Beginning in Eden, the Scriptures tell the story of God’s unconquerable purpose to advance His saving reign on the earth. And this purpose is one that all creaturely agents, whether human or demonic, are powerless to oppose. God will reign. He will have His people. He will have His kingdom. And every enemy, including death itself, will come under His dominion or else be destroyed.

Make your vows to the LORD your God and perform them; let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared, who cuts off the spirit of princes, who is to be feared by the kings of the earth. (Psalm 76:11–12)

It has never gone well for the kings of the earth when they have attempted to oppose the God of heaven. Whether we are thinking of the ancient king of Ai, whose last moments were spent strung up in a tree (Josh. 8:29); or the thirty other kings of Canaan who soon followed suit (12:7–24); or Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, who was driven out of his mind until he was willing to admit that “the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will” (Dan. 4:32); or that old weasel Herod who was eaten by worms for failing to give glory to God (Acts 12:23) — whatever example we select, there is always one conclusion to be drawn: and that is that the only proper recourse for the kings of the earth is to bow to the Christ who is the Ruler of kings (Rev. 1:5). As the psalm so forcefully puts it, “[…] let all around him bring gifts to him who is to be feared, who cuts off the spirit of princes, who is to be feared by the kings of the earth” (vv. 11–12).

To put this another way, the Bible’s political theology is, minimally, one of indomitable triumph.

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