatory remarks about the leaders of their nations as well. Make no mistake, to speak against the authorities of a nation that God has appointed, incurs the wrath and judgement of God. Miriam learned that lesson the hard way, for when she spoke against Moses and encouraged Aaron to do the same, God judged her with leprosy and it was only because Moses interceded for her that she recovered from her illness (Numbers 12:1-15). So does that mean that every time Christians speak against their leaders that they can expect to break out in leprosy? Obviously not, but it does mean that God will not hold them guiltless, for He will correct them in justice and will not let them go altogether unpunished (Jeremiah 30:11). That does not mean that we cannot speak truthfully about a nations leaders, such as calling them dishonest if they have been proven to be so, for even the Lord Jesus referred to Herod as “a fox” because of his cunning and deceitful manner of governance (Luke 13:32). But nevertheless we are not to revile our rulers, for they are God’s ministers. In other words unlike the world, we are not to slander our rulers in any way.
Michael E.B. Maher
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