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All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000. (see text) |
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Chapter Fifteen: |
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Their Rulers Dearly Love Shameful Ways
There is currently a strange misconception in the United States of America that in order for the government to function properly, as intended, it need impress the imposition of a separation of church and state on its people. Where such a vacuous, imbecilic, entirely false notion originated I cannot say for certain. Many have lead others to believe such can be found in the Constitution of the United States. An outright lie, the phrase appears nowhere in the United States Constitution, nor is it even implied. What the First Amendment to the United States Constitution does guarantee (a guarantee that is readily discernible to anyone who can read) is that the government of this nation -- specifically "Congress" -- shall not legislate any law respecting (respecting: in view of, with regard to or concerning) the establishment (establishment: settled arrangement) of religion (religion: the worship of God, religious principles, beliefs, commitment, attitude, devotion and practice), nor prohibit such. Such a statute was invoked not to prevent the church (a word grossly misapplied by virtually everyone today) -- actual or pretended -- from involving itself in government, but the government (chiefly "Congress") from involving itself in the church. Unfortunately, over the years -- particularly in recent decades -- this amendment has been egregiously misinterpreted by liberal "do-gooders" who feared the influence of Christianity might actually cause some moral responsibility to permeate our society. (Liberal forbid people actually started calling God "God" and sin "sin"; it could so drastically change this country, that it might actually become a decent place to live again.) The word of God recounts several occasions throughout ancient history where even pagan monarchs and nations acknowledged, honored and/or repented of their sin to God. What is possibly one of the most recognizable accounts of such is found in the book of Daniel, chapter three.
Hardly an advocation for the separation of church and state, this mighty, pagan king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire actually imposed a restriction of speech, prohibiting "any people, nation, or language" from saying "anything amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego". And, as if this wasn't enough to provoke the ire of the liberal agitators of his day, Nebuchadnezzar then promoted these "openly-religious fanatics" to higher government posts. Such would be unheard of today in our much more enlightened, sophisticated civilization. Two similar examples are found in Ezra, chapters six and seven. Chapter six contains the official decree of Darius, king of Persia, authorizing the use of federal funds for the rebuilding of the "temple of God" in Jerusalem. The costs are to be paid by the royal treasury. (Ezra 6:4)(NIV) The expenses of these men [the elders of the Jews] are to be fully paid out of the royal treasury, from revenues of Trans-Euphrates, so that the work will not stop. Whatever is needed -- young bulls, rams, male lambs for burnt offerings to the God of heaven, and wheat, salt, wine and oil, as requested by the priests in Jerusalem -- must be given them daily without fail, so that they may offer sacrifices pleasing to the God of heaven and pray for the well-being of the king and his sons. (Ezra 6:8-10) (NIV) Apparently unsatisfied with all this, Darius felt compelled to
go a step further and decree that if anyone changes
this edict, a beam is to be pulled from his house and he is to be lifted
up and impaled on it. And for this crime his house is to be made
a pile of rubble. (Ezra 6:11)(NIV)
Similarly, chapter seven contains the decree of King Artaxerxes, who also allocates federal funds to the Jews and their God (chiefly Ezra 7:13-23). He also lets it be known in no uncertain terms that no taxes, tribute or duty is to be imposed on any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, temple servants or other workers at the house of God. (Ezra 7:24)(NIV) And, as if Artaxerxes hasn't been generous enough with taxpayer money, he declares that Ezra, the priest, with the wisdom of your God, is to appoint magistrates and judges to administer to all the people of Trans-Euphrates -- all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach any who do not know them. Whoever does not obey the law of your God and the law of the king must surely be punished by death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment. (Ezra 7:25-26)(NIV) "A government decree commending a priest to administer political justice according to the laws of his God? Required instruction of and mandatory compliance to those laws, with violations punishable by death, banishment, confiscation of property or imprisonment?" This certainly doesn't sound like separation of church and state to me. And this from a pagan government. Our nation should be shamed today by the example of these, our godless predecessors -- we who live in a nation that prohibits prayer in school and forces individuals through their tax dollars to fund blasphemous expressions of contempt toward God. Yet another example of pagan government and people turning from their sin and to the LORD can be found in Jonah, chapter three. In the first four verses of this chapter we see the prophet Jonah delivering God's message of approaching wrath on the city of Nineveh. The next five verses, however, recount a surprising turnaround, as the people of Nineveh believed God. (Jonah 3:5) Perhaps even more surprisingly, the king issued a decree requiring the entire population of Nineveh to cry mightily to God and turn from their evil way and the violence that is in his hands. (Jonah 3:8) This official state response to God's judgment on Nineveh then closed with a hopeful query: Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish? (Jonah 3:9) And that's exactly what God did, as recorded in verse ten: Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it. (Jonah 3:10) I can't seriously imagine the President of the United States today issuing an executive order that we, the people of the United States, each and every one of us, must "urgently call on God and give up our evil ways and violence". That such seems so quixotically farfetched only evidences how far we've fallen as a nation from the depravity of even pagan Nineveh. But, how were governments intended to function relative to their association with God and the laws He's established? Is this concept of a separation of church and state founded in Biblical truth, or merely the imaginations of a depraved mankind?
Here, the prophet Samuel, as judge over all Israel, prays for and teaches the way that is good and right to the nation Israel. He urges the people to fear the LORD and serve Him faithfully with all their hearts, considering the great things He had done for them. He also warns them that if they persisted in doing evil, both they and their king would be swept away.
In the passage above, Joshua, as leader over the people of Israel after the passing of Moses, read all the words of the law before the whole assembly of Israel. Clearly, there is no distinction between the law of God and the laws of the state here. Both are one and the same. In II Chronicles 19:6, King Jehoshaphat exhorted the judges he had appointed over the cities of Judah to "consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict." (II Chronicles 19:6)(NIV) This statement clearly confirms that government agents, when acting within their official capacity, did so as representatives of the LORD God. Likewise, only a few verses later, Jehoshaphat similarly addressed the administrators of the law in Jerusalem.
In all matters pertaining to the law, both civil and criminal, these administrators were admonished to warn their fellow countrymen "not to sin against the LORD." It's hardly the message we're used to hearing from our leaders in government today, where sin is encouraged and righteousness dissuaded. Nonetheless, is this interaction between government and God actually mandated by Scripture? After all, these are merely historical narratives portraying events as they happened. They're hardly precepts from God etched in stone. Aside from the fact that all governments are made up of people, and all people subject to obey God's law, therefore all governments subject to obey God's law, does the Bible specifically require governments, in and of themselves, to adhere to and govern respective to the law of God, transcendent to the laws of men? The law of God, as given to Moses in the seventeenth chapter of Deuteronomy states that any king over the people of Israel must read the law of God all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes.... (Deuteronomy 17:19) He must also not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left....(Deuteronomy 17:20) A far cry from "separation of church and state", these passages bind the king of Israel, first and foremost, to the word of God. He is to turn from it neither to the right, nor to the left, but be careful to observe all the words of it all the days of his life. Likewise, earlier in this same chapter of Deuteronomy, the law of God contains instructions for the equanimity of the judiciary. As with the king, the judges and priests are obligated to judge, act and teach in full accordance to the law of God. The people must obey -- again, turning neither to the right nor to the left, but doing exactly as instructed by the law (chiefly Deuteronomy 17:8-11). Any who stand in contempt of this shall die.(Deuteronomy 17:12) Notice here that the law is to be taught and enforced by both judges and priests. In government as established by God there is no distinction between church and state. Both are to act in complete agreement with one another, in full compliance to the law of God. When a government submits in obedience to God it is greatly blessed. The word of God contains numerous examples of God's favor resting on those governments who served Him in obedience.
However, when the government turned in disobedience from the LORD and followed after its own ways, its fall was sure and complete. Chapter fourteen of I Kings contains the LORD'S revelation of destruction against the house of Jeroboam and punishment for Israel because their king had sinned and lead his people to sin against the LORD (chiefly I Kings 14:7-18).
All the prophecies against the house of Jeroboam were fulfilled exactly as the LORD had said (chiefly I Kings 14:17-18, 15:27-30), and Israel's government was to become one racked with continual instability, culminating with its eventual collapse and exile as recorded in II Kings 17:7-23.
Similarly, the sixteenth chapter of I Kings relates the LORD'S condemnation of Basha, king of Israel, for his sins against the LORD (chiefly I Kings 16:1-4). The swift fulfillment of this prophecy is recorded in I Kings 16:11-13. In the third chapter of Micah, those leaders of the people who hate good and love evil (Micah 3:2) are harshly censured by the LORD God through the prophet Micah: Then they will cry to the LORD, But He will not hear them; He will even hide His face from them at that time, Because they have been evil in their deeds. (Micah 3:4) Because of these leaders of Israel who abhor justice and pervert all equity (Micah 3:9) the prophet Micah declared: Therefore because of you Zion shall be plowed like a field, Jerusalem shall become heaps of ruins, And the mountain of the temple Like the bare hills of the forest. (Micah 3:12)
Like King Rehoboam (chiefly I Kings 12:6-17 and II Chronicles 10:6-15), many today prefer the advice of young fools to the wisdom of the elders. They freely lend their ears to persons with no more knowledge and wisdom than a mule, mistaking foolish ramblings as fresh innovations.
Like Pilate, who wanted to gratify the crowd (chiefly Mark 15:15), our politicians today prefer the acclaim of men over the favor of God, and they bow to the crowd while forsaking their LORD. However, the word of God is quite clear. Those who forsake the LORD and disregard His laws will be destroyed. Those who follow the LORD and carefully keep all that He has commanded will enjoy the favor of His blessing and peace.
Is it any wonder today that with so little understanding and knowledge we have no order. And, although justice and order were covered in the previous chapter of this volume, it bears mentioning here that the best way to maintain order in any age is by adhering to and closely following the statutes of our holy and perfect God. As Moses reminded the Israelites about to enter the promised land: Therefore you shall keep the commandments of the LORD your God, to walk in His ways and to fear Him. (Deuteronomy 8:6)
This advice, as far too often ignored by the Israel of the Bible, is all but forgotten by our nations today who prefer rather to separate God from government and rely on their own ways. Notwithstanding the evidence of those nations who faithfully followed the LORD in times past and the blessings they received through obedience to His laws, today many are hesitant even to acknowledge the LORD as God and His ways as true. Modern, more enlightened and progressive methods have supplanted the ageless wisdom of the omniscient and mighty Creator King. Instead of drawing closer to God, we "liberate" ourselves from His antiquated, patriarchal, monotheistic ways and broaden our horizons toward moral relativism. In the parallel accounts of II Kings 22-23 and II Chronicles 34-35, Josiah, king of Judah, after nearly six decades of evil, godless rule (during the reigns of his father, Amon, and grandfather, Manasseh), finds the Book of the Law of God and hears its words for the first time. His reaction, both personal and official, is a model any truly-concerned leader of his people would do best to follow.
The response from the LORD was that, because Judah had forsaken Him, disaster would be brought on all the land and all its people: "'My anger will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.'" (II Chronicles 34:25)(NIV) But, to Josiah, king of Judah, the LORD replied: "'Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what He spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before Me and tore your robes and wept in My presence, I have heard you,' declares the LORD. Now I will gather you to your fathers, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place and on those who live here.'" (II Chronicles 34:27-28)(NIV) Josiah's response to the sin of his people against the LORD was one of humble repentance. For this he was to be spared and the destruction of his people delayed until after his death. However, what's even more amazing than this act of a nation's leader humbly repenting before the LORD God for the sin of his people, is what he did when he received these words from the LORD.
Before all the people of Judah, Josiah read the words of the law of God, and renewed the covenant -- to follow the LORD and keep His commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book. Then he had everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it. It's hardly an endorsement of this "separation of church and state" nonsense we hear heralded from every pinnacle of prevarication throughout our nation today. It's clear from these passages that leaders and governments are to serve the LORD and take refuge in Him. Those who persistently rebel against His statutes and decrees will be swept away, and their nations destroyed. Today, a politician or political candidate who declared himself to be first and foremost for the LORD God -- His laws and His ways -- might find himself without a job, and very likely the object of continual harassment and ridicule. Unfortunately, it's those today who mock God and His laws who seem to accrue the most popularity and acclaim. They boast of their "free rides" and "entitlements" (neither of which are the government's responsibility or obligation to provide), while depriving their constituents of that which they need the most -- safety and order. They lie through lips that smile, and deceive the very people they've been elected to serve, dragging each successive generation deeper into the mire of their godlessly immoral hell. They usurp the throne of God for commodes of convenience, never willing to disoblige the exponents of license and depravity from whom they secure their affluence.
Today, as in centuries past, God's word still warns that His wrath will fall on those who continue to live in disobedience. Like Nineveh, we can turn and be delivered, or like those who are disobedient, we can persist to our own destruction. The words of Moses, as recorded in the thirtieth chapter of Deuteronomy, are as applicable today to every people, as they were in that day nearly four millennia ago to the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the promised land. Before them were two paths, each vastly contradistinctive in its repercussions. They could find life and prosperity or death and destruction. Which they would find depended solely on how they responded to the LORD their God -- whether they would walk in His ways and keep His commands, decrees and laws, or turn away and disobey. For us today the same paths, with the same results, await us. Whether we choose life and prosperity or death and destruction, our nation's response to the law of the LORD our God will be the sole determinant.
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