We have been exploring the link between Christians and Politics. So far, we have quoted from various secular sources, including media sources, political pundits, and social researchers. We have also looked at the disastrous history of blended church-state models. All of this is important and helps frame our discussion about the present turmoil we face. Now, we turn to the King of Kings for His view of Christians and government. He is our Lord and Teacher (John 13:14). Therefore, we listen, learn, and apply his teachings.
Given the politicized condition of some churches and church members, a non-Christian might be surprised at how few times Jesus or his apostles spoke of government. When they did, it was often in an indirect way. For example, Jesus told his followers to be the “salt of the earth” and the “light of the world” (Matthew 5:13, 14). Surely, our salting would include interactions with the state and, when possible, politicians
There are a few direct statements made about government.
“render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Luke 20:25)
“Render” suggests the idea of an obligation that is repaid. Followers of Christ have obligations to both the state (Caeser) and to God. There is a distinction between the two. We know from the apostle’s clash with the Sanhedrin that one obligation exceeds the other; namely, our commitment to God is superior. Jesus said, “Seek first” the kingdom (Matthew 6:33), while his apostles, Peter and John, said, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
If Jesus were physically here today, he would not engage in the trash talk that marks the public voice of many religious leaders.
On point with the present deterioration of public speech and discourse is Paul’s statement, taken from Exodus 22:28, that we “shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people” (Acts 23:5). The apostle himself had just rebuked the High Priest. When he realized what he had done, he quickly corrected himself.[1]That is Christian guidance not often heard today. It is also complementary to Paul’s exhortation to pray for those in authority (1 Timothy 2:1, 2). Perhaps we have forgotten?
When arrested, our Lord did not revile his captors, nor Herod, nor Pilate. Isaiah foretold his peaceful example that he would not open his mouth when beaten (Isaiah 53:7).
If Jesus were physically here today, he would not engage in the trash talk that marks the public voice of many religious leaders.
The Bible teaches me to imitate Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1; Ephesians 5:1, 2; 1 Thessalonians 1:6; 1 Peter 2:21, etc.). So how, then, should we conduct ourselves today?
[1] Jesus once called Herod a “fox,” a derogatory term for someone who is sneaky or sly. Jesus spoke from his divinity in truth, not in rage, anger, or vengeance. See Luke 13:32
A brief history of blended church and state shows that such mixing is always bad for both. Before we go further let me be clear that good government must be based upon sound biblical principles. But the church should never exist in service to the state. Likewise, It is fruitless and harmful for the government to compel Christian conduct. Nevertheless, our interest here is to survey the harm done to the church when it blends with secular government.
Blended Church and State in the Bible and in History
Our first example occurred over 3000 years ago. Judges ruled the Israelites of the Old Testament when needed. After many years, the people demanded a king like the other nations around them. Through the prophet Samuel, God warned the people that a king would prove bad for the nation. God warned them that a king would militarize and enslave segments of the Kingdom. God told Samuel, “they have rejected me from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7). The people sought national glory and honor over their relationship with the Creator. A careful review of biblical history will show that the kings of Israel consistently led the people astray.
1000 years later, during the time of Christ, the Roman Empire ruled the world. To increase their glory and to enhance their authority, these emperors allowed and sometimes commanded people to worship them as gods. The cult of worship would find its fullness in Constantine who blended church and state into the so-called Holy Roman Empire.
About 300 years after the establishment of the Lord’s church, the nascent Roman Catholic church began. Historian Diane Bowder (The Age of Constantine and Julian, 1987) observes that Constantine issued the Edict of Milan in 313, which protected all faiths from persecution and returned confiscated church property. No other Roman ruler had gone so far. He soon moved to enforce Christian doctrine in the name of unity and social stability. He served as the judge over religious disputes.
Blended Church and State Today
Today, papal authority reigns over millions of Roman Catholic adherents. The Pope is a Head of State and is headquartered in Vatican City, a sovereign state. Among the embarrassments of this blended church-state creation was the papal silence in the face of Nazi atrocities in WWII.
A first cousin to the Roman Catholics, the Russian Orthodox Church is a highly influential force, albeit a silent one, on Russian President Vladimir Putin. The nicknamed, “Russian Orthodox Army” was one of the first units deployed in the invasion of Ukraine.
The non-Christian world has problems too. Islam has a lengthy history of mixing faith and government. In the present day, Iran is a spectacular example of such a combination. Trying to force submission to Islam is a hallmark of Iran and its many puppet regimes. Strong influence from Hindu worshippers in India directly affects governmental operations, including turning a blind eye to the oppression of religious minorities, although some improvements have been noted in recent years.
The point of all this is to see the intolerable compromises required when church and state mix. Let the church challenge and influence the Empire from the outside where we “wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12), not from the inside. Why? Because our kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). As a good soldier of Christ, remember,” No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him” (2 Timothy 2:4). Be the salt, not the fries!
The Church and Government are both important, yet different, God created three separate institutions. First, he gave us the home (Genesis 2: 18-25). Next, he instituted government, for he knew that man could not govern himself (Jeremiah 10:23). Finally, God created the church (Acts 2:41, 47). Just as the government cannot take the place of the home, the church cannot take the place of the government. Each of these organizations is unique. While there may be some overlap and similarities among the three, they are each different and vital in their own ways.
The founding fathers of the United States ensured that the government would not infringe upon matters of faith. People could worship God in a way of their choosing. But there would be no state or national church, as had been the case in England. They understood that the fledgling nation could not thrive, probably not survive, without strong homes and strong churches. Just as they would not tell someone who to marry, they would not tell someone how to worship. The Church and Government would complement one another.
The University of Wisconsin-Madison notes that 9 of the 13 original colonies had some form of religious test for elected officials. (Center for the Study of the American Constitution; Department of History, ND) It is undeniable that the founders of our great nation intended faith to buttress, complement, and inform the functioning of the newly formed government. Sadly, that influence waned and is all but invisible in public life.
Richard John Neuhaus penned The Naked Public Square in 1988. In it, he laments the decreasing role of faith in public policy. He sees the death of democracy as the certain end of a faithless system. (Neuhaus, 1988). The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, published in 2023 documents the growing unrest in some religious, Christ-believing communities. Some seek to retake American democracy by force. This “Christian Nationalism” is the subject of a future article and ought to be rejected.
As noted previously in THE Kingdom and I Pledge Allegiance, there is only one Kingdom of import. Only the eternal Kingdom of Heaven. It is this divine kingdom that we are to seek before all others (Matthew 6:33). Paul says, “our citizenship is in heaven” (Philippians 3:20). Today, we are strangers waiting to go home (Hebrews 11:13). We must not be overly concerned with the petty political polemics of the day because this world is not our home.
To be sure, we “salt” this world with the glory of Christ and hold up a light in the darkness (Matthew 5:13-16). We are ambassadors for Christ (2 Corinthians 5:20). Christians can and should participate in the political process. They should vote and should exercise every venue to influence our elected officials.
But Jesus draws a line. He says, “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:15-22; c.f. Romans 13:7). We clearly have obligations to the Church and Government and to live our daily lives for Christ. I think we know which is most important. To which, the Church or Government, God or politics, will we devote our time and effort this week?
I remember saying the Pledge of Allegiance from my earliest days. We said it at sporting events, in Aunt Ogla’s Kindergarten class, and in just about every public assembly. In Boy Scouts, we placed great emphasis on the care, honor, and presentation of the American flag because it was the best-known symbol of our country.
But we never said the pledge or presented the colors in our worship assembly.
There is a Difference
As a child, I didn’t understand. If you could stop all activity at a football game (and that’s some undertaking in Alabama), stand, place your hand over your heart, sing the national anthem, and say the pledge, why not in worship? Adults understood the division between the nation and the church, between the secular and the holy, and between the common and the divine.
Some have forgotten that distinction.
The church of my Lord does not belong to the United States, nor is it subservient to it in any way. When Jesus was asked about paying taxes his response was simple: “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). We have obligations both to the government and to God. Paul, by inspiration, commanded obedience to the government (Romans 13:1 – 7). In his life, Paul acknowledged the government’s authority while benefiting from its laws (Acts 25:11).
The Roman Empire was the ultimate secular authority in Jesus’ and Paul’s day. They were pagans and hostile to both Christians and Jews. But, Jesus commanded obedience to Rome. Jesus doesn’t restrict obedience to democracies. He commands that Christians obey all governments, including communist, fascist, monarchal, socialist, theocratic (think Islamic in Iran, Hindu in India), and even authoritarian governments like North Korea.
Except…
First Things First
A Christian’s first allegiance is to the Kingdom of Christ (c.f. Colossians 1:13, 14). Peter and John rejected the authority of the Sanhedrin. When ordered to stop preaching about Jesus’ death, and especially His resurrection, the apostles’ response was sharp: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). In their previous meeting, they told the rulers Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19, 20). In other words, No! We won’t stop preaching Jesus! Consider Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33, “Seek first the kingdom of God.”
Christians have no divided allegiance. Our allegiance is to an “otherworldly” kingdom, one not of this earth. Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). We now live in a world governed by evil (John 12:31; 2 Corinthians 4:4). We are to be the light of this world and the salt of the earth so that we might improve and remove the darkness while showing good works (Matthew 5:13 – 16).
Christian, you belong to Christ. You are his servant. You live in a dark world which you brighten by the love of Christ. Pledge allegiance to the Lord!
(I am not suggesting we stop saying the pledge to the flag. Just keep first things first.)
The monstrous attacks by Hamas have thrust Today’s Israel into the news. Unspeakable brutalities against Israeli women and children fill the news reports. There is neither excuse nor justification for these terrible crimes targeting civilians, especially women and children.
Some popular news commentators, trying to rally support for Israel, are suggesting that today’s Israel is the same Israel of biblical times. Is it? Christians may support Israel because it is our staunchest ally in the region. They see Israel as one of the most stable democracies in the world. In short, the Israelis are our friends. Supporting Israel because they are supposedly “God’s chosen people” is an error.
Today’s Israel is not the Israel of the Bible.
Origins – Biblical Israel
The Lord promised Abraham that his offspring would be a great nation. He also promised them possession of the land where nomadic Abraham traveled (Genesis 12:1-3, 7). Two generations later, God changed Abraham’s grandson Jacob’s name to Israel. He would have 12 sons who would become the basis for the Biblical nation of Israel.
Almost 500 years later, Jacobs’s 12 sons would grow to over two million people. By then, they had become slaves in Egypt. They prayed to God for deliverance; he heard their prayer and remembered his promises to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Exodus 2:23-25). When Pharaoh refused to release the slaves, the Lord brought a series of plagues upon the land. Eventually, Pharaoh could withstand God no longer and released the Hebrews (future Israelites).
The Hebrews traveled eastward to Mount Sinai where God formed them into a nation. Because of their lack of faith, they then wandered for 40 years in the wilderness. Finally, God brought them into the land of Canaan and settled them there. Although the Israelites were in and out of captivity in their new homeland, they maintained a presence in the land until the year 70 A.D., when the Romans utterly destroyed them.
Origins – Today’s Israel
for almost 1900 years, the Jews had no homeland. In the late 1800s, Jews began to move back to Israel from their dispersion into Europe. In 1896, the development of Zionism began, which is the call for a formal nation of Israel in the original land. After World War I, the League of Nations granted Great Britain a mandate to govern Palestine. Under that mandate, Jews began to return to the British-controlled region. In 1948, as the British mandate was ending, a representative of the Jewish population in Palestine declared the establishment of the State of Israel. The United Nations had given the Jews about 55% of the land of Palestine, despite the fact that previously, the Jews only owned about 6% of the land.
Armed conflict began immediately. Since that time, multiple attempts at peace have largely failed. Today’s conflict in Israel is but the latest in a long line of wars and conflict.
Governance
God governed biblical Israel as its king (One Samuel 8:7). Later, earthly kings ruled over Israel. The ancient nation reached its zenith under King Solomon. The spiritual life of the nation was under the direction of Levitical priests. All Israelite priests were from the tribe of Levi without exception.
10 of the 12 tribes entered Assyrian captivity. Babylon took the remaining two tribes into slavery. Even after their release from captivity, Israel was little more than a vassal state to the superior kingdoms of the region. In 63 BC the Romans conquered the region. The Jews had a puppet king until A.D. 70 when conflict with Rome exploded into war. Jerusalem and the Temple were completely destroyed.
From A.D. 70 until 1949 the Jews had no land to call their own.
Today’s Israel vs. Biblical Israel: Key Differences
Ancient Israel was a theocracy. Today’s Israel is a democracy. Put differently, one was ostensibly ruled by God, while the modern-day nation is ruled by its people.
Ancient Israel was served by a large cohort of Levitical priests. Today’s Israel has no Levitical priests. Divinely specified sacrifices were daily offered in the Temple. There is no Temple today.
Ancient Israel was God’s chosen people (Leviticus 26:11, 12). Today’s Israel is not. Today, God’s chosen people are Christians regardless of their ancestry (1 Peter 2:9, 10).
Has God Broken His Promises to Today’s Israel?
By no means! Let God be true though everyone were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” (Romans 3:4)
We forget that God’s promises were conditional. For example, in the passage above from Leviticus 26, notice verse three: “if you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them then…” This is a classic if/then statement. The covenant required both God and the people to comply with the terms of the covenant. Once one party broke the terms, the other party was freed from the covenant.
God was no longer obligated to continue to bless them because Israel had broken the covenant. Remember, this was the nation that crucified his Son. They rejected their final prophet. They rejected the one who came to save them. Consider these verses:
For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you. (Joshua 23:12, 13
But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.” (Joshua 23:15, 16)
There are two important points in this last passage. Notice that Joshua says God fulfilled all of his promises to Israel. He made them a nation. He gave them the land. God provided the heritage through which one would come to bless all nations. God did what he said he was going to do.
Just like the previous passages (Leviticus 26, Joshua 23:12, 13), there is an if/then clause. If they transgressed against God, they would “perish quickly from off the good land.” Ancient Israel violated every command God gave them. As a result, Israel lost their place as God’s chosen people. Today, God’s chosen people are his church (Isaiah 53:1 – 12; Acts 20:28; Hebrews 9:12 – 14; 1 Peter 1:18, 19; Revelation 5:9).
We may choose to support today’s Israel for diplomatic, military, or political reasons. But we must not support Israel because they are God’s chosen people. To do so ignores clear biblical teaching.
Christians live in two worlds, secular and spiritual. Christians live in the kingdom of God, governed by Jesus. We also live in an earthly, secular kingdom governed by whoever is in power at the moment. Tension always exists between the two kingdoms. The desires and expectations that the two kingdoms hold clash. We must carefully navigate between our two worlds.
Jesus showed us how to live perfectly in both worlds at the same time. By following his leadership, we can be faithful to the God of Heaven and to the laws of men.
His Words
Jesus was born into God’s kingdom: Israel. They were chosen by God to be his people. Still, Jesus spoke of another kingdom that was still to come (Matthew 4:17; 5:19, 20; 6:10, 33; Luke 11:2; 13:29; 19:11; John 3:3,5; 18:36).
Jesus also acknowledged the earthly kingdom of Rome. Jesus said, “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21), thus acknowledging both the legitimacy of the Roman government and the requirement for Christians to obey it. His apostle Paul would voice the same command in Romans” “let every person be subject to the governing authorities” (Romans 13:1ff). To Titus, Paul said, “Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work (Titus 3:1).
His Actions
Jesus applied his words to his actions. The kingdom of Judea, the remnant of Israel, was corrupt, vile and ungodly. Her king lived in open sin. Still, Jesus obeyed the Israelite rulers. When the Israelite religious leader, Annas, questioned Jesus, he submitted and answered him (John 18:19-24).
In his arrest, Jesus declared that he could call “twelve legions of angels” to deliver him. But he did not. (Matthew 26:53). Even as he hung on the cross, Jesus railed not against the Jews or the Romans.
His apostle Paul voiced his submission to Rome as he faced a death penalty. He responded to the governor that he would not refuse to die if he had done some wrong (Acts 25:11). We believe Paul would later die by execution.
His Non-Actions
There was plenty wrong with governments of the first century. Rome, like the Greeks before, was thoroughly pagan. Recall the picture of Athens, where Paul called the city “full of idols” (Acts 17:16). Rome worshipped anything. They even had an altar to the unknown God (Acts 17:23). Their worship was so twisted as to encourage intercourse between worshipper and priest. Some idol temples had male and female prostitutes who served their false gods. Soon, Rome would even demand worship of the Emperors. Meanwhile, a puppet family ruled the Jews. The Herodian Dynasty included every imaginable sin. Herod the Great was a known mass murderer (Matthew 2:1-18).
But that Jesus never embroiled himself in the politics of the day. The politics of Herod, Annas, and Caeser were not the focus of his wrath. He rebuked people for their sins, not their politics. His emphasis was to follow Him as the Savior.
Jesus led no boycotts. Jesus did not complain of high taxes. Jesus led no revolt against the troops of the Empire. He did not demand a letter campaign against Herod’s crazed behavior. Even when Rome was systematically executing Christians, there was no revolt. The business of the kingdom of God consumed Jesus. The zeal of God’s house consumed Jesus (Psalm 69:9; Luke 2:17).
We have opportunities to do good by being salt in the world. We can affect the direction of government through elections. But we must never speak more of the kingdom of men than of the kingdom of God. Like Jesus, be consumed with the Lord’s work.
“And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them.”
1 Samuel 8:7
The spiritual wisdom of Israel was so deranged that they could not see the depth of their error in demanding a human king. More, they missed the higher point that they were rejecting God. We are surprised because we think God should have stopped them and demanded adherence to his way. He did not, and that puzzles us.
The Lord allows us to choose our own destiny. His kingdom has existed for all eternity. It is open to the children of men if they so choose. But when men make corrupt choices, the Creator allows them to err. The passage in 1 Samuel 8 is a story about the national destiny of Israel. It is also a story out how God deals with men. Just as the church, the kingdom of God today, is composed of individuals, the nations of earth are also so composed. We should learn from this episode how God deals with us.
God Gives Us Choice
From the beginning of time, man had the freedom to choose. In Eden, God placed a tree of knowledge but commanded the first couple to avoid it. They were not even to touch the tree. Satan intervened and convinced Eve to eat and to give to her husband, Adam. They ate and brought condemnation upon themselves. That condemnation was a choice. They were warned, and they ate anyway. The consequence of their sin followed.
The children of Israel had finally entered the Promised Land. They were settling into their homes. Their leader, Joshua, said, “choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:13). At that moment, they declared their allegiance to God. History, however, proves otherwise. Israel consistently made terrible choices. Those bad choices included the decision to leave God in 1 Samuel 8 and would include innumerable wicked decisions for centuries to come.
God gave them the power to choose, and they failed.
Men Make Poor Decisions
Inspired Jeremiah says, “I know, O Lord, that the way of man is not in himself, that it is not in man who walks to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). He writes: “for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water” (Jeremiah 2:13). The psalmist says no man does good; all are corrupt (Psalm 14:1-3). The son of the psalmist wrote: “… God made man upright, but they have sought out many schemes” (Ecclesiastes 7:29).
The Scripture makes plain that man cannot correctly guide himself. He can depart from God, and he can seek his own ways, but in the end, those ways are always empty and void.
People believe that mankind is the ultimate force in existence. They believe that any question, given time, can be answered through the wisdom and knowledge of man. Today, we make the same error as the ancients. Man cannot guide himself. Man cannot create a government that is capable of bringing righteousness. Once God is eliminated, all is lost.
“And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
1 Samuel 8:18
Governance has always been a problem for God’s people. They chaffed under the cruel hand of Egyptian taskmasters, the divine guidance of Moses, the wisdom of God’s judges, and the rule of their own kings. After Moses and Joshua died, God used judges to govern his people. While there was a judicial-like function to the judges (Judges 4:4, 5), they were largely military leaders and deliverers. Even under the laissez-faire, decentralized governance of the judges, Israel was unruly, and “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6, 21:25). There was no respect of God, nor was there a concern for their fellow countrymen.
Israel settled in Caannan and soon began to seek a better way of governing. They thought they were wiser than God. The told priest, prophet, and judge Samuel that they wanted a king so they could be like all the nations (1 Samuel 8:5). Samuel was angry as he prayed. God revealed the shocking truth: “they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them” (1 Samuel 8:7). This is a pivotal moment in human history. Israel has repudiated God’s sovereignty over his people. The consequences of this decision would plague Israel for the remainder of its existence.
Surprisingly, God permitted their choice. He told Samuel to warn them, but allow them to have a king.
He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
1 Samuel 10-17
Their desire would not be good. A king would bring conscription into the king’s service, taxation to support the king’s appetites, and effective servitude to the king. It was not a pleasant future for Israel. Any government which rejects God is bound to fail. As Paul wrote, “no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11). He speaks of a spiritual foundation that either will or will not bring one to salvation. But it is an appropriate reminder of what will happen when we reject God as our leader.
Israel would learn that there were even darker ramifications to their demand for a king. Because of their kings, they would divide into two nations, undergo long periods of wickedness in the palace and their own homes, be taken into slavery by pagan nations, see God’s temple destroyed, and watch the once-powerful empire become a footnote in history. One can only ponder what might have been if Israel humbled themselves under the hand of God.
The moment of 1 Samuel 8 marks the beginning of a slow decline into oblivion for the nation. Just 40 years after Jesus died, Israel would cease to exist. The Israel of the Bible was never restored and never will be. The Lord’s kingdom, the church, does exist and will not be overthrown.
There is much confusion surrounding the kingdom of God and the kingdoms of earth. Christians, citizens of God’s kingdom, live in and under earthly governments. But just because God approves of earthly governance does not mean those governments are identical, or even parallel to, the kingdom of Christ. Often, they are enemies of the cross of Christ. We must distinguish between the heavenly and earthly authorities.
There was a brief period when no earthly government existed. Beginning at Creation and lasting until the days of Cain. Genesis 4:17 notes that Cain built a city. Such would likely have had some kind of centralized authority. Going forward, we encounter increasing and total corruption of mankind, resulting in Noah’s flood (Genesis 6 -9).
By Genesis 10, we are reading of nations (vs. 5) established by the descendants of Noah’s sons. Egypt is already a mighty nation when Abram and Sarai travel there in Genesis 12. It would be the Egyptian monarch who would order the enslavement of Israel’s sons. After their miraculous release from captivity, the Lord crafts them into his own nation with a divinely given code of law, often called the Law of Moses. In this divine economy, there are no human kings, princes, or presidents. There is no governing body apart from God. Judges occasionally rise to adjudicate disputes and to deliver the people from external oppression.
Soon, God’s people turn on him and demand a king “like all the nations” (1 Samuel 8:7). Though displeased, God allows them to have a king. Ideally, God would still be the ultimate sovereign. But in short order, we see faithlessness invade the throne, and God’s people begin a slow descent into wickedness. At the beginning of the reign of the fourth king, a schism divides the people into two distinct nations.
In the historical background, mighty nations have arisen and would soon enslave Israel. The larger of the two was captured by Assyria and the smaller, by Babylon. Seventy years after its capture, the smaller kingdom is allowed to re-establish themselves in Jerusalem. Although frequently overrun by more powerful nations, Israel continues until the absolute destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. At that moment, and probably earlier, the governments of the world were fully secular.
Rome morphed into the so-called Holy Roman Empire, but it was as corrupt and wicked as anything seen before. Its governance was always rooted in humanity and never found itself anchored in the authority of God. The very existence of that Empire was an affront to Christianity.
Our point is that no human government is on par with God’s kingdom. Some are better than others, but in the end, all are inferior to “the kingdom of his beloved son” (Colossians 1:13). Therefore, we argue that any allegiance to our earthly government must be second to our citizenship in heaven. Any activity of a political or governmental nature must be viewed carefully through God’s eyes, not our own.
In coming posts, we will develop these ideas further. Please watch for future articles.
Recent legislative actions leave Christians aghast at the possibility that a child, delivered alive, could be killed without legal punishment. At the same time, some state legislatures are resisting federal courts and asserting their right to govern their states without interference from those courts. They are crafting very restrictive laws which would limit or abolish abortion for all but the most narrowly defined cases. They hope to force the U.S. Supreme Court to review their laws and dismantle abortion-on-demand laws that are common in our country. The outcome of such a ruling is uncertain. Still, abortion has regained its spot as the hot topic moral issue of our day.
Christians do not need to be
confused about their role in this debate.
Jesus told his disciples that they
were both salt and light (Matthew 5:13, 14). The undeniable application of these verses is that Christians must assert
Godly principles where possible. In homes, in schools, in communities, and in the public square, the followers of Christ
must affect their world.
Jesus was a Jewish man who lived under the occupation of the Roman empire. He
had no input into the political affairs of the day. Even Paul, a Roman citizen
by birth, had little input into the affairs of state (c.f. Acts 22:22-29).
Today, our world is different.
A
person born in the United States gains the right to vote at 18. Even
before that, he enjoys a “right of
redress” provided in the 1st Amendment which recognizes the
citizen’s undeniable right to petition the government to correct wrongs. It is
this right, and the Biblical admonition to influence the world, that should
drive Christians to petition on behalf of the most vulnerable among us: the
unborn.
Life is the unique province of the
Lord. He spoke humanity into existence. He began with plant life (Genesis 1:11,
Day Three), then animal life (Genesis 1: 20, Day Five) and finally, humanity
(Genesis 1:27, Day Six). But notice verse 26. “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.” Man was fundamentally
different from every other living creature God had created. The text shows that
this newly created species was to have dominion over the rest of the creation. Man
was different. He was special. Genesis 2:7 has God breathing life into mankind.
He never did that with any other creature.
God
controls the taking of life. Divinely ordained capital punishment is biblical.
Paul writes that government, ordained by God, does not carry the sword in vain.
He argues that evildoers should, therefore, be afraid of government (Romans
13:1-7). God even regulates combat and the taking of life in warfare. When
nations warred without divine approval and leadership, failure followed (c.f. 1
Samuel 4, 5).
Let
the reader see that life is precious to God. Humanity does not determine who
lives and dies. Only God does. Therefore, we conclude that abortion is wrong
for it encroaches on that which God has reserved for himself. We conclude that
apart from the actual life of the mother, there is no acceptable rationale for
abortion.
Let
us fervently pray that abortion will end up on the garbage heap of social
injustice like slavery. It is a stain upon our national character. Christians
should use their influence with elected officials to bring an end to this despicable
act.
