Some may remark on the foregoing, Does not Paul say, that "the powers that be, are ordained of God?" Yes, and so say I; but all powers that are ordained of God, do not rule for his glory, nor are they all associated with his government and kingdom. Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar were ordained of God, but they were both idolaters. Cyrus was ordained of God; but he was an heathen. God regulates his own affairs; and while the world is in a state of idolatry, apostacy, and rebellion, he, by his providence, overrules the affairs of the nation, as Daniel says, "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." Dan. iv. 17. But others will say that Paul tells us "to be subject to the powers that be." So say I. God will establish his own government: the cavillings, rebellions, and contentions of men will not do it; and it is proper for well disposed persons to wait the Lord's time, to be peaceable and quiet, and to pray for kings, governors, and authorities. This was what Jeremiah taught the children of Israel to do, "And seek the peace of the city wherein I have caused you to be carried away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it, for in the peace thereof shall you have peace." xxix. 7. It is very evident, from what has been shown, that there is no proper government nor rule upon the face of the earth; that there are no kings who are anointed, or legally appointed of God; and that, however much disposed any of them may feel to benefit the world, it is out of their power, it exceeds the limits of their jurisdiction, it requires a power, spirit, and intelligence, which they do not possess. We see, moreover, that tumults, commotions, rebellions, and resistance are not the way to do it. It requires more wisdom than that which emperors, kings, princes, or the wisest of men possess, to bring out of the wild chaos, the misery, and desolation that have overspread the world, that beautiful order, peace, and happiness portrayed by the prophets as the reign of the kingdom of God.
Chapter IX.
Will Man Always Be Permitted to Usurp Authority Over Men, and Over the Works of God? Will the World Remain for ever Under a Curse, and God's Designs Be Frustrated?
The above are grave questions, and will necessarily require examination, for they concern the earth and its inhabitants. Their true solution will affect man in time and in eternity. The world cannot remain as it is, for the following reasons:—
First. It would be unreasonable.
Secondly. It would be unjust.
Thirdly. It would be unscriptural.
Fourthly. It would frustrate the designs of God, in regard to the spirits of the righteous; the dead; the progression of the world, and its final exaltation; and also the exaltation of man.
First.—It would be unreasonable for man to continue his usurped authority. If God is interested in the welfare of his creatures, he certainly never would permit, without some just cause, the destruction of his works, and the misery of his creatures; and we have fully demonstrated, that the world is full of abominations, and evils, and that those evils can only be removed by the interposition of the Lord; that the assumed authority of men, and the Devil, can only be checked by a superior power. God holds that power in his hands; he holds the life of the human family in his hands; and the world, notwithstanding its rebellion and iniquity, has to be sustained by him from day to day. Let him but withdraw his governing and controlling power from the earth, and it would wander wildly through space, unblest by the genial influences of the sun, or clash against some other system, involving all creation in ruin: let some slight variation take place in its diurnal motion, and the sea would leave its proper bounds, overflow the earth, and millions of the human family would perish. Let even some slight variation take place in the atmosphere, and the Lord withdraw the sanitory influences that preserve the earth in its present healthy state, and the murky atmosphere would contain contagion, and disease; the pestiferous air would spread desolation, and death; plague and pestilence would fill the earth; and millions of foetid loathsome beings would be living, and dying examples, of man's impotency and weakness. Even a small insect sent to destroy the grain, accompanied with the blight of the potatoes, such as has already been witnessed, would produce incalculable evil; let these things become more universal, and the death of the human family must ensue. Even so slight a thing as too much, or too little rain would produce uncalculated misery.
When we contemplate man as he is, a poor worm dependent upon God for his daily bread, and upon how many slight contingencies the brittle thread of life is continued, and that the least variation in the economy of God might, in numberless ways, involve the human family in ruin, and then notice his arrogance, pride, conceit, and rebellion; it seems to us mysterious that the mercy of God should be so long extended to him; and we can only account for it upon this principle, that God is too great, wise, powerful, and magnanimous to be moved to anger by the impotent ravings, the empty pride, the little meanness, the swelling pusillanimity, and the utter helplessness, of the erratic, puerile, insignificant creature, man. He lets him wallow in his corruptions, gloat in his misery, and permits him to become a prey to Satan, for a season, that he may feel the greatness of his fall, the extent of his degeneracy, and the utter ruin that his own course, instigated by the powers of the adversary, has brought upon him; that he may afterwards learn to appreciate the mercies of God, see and understand the delusion, and be enabled eternally to appreciate the mercies and government of God, after having first atoned for his own acts and transgressions. For like a wayward and disobedient child, he will be glad to return to his father's house and friendship; and when the vision of his mind shall be opened, which, if not done in this world, will be in the world to come, he will be thoroughly disgusted with himself and his acts, and will be glad on any conditions to find an asylum with his Father.