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 First Amendment’s 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 First 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 First 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!