Question: World leaders and the Bible
The Bible teaches that government leaders exercise power given by God. That is not the same as saying that God necessarily picks all leaders and rulers. However, If God desires, he may raise up who he will to rule. 2 Chron. 36:21-23; refers to the prophet Jeremiah, many years before prophesying that a ruler named Cyrus would allow the captives of Judah to return from Persia to their own land. But not all rulers are raised up by God. Today, we would not know if God had raised up a specific ruler, because the Bible does not tell us. See also: Isa. 44:28; Isa. 45:1; Ezra 1:1-4;
However, the powers of all governments today, rest on the authority of God. God is the one who invented authority and governance. When standing before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, Jesus said: “Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above” (Jn. 19:10-11;). Pilate was using (or misusing) the God-given powers of the government.
Romans 13:1; says: “...the powers that be are ordained of God” – and so we are taught that we must obey those powers because we obey God. To disobey them brings the government’s wrath, and also the judgment of God (Rom. 13:2;). The government is a “minister of God...for good ,” who does not “...bear the sword in vain...” (Rom. 13:4;). For this reason, 1 Peter 2:13-14 says: “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well.”