At the start of human history, our Creator, whose name is Jehovah, was the only Ruler. He governed in a loving way. He made a beautiful home—a garden in Eden—for humans to live in. He also provided an abundance of food for them. In addition, he gave humans meaningful work to do. (Genesis 1:28, 29; 2:8, 15) Mankind would have enjoyed peace if they had remained under God’s loving rulership.
The first humans rejected God as their Ruler
The Bible reveals that a rebellious angel, later called Satan the Devil, challenged God’s right to rule. He implied that humans would be happier without God’s direction and rulership. Sadly, our first parents, Adam and Eve, followed Satan’s course and rebelled against God.—Genesis 3:1-6; Revelation 12:9.
Because Adam and Eve rejected God as their Ruler, they lost their Paradise home and the hope of living forever in perfect health. (Genesis 3:17-19) Their decision also affected the children they eventually had. The Bible says that because Adam sinned, “sin entered into the world and death through sin.” (Romans 5:12) Sin led to another tragic result: “Man has dominated man to his harm.” (Ecclesiastes 8:9) In other words, when humans rule themselves, problems are bound to come. HUMAN RULERSHIP APPEARS
Nimrod rebelled against Jehovah
The first human ruler mentioned in the Bible was Nimrod. And he rebelled against Jehovah’s rulership. Ever since Nimrod’s day, powerful men have abused their positions of authority. Some 3,000 years ago, King Solomon wrote: “I saw the tears of the oppressed, and there was no one to comfort them. And their oppressors had the power.”—Ecclesiastes 4:1.
Things are no different today. In 2009, a United Nations publication said that bad rulership is increasingly being viewed as “one of the root causes of all evil within our societies.” TIME FOR ACTION!
The world needs better rulers and a better form of government. And that is what our Creator has promised!
Even the best human governments have failed to solve mankind’s serious problems
God has set up a Kingdom, or government, that will replace all human rule, and “it alone will stand forever.” (Daniel 2:44) This is the Kingdom for which millions have been praying. (Matthew 6:9, 10) But God will not rule this government himself. Instead, he has appointed someone who lived as a human to be the Ruler. Whom has God chosen?
