Satan’s Way of Ruling Sure to Fail

 
“It will not turn out well at all with the wicked one.”—ECCL. 8:13.
 
SOONER or later the wicked will have to be brought to justice. They will have to answer for what they have done. (Prov. 5:22; Eccl. 8:12, 13) That is comforting news, especially for those who love righteousness and who have suffered injustice and mistreatment at the hands of the wicked. Foremost among the wicked who will be brought to justice is the father of wickedness, Satan the Devil.—John 8:44.
 
 Back in Eden, Satan, consumed by feelings of self-importance, caused humans to reject Jehovah’s way of governing. As a result, our first parents joined Satan in challenging Jehovah’s rightful authority and became sinners in His sight. (Rom. 5:12-14) Of course, Jehovah knew how their disrespectful and rebellious course would turn out for them. 

However, that inevitable outcome had to be made obvious to all intelligent creatures. Hence, time was needed to settle the issue and to demonstrate convincingly that the rebels were utterly wrong.
 
 Since humans rejected Jehovah’s oversight, they had to set up their own forms of government. The apostle Paul, writing to fellow believers in Rome, spoke of such human governments as “the superior authorities.” In Paul’s day, the superior authorities were primarily the government of Rome under Emperor Nero, who ruled from 54-68 C.E. Paul said that such superior authorities “stand placed in their relative positions by God.” (Read Romans 13:1, 2.)

Does that mean that Paul was advocating human rule as superior to God’s way of governing? By no means. Rather, he was simply saying that as long as Jehovah allows human rulership to exist, Christians should respect “the arrangement of God” and accept such rulers.