GOD’S TWO KINGDOMS
Part Two
God’s People Under
Worldly Government
A Study By
Gary Ray Branscome
The elders of Israel… came to
Samuel at Ramah, And said… appoint a king
to judge us
like all the other nations… And the LORD said to Samuel, Listen to the
voice of
the people… for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me,
that I
should not be king over them.
(1Samuel 8:4-7).
In part one I explained that unlike other
nations, Israel was to be God’s kingdom on earth. His Law
was to be
the highest authority in the land, an authority that every ruler was to
obey.
In short, God was to be the head of both church and state. Furthermore,
even
though the Law allowed the people to have a king, if they did place a
king in
authority he was to make a copy of God’s Law, and be subject to that
Law
(Deuteronomy 17:14-20). That fact makes it clear that when the people
came to
Samuel, asking for a king, they were not asking for the kind of king
that the
Law of Moses provided for, but a king “like
all the other nations” had. That is, a king who was above the Law,
a king
who was lord and master over the people, a king who could make the
people his
slaves (1Samuel 8:11-18). In other
words, a king who was a law unto himself, a king who followed a double
standard
exempting himself from the laws he imposed
on the
people.
Because the
people had rejected God as their king (1Sam. 8:7), during the period of
the
kings they did not have the government that God had given them, but a
government that differed little from the governments of other nations.
Nevertheless,
they still had the Word of God, the priesthood was there to instruct
the people,
and God was ultimately still in control, just as He is in control of
all
nations (Psalm 103:19). Some people think of this control as God’s
third
kingdom, a kingdom of His power by which He rules over those nations
that
reject Him.
Before the time of Samuel the Law of Moses
provided a
constitution for Israel. The fact that rulers were to be servants of
the people, who were
themselves subject to the Ten Commandments, was a source of freedom.
The
commandment, “Thou shall not kill” gave the people the right to life.
And,
because involuntary servitude is a way of stealing a person’s labor,
the
commandment, “Thou shall not steal” gave them the right to liberty and
property. That constitution forbade rulers to take bribes and pervert
justice. Yet
that is exactly what the sons of both Eli and Samuel did (Deuteronomy 16:18-19). And, because the law was not enforced,
because
the sons of Eli and Samuel were not punished, the people lost
confidence in
their constitution, and like many people today, assumed that a ruler
with more
Godlike power would be more Godlike (1Samuel 8:3-4). Yet nothing could
be
further from the truth. That is why Samuel (at God’s behest) warned the
people saying
(in part), “He will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your
olive
groves, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he
will take
the tenth of your grain, and of your vineyards, and give it to his
officers,
and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your
maidservants,
and your best young men, and your donkeys, and make them do his work.
He will
take the tenth of your flocks: and you will be his slaves” (1Samuel 8:9
-17).
Because Samuel’s warning was ignored, God’s
people
were ruled by a succession of kings, who, with few exceptions,
committed one
crime after another. Saul attempted to murder David, and because a
priest
helped David Saul had eighty-five priests along with all of the women
and
children in the city of Nob murdered (1Samuel 22:5-19). He also put many
of the Gibeonites to death for no reason
(2Samuel 21:1-3). David
seduced Bathsheba and murdered her husband Uriah.
Solomon married many wives, contrary to the Law of Moses, and allowed
those
wives to promote idolatry.
Baasha acquired the throne of Israel by murdering Nadab, and as soon as he came
to power
killed all the descendants of King Jeroboam (1Kings 25-29). Because
Ahab
coveted Naboth’s vineyard, his wife
Jezebel had Naboth falsely accused and put
to death (1Kings 21:1-25). Athaliah, the
daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, having seized
power after the death of her husband and son, had all of David’s male
heirs
except one put to death (2Kings 11:1-2). Menahem, having come to power
by
assassination, sacked the town of Tirzah
and ripped
open all of the pregnant women, simply because the town would not open
its
gates to him (2Kings 15:13-16). King Manasseh promoted idolatry, burned
his son
as an offering, and filled Jerusalem
with the innocent blood of those he slaughtered (2Kings 21:1-17).
What I have said is only a sampling of all
the
wickedness done by those who ruled Israel during that time; rulers who ignored the Ten
Commandments. Many of those kings committed murder while promoting
immorality
and idolatry, and most Americans think that could never happen today.
But, it
is happening right before our eyes. And, it will happen in any nation
that does
not require its rulers to obey the Ten Commandments. Just as rulers
then
promoted idolatry, our government pays teachers and professors to
promote the
idolatry of evolution, [the idea that nature is our creator]. Just as
rulers
then committed murder, our government licenses doctors to murder babies
by
abortion. Just as rulers then promoted immorality, our government pays
teachers
to promote immorality in the name of sex-education, while passing laws
aimed at
forcing the people to accept immorality and sexual perversion. At the
same time,
our churches have drifted so far from God’s will that many churchgoers
see
nothing wrong with our government doing those things, think that is the
way God
wants it, defend the antichristian separation of God from government,
and assume
that requiring rulers to follow the Ten Commandments (like the Bible
says)
would result in tyranny (Deuteronomy 17:18-20). Yet nothing could be
further
from the truth.
American law has its roots in English law,
and English
law is rooted in the Ten Commandments. Going back to the origin of
English law,
we find that King Alfred (Alfred the Great, 849-899 AD), who ruled the West Saxons from 871 to 899 AD (and was fairly well
educated for his day) set in
place the laws that are the foundation of English and American law.
Those laws
included the Ten Commandments along with other portions of the Book of
Exodus. Moreover, Blackstone’s “Commentaries on the Laws of England” remained the
standard textbook for American law students for over a century after American
independence, and would still be used if secular judges had not found a
way to circumvent its moral influence on our law.
Commenting on the fact that the
Ten Commandments form the very basis of Western law, lawyer and columnist David Limbaugh once
said. "We should be aware that other Biblical laws were also
foundational to our system of jurisprudence. In the Book of Exodus following the Ten
Commandments are further laws, sometimes collectively referred to as
the Book of the Covenant. As a lawyer I was fascinated to discover just
how much of our law - torts, contracts, property and criminal law - is obviously
traceable to this section of scripture." (From his newspaper
column, used with permission.)
[Note: King Alfred saw
divine law as a source of first principles, and human law as a
reflection of divine law. (“From Alfred to Henry III”, by Christopher Brooke, page
45)]
The Origin of
Congregational Worship
Because of widespread wickedness during the
reign of King Manasseh, God’s prophets warned of a coming judgment, saying, “Behold,
I am bringing such evil upon Jerusalem
and Judah that both the ears of whoever hears of it
will tingle. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the plummet of the house of Ahab: and I
will wipe Jerusalem as a man wipes a dish, wiping it, and
turning it upside down” (2Kings 21:12-13).
However, a few years prior to the fulfillment of that prophesy Judah experienced a return to God under King
Josiah (2Kings 22-23). And because of that revival, the Jews who were carried captive
into Babylon found the immorality and idolatry of that
city repugnant.
Therefore, instead of being assimilated into the culture of Babylon they formed communities of their own, and
inside those communities set apart places where they could gather for worship. Jews
could go to those places to pray at any time. The men would often gather there
at the end of the day to discuss questions of how God’s Law should be applied
to various situations that they had encountered during the day. And they
would regularly come together on the Sabbath for joint prayer and worship.
Some of the older men of the community
(elders) would be chosen to oversee these community gathering places, and when they
were chosen they were ordained as a ceremonial way of publicly investing
them with responsibility (Titus 1:5). These lay elders formed a council. They
were responsible to the men of the congregation, and each year one of them
was chosen to preside at their meetings. It was the job of those elders to
see that the building was taken care of, lead the Sabbath worship, and during
the week teach the boys how to read, instruct them in the laws and culture of
Israel, and have them memorize long portions of Scripture. For that reason,
those synagogues were said to have a threefold purpose: 1- a house of
fellowship, 2- a house of worship, and 3- a house of learning. As time went on the
elders who had actually lived in Israel began to die off, so the congregations began
to hire professional teachers (rabbis) who had been trained in the laws and
traditions of Israel. Those teachers taught the boys during the
week, and led worship on the Sabbath. And, even though a rabbi who held that
position was an elder of the congregation, because he was hired by the lay elders of
the congregation he was answerable to them. And, because being paid by the
congregation invested him with responsibility, he was not ordained.
The elders of the congregation were referred
to as the elders, pastors, overseers, or rulers of the congregation (Acts 18:8).
However, the fact that they were called rulers did not mean that they could boss
the others around any more than giving the head of the local garden club
the title “president” means that he can raise an army. Their word for ruler took
its meaning from the context in which it was used. And, in the synagogue
the elders were answerable to the men of the congregation, not lords over them
(1Peter 5:3). Moreover, each synagogue and community of God’s people was a part
of the nation of Israel as a whole, and thus a part of God’s earthly
kingdom.
Because God’s House was a house of prayer,
the children of Israel could come to the Temple to pray at any time (Isaiah 56:7, 1Samuel
1:9-13). And, because many came to pray on the Sabbath, and it was the duty of the
priests to teach them God’s Law (Leviticus 10:11),
the priests would lead the people in worship on the Sabbath. Now, even
though the Bible does not describe those worship services, we know that they
included prayers, psalms, Bible readings and instruction in God’s Word.
Therefore, whenthe Jews who had been carried into Babylon began to worship, their worship services
were patterned after those in the temple. Prayers would be read or recited
by the congregation; psalms would be sung or chanted, portions of Scripture
would be read or recited with explanations, and the people would be instructed
in God’s Word (Luke 4:15-20). This formal style of worship has continued to our
present day, and the ancient liturgies of the Christian church have grown out
of it.
Because worship
in the synagogue was patterned after worship in the Temple, there is usually a box in the front in
which the scrolls are kept. That box corresponds to the Ark of the Covenant in
which the Ten Commandments and Torah were kept (Deuteronomy 10:1-2 and 31:26). In
some congregations that box is visible to all, in others it is kept in an
alcove with a curtain in front of it.
Conclusion
The development of synagogues made it
possible for Jews to spread throughout the Mediterranean area. So much
so, that by the day of Pentecost there were “devout Jews from every nation under
heaven, living in Jerusalem” (Acts 2:5). The Apostle Paul preached in
many of their synagogues, and James addressed his epistle, “to the twelve
tribes that are scattered among the nations” (James 1:1). Many of those Jews were
the first Christians, the congregations that they started were patterned after
the synagogues they were familiar with, and each of those synagogues was a
portion of God’s earthly kingdom, the same kingdom that He established at the
time of Moses, scattered like seeds among the nations, all in accord with God’s
plan.