Proverbs 29:2 commentary; when the righteous one rules the earth

2 ¶ When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn.

A land is spoiled by bad leaders. Men and women who trade off prosperity for deals that pad the pockets of their friends and supporters, men and women who pander to the lowest element in the people to get votes, and men who have no regard for God’s standards of right and wrong will lead a people into despair and calamity. One of the problems of democracy is that the lowest of men in character can get elected if they are good at packaging and selling themselves. One of the problems of a kingdom is that men, by virtue of their bloodline rather than their character, are elevated to the highest authority.

Satan, the devil, aka Lucifer, is the god of this world;

2Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

And through him;

Luke 4:5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

…God permits the lowest kind of man and woman morally to rule over men. All human government on a national scale is by its very nature, wicked.

Daniel 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.

So, how would a righteous man rule under such circumstances? Understand that this Proverb in context was written to God’s kingdom of Israel, which He had set apart from other kingdoms and was not counted among the nations of the Gentiles.

Numbers 23:9 For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.

The question then becomes for Christians what is the condition of the righteous being in authority? When Christ physically returns to rule, the righteous will certainly rule, and His righteous people will rule with Him for a time.

Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

2Timothy 2:12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

Those who are the righteous today are made righteous by virtue of having Christ’s righteousness in them by virtue of being born again by belief in Him having trusted in Him. They have no righteousness of their own. The wicked are wicked because they reject Christ’s authority and His sacrifice and His love for them at the Cross. Right now, the wicked do bear rule and wars and rumors of wars have covered the globe repeatedly throughout human history. That’s why Trevor and Dupuy’s Military Encyclopedia is over a thousand pages long. Over the last 4,000 years mankind has had roughly only 300 without war, one can imagine, in order to have time to reload. The wicked bear rule; death and bloodshed and oppression constantly cover the earth. As Thomas Edward Lawrence aka Lawrence of Arabia said, the Europeans have been slaughtering each other for 1500 years. They ought to be doing it well by now.The 150 million people killed by war and violence in the 20th century attest to that fact.

But, Christ is coming back and mourning time will have ended. The righteous will rule and be in authority. The people, even the whole earth, shall rejoice. So, Christian, look up.

Titus 2:11 ¶ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, 12 Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; 13 Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;