Understanding important truths from the Bible….
THE CHARACTER OF HUMAN GOVERNMENT
1 Samuel 8:10-18 ESV
10 So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. 11 He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots.
12 And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots.
13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers.
14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants.
15 He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants.
16 He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work.
17 He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves.
18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
Human government with a top loaded leadership is common to mankind. This type government is found early in the history of nations, both West and East. Samuel instructs Israel about the government they are seeking, and in his description of that rule there are seven characteristics which are common to human government.
They are:
- Conscription – VSS 11-12
The draft is both common and undesirable. A nation without a draft has to be more concerned with peace than with aggression. When an army can be raised and increased at will there is far greater proneness to military solutions in conflicts than when a ready military is not available.
- Class Distinctions – VSS 14-15
When some control the goods, land, and freedom of others, there is an evitable authority that goes with this control. This authority gives those who have it positions. Their positions distinguish them as being above and very often of thinking of themselves as being over the common citizen.
- Taxes – VSS 15, 17
It is interesting that Samuel, in VS 17, ties slavery to taxes. It is as common to government to tax as there is being to them. Christ in His statement to “render unto Caesar,” acknowledges this authority. The very being of any government hinges upon their ability to tax. The colonial war was encouraged by - if not caused by - “taxation without representation.” It should be noted it was not taxation. That was accepted. It was the failure of representation in the taxing authority that was the issue. This makes taxes neither good nor desirable, only a necessity.
- Annexation of Land – VS 14
The right to own land and exercise control over it is one of the great freedoms of civilization. And it is just as certain that it is one that government cannot allow. In our nation there has been a continual erosion of this basic right. What began as the forced appropriation of land for necessity has become, and that inevitable, the appropriation of land for government and the privileged class. When citizens lose their right to own and control their property they are no longer free!
- Servitude – VSS 13, 16
This will be a fact of life in any nation when that which is named above is common. A government which has unbridled conscription; where class distinctions are common; where there is uncontrolled taxation; when property is appropriated freely or placed under the control of a government agency, servitude is a certain result. Those who have none of the above freedoms are servants.
- Loss of Appeal For Justice – VS 18
We, as believers, know our ultimate appeal is to the Lord. For the writer of Scripture to tell us the Lord will not answer the cry for relief is to assure us there has come upon those who suffer in this governmental servitude.
- Rulers Without Restraint
The whole of the text assures the reader that rulers tend toward throwing off restraint rather than imposing it upon themselves. England’s one time doctrine of “the Divine right of the King,” is one of the most glaring examples of this atrocity. It should never surprise us, with the warning of Scripture, that leaders at any level usurp authority. From the local justice of the Peace to the President of the U.S., our history is rife with examples of this fact. And when any leader at any level is without restraint, he or she will to the best of their ability seek to enslave or rule without regard of justice.
Application:
A. The misapplication of government is common to society and we must expect it.
B. Any confidence in human government needs be very limited.
Hello Mr Fitzhenry!
ReplyDeleteI think this was my favorite post so far. I’d like to take those quotes from the book of Samuel, replace “king” with “socialist government”, and forward it to a few of my friends.
"So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a socialist government from him… it will take the best of your fields and vineyards and give them to its servants….."
Thanks for your post!