All throughout history, government has been one of the least examined issues by the Church of Christ. It is simply presumed that because God is sovereign over “governments” (cf. Romans 13:1), He has taken that issue on Himself and left us to merely “obey” government edicts as if “from God.”
AUDIO OF 6000Years Too Long CLICK HERE
However, governments throughout the history of the world have been dominantly “pagan” and have consistently been responsible for untold suffering. To make matters worse, such suffering has been the direct result of disobedience to God’s “Civil Laws.”
God tells us there is a Fellowship with rulers of all the earth with which he is concerned. Repeatedly, they violate that Fellowship.
“Shall the Throne of iniquity have fellowship with Thee, who frameth iniquity by a law” – Psalm 94:20
Both Psalms and Hosea 8 challenge the pulpits of today by declaring that God did not choose wicked rulers in the sense of any call to obedience to them. Yes, God is Sovereign over the nations just as He is Sovereign over wicked men. But that does not mean in either case “Sovereign” call to honor and obedience of same. Impenitent evil is never justified and got abhors the wicked (cf. Psalm 11).
The law the Lord is divided into three branches:
1) The Moral law of the Lord guides us in our walk, both personally and as societies.
2) The Ceremonial law of Israel thereby instructed us in the major Doctrines of our faith, including such doctrines as Atonement, Sin, Redemption, Justification, The high priesthood of Jesus Christ, the Fall of man, etc.
3) Civil Laws of the Lord teach governments principles guiding their framework, rules of evidence, and application of “just” principles of jurisprudence and law…
AUDIO OF 6000 Years Too Long CLICK HERE
Many of those Civil Laws of the Lord provided the explicit framing for a constitutional history, a fact little-known to theologians lawyers and people in the pews. Principles include three branches of government – Executive, judicial, legislative (cf. Isaiah 33:22), formation of national and tribal legislative assemblies (bicameral structure), appellate jurisdiction, constitutional (derived) authority, local government, qualifications of rulers and judges, to name a few.
1 Samuel 8 provides us with the failure of idolatrous Israel, a failure reflected in an inability to mature the principles of constitutional government. As the prophets repeatedly charge Israel with idolatry, so Israel repeatedly demonstrated an incapacity to rule itself in a godly, upright and safe manner, with Jesus Christ as the King over all nations (cf. Psalm 2).
1 Samuel 8 explains the principles dominating the disobedience of all idolatrous nations. Such nations have invariably tended toward “conquest” and not peace and safety, much less any honor toward the Lord. Church of Christ needs to begin to teach God’s Civil Laws in-depth so that magistrates and people BOTH may understand HOW justice is to reign to the glory of God and the peace of society (cf. 1 Timothy 2:1 – 6). Until the Church learns a lesson taught us in the book of Acts in the person of the apostle Paul, governments will continue to march toward conquest, bloodshed, wars, famine, and evil under Satan’s authority (cf. Ephesians 6). That lesson? The Church needs to take the principles of the Civil Laws of God and “institutionalize” the principles of justice as in part once understood in early America, England, Scotland and other historical episodes (though none matured consistently).
It is foretold of the ministers of Jesus Christ throughout Scripture, there will be a day in which such ministers will teach the Civil Laws of the Lord worldwide. Until that day, God will continue to “break” fellowship with governments of the earth, and judge them until they repent or are uprooted (cf. Psalm 2; 149).
6000 years is simply too long a period of injustice. God is calling us, worldwide, to repent of our presumptuousness concerning the gift of government… abused.
AUDIO OF 6000 Years Too Long CLICK HERE
