Abuse of Power​—Will It Ever End?

AMONG the ways in which imperfect people betray how selfish they are is in their craving for power. The well-known British writer Malcolm Muggeridge pointed out that people love power “because [they] have not realized that the basis of human life is love . . . But basically the urge for power is a very dangerous one. It’s one that Jesus Christ declined to have.”

Because of the prevalence of this craving for power, together with the havoc it can cause, the Founding Fathers of the United States devised a constitution that divided governmental powers into three parts: executive, legislative, and judicial. These parts were to provide checks so that there would be no abuse of power.

In spite of the Founders’ noble intentions, there has been widespread abuse of power in that land. But you may know from personal experience and observation that there has been abuse of power in all parts of the world. History is filled with the records of men who abused power to their own aggrandizement and to the harm of their fellowman. Think, for example, of Alexander the Great, Charlemagne, Napoleon, and Hitler.

When Did It Start?

You have good reason to ask, though, when did all this abuse of power begin? A reliable answer is available in the book of man’s earliest history, which is the Bible. There you can read about events in the garden of Eden. Satan the Devil, whom the Bible shows to be a real creature, hungered for power. He tempted the human race to start out on the road of sin. One manifestation of sin is man’s widespread lust for power, to abuse it. (Genesis 3:1-19; Romans 5:12) Satan long ago caused the nations to come under his control, so that he was able to offer rulership over them to Jesus Christ. (Matthew 4:8-10) The Devil has deceived almost all men, so that it can be said that “the whole world is lying in the power of the wicked one.”​—1 John 5:19; Revelation 12:9.

Here is a thought that may startle you: Foremost among those who have served the Devil’s purpose have been many religious leaders. How is that so? Well, they have abused their power by teaching false doctrines, thereby enslaving people. False religious leaders have also abused their power by persecuting God’s true servants. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, pointed to the sorry record of Israel’s religious leaders: “Obstinate men and uncircumcised in hearts and ears . . . Which one of the prophets did your forefathers not persecute? Yes, they killed those who made announcement in advance concerning the coming of the righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.”​—Acts 7:51, 52.

Stephen was one of the first of the long line of faithful Christians who have been persecuted. The apostle Paul’s words have indeed proved true: “All those desiring to live with godly devotion in association with Christ Jesus will also be persecuted.” (2 Timothy 3:12) The record of Jehovah’s Witnesses in modern times bears this out. Even now, in some 40 lands these Christians feel the abuse of power in that their ministry is being hindered by the authorities.

And how many other abuses of power there are! Look wherever we will, we see people groaning because of it. Abuse on the part of employers spawned the labor movement. But today it is apparent that some leaders in organized labor are also guilty of abusing power. Minority ethnic groups suffer from abuse of power by the majority. Another form of abuse is that by men in management positions taking liberties with women employees, who may feel pressured to submit out of fear of losing their jobs. For example, one aspiring ballerina was offered a leading part in a ballet production if she would go to bed with the producer.

Yes, the world is filled with people who misuse their power. All who selfishly do so evidence that they do not have the fear of God. Why is that true? Because, as God’s Word says, “The fear of Jehovah means the hating of bad.” (Proverbs 8:13; Psalm 97:10) To abuse or misuse power is indeed something bad, but such abuse will not always exist.

Why Abuse of Power Is Certain to End

ANCIENT King Solomon noted about the abuse of power in his day: “I myself returned that I might see all the acts of oppression [misuse of power] that are being done under the sun, and, look! the tears of those being oppressed, but they had no comforter; and on the side of their oppressors there was power.”​—Ecclesiastes 4:1.

You may well ask, ‘Since abuse of power has existed so long, will it be with us forever?’ No, it will not. Because, as Solomon himself wrote under inspiration, there is One who is taking note of it all: “If the oppression of the poor and the wresting of justice and righteousness [you] see in the province do not be astonished over the matter, for one high above the highest is watching, yea the Most High is over them.”​—Ecclesiastes 5:8, Rotherham.

God’s Word, the Holy Bible, shows that Jehovah, the Most High, is infinite in power and wisdom, as well as perfect in justice, and he is the personification of love. Because he is such a God, he will not forever tolerate these unjust conditions. The psalmist David wrote: “Do not show yourself heated up only to do evil. For evildoers themselves will be cut off, but those hoping in Jehovah are the ones that will possess the earth.”​—Psalm 37:8, 9.

We get further assurance from the words of the prophet Isaiah: “I shall certainly bring . . . their own error upon the wicked themselves. And I shall actually cause the pride of the presumptuous ones to cease, and the haughtiness of the tyrants [abusers of power] I shall abase.”​—Isaiah 13:11.

But it has been centuries since those words were written, so why can we be certain that Jehovah God will yet carry out his promise to end all abuse of power? Because he has in times past demonstrated his determination to do so. Before the Flood of Noah’s day, there was great abuse of power. We read that “the earth became filled with violence.” (Genesis 6:5, 11) And what is violence but an abuse of power? The same was true of the wicked cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Lot’s day. (Genesis 18:20, 21; 19:4-29) In both cases Jehovah put an end to the abuse. So we see that Jehovah God is not one to tolerate abuse of power indefinitely.

As added basis for us to be sure that Jehovah will act is the fact that he is jealous for his name, and all abuse of power is an insult to his majesty. Notice this connection in these texts: “He that is defrauding the lowly one has reproached his Maker.” “He that is holding the one of little means in derision has reproached his Maker.”​—Proverbs 14:31; 17:5.

We can rest assured, then, that the Most High will not for all time tolerate being reproached. That leaves just one question: When will abuse of power end?

When Will It End?

God’s Word informs us that “for everything there is an appointed time, even a time for every affair under the heavens.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) Some may be impatient with God’s timetable, but we are told: “Jehovah is not slow respecting his promise, . . . but he is patient with you because he does not desire any to be destroyed.”​—2 Peter 3:9.

Fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that we are living in the last days of this wicked world, or system of things. This generation has seen the fulfillment of Jesus’ great prophecy regarding his presence and the conclusion of this system of things: wars, earthquakes, famines, pestilences, increase of lawlessness, and the preaching of the good news of God’s Kingdom. (Matthew 24:1-35; Luke 21:10, 11) That pinpoints our time as the last days of this wicked world.

Because these are the last days, we can hope soon to see the prophecy at Zephaniah 3:8 fulfilled: “‘Keep yourselves in expectation of me,’ is the utterance of Jehovah, ‘till the day of my rising up to the booty, for my judicial decision is to gather nations, for me to collect together kingdoms, in order to pour out upon them my denunciation, all my burning anger; for by the fire of my zeal all the earth will be devoured.’”

Surely, those words are an assurance that Jehovah God will end the abuse of power.

Modern Notorious Misuses of Power

IN THE law given through Moses, the Creator strongly condemned bribe taking on the part of judges. (Exodus 23:8; Deuteronomy 10:17; 16:19) We can see how wise such instructions were by noting some modern cases of misuse of power by officials.

One such involved Judge Martin T. Manton. Back in 1918 he tried to thwart the efforts of the Bible Students, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known, to get bail for J. F. Rutherford and seven of his associates. These eight Christian ministers were charged with interfering with the war effort and were sent to the federal penitentiary in Atlanta, Georgia. The appeals court hearing their case consisted of three judges, including Manton. He dissented, but the other two judges granted the appeal, and the improper conviction was reversed.

What kind of judge was Manton? The press called him “the highest ranking judicial officer [in the United States] next to the nine Justices of the Supreme Court.” He was also one of America’s most distinguished laymen, the pope making him “Knight of St. Gregory.” Manton’s downfall came when he was convicted and sentenced to two years in prison and fined $10,000. For what? For selling judicial decisions. More than that, he had the temerity to blackmail those appearing before him, threatening that unless they paid him a large sum, he would decide against them. The New York Times said concerning him: “Blackmail was emanating from the Federal court house.” What an abuse of judicial power!

Years later another notorious case surfaced, involving Spiro Agnew, vice president of the United States during 1969-73. He was charged with cheating the government out of thousands of dollars, and so he resigned. As late as 1983, he paid the state of Maryland more than $250,000 because of bribes he had accepted.

Then there was Richard M. Nixon, who had chosen Agnew to run as vice president. The U.S. Senate committee dealing with the Watergate case recommended that Nixon be impeached on three counts: that he had abused his presidential powers; that he obstructed justice; and that he had disobeyed subpoenas. Likely you know that he resigned on August 9, 1974, with two and a half years remaining of his presidency.

Such abuse of power is worldwide. For example, Canada’s magazine Maclean’s of July 15, 1985, reported on “wild sex parties on Parliament Hill . . . and unauthorized financial payoffs.” It related that at a party a senior government personnel officer told a 30-year-old woman: “If you don’t take your clothes off, you’re not going to have a job.”

At about the same time, an international news magazine published the article “Corruption Slows China’s Turnabout.” It reported: “Virtually every recent day, the official press has carried accounts of financial skulduggery, some involving high-ranking officials.”

More recently, the New Zealand Herald, under the heading: “Curse of Corruption Major Threat in ‘Lucky Country,’” reported the view of a retired judge: “Australia, in the middle of the 1980s, is rich, confident and corrupt.” The article mentioned “a justice system that in the past year has seen a judge from the highest court in the land put behind bars and that reels almost daily with startling evidence of police on the take.”

It is apparent that all such abusers of power ignore the principle stated by Christ: “There is nothing covered over that will not become uncovered, and secret that will not become known.”​—Matthew 10:26.