Street Fighting

I do not know if the current street take-overs and riots will continue. Given that the occupiers seem to have no cohesive demands and that colder weather is coming I am guessing they will sort of evaporate leaving behind their prodigious amounts of litter and the evidence of their squalor in the parks. They have been demanding a better world but seemingly have no way to define that better world or how to achieve it. Some are just rioting because it is a novel experience. When else can you intimidate passersby on the sidewalk and paint graffiti on buildings without getting arrested? They are I think, viewing this as some sort of game. They can hang out, smash things, and feel good about it.

 Meanwhile, there remains much of the 99%, as the occupiers refer, who are also distraught with the actions of bankers and governments but do not want to join aimless mobs in the streets. We are wondering, well, things are a mess but what can we do? Conservative Christians understand they will receive no encouragement from their churches to start throwing rocks. We do not want to be like the hopeless humanists who roam looking for conflict but offer no solutions. We have a respect for civil government authority as from God (Romans 13) and yet understand almost instinctively that the current central government is grossly wicked. At least some of us view things this way. What then can we do? How ought Christians to live within the system where God has placed us? Is there any realistic hope for a better government and a better society? What are our options? And, can we ever forcibly effect the removal of governmental authorities?

 That last question is certainly a valid one. It has been asked for centuries by Christian people living under governmental tyrannies of almost every sort. During seasons of prosperity and relative freedom the question fades from our minds but as governmental transgression increases our attention returns to this issue. When I read articles by the libertarian crowd I often see suggestions that the people should just rise up and throw off the oppressors. It is not uncommon to read hopeful comments circling around the idea of ‘overthrow them all’ and rebuild things although the language is typically vague enough that the writer will not receive a visit from the Secret Service. But, Bible believing Christians cannot act like lawless humanists. It was our apostacized ancestors of whom the Book of Judges referred when it spoke of men who ‘did what was right in their own eyes.’ This is not an option for us. Rather, we must do what is right in God’s eyes. That is our only path to a righteous society.

 When we start to examine God’s word for wisdom on how to handle errant rulers we need to understand two large concepts. First is that all civil government, properly understood, is covenantal. We can see this laid out for us in 2 Kings11:17and 2 Chronicles 23:16. The story of proper government being restored after Queen Athaliah was removed and killed culminates in covenants being made between the nation, the king, and God and between the king and the people. The king and the people all agreed to live under the authority and protection of God and His word. Those were the terms of the covenant. This is a foundation for civil governance. Our rulers do not have a right to implement their random ideas on the citizens. Rather, they are constrained by God’s law to do what God demands and allows and nothing else. Civil ‘servants’ are not allowed to ‘do what is right in their own eyes’ as did the people ofIsraelbefore their first government under the Judges fell apart. They are to rule with a right fear of God and an absolute respect for His word. That is how the covenant works. We are supposed to always obey righteous rulers. These rulers are to obey God.

 When I looked for examples of when righteous people overthrew their civil officers the first thing I noticed is how few examples there are. We have stories of people who unrighteously attempted to usurp or overthrow their governments. I am thinking of Miriam, Moses sister, and of David’s son Absalom. Miriam was given leprosy and Absalom was executed. It appears to me that it ought to be rare for God’s people to resort to killing their leaders or forcibly removing them. The process for doing so however, is this. The lessor official must lead the revolt against the higher. That is what we see in the story of Athaliah which I previously mentioned. In that case it was the High Priest Jehoiada who led the restoration (which is always to be the goal, not just random killings). Another example is the Judge Ehud who killed the Moab king Eglon and freed the people of Israel from bondage. This however, only was blessed by God when Israel repented and turned back to the Lord. Prior to that it was God Himself who put them in slavery to that kingdom (Judges 3). And, this is the way of it. When God’s people abandon His law living in sinful rebellion then the Lord places us under harsh humanist law and rulers. We try to avoid the conditions of God’s law and only end up with crushing tyranny from the literally godless.

 God’s law contains somewhat over 600 statutes depending on how you count. Many of these have no penalty that is to be imposed by civil government. Current Federal statutes run to around 300,000 and are growing every year. In our national attempt to find freedom from God we have enslaved ourselves to an absolute tyranny of frivolous statutes designed to reduce us to slaves in the land our American forefathers conquered. It was when ‘the sons ofIsraelcried to the Lord’ (Judges3:15) that God removed that evil poser to power and the children of God (that would be us) were blessed with freedom under His law once again. This is our answer. We, God’s people, must return to our King and His law. We have to stop loving man’s law and man’s attempted creation of a supposedly better society. We have to respect God rather than man. We have to teach our children to walk on this wiser path. Our churches must become powerhouses of training and worship of the Biblical God and not a god of our imaginations. If we will do these things God will raise up deliverers for us. His order and justice will return to America. This is our only hope.

 For Christian Culture,

 Don Schanzenbach    11-5-11