There Are Only Two Kingdoms

     When one reviews the course of human history from the time that people first begin to congregate in cities, rule by one leader, usually titled king, is the norm. Genesis 10 speaks of Nimrod, son of Cush, that "he began to be a mighty one on the earth. (v.8)  "And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh (cities) in the land of Shinar." (v. 10 NKJV) To those versed in the Bible this should not be surprising because the Scripture spreaks of two major kingdoms- the kingdom of this world, and the kingdom of God. Each has a ruler. The devil rules the kingdoms of this world. ( 1 John 5:19) and Jesus is the King of the kingdom of God. ( Revelation 19:16)
   With this perspective the idea of democracy, that somehow humanity can govern themselves, rests on a false premise. I believe it was John Adams, the second US president, who said that democracy can only work with a moral people. The difficulty is that we are not moral. ( Romans 3:10-18).
    Several days ago the current president of the US put himself above the law by unilaterally creating law, a power which the Constitution of the US does not grant to anyone in his office. The Constitution offers a theme that the US is to be a nation of laws not men; i.e. that no one is above the law like a king would be. This has decisively shattered with considerable support among many in the country. And there is no apparent way to prevent him. Again this should not surprise those who study and reflect upon the Word of God.
    The Presidents at least from the time of Theodore Roosevelt over a century ago, with the notable exception of Calvin Coolidge, have steadily increased their power. The current Chief Executive has simply accelerated an ongoing process. This is possible and inevitable because someone must be on the throne of our lives. We naively imagine that we are but in reality there are only two Kingdoms.