Government

During the Easter season, we Christians celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Whether or not you like the name Easter, or whether or not you believe we should celebrate a holiday that isn’t in the Bible, it is good to celebrate the resurrection. After all, Jesus was “declared to be the Son of God” by rising from the dead (Rom. 1:3-4). But the burial and resurrection of our Lord were not the only important events to take place after His death. Though they happened a while after Christ’s death, we must not forget His ascension and coronation. Sometime after Jesus rose from the grave, He also rose from the earth to return to heaven. When He returned to heaven He was crowned as King, and sat down to rule at the right hand of His Father.

This is what is being described in Daniel 7:13-14. Many think this passage is referring to Christ’s 2^nd coming, but look carefully and you’ll see it’s clearly referring to Jesus’ return to heaven after His resurrection. It says “one like the Son of Man” (obviously Jesus) was coming with the clouds (v. 13). But where is He coming to? Daniel says that the one like the Son of Man came “to” the Ancient of Days, not “from.” If you’ll remember, Jesus returned to His Father in a cloud (Acts 1:9). So, what we see in Daniel 7 is not Christ returning to earth, but rather Him returning to His Father after His time on earth. When Jesus returns to the Father, He is given rulership over “peoples, nations, and languages” (v. 14).

Jesus is now ruling the nations. That is what the Son of God does. The resurrection showed that Jesus is the Son of God (Rom 1:3-4). When we hear the term “Son of God,” we are rightly reminded of His deity. But this title means more than that, it describes one of the major roles that Christ has. In Psalm 2, we read that the nations of the earth are in rebellion to God the Father (vv. 1-3). In response to this, God coronates a King (v. 6). This King will be given authority over the nations and their rulers (vv. 8-12). This nation-ruling King is God’s Son (v. 7, 12). The title “Son of God” is a reference to the one who rules all the nations on earth.

This is why Jesus is also called “the King of kings.” King Nebuchadnezzar ruled over the kings that he had conquered. This is why he is described as a king of kings (Dan. 2:37). Since Jesus is now ruling over all the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5), He is called the King of kings (1 Tim. 6:15; Rev. 17:14).

Understanding this fact will have a profound impact on your view of foreign policy. A king is the highest official in a nation. God has ordained government authorities at the local and national levels, but the only authority above the national level is His Son. To seek to give authority over multiple nations to any person or group of people, is to try to dethrone God’s Son. This is no small sin.

Since humanists don’t acknowledge the God of the Bible (or His Son), they seek to give His nation-ruling authority to the United Nations. Whereas, in the Bible, the answer to the bad behavior of the nations is Jesus the Messiah, for the humanist, the U.N. is the messiah who will (they hope) usher in world peace.

But humanists aren’t the only ones guilty of this sin. Modern Christians and conservatives can also be guilty of placing their faith in another messiah. Many conservatives are really just as humanistic as their liberal counterparts. These conservatives are obviously not going to acknowledge Christ as the King of kings. But many Christians are confused on this issue as well. The majority of modern American Christians do not believe that Jesus is now ruling the earth. They believe that Satan is now ruling, and that Christ will only rule the world when He returns to earth.

The verses we have looked at, and several dozen other passages, prove this view to be wrong (I deal with this issue in some of my lectures on eschatology). But since many Christians and conservatives don’t believe that Christ is now ruling the nations, they believe that it is the job of the United States to keep the peace, punish the bad nations, protect the good ones, etc. This is the view that I used to have. I thought that it was the job of the United States to keep nations from harming one another. I thought that we Americans had the right to tell the other nations what weapons they can or can’t have. I thought that since we are the good guys, we have the moral obligation to bring peace, liberty, and justice to the rest of the world.

However, I now know that our President is not the President of presidents, Christ is. Our federal government doesn’t have legitimate authority over the other nations. It can, of course, defend our nation against aggressors, but it doesn’t rule the world.

Furthermore, I no longer believe that “we” do that much good in the world. Remember that when people say “we” need to get involved in policing the nations, what they really mean is that our government needs to get involved. Our government isn’t good and moral. It doesn’t promote liberty, righteousness, etc., here at home, so why should we think that it is making the rest of the world better? God has commissioned the church to make the world a better place (Matt. 28:18-20), not the government.

I can already hear the objection to my thesis: “If Jesus is running the world now, He’s not doing a very good job!” Oh be careful what you say. For years, the U.N. and the U.S.A. have been failing miserably in their attempts to run the world, don’t blame their mess on Him. But if He’s in charge, can’t He stop them from making a mess?

Yes, He can. And that brings me to my next point. Just because He doesn’t rule the way you or I would want, doesn’t mean He isn’t ruling. Psalm 2 says that if the nations and their rulers don’t “serve the LORD with fear” they will “perish” (vv. 11-12). Why are the economies of Europe in so much trouble? Why is American society getting worse and worse? Because they aren’t serving the Lord and neither do they fear Him. When a nation turns its back on the Son of God, He turns them over to their own sinful desires, and if they don’t repent, they will perish. The fact that godless nations are in trouble shows me that Jesus is punishing them for their refusal to acknowledge His rule. He is the ruler of the nations, and they ignore Him at their own peril.

Government is not a necessary evil. It is necessary because of evil. God ordained the civil government to be a blessing to us as we live in this sinful world. When the government doesn’t follow God’s pattern as found in the Scriptures, it is more of a curse than a blessing. This is where we find ourselves now; the government protects evil and punishes good. Here are seven ideas for changing our civil government to a more biblical one. As with the last three articles, there are many more than seven aspects of our civil governments that could be rebuilt. Anyway, here goes…

1. Decentralize. The human heart is wicked. This is why we need civil governments. However, since the human heart is wicked, we shouldn’t give too much power to any one person or group. A centralized government is just that: a government where those at the top have all the power.

Ungodly governments, such as those in Communist countries or third-world dictatorships, tend to give all the power to those at the national level. The state (or provincial) and local government officials exist to do the bidding of, and enforce the will of, those at the national level.

The biblical model for the civil government is decentralized, meaning that power is spread out through many different levels of government. In a biblical society, the local governments would be the governments that most individuals would interact with the majority of the time. The national government would have virtually nothing to do with the daily lives of individuals. The main purposes of the national government is to settle disputes between the states (or tribes, like ancient Israel had), and to organize the nation’s fighting force (which would be in the hands of the states) if the country is invaded.

Another benefit of a decentralized government is that if one branch or level of government is behaving badly, the other levels would have some power of their own with which to “check” the bad behavior of the other.

2. Get out of the welfare business. When we look at the things that God has told the civil government to do, we do not find that the government is responsible to help the poor. Individuals, families, and churches can help the poor, but the government cannot (at least not in the sense of giving them financial assistance). The government may say that its charitable giving is helping people, but remember, the government has no money that it doesn’t first take from someone else. If it didn’t take as much money from us as it does, we would each have  more money to give to the poor.

The reason the government got into the welfare business was not because people weren’t being helped, it was because the government wanted to enslave them. I know those are strong words, but those in power knew that if they could get people to look to the government to give them things, they would always have their votes. Also keep in mind that whoever funds you controls you. Your employer can tell you what to do (to an extent) because if you don’t do what they want, they can stop giving you a paycheck. Likewise, the government often threatens to take away aid or services if you don’t do what they want (like vote to raise your own taxes). The forms of “welfare” in our day go way beyond food stamps (EBT). The forms of welfare that our government has control over today include: food programs, Social Security, corporate subsidies, foreign aid, and more.

In our day, it is very hard to avoid taking part in the many “welfare” schemes the government is running. And while I’m not suggesting that anyone allow themselves or their family to starve, we should do everything we can to avoid being supported by these government programs.

3. Return to biblical punishments. This point may cause even many Christians to shudder. Even many Christians think of biblical punishments as being cruel and draconian. This mostly comes from misconceptions regarding what the Bible actually says about crime and punishment. Since this is the main responsibility of the civil government, this is an important issue.

First, a biblical civil government doesn’t have the authority to go around looking for criminals. The government only goes into action when someone notifies them that a crime has been committed. This means that those under a biblical government, people (even unbelievers) would have far more liberties than we as Americans do today.

Second, shouldn’t we Christians look to the Bible as the standard for what constitutes a just punishment? Do you really think that we humans can come up with a better, more just law code than God can? Certainly, the Bible does address the issue of crime and punishment. Are you really going to say that following the Bible’s instruction relating to what the civil government is supposed to do will lead to a harsh, oppressive government? Do we serve a God that favors tyranny? Obviously not.

To be sure, there are many laws in Scripture that need careful study to find out just what they are saying. Also, the whole issue of what in the OT carries over into the NT would also need to be hashed out. But I hope that Christians would agree that the Bible needs to be our guide for what type of punishments the government should give for certain crimes.

4. Taxes. This is a huge issue. I don’t complain about taxes simply because I want to keep more of my own money (though I do). I complain about taxes because the government would not be involved in so many unbiblical activities if it didn’t have the money to do so. One way to keep the government from intruding into every aspect of life is to make sure it doesn’t have the money to be involved in every aspect of our lives. A biblical tax system would go a long way in ensuring that the government stayed within its biblical jurisdiction (area of responsibility).

There are different opinions as to how the government should collect taxes. Some would favor a tax based on a percentage of your income (like the tithe); others would favor a once a year “head tax.” Whatever the method of collecting taxes is, the tax rate needs to be very low. In 1 Samuel 8, God says that when a government takes 10% of your income, you are living under tyranny. God can demand 10% of your income, the government cannot.

In our day, most (I believe, all) of our taxes are very unjust. The government uses taxes to control your behavior. Do what they want, get a tax credit; don’t do what they want, get a tax penalty. This is not biblical. The worst tax, however, is what is called “taxation through inflation.” This one is the worst because it gives the government a very large percentage of its income and virtually no one knows it’s happening.

Taxation through inflation works like this: Let’s say I’m a politician. I want your vote, so I promise you free stuff. How I am I going to pay for that stuff? One option I have is to raise taxes. Of course I can only do this so much before people stop voting for me. Another option I have is to print more money. Of course, you the citizen are not allowed to do this because it wouldn’t be fair for everyone else. But since I make the laws, I’ll allow myself to do it. Now I can have all the money I need to buy your votes.

The problem with this scheme is this: when something is rare, it is worth more. The more of something you have, the less that thing is worth. This is true with dollars as well. The more money is printed, the less that money is worth. So in the long run everyone is paying the “tax” of having their money lose value. Because this isn’t a direct tax and because it happens so slowly, we don’t even realize it’s happening.

5. Foreign policy. Another pressing issue that needs to change is how our government deals with other nations. For many years I was of the opinion that since Americans are the good guys, they have the responsibility to make the world safer, more prosperous, and more free. In one sense this is true. We have a rich Christian heritage and God has blessed us with quite a bit of prosperity. Because of that we can and should help other nations if we can. But when I say “we” in this sense, I’m speaking about fellow Christians.

However, when most people say “we” need to make the world better, what they really mean is that the federal government of the United States needs to do all of these things. The government needs to give money to poorer nations. The government needs to promote freedom around the world. No it doesn’t. A national government is responsible for what happens within its own borders, not for what happens in other nations. Our government is not responsible for making poor countries rich. Freedom comes to a nation when the gospel is accepted and people start obeying God’s word in every area of life and society. Is it the job of the government to spread the gospel and teach God’s word? No, that is the job of the church.

Furthermore, should we consider the federal government the “good” guys? Do they really help the poor here, or do they just use them? Are they actively promoting freedom within our borders, or are they constantly trying to take it away? If the federal government is doing bad things here at home, do we really think that they are doing good around the world?

6. Free Markets. Many people think that free market capitalism is causing problems in our nation. This is impossible because we don’t have free markets; in fact no one alive today has seen a truly free market system. A free market is where I give you money in exchange for a good or a service. The government should have no part in regulating this transaction. The government only gets involved if one of us is being cheated. This is the biblical view of markets.

Today, the government thinks that it must have “free trade agreements” with other nations. If the government is involved, then the “trade” is not free. Free trade is where my business decides to buy parts from a business in another country. We don’t need the government to make a “deal” for that to happen.

A free market is also one where employers get to hire who they want and pay them what they want. As long as both the employer and the employee agree on what the wages should be, the government has no business getting involved. By the way, jobs are created only when someone decides to hire someone else. Our politicians tell us that they “create” jobs, but the only jobs they create are government jobs. The more government jobs are created, the more funds the government needs (a.k.a. more taxes), and the more our freedoms disappear. The best thing the government can do is get out of the way.

Lastly, a free market is one in which the government is not giving anything to businesses. This would mean no subsidies or even tax incentives. It also wouldn’t give them the burdensome regulations that they ask for. It may seem like businesses would never ask for burdensome regulations, but the larger businesses do. The reason they do this is simple. A business needs to hire a lot of lawyers, accountants, and other experts in order to comply with all these regulations. Doing that requires a lot of money. Big businesses have a lot of money, small companies don’t. Big companies ask to be highly regulated in order to make it hard for their competition (the smaller companies) to succeed. Big government and big business have rigged the game in their favor. This is not a free market.

7. Land ownership. The Bible is clear that God owns the land. God has given the land to a caretaker or a steward. The family is that steward. In America, however, the government thinks that it owns the land. This is why we have property taxes. As long as there are property taxes, you don’t really own your property, you merely rent it from the government. If you don’t believe me, stop paying your rent (taxes) and see if you don’t get evicted. The Bible doesn’t prescribe any sort of property tax, but the Communist Manifesto does.

When Israel was enslaved by Egypt, how much land did they own? None. When God brought them out from their bondage and into the promised land, how much land did they own? Lots of it! There is a correlation between freedom and land ownership. This is why Karl Marx (coauthor of the Communist Manifesto) wanted the government to own the land. This is why when a Communist dictator of Romania (Ceausescu) came to power, he had all of the rural areas bulldozed and moved everyone to government owned high-rises that he built in the cities.

In the U.S. Constitution, the federal government is allowed to own land in each state only for “the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings…” Today, in some states, the federal government owns over half of the land (84.5% of Nevada). The federal government also likes to give grants to local governments so that they can buy up the land and turn it into nature preserves. They say that they are doing this in the name of conservation. Forgive me for being skeptical, but I doubt this is their real motive. I suspect that they just don’t want you to have that land.

As you have seen in these last four articles, we Christians have a lot of work to do. Rebuilding all of life and society will take effort and time. It won’t happen all at once and certainly not in one generation. But, if God wills, it can be done. If you’d like to learn more about rebuilding any of the three God established institutions, please contact me at Mike@5thkingdomministries.com or by phone at 904-501-2374.