Someone emailed me (and asked for my reply) a short article written by a mainstream pastor, who is spiritually blind and does not understand Scripture, who thinks that we should submit to a godless government. Maybe one day his eyes will be opened.
God does not expect us to obey evil, immoral government. The king established by God was not a dictator... the king was not a god. The office of king is and was a contract (even if people are modernly confused about it) that was understood: The people would obey the king as long as the king obeyed God and ruled righteously. People most often have forgotten this (in ancient Israel as well as in Europe and the British Isles) because they fell into the trap of idolizing their monarch and also due to the people’s fear of retribution if they were unsuccessful in unseating the renegade monarch. Kings and rulers are supposed to be held to a higher standard of morality; sadly, they violate morality and for that reason the whole nation is plunged into immorality; since immoral people think, “Well, if the king can do this, then why cannot I...?” Only about two times in Scripture is it recorded that the people rose up as one (as they should have hundreds of times) and said “NO” to the king (I Samuel 14:45; I Kings 12:16).
God punished northern Israel for the sins of their king Jeroboam, and southern Judah for the sins of their king Manasseh whom they did not restrain... and for that reason both houses were conquered. There is a difference between illegitimate power and true authority. God would not have punished the people for the sins of their kings if they were simply supposed to obey regardless of the king’s behaviour. Indeed, before God gave the people a king, when they desired one, He told them what the kings would do (over tax them, take their daughters and sons, etc.)—but nowhere does Scripture say that the people were dutibound to obey such corruption. Most often they did, but they should have “rebelled”. Rebelled is not really the right word. They should have unseated their kings when they turned wicked and rebelled against God.
Did the midwives obey the corrupt government of Egypt and abort babies? Did the wise men obey wicked king Herod and inform them where the Christ child was?
Is it not theft when immoral government takes what belongs to the people? Did not God forbid kings and rulers from multiplying wives and wealth unto themselves? How much more sinful, then, was it, when the means by which they so multiplied unto themselves what God had forbidden, by robbing the people whose rights it was their duty to protect? Was it not theft (and murder) when Jezebel gave Ahab Naboth’s vineyard, when Naboth did not want to sell? God commanded that the property never pass out of the family; so Naboth was actually being righteous; and he cannot be accused of greed, for certainly the king had far more property than Naboth did; but Ahab coveted that special piece.
Did Gideon obey the occupied forces or did he not thresh his wheat in secret so they would not know his wealth to be able to tax him on it?
Legitimate government bears the fingerprints that God said it must bear, or it is illegitimate and not of God. Yes, God ordains evil rulers as well as good ones... but just like God informing Israel of impending Judgment was not just so they would resign themselves to die, but repent and live, so God says we reap what we sow and as Joseph de Maistre rightfully noted, “every nation has the government that it deserves”. However, even as Christ told Saul it was not easy to kick against the pricks, and though the Israelites had to make bricks without straw, though the road back is not easy—it is the only road for those who are truly called of God; and God’s people cannot be on the road of repentance and obedience to God if they in the very act of rebellion by allowing evil to flourish in their midst—regardless of the status of the guilty party. The prince of Simeon was guilty of fornication with a Midianite princess (God had forbidden intermarriage with the Midianites at that time in history since the Midianites began intermarrying with the Moabites)—yet he was not except from the javelin of justice. To ignore sin (whether in the king or the stableboy) is to ignore since and brings God’s Judgment on the whole community when it reaches a certain level.
God commanded that we put evil out from among us—NOT ignore it and NOT submit to it. HAVE NO FELLOWSHIP WITH THE UNFRUITFUL WORKS OF DARKNESS BUT REBUKE THEM! Part of the purpose of Judgment is to chasten us by such evil rulers, but part of the purpose of such Judgment is also a test to see if we will obey GOD not sinful man. Cowards who do not love righteousness will hide under the pseudo-cover of the “Church” or “State” and the false doctrine of unconditionally obeying “the powers that be”.
God said that we were only to elect a man (male) who is of our brethren (racial kinsman) to rule over us—so why on earth would any Christian think that submitting to someone whom God forbade us to submit to can in any way be obedience to God? This also applies to renegade, sinful rulers who violate the law.
Other verses show that rulers must be upright and rule in the fear of God and be a terror to EVIL, not a terror to good. Those who do not meet these qualifications are not God’s ministers. God indeed has set them up; but they are set up as vessels of wrath (if they are utterly evil) and it is the duty of the people to confront the ruler in sin (as the seer Nathan did after David had sinned with Bathsheba) and sentence him according to his sin as God commands.
Christ said to render to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God that which is God’s. This pastor (like most “Christians” who cannot think logically and who poorly understand the Bible and its harmonious interpretation) underlined and boldfaced the first part, but not the second. The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof, the world and they who dwell therein. So nothing is Caesar’s and everything is God’s. That is the simple truth this pastor and most others in blindness overlook. When Christ’s enemies tried to entrap Him in words, He did not answer their questions; He asked questions of His own or spoke in generalities and left them to draw either false conclusions or true ones. He did not come to educate them. He spoke in parables so that only His people would understand the truth. When His enemies tried to entrap Him He danced around the questions that He was under no obligation to answer—even as He did not reveal Himself to His enemies after the Resurrection because it was not God’s Will that they believe and be saved. That is why God blinded the eyes of all and opened only those of the elect and that is why Christ spoke in parables, because He spoke to a mixed multitude, but the words were only intended for His people.
The pennies in my pocket have Abraham Lincoln’s image on them. Who owns the pennies in my pocket? Abraham Lincoln or me? It is so sad that those in a position to guide God’s children—guide them in the wrong direction, being blind guides, leading them into the ditch. Truly the prophet lamented God’s Words, “My people hath been lost sheep: their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they have turned them away on the mountains [large / significant nations]: they have gone [wandered] from mountain to hill [small / insignificant nations]” (Jeremiah 50:6).
Christ’s question, “Whose superscription is on it” and His declaration, “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s” are entirely unrelated. The latter declaration does not answer the former question Furthermore, in the latter declaration, tell me, if God owns everything what does Caesar own? Despite the fact that God raised up Caesar to conquer Palestine and rule over them, did that invalidate the Covenant that God gave to His people? Did that invalidate the commandment, “thou shalt not steal”...? Is it not equally a violation of that commandment to allow others to steal from you or your kinsmen-neighbors even as it would be for you to steal from them? “To him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him it is sin”. Did not God condemn Achan’s entire house because they knew that he had stolen forbidden booty from Jericho and they did not encourage him to confess his sin or they would have to expose him? The stolen goods were hidden in the ground in the midst of the tent; surely they all knew and said nothing—and suffered his judgment with him. Christ’s declaration did not answer the question of whether God’s people were morally dutibound before God to pay taxes to a defacto government. As I already mentioned, Gideon threshed his grain behind an old winepress so that the occupying enemy army would not know his increase upon which to tax him.
“Honor the king”—indeed—but not to the point of calling good evil and evil good and turning a blind eye to sin and immorality, corruption, and allowing abominations to be legislatitvely protected and even glorified right in God’s Face! Might does not make right. How do such false shepherds justify the fleeing of the Pilgrims and other Puritans and the American Revolution (or the Protestant Reformation)...?
As mentioned earlier, one or two times only is it recorded in Scripture that the people rightfully stood up to the king and said “NO!” The first time was with Israel’s very first king. The erratic, carnal, dark-hearted Saul was going to execute his own son Jonathan for tasting a bit of honey, though Jonathan had not known of his father’s order that no one eat anything under pain of death until after the battle was won. Jonathan himself had saved the day in battle. When Saul declared to the army that Jonathan was to be put to death—the people told Saul you shall not touch one hair of his head! The other time was when Solomon’s son Rehoboam, after a few godly years of rule, foolishly listened to his younger, carnal advisors and decided to INCREASE the overburdening, sinful taxes on the people that Solomon had wrongly levied against the people to pay for all his own sin! When the Israelites heard this 5/6ths (83.3%) of the tribes of Israel split from Judah and formed their own kingdom.
[Sadly, their leader Jeroboam I. was little better than Rehoboam himself—even though, incredibly, God promised him his own perpetual dynasty equal to or greater than that to which God Covenanted to David, if Jeroboam would be faithful to God—and stupidly Jeroboam set up golden calf worship and led the people astray! The Kingdom of Northern Israel did not have one single godly king—ever—despite 19 kings spanning 256 years. However, this is beside the point as relates to our discussion. The point is that they could have been incredibly blessed had they remained true to God. Regardless, they were right to disassociate themselves from the godless ruler Rehoboam—but they should likewise have deposed the godless Jeroboam once he turned from the truth and violated the Law of God.]
If those who call themselves “Christians” were actually GODLY and stood up for what is right—even against their wicked rulers*1—on a REGULAR BASIS, over half of the wars and injustices that history has known would never have happened! This “obey anyone with a badge or title” nonsense is as stupid as pacifism and both end the same way—BADLY. God is not against all war... He Himself is a God of War and the Lord of Hosts (armies) and He commanded many wars be carried out. God is against ungodly war as He defines it in His Word. One whole tribe of Israel was nearly exterminated by God’s Command for their having given shelter to a handful of Benjamite perverts (who were possibly part Canaanite) whom they refused to give up for judgment.*2
[*1 People forget that kings are “elected officials”. The people crowned the kings and thus elected them. The people shouted “long live the king” and agreed / covenanted to obey the king as long as the king obeyed God. However, the people forgot that this was a two-way agreement and they also forgot that they had the power NOT to agree to the coronation of a king if the king’s son who was proposed to become the next king was godless (such as Absalom).
*2 See: Sacred Truth Expository Commentary: Genesis 31-37, 48, 49:5-7 & Judges 19-21—Culminating in Dinah’s Defilement with an Examination of the Near-Extermination of the Tribe of Benjamin (Including: Origins of Adamkind, most in-depth History of Jacob-Israel (Call of Abraham to Israel going into Egypt) detailed accounts of “call of Abraham,” rescue of Lot, flight of Lot from Sodom, sacrifice of Isaac, origin of Abraham, true location of Ur of Chaldees, detailed exegisis of Genesis 31-33 (history of Jacob from when he left father-in-law Laban, wrestling with angel, fearful reunion with Esau, relocation to Succoth, Shechem); 34 (Simeon & Levi’s massacre at Shechem); 35 (flight to Bethel, etc.); 48/49 (judgment on Simeon/Levi) exegeses also covering significant portions of Genesis 10, 11, 14, 18, 19, & many other passages); includes numerous charts; (+3 fold-out maps); illuminating study unlocks many mysteries of Scripture, ties together large segments of Israel’s history (& prophecy) resolution of chronological conundrums; detailed analysis of Nimrod/Tower of Babel, foundation of Ninevah, history/origins most all important peoples/empires of Bible (Akkad, Aramaeans, Assyrians, Babylonian, Canaanites, Chaldaeans, Edomites [“Esau-ology”], 9 tribes of Giants, Ishmaelites, Medes, Parthians, Persians, Philistines, Sumer, etc.); proof Simeon & Levi’s extermination of Shechem for kidnapping/raping sister Dinah not unusual (God ordered similar things, some are covered, including complete exegesis of grisly, odd history of Judges 19-21 with near-extermination of tribe of Benjamin). Extra-biblical sources consulted/explained. After reading this, you will understand, better than ever, early Adamite/Israelite history, racial identity of majority of nations/races in O.T., Bible prophecy, & God’s overall plan. Deepest study of many of these key Biblical stories ever written. Truly fascinating. 60 commentaries were consulted, among many other books, a very deep exposition of historical and spiritual truths. 711pp., pb., 40.00 + P&H.]
Again, since God commanded “Thou shalt not steal” (in addition to all His other Commands) and since it is a sin to see someone else commit a sin and not report it (Deuteronomy 13:6-18)... —then letting a corrupt (or pseudo-) government rob you and your neighbors, kill innocent people, legalize everything that God forbade, and outlaw obedience to God... HOW can that be “obedience” to God? Tell me, why would God expect you to obey the godless, self-serving, oppressive, corrupt laws of sinful man but not obey His Holy Law which He gave us for our good and commanded throughout all our generations forever?
I wonder if the “pastor” who wrote this “submit to the government in all things” is going to install a “third-gender” bathroom in his church or Christian school, or allow men who “identify” with being a woman to use the ladies’ bathroom. Will he perform gay weddings? Will he allow homosexuals in the church and in church and worship-service leadership? Will he refrain from preaching from certain passages in the Bible when the State orders it?
Regardless of sincerity or good intentions, such false teaching is destroying our people and all of Christendom. Government is corrupt because of “pastors” like this who like salt have lost their saltiness and are good for nothing but to be trampled upon... and so they shall. Do they not realize that by jumping through all the little, less important unconstitutional hoops that the illegitimate government demands is what LEADS TO the larger and more abominable hoops? Do such false shephernds not realize that THEY EMPOWER THE WOLVES and teach the flock to obey every wolf regulation is what will lead to the extermination of the flock! Giving in to bullies only empowers them and emboldens them to make greater demands. Corrupt politicians giving tax money to support over 100 antichrist nations, to give “humanitarian” relief to antichrist nations (which God forbade), to implement antichristian practices encouraging race mixing and homoperversion, teaching it in the schools, legislatively protecting it and glorifying it and giving it preferrential treatment, corrupt politicians raising their own salaries and benefits, hiding their own crimes, starting unjust wars, spending beyond their budget (theft), taking prayer and Bible reading out of the schools and introducing humanism, perversion, atheism, evolution, and even Islam—and 1,000 other abominations all began with ignorant, sinful, “pastors” who led their congregations astray by telling them to simply obey everything that their PUBLIC SERVANTS told them!
Christ said, “He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad. ” (Matthew 12:30). What do you call someone that is against someone and who undoes the work he is doing...? —an enemy. “Good intentions” are meaningless. A platoon leader may have good intentions, but if he disobeys orders and accidentally initiates friendly fire and murders another platoon of our own forces, thinking it was the enemy, that does not bring those soldiers back to life. Christ clearly is gathering His sheep (or wheat). Those false shepherds who scatter the flock by introducing wolves into the sheepfold (congregation) and who teach the sheep to be submissive to the wolves—help murder the flock of God. What does that make them?
When Christ rebuked Saul, He did not sugar coat it—He even BLINDED Saul and struck him to the ground and declared, “WHY PERSECUTEST THOU ME...!?” even though Saul thought that he was serving God. Had Christ not chosen to enlighten Saul and bring him to repentance, had Saul continued to persecute the church of God and aid and abet the true church’s enemies, what do you think Saul’s eternal fate would have been...?
Bad thinking and poor judgment are dangerous to the flock that follows a blind shepherd, regardless of his good intentions, when he does not know how to rightly divide the Word of Truth and does not recognize truth from error.
“My people are destroyed because they lack knowledge...” —because they don’t know the Word of God; because they don’t know God’s Very Nature as He has revealed it and that He changes not.
God save us! Convict us of the TRUTH of Your WORD and deliver us from false doctrine and apathy and rebellion against You—all three of which share the same fate of Judgment!
[For an in-depth treatment of this topic, see also my The War Between the Children of Light and the Powers of Darkness: How the Christian-Israelite Can Live In An Evil World System (Including the TRUE Story of the Phinehas Priesthood); 506pp., pb., 20.00; Hb., 30.00 + P&H.]