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The subject of submission to “governing” authorities has been coming up a great deal lately. Most sermons on the subject focus on one verse in the Bible. In the New International version it reads;
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. (Romans 13: 1-5).
No doubt it was on this verse that King James I of England asserted his authority and promoted the idea of the divine right of Kings. In sum, wikipedia explains the divine right of kings;
The divine right of kings, divine right, or God's mandate is a politicaland religiousdoctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarchis subject to no earthly authority, deriving the right to rule directly from the will of God. The king is thus not subject to the will of his people, the aristocracy, or any other estate of the realm. It implies that only God can judge an unjust king and that any attempt to depose, dethrone or restrict his powers runs contrary to the will of God and may constitute a sacrilegious act. It is often expressed in the phrase "by the Grace of God", attached to the titles of a reigning monarch.
We should keep in mind that establishing a monarchy to rule the people was not God’s original design. In I Samuel 8 the Hebrews rather demanded that Samuel appoint them a king to they could be like another nations. They wanted someone to fight their battles for them. Samuel solemnly warned them against such an act stating, in sum that it would result in tyrannical rule of the people. They insisted, so they got themselves a king. In fact there were only a handful of really good kinds and even the best of them made serious mistakes that resulted in their own deaths and/or the deaths of many of their countrymen. The nation was led astray from their obedience to Yahweh multiple times by their kings.
Being a researcher and a writer, the point of view of may well meaning and highly respected ministers that we should submit to all governing authorities unilaterally without question causes me some consternation. As a believer in Jesus Christ I sincerely desire to be obedient to the will of God and we all do. However, there are some issues with the way this verse is used that I feel need to be addressed more thoroughly. There is a problem with looking only at one verse in the Bible and building a doctrine on it. So I would like to dissect this verse and take a deeper look a the concept of obedience to authority. First let’s look at the verse in Romans and I want to break it apart a bit to focus on a the main points of that verse.
for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
This verse indicates that there is no one in authority that God has not chosen. However there is another verse in the Bible that would indicate otherwise. It is Hosea 8:4 in both the Hebrew Roots Bible and also the NIV;
They have set up kings, but not by Me. They have made rulers, but I did not know. (HRB) They set up kings without my consent, they choose princes without my approval (NIV).
The verse in Romans and the verse in Hosea seem to contradict each other. How do we account for that? The next part of the verse in Roman’s says;
Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong.
Historically we know that all the disciples save one were martyred for their faith (Curtis, Phd No date). Presumably they were martyred because they were preaching the gospel which threatened governments in the countries where they carried the good news and not because they were in rebellion. Throughout history we also can attest that those who professed a faith in Christ were hotly persecuted by authority both civil and religious. We cannot conclude then that rulers only punish people who are doing something wrong.
Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.
The clear implication here is that the only time anyone ever suffers punishment from someone in authority is for doing something wrong. Clearly we can see from scripture that this is not the case. Jeremiah was sunk in a well up to his neck in mud for preaching the truth (Jeremiah 38:6). Paul was in chains in his own home because he insisted on preaching the gospel. Christ himself was later beheaded.(Curtis, Phd no date) The list of those who suffered hurt at the hand of both civil and religious authorities goes on and on. Richard Wurmbrand was in prison and tortured for preaching the gospel in Romania. William Tyndale and Thomas Matthew were both burned at the stake for publishing the bible in the common tongue of the people.
The Bible is the word of truth, and I live by it, but we can never take one verse out of the scripture and build doctrine on it. It will clearly crumble. Too much of the time those who preach unilateral obedience to authority seem to have a sort of selective blindness and sometimes a cult like mindset when it comes to authoritarian rule. Let’s take a look at some sad historical mistakes that have cost the people of God when it came to pleasing governing authorities.
The first century church was birthed in persecution both by religious and civil authorities. The original church that Christ established was still a part of the Synagogue but persecution forced them to separate. However, the first century church still worshipped on Saturday and fstill celebrated Jewish Holidays or Sabbaths as established by God. In the fourth century Constantine became the emperor of Rome. He abolished crucifixion. Instead of persecuting the church he persuaded the church fathers to adopt pagan customs in the church in order to persuade the pagans to come to church. Some have believed that Constantine was converted to Christianity, however, he was clearly pagan and he was actually coddling the church. Thus the church fathers agreed to some compromises, and Saturday worship was switched to Sunday. Though we have been taught for years that we worship on Sunday because Christ was raised on Sunday, this is not the case. Jesus was raised on Saturday and the early church still worshiped on Saturday. Traditionally we have been taught that Jesus was crucified on Friday and raised on Sunday. It is not possible for this to be the case. If that were the case, he would have been in the grave on Friday evening, all day Saturday and Saturday night and raised on Sunday morning as we are commonly taught. That would be one day and two nights in the grave. Jesus himself said he would be in the grave three days and three nights ‟as Jonah was in the belly of a fish” (Matthew 12:40). For a further review of the actual timeline of Jesus death and resurrection review Holidays and Holy Days (United Church of God) or The Great Falling Away (Don Espisito, Word of Truth Publications, 2005). Constantine requested to change the day of worship to Sunday because that is the day Ray, the Sun God was worshipped. Constantine wanted only one religion in his empire so he blended his pagan faith with christianity which is why today the Roman Catholics still insist that there is only one church, the Roman Catholic Church. Thus Christ’s Birthday was celebrated on December 25th even though we know Jesus was not born on that day. There is good evidence to support a September birth (Earnest L. Martin, The star that Astonished the World, 1991.) December 25th is the day when the god of Sacred contracts or Mithra was born and celebrated in the Pagan faith of Rome. Easter which we celebrate as Christ’s resurrection was not actually celebrated by the early church. They still celebrated passover. Easter is the English translation of the goddess Istar or Ishtar who represents Semiramis the wife of Nimrod whom she allegedly raised from the dead. They celebrate Nimrod’s resurrection from the dead on Easter in the Pagan cult of Rome. That is where the easter egg comes form. It is a symbol of fertility and Istar is the goddess of fertility. The garments now worn by the priests in the vatican have a strange that that they wear which is actually representative of the head of a fish. The Romans also worshipped the fish god. We could go on and on.
As a result of Constantine’s reforms, the very tyrannical and destructive Roman Catholic Church was birthed. Throughout history the Roman Catholic Church has been guilty of multiple atrocities including the shedding of much innocent blood, the persecution of those who sought a pure faith in Jesus Christ and dispensed with the false notion that they had to have priest to talk to God on their behalf. They confiscated land from poor landowners and became themselves wealthy and powerful while the people were impoverished. They established the murderous Jesuit cult which was a cult of assassins spying on and murdering those who resisted the Roman Catholic church. The protestant reformation came about because of the blatant abuse of power by the Roman Catholic Pope. Unfortunately it did not go far enough to purge the evil pagan practices from the worship of Yahweh. Speaking of the protestant reformation – there would be no protestant or evangelical church if the early reformers had not resisted political and religious authority of the day.
Originally christianity was a sect of the synagogue but they separated due to persecution. Paul took the gospel to the gentiles and the Jewish believers also has to create their own congregations. They continued to celebrate the Jewish holidays but never did they celebrate a Christmas holiday nor did they have an easter holiday. They would not have. They were Jews. Their nation was judged for trying to mix the worship of Yahweh with the worship of pagan deities. If there were any Jews left in the Christian church by the fourth century, they would have evacuated the church because of this practice.
Let’s look in scripture for an example of corrupted authority and the damage it did to the culture. King Manasseh was the wickedest king who ever lived. He began co-rulership of Judah with His father Hezekiah at the age of 12 and took over completely at his father’s passing. He ruled for 55 years. After he took the throne completely he reversed his father’s reforms, re-instituted the practice of pagan cult worship and even the worship of Molech. He reestablished pagan shrines. He also murdered the prophets who spoke out against him. Because of this he was put in bondage by the king of Assyria and suffered brutally under his hand. He finally repented and completely turned around, but the damage he had done could not be reversed and God had to bring judgement on Judah because of their pagan idolatry. The story of this king is found in 2Kings and 2Chronicles. He was a the King in Judah, the people of Judah followed him into paganism and where judged by God because of it. The prophets spoke out against him and were punished and or murdered by him.
And God bless America, that errant New World Colony established by King George of England. Why did they rebel. Doesn’t the Bible say that rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft (Samuel 15:23)? Can we have a good definition of rebellion here? Is there a difference between rebellion and resistance? Is it ever acceptable to resist authority? The founding fathers of our country certainly did think there was. There would not be an America if we had done what may ministers insist we should do, blindly and unquestionably submit to governing authorities.
The American Revolution was brought about by the mis management of King George III. The British had determined that they wanted to make as much money off of the 13 colonies as they could and implemented policies that benefitted Great Britain but not the colonialists. Furthermore, the Parliament had the power to enact laws that affected the 13 colonies but the the Colonies had no one to represent them in parliament so they had no say in the decisions that were made. So the American revolution was enacted and the American Colonies won. Thus they established the government of the people by the people for the people. Our constitution was founded on the principle that government cannot exist without the consent of the governed.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Our founding fathers suffered under heavy handed and unjust authority. Our nation was fought for and won by people who put their faith in God who is a just God and does not in any way support unjust actions on the part of governing authorities. Note that safety and happiness are both considered in the above statement.
I had stripes when I was in the military. I really didn’t take those stripes all that seriously. I was not one given to flaunting my authority. However, one time I was given an assignment by one of my superiors, and I had a few soldiers who were assigned to me to assist. One of those soldiers was the son of a Warrant Officer in the US Army. He was determined to follow I his daddy’s footsteps. He was also determined that ‟no woman” was ever going to tell him what to do. This was man’s job! He was making things pretty difficult for me. I approached my superiors and explained the situation. That young man was due to get a promotion, and his promotion was denied because of his attitude. He was clearly rebelling. When ministers discuss rebellion they usually refer to the story of Miriam in the Old Testament in Exodus when she and Aaron rebelled against Moses’s authority. They were both of them judged. They did not want to take orders from Moses like my young soldier did not want to take orders from a woman. That involved pride. Neither myself nor Moses were doing anything to cause undue nor unjust harm to anyone. We were both of us responsibly executing our duties.
When a police officer stops you for speeding, you take the ticket and smile at the nice police officer and bless him up and down for doing his job properly. That is being subject to people in authority. However, when a police officer begins stalking women in your community and hounding them and harassing them or even raping them, he has stepped outside the legal limits of his authority. Resisting someone like that is the correct thing to do. That is not rebellion.
People who are in authority are people. They are not gods. They can’t be expected to be perfect and they can’t be expected to coddle everyone and make everyone happy. They have to stay focused on their position and be aware of the legal limits of their authority. In so much as those in authority over us are acting responsibly within the legal limits of their authority and not violating policies particularly those designed to protect their employees or citizens then they can be respected. We need to keep in mind, however, that laws that are written must be consistent with the word of Yahweh. When laws are inconsistent with Bible requirements, we must also resist.
When governments act in secret they are not acting with the consent of the governed. They are frequently acting outside the law in violation of the constitution and to the detriment of the governed. If they weren’t they would not be acting in secret. The idea that they can be trusted to act in secret if it is in our best interests is believed only by fools. If they are acting in secret they cannot be held accountable by we the people. If they can’t be held accountable their sinful selves with degenerate into sin.
One prime example of this in 9/11 purported to be an act of terror committed by Al Qaeda led by Osama Bin Laden. They even showed a film in which Bin Laden was allegedly confessing to the act committed against the US and rejoicing over the results. Researchers have torn that scenario apart completely and thoroughly debunked the al Qaeda story. The film was fake and the man in the film was clearly not Osama Bin Laden (Howe, 2011, p178). He later was interviewed on Al Jazeera stating emphatically that he had nothing whatsoever to do with 911. Experts in demolitions testified that burning jet fuel could not possible be responsible for the collapse of the twin towers. The representatives of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, Kevin Ryan, (Howe, 2011, p166) who certified the steel beams that supported the structure went on record saying that burning jet fuel could not possibly have melted those steel beams. Demolitions experts stated that they could have only been destroyed by cutter charges made with thermite (2009 – http://www.911hardfacts.com). Brigham Young University Professor Steven Jones tested the dust around the area and found thermite in the dust from 911 (Jones, 2006). The cutter charges could only have been installed prior to 911 meaning that our powers that be planned this act well ahead of time. Which brings us to the Patriot act. This 400 page document could not have been written between September 11th and October 26th when it was voted on. Our public representatives never had a chance to examine this document prior to the time they were required to vote on it, and only two of our representatives resisted signing the document. This document completely dismantled the Constitution upon which our government of the people was founded. Tom Dashel and Patrick Leahy were representatives that did not support the act.
Three thousand people died in 911. This act was perpetrated by the Bush administration. They committed an act of treason against the American public. They broke the law. Who is going to hold them accountable?
There is nothing more disturbing to me that ministers who stand behind the pulpit supporting oppressive and heavy handed authority to the detriment of their parishioners. When people are being oppressed, that last thing they need is for someone standing in the place of God telling them that God approves of the abuse they are experiencing. That is one sure way to completely zap the hope out of tender hearts. Taking the position that the victims of tyrannical abusers must have done something to deserve their abuse is completely unbiblical though it tends to absolve the holders of this opinion of an responsibility to act on behalf of the victim. Churches are often only a hair’s breath away from becoming abusive cults when the ministers of the gospel take on authoritarian rule of their parishioners. When leadership holds the position that they cannot be challenged in anyway and remove themselves from the accountability of the body, they are in danger of becoming instruments of tyranny. Church pastors who spy on their parishioners, yes it happens, in cooperation with their rogue governments, are in violation of the law and in violation of biblical principles. They are executing power not granted to them by we the people. Spying on people is a tool of tyrants no matter which way you look at it. This is heavily practiced by the Freemasons as well as the Jesuit cult. Considering that there are multiple pastors who are also Freemasons, it is also very understandable why some pastors think they are doing something positive by spying on their parishioners. The college I attended condemned going to the movies at one time. Thus, they had student spies standing by the movie houses writing down the names of college students who showed up there and turned them in. Fortunately that practice ceased. There is no freedom in Christ where there is tyrannical rule and domination. Keep in mind also that the CIA has a history of using religious cults as a way of exploiting people, and I fear that members in our churches are often in danger of such exploitation by well meaning ministers. We are also admonished to guard ourselves from wolves in sheep's clothing (Matt. 7:15).
Of course in the Bible those who resisted authority for godly reasons were also often rescued by God because of their obedience. The story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego and Daniel in the book of Daniel are good examples. Daniel held office in the King’s court. He worked in a secular job and yet he still resisted authority when he was commanded not to pray to Yahweh anymore. He was thrown into the lion’s den. He survived because Yahweh shut the mouths of the lions.
It is not always ‟in rebellion” that we resist authority. We are not guilty of witchcraft when we resist tyrannical destructive and abusive rulers. Yahweh does not condone abuse on the part of those in authority and he hears the cry of the afflicted.
Bibliography
Curtis, Phd, Ken. ''Whatever Happened to the twelve Apostles?''. Christianity.com, No date, No date. Accessed 071517. Http://www.christianity.com/church/church-history/timeline/1-300/whatever-happened-to-the-twelve-apostles-11629558.html.
Howe, Bridget. If the West Falls. 1st ed. Bloomington Illinois: Westbow Press, 2011.
Jones, Steven E 2006, Why Indeed Did the WTC Buildings Collapse? (Book Section, David Ray Griffin and Peter Dale Scott, 9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out, Vol. 1, Northampton: Olive Branch Press, 2006) 36.
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