Why does God allow evil men like Hitler and Saddam to come into power?

First, he is a king; and the place of his rule is clearly, by the connection, in the land of Israel. Thus he fills the identical position of the second beast. Then he does according to his own will, is his own law — "lawless," as in Thessalonians. His self-exaltation above every god naturally connects itself with blasphemy against the God of gods, spite of which he prospers till the indignation is accomplished, — that is, the term of God's wrath against Israel, a determinate, decreed time. This is the secret of his being allowed to prosper, that God wills to use him as a rod of discipline for His people. Israel's sins give power to their adversaries.

First he is a king, and the place of his rule is clearly, by the connection, in the land of Israel. Thus he fills the identical position of the second beast. Then, he does according to his own will, is his own law, lawless, as in Thessalonians. His self-exaltation above every god naturally connects itself with blasphemy against the God of gods, spite of which he prospers till the indignation is accomplished, that is, the term of God's wrath against Israel; a determinate, decreed time. This is the secret of his being allowed to prosper; but God wills to use him as a rod of discipline to His people. Israel's sins give power to their adversaries.

In spite, however, of the unbelief of man, the work of God, whether in grace or government, goes on. So, in his day, the prophet is told that God had raised up the Babylonians to carry out His work of government. Little did the Babylonians think that they were raised to the pinnacle of power simply to be an instrument in the hand of God to chastise His people and restrain the evils of the nations. Yet so it was in the prophet's day, and so it has been again and again, in the history of the world, when ruthless tyrants have been allowed for a time to pursue their career of aggression over surrounding nations.

Whatever be the nature and character of these beasts they are as truly ordained of God as was David, the King of Israel, who was anointed with the holy oil. As energized by their own self-will and rapacious disposition, they devoured countries, subdued kingdoms, and possessed thrones. But behind all that man could see, there was the hand of God working toward the fulfilment of His wise designs, and neither they nor their armies could go one inch beyond what was permitted to them by Him. In putting upon the throne of Egypt the Pharaoh who oppressed the children of Israel, the devil may have supposed that himself was the instrument that brought such a thing to pass, but God says to him, “For this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth” (Ex. 9:16; Rom. 9:17). This rebel against the authority of God, and oppressor of his poor people, was raised up to the throne by the intervention of God, being one, I suppose, who had no title to it. Neither man nor the devil has power to accomplish anything apart from the permission of God. What a comfort this truth is to our cowardly souls!

God does not bring evil into existence, but there are times in the history of the world when, in His wisdom and the carrying out and furtherance of His own plans, He withdraws His restraining hand, and allows evil to rear its head, so that it may be destroyed, and brought to nought. For instance God said to Pharaoh long ago,

We try various things with the object of displaying either their badness or their goodness, and thus God works oftentimes with men. When God allows special trials to overtake natural men, it is to lead them to turn to Him in them, to teach them that "the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will" (Daniel 4:17), and that He is able to abase him who walks in pride.

No power of evil can challenge God’s supremacy and succeed. Dictators may glory in their power to oppress and destroy their fellow men, but the Almighty God has set bounds to their ambitions. They could have no power at all except it were given them from above, and the omniscient God watches the way they use their power and He has said, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” He makes the wrath of men to praise Him and restrains the rest.

The 82nd Psalm may be of some help as to the relation in which “The powers that be” stand to God, it opens with the reassuring statement “God stands amongst the mighty: He judges amongst the gods”. The word “gods” stands for those in high positions—the mighty having authority and power. The reference in the first place is to the judges in Israel as the Lord’s citation of this Psalm clearly indicates (John 10:34-35). But the powers that be in all nations are also included, for “there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God” (Rom. 13:3). They are His representatives in the way of government little as they may realize it; indeed they are spoken of as His ministers, and He will hold them responsible for the way they use the power deputed to them. Sometimes He allows this power to be in the hands of the “basest of them” (Dan. 4:17), for every sort of man must be tested that all may know that Christ is the only hope of the world.

In democratic lands it is usual to speak of “the people” as the great and final tribunal at which the verdict is passed upon the acts of the rulers and “the bar of humanity” and “the verdict of history” are common phrases, but God is He who will have the last word about everything; every act of every ruler will be judged by Him finally, even as He controls all things now. If “the powers that be” are “ordained of God,” surely He can and will control them. They may determine to do their own wills; their wild ambition may result in far-flung battlefields and torrents of blood and tears, yet if God permits this He still holds the reins and says “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” and will say to them in His own time, as to the ocean’s billows: Hitherto shalt thou come and no further, and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.” He makes the wrath of man to praise Him and restrains the rest

“He judges among the gods” and He is supreme. This we must recognize and hold without fear, doubt or equivocation in spite of all appearances to the contrary, for it is only as we do this that we shalt have confidence and rest of soul in the midst of the welter of iniquity and the successes of the evil powers that abound. Consider the alternative: If any evil power in the universe could break the bounds of God’s permission, and act in defiance of His absolute will so that the final supremacy of that will would be made impossible there would exist a throne of darkness against which He would have no power, and He would cease to be God, faith would be vain, and the hope of the complete overthrow of evil would vanish for ever. That is unthinkable We must maintain with the utmost tenacity our faith in the absolute sovereignty of God in the affairs at this world He is not for the moment intervening publicly, nevertheless providentially He controls all things. GOD IS, and must ever be; this is the unmoveable anchor for our souls amid the threatening waves. “The Most High rules in the kingdom of men” (Dan. 4:17).

The question is asked, Why does not God deal in summary judgment with the men whose ungovernable and devil-inspired ambitions break up the peace of the nations? But if God were to judge all the bad men in the world, how many would escape? "If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?" (Ps. 130:3). God is not indifferent to the unrighteousness of men, He has said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, " we may rest in that, but this is not the day of judgment but of mercy: it is the day of God's long-suffering, and "we account the long-suffering of our Lord salvation." "The Lord is not slack concerning this promise as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" (2 Peter 3).

There are people who say, "If there is a God in heaven, why does He not interfere? Why does He look down calmly on the atrocities that are being perpetrated?" Many answers might be given to these questions, but one very sufficient answer is, Because Christ has been rejected. The only One who can put things right has been here, and has been rejected, and until He comes again you need not be surprised at anything that may happen. Nothing can be right until the only One who can put things right takes them in hand. But when He does, it means judgment, and that is why God waits. God is never partial. In our wrongs and disappointments we would like God to interfere on our own particular and special behalf; but why should He? When God intervenes, He will do so in a far-reaching manner, and it means the day of judgment. When the time comes for wrongs to be righted, all wrongs will be righted. If God is going to interfere in judgment, we can only say, "Enter not into judgment with Thy servant; for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified" (Ps. 143:2). It would mean an end of us all, apart from the provision that God's grace has made, so meantime He keeps silence. But the hour of His mercy is fast running to its close, and then He will intervene to put things right.