Corrupt Foundation

Some people that rightly see the dangers involved with the State are apt to ascribe legitimacy to the State, to a point. Well, they say, as long as the State does this or doesn’t do that, we should obey it. When the State fulfils a valid social function, that gives it legitimacy, at least in that area, some say.

I say these people are wrong. Why? Because the State is fundamentally illegitimate in that its very existence depends on the evils of theft, threats, and aggression against people and their property. Therefore, we do not owe obedience to the State, even when it gets something right every now and then, for it is corrupt at its foundation. It cannot carry out a single function that is not carried out by using its stolen money and its coercive monopolistic system, therefore it does not, cannot, fulfill the duties of the higher powers that are meant to be “for good.”

We owe obedience to God, to the natural moral law that forbids aggressive violence against another person and his property and to the righteous arbiters that carry out the social function of enforcing it, husbands/fathers and mothers, church elders, and employers. We owe obedience to no one else, though since we live in hostile territory, we should obey the ordinances of man that do not violate the natural law. If not, we will end up robbed, jailed, or killed, and we will not be around to provide for our families. Because make-believe Christians and fake preachers are not made of the same stuff as Daniel, or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, or Moses, or John the Baptist, they will tell us that the State is legitimate because they prefer the path of least resistance. Therefore they make the claim that “Government is just as much an institution of God as the family and the Church.” That’s a lie. I have explained this about Romans 13 here, so I will not go over that again right now. But I will look at 1 Samuel 8.

“And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his firstborn was Joel; and the name of his second, Abiah: they were judges in Beersheba. And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah, And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

Here we see the people rejecting God’s ordained higher powers, the judges. It is true that those mentioned here were corrupt, but that is no argument in favor of the State, for the State is based on corruption and has been filled with corrupt officials. The point I wish to make here is that the people sought to conform to the ways of the world around them by pleading for a king.

“But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord. And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.”

By asking for State rule under a king, the people were rejecting God’s reign over them. This is unmistakably clear in the passage. This rebellious people had forsaken God. Some commentators claim that “Human Government” was instituted when God told Noah that men who shed innocent blood would have their blood shed by men. First, there is nothing inherently wrong with the concept of government, with a lower case “g.” The higher powers I mentioned above are all forms of government, governance ordained by God. There are valid social functions that mankind has been given to perform, such as holding a murderer accountable, but this has nothing to do with legitimizing the State and calling Government an institution created by God. Marriage is a valid social function, but this does not mean that marriage outside of God’s design is legitimate and should be recognized. In fact, if it is outside of God’s design (a man and a woman) it is not marriage, regardless of what name it goes by. Just so, government based on an immoral foundation is not according to God’s design, it is an enemy, and it is to this entity that I give the title of Government with an upper case “G.” It is clear that human government in the form of the State was not an institution started in Noah’s day, for it started here, as recorded in this chapter, and God shows it is not his institution at all. It is the concoction of rebellious men.

“Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them. And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.”

God told his prophet to let the rebellious people have their way, and he told them what was going to happen because of it. The State (in this context, a monarchical State) will claim your sons and appoint them for himself. Your sons will no longer be yours, they will belong to the State. They will be used to man the State’s armies, to waste their lives in its wars of conquest, and to serve the State’s purposes. The State will even take control of your daughters and their services will be required for the State, instead of in the home for their husband and children. He will take your property; you can live on it, but you won’t own it anymore, you will be serfs, working it and turning the produce over to the State for its purposes, and to feed the State’s officials. You will cry out because of this, God said, but I will not hear you. This was your choice.

Don’t we see it? The US, the self-proclaimed Empire of Empires, has laid claim to the sons and daughters of the people living within its territory. It has drafted young men and sent them to their deaths in unnecessary and immoral wars. There has been no war in which the US has been involved in that was just, other than the American Revolution, for it was for defensive purposes. Yet men have been drafted and regimented to believe that service to the “country” is service to God. It is no such thing. Young men have been told that it is wrong to kill, steal, and destroy…unless they are doing it for the State. As long as they are obeying the king, the emperor, or the president, their actions are not just acceptable, they are righteous, because Romans 13. Then they come back and commit suicide in droves. The US has taught women that their place is not in the home, it is in the workforce and in some kind of national service. They abandon the home and God’s Word is blasphemed because of it (Titus 2:3-5). Who owns property in the US? Not you. Not me. The State owns it all. Except for in some remote places in Alaska, property taxes are extorted from families so the State can fund its immoral rule. If you don’t pay the taxes, the State will kick you off “your” land. If you rebel against State rule, the State will throw you in prison. The State steals from our paychecks to pay for its programs and to give an income to its officials. Then the money gets used to fund all kinds of immorality. We cry out against all of these injustices, but many will still claim that God instituted all of this. What nonsense.

“Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. And the Lord said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.”

This section reminds me of most Americans. You can show them the atrocities of the State, but they refuse to listen. They are sheep, but not the Lord’s sheep. They rationalize and reason that the State is necessary because they value living in a nanny-State more than they do living freely under the rule of God. They are afraid to stand against the State. They bow to “Uncle Sam” and they feel good about themselves because it isn’t Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, Stalin, or Hitler. Unlike Moses, they are not willing to suffer affliction with the people of God by defying statolatry, they would rather enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, and they think they are headed for eternal life, when they are headed for destruction.

The greatest sources of evil on earth are selfishness, secular humanism, Satan, and the State. Constitution worshippers hold the US up as a beacon of virtue and righteousness when American history shows this to be a lie. God does not favor Americans over Russians or Africans. Waving an American flag, or any State flag, on Church property is blasphemous.

Nothing about the State is legitimate and Christians have no business supporting it.