Respect for authority

And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before. Therefore the king said to me, “Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.”
So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, “May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad, when the city, the place of my fathers’ tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire?”
Then the king said to me, “What do you request?”
So I prayed to the God of heaven. And I said to the king, “If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favour in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers’ tombs, that I may rebuild it.” – Nehemiah 2.1-5

It is easy to forget sometimes that these Bible events took place in real places and real time and with real historical figures. Historians differ on who this Artaxerxes was. Some think he may have been the King of all Persia. Others think he was a satrap, or kind of a local king. It really doesn't matter though. Artaxerxes was a real king in a  real place at a real moment in time dealing with a real Nehemiah.

This real Nehemiah was a captive of the king. His people had been moved 800km from home. No one could have blamed Nehemiah if he hated Artaxerxes and his government. Who would be critical if he had served with hatred and bitterness.

We have however a hint that things were not that way at all. After Nehemiah had heard the news about Jerusalem he was crestfallen. He went to work one morning and Artaxerxes saw the difference.’Why are you so sad?’

For the king to sense this sadness he had to know Nehemiah and that this sad face was unusual. When Artaxerxes asked Nehemiah he spoke with both frustration and respect. Because he did that the King gave him permission to go.

I think there is a lesson here for us. A lot of Christians now think it is acceptable to be rude and ugly and angry toward our political leaders. We think they are fair game for our hatred and vitriol. We can be not only disrespectful, but downright vicious.

The thing is that I can find any support for that. God’s people always have shown respect and honour toward their leaders even when they were under attack and persecution. Sure, Jesus called Herod a fox, but that was God’s judgement on Herod. Unless one of us has godlike knowledge that is not our place.

Peter writes the words ‘honour the king’ in reference to vicious Roman rulers. Daniel spoke with respect to Nebuchadnezzar. I don’t know what makes us any different.