The Basest of Men Dan. 4:17 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
You often wonder why the rulers of the various countries of the world do the terrible things that they do. The reason that rulers often do wicked things is that they are the basest of men. In Dan 4:17 we read, “… 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.”
When rulers like Mao Zedong, in China, Adolf Hitler, in Germany, Josef Stalin, in the Soviet Union, Pol Pot, in Cambodia, Saddam Hussein, in Iraq, Kim Il Sung, in North Korea, Ho Chi Minh, in North Vietnam, Chiang Kai-shek, in China, Fidel Castro, in Cuba, and so many others gain the positions of emperor, prime minister, president or king, they abuse their power because they are base. These rulers mentioned here are responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people through war, starvation, genocide and execution.
That’s why these rulers are typified in the Bible as beasts – Dan 7:3, 17; 8:20-21; Rev 13:18
Notice some of the atrocities of these rulers in the Bible who are among the basest of men:
They enslave foreigners – Ex 1:7-14 – Pharaoh enslaved the Jews out of fear that they might fight with an enemy against the Egyptians.
They kill babies – Ex 1:15-16; Matt 2:16 – Pharaoh and Herod both exterminated babies – one to control the population of males among the Jews and the other to retaliate against the wise men and to protect against the rising up of a rival king.
They kill innocent people – 1 Ki 21:12-13 – Ahab [Jezebel] and Naboth – 2 Ki 24:3-4 – Manasseh shed innocent blood.
They execute rival rulers – 1 Sam 18:8-12; 2 Chr 21:4; 2 Ki 11:1 – Saul, Jehoram and Athaliah all killed or attempted to kill rivals.
They martyr priests and prophets – 1 Sam 22:17-18 – Saul killed the priests – Matt 14:8-10 – Herod killed John the Baptist – Acts 12:1-2 – Herod killed James – 2 Chr 24:20-22 – Joash killed Zechariah.
They ignore laws they pass – 1 Sam 28:3, 7 – Saul went to the woman at Endor after putting away those who had familiar spirits – interestingly Samantha’s mother on “Bewitched” was called “Endora.”
They commit adultery [and even murder people to protect themselves] – 2 Sam 11:3-17 – David committed adultery with Bathsheba and killed Uriah.
They make alliances with their enemies – 2 Ki 16:7; 17:5-6 – Ahaz allied with Tiglathpileser, the Assyrian king, and the Assyrian king, Sennacherib, would have destroyed Jerusalem if the angel of the Lord had not killed 185,000 elite soldiers during the siege.
They destroy their economies – 2 Ki 20:14-17 Hezekiah destroyed the economy in Jerusalem by showing his riches to the Babylonians.
They lead their citizens into idolatry – 2 Ki 21:1-7 – Manasseh turned the whole nation to idolatry.
They commit genocide – Est 3:8-11 – Haman would have completely destroyed the Jews under the decree to exterminate Jews.
They join forces with other nations to destroy Israel – Ps 83:3-5 – nations are confederate against Israel.
Conclusion: It should not be any surprise, then, in our own country, that the basest men often occupy political offices in our government – we shouldn’t be shocked when legislators and judges approve killing babies, destroying our economy, leading children into idolatry [evolution], siding with Israel’s enemies, allying with our enemies, committing adultery, breaking laws they pass, and so forth – human nature hasn’t changed and neither have base men who rule – when the basest men rule they literally destroy their countries [Ex 10:7; Dan 5:25-28].