GOD’S TWO KINGDOMS
Part One
God’s Earthly Kingdom
A Study By
Gary Ray Branscome
The LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the
LORD is our king. // The kingdom of God does not come in a way that is seen…for, the kingdom of God is within you.
(Isaiah 33:22, Luke 17:20-21)
Unlike other nations, Israel was to be one nation under God. God was to be
the head of both church and state. In short, the nation of Israel was to be God’s kingdom on earth! In contrast, God’s
heavenly kingdom, the kingdom that we all become citizens of through faith in
Christ, is not a kingdom that can be seen. It cannot be seen because no one can
look into someone else’s heart and, therefore, no one can see who is a citizen
of that kingdom, and who is not (Luke 17:20-21).
God’s government, the government that He provided for the nation of Israel, was divided into two realms, one political, the
other religious. The political realm was an instrument of God’s wrath; in the
sense that He worked through it to judge His people, enforce His Law and punish
crime. In contrast, the priesthood was an instrument of God’s mercy; in that
God used it to show His people their sins, teach them the necessity of
repentance, and give them His promise of mercy. In the third chapter of
Galatians, the Apostle Paul tells us that God’s grace never came through
keeping the Law or sacrificing animals. Instead it came through believing God’s
promise of forgiveness (Gal. 3:17).
Under God’s plan of government the political and the religious realms worked
together as a schoolmaster to bring His people to repentance and faith in His
promise of forgiveness (Gal. 3:24).
By requiring animal sacrifice, God taught the people that forgiveness is not
cheap. And, because He instituted those sacrifices as a type of Christ’s
ultimate sacrifice, He counted faith in the promise of forgiveness that He had
connected with that sacrifice as faith in Christ (Luke 11:50-51, Gal. 3:17,
24). David trusted in that promise, saying, “I have placed my faith in your
grace [mercy]; my heart will rejoice in your salvation” (Psalm 13:5). And, that
promise of grace (mercy) is why God said, “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice”
(Hosea 6:6). The actual sacrifices were just a means of giving people God’s
promise of mercy and forgiveness.
Having said that, I want
to make it clear that in ancient Israel church and state were separate; not separate in the
modern sense – which would separate sacred from secular – but separate in the
way God wants them to be separate. Yes, there was an official priesthood,
which, by calling God’s people to repentance while giving them His promise of
forgiveness, carried out the same function that the church does today. But, it
was not a tax supported “state church”. It is true that the people were to give
a tithe. But, that was not a tax, because they were not forced to pay it, and
they were not punished by the government if it was not paid (Malachi 3:8). By
providing for the church to be supported independently of the state God made it
impossible for the government to control the church by threatening to cut off
its funds. At the same time, by making the priesthood hereditary He made it
difficult for rulers to place their cronies in control. That kept the state
from controlling the church. Furthermore, even though priests were to function
as judges, by not giving the priests the authority to raise armies, arrest
criminals, punish crime, or make laws He kept the church from controlling the
state. That is Biblical separation of church and state!
In contrast: By redefining the
Second Amendment phrase, “Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion” to mean, “separation of church and state,” American
courts have placed that phrase in opposition to the words, “or prohibiting the
free exercise thereof”. Having done that, the courts are using the Second
Amendment to deny American Christians the “free exercise” of their religious
beliefs. That is why, atheist teachers and professors are free to attack
Christian religious beliefs in the classroom, but Christian teachers and
professors are not free to expose and refute those attacks. If Americans really
had religious freedom, a Christian congressman could stand up in Congress and
say, “I want to introduce this bill to stop abortion, because abortion is
contrary to what the Bible teaches;” and everyone would say, “Put it to a vote,
he has just as much right to his opinion as anyone else”. Now, if that
statement seems shocking to you, it just goes to show how much of our freedom has
been taken away.
The courts are using their
twisted interpretation of the Second Amendment to create a secular state, and
that is totally contrary to the will of God. In the name of religious
neutrality atheism is being been made the state religion. In contrast, the
Bible says, “At the name of Jesus every knee should bow,” (Philippians 2:10). God not only wants those who rule His people to be
subject to the Ten Commandments, He wants them to take His Word seriously
(Deuteronomy 17:15-20). Moreover, He wants the laws of the land to condemn and
punish political corruption, bribe taking, and the abuse of power by rulers
(Deuteronomy 16:18-20). And,
making rulers subject to the law in that way is what sets a republic apart from
all other forms of government.
God has assigned the job of
education to parents and to the church (Deuteronomy 6:7, Leviticus 10:11). For that reason, government control of education
violates the Biblical principle of separation of church and state. Every
dictatorship wants to control education, and state control of education is
being used to indoctrinate our children in the doctrines of atheist religion.
That is why keeping government from controlling education is an important
safeguard to freedom that needs to be restored.
That being said, I want to
stress the fact that God never intended for the power of government to be used
in a vain attempt to make men righteous (Romans 3:20). On the contrary, the Bible only authorizes
government to punish criminal behavior, not wrong thoughts, words, or even hate
speech. While the Bible condemns hate, and actual hate speech is satanic, you
can see how our government has twisted things around so that condemning sin –
which is part of the free exercise of our religious beliefs – is now called hate
speech. Likewise, even though cruelty to animals is wrong, and should be
condemned by the church, governments who punish people for alleged cruelty to
animals are abusing their authority and violating the Biblical separation of
church and state. Animals exist for the benefit of man, and God has not given
them any rights. In fact, we are even free to kill and eat them (Acts 11:5-9).
In short, in the name of religious neutrality our government is being turned
against God’s Word and our freedoms are being taken away. [The only legitimate
laws regulating how many animals can be killed will not be designed to protect
animals, but to protect a God given resource from greedy men who would hunt
animals to extinction.]
Some final thoughts that I
want to share have to do with circumcision and with laws regarding cleanliness,
or restricting what foods were to be eaten. Laws having to do with food or
cleanliness had nothing to with the priesthood, or with the government.
Although they clearly had some practical value, those rules created a cultural
barrier between the children of Israel and their neighbors. For example, how could Jews mix
with non-Jews if they could not even eat the same foods? I am not saying that
mixing did not happen, I am just saying that those rules made it less likely to
happen. And, that is why those laws were later abolished once they were no
longer needed and cultural barriers to the spread of the Gospel needed to be
removed (Colossians 2:16).
Although circumcision was given to Abraham as a seal of the righteousness that
he already had through faith, God wanted that seal of His covenant given to
Abraham’s infant male descendants (Romans 4:11, Genesis 17:11-14). Then, once
the state of Israel was established, the system of government that God
instituted worked like a schoolmaster to bring those children to faith in
Christ. The political laws put teeth in God’s Law, making it clear that God’s
Law needed to be taken seriously, and sin would be punished (Ecclesiastes
8:11). The religious laws required them to admit their sin, repent, and seek
God’s forgiveness. Many of them came to faith in that way (John 1:47). However, just as today, there were always some who
fell through the cracks. I am talking about people who go through instruction,
learn God’s Law, go to church and recite prayers asking for forgiveness, yet
fail to understand what it is all about. And, the Prophet Samuel’s solution to
that problem was to evangelize those people by gathering around him people for
worship and instruction. Known as the “sons of the prophets,” those whom he
instructed helped spread understanding through the nation, and his influence
later played a role in the establishment of synagogues and congregational
worship (2Kings 2:3-7, 15).
Conclusion
It is interesting to note that
centuries later, when God brought the people of Europe
to faith in His Word, He caused a very similar system to be put in place. Yes,
because of the foolishness of the human heart, it was far from perfect. But,
when it worked, the state put teeth in God’s Law causing people to take it
seriously, and the church taught God’s Word, requiring His people to admit
their sin and look to God for forgiveness. Not only did the traditional liturgy
include prayers for mercy, worshippers prayed for forgiveness every time they
prayed the Lord’s Prayer. Yet, just as in ancient Israel, people often fell through the cracks. Today, in Russia, Baptists and other Evangelicals work to reach those
people just as Samuel did. Nevertheless, for most of Europe
and the West those days are long gone, and our governments – just like the
wicked kings in ancient Israel – are using their influence to turn people away from
God’s Word while promoting the idolatry of evolution. Furthermore, because that
evil has infiltrated many churches, false teachers, who have lost all respect
for God’s Word, condone immorality, homosexuality and even murder (abortion).
God’s Word to them, as to the false prophets of old, is, “I have also seen a
horrible thing… they Commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen the
hands of evildoers, so that no one repents of his wickedness: all of them are
like Sodom in my sight, and the people… like Gomorrah” (Jeremiah 23:14).
REPENT AMERICA! REPENT!