Concerning Treason

This crime, of which the current president is accused, of leaving Americans to die at our embassy in Libya, is by some being called treason. While our politicians have been regularly violating the morals and mores of our civilization, it is rare to hear the word treason applied to any of their actions. It is a serious charge.

I have been attempting to discover a Biblical perspective on this situation. At first glance the question may seem easy. After all, leaving people behind to die seems to be a self-evident violation of any creed of right. None of us wants to defend such a craven act. So, from a moral point of view, we can all likely agree, it is a crime of magnitude for any commander, to leave behind, people in the field; especially when he has the ability to easily intervene. The Marine’s motto of No man left behind appears to have good moral ground. It also has a sound Biblical example put forth in 2 Samuel.

The Biblical illustration for this is that of David and Uriah. Remember that David arranged for one of his mighty men, Uriah the Hittite, to be left behind at the battle line, and thus killed. David wanted Uriah’s wife Bathsheba, and ordered Uriah’s death in order to make the way clear for David’s marriage to her. It was the prophet Nathan who called David to account saying, “You have struck down Uriah the Hittite…and have killed him with the sword of Ammon” (2 Samuel 12:19).  Hence, Scripture is clear; purposefully leaving a man behind to die is an act of murder. Although the person giving the order does not physically kill the individual left behind, the act is still murder. This is why Nathan stated David had, “killed him with the sword of Ammon.”

The obvious application here is that whomever it was that decided to let our fellow Americans die at the hands of our enemies, should be recognized as murderers. Apparently, the battle at Benghazi went on for seven hours. American troops were available only three hours away. The White House spokesmen are telling us that they were too disorganized to respond correctly to the pleas for help received from their embassy staff. That is a squirmy excuse. If accepted, then at least prosecute them for dereliction of duty. Their claiming they were incompetent does not absolve them of responsibility.

The larger question today however, is that of treason. I am asking if the supposed crime of treason is a Biblically sound precept. Where does this idea fit into Biblical law or governance? The word treason is used only twice in the Bible, both usages being in the story of Queen Athaliah. She had seized the throne in violation of God’s law. When she saw the rightful king being crowned she ran out crying, “treason, treason.” For this she was dragged out of the temple and put to death with the sword. She was, it seems, guilty of the crime of which she accused others. At no other place do we find the word treason used. It is a word and concept almost foreign to Biblical thought and civilization. Although Athaliah used the word, Moses, in his law, never did.

Treason is a word not foreign to Christian civilization. Black’s Law Dictionary –Seventh Edition Defines treason or high treason as, “The offense of attempting to overthrow the government of the state to which one owes allegiance, either by making war against the state or by materially supporting its enemies.” Joseph Chitty, in his A Practical Treatise on the Criminal Law—ed. 1826, offers a much more colorful narrative:

The judgment of high treason was, until very lately, an exception to the merciful tenor of our judgments. The least offensive form which is given in the books is, that the offender be carried back to the place from whence he came, and from thence to be drawn to the place of execution, and be there hanged by the neck, and cut down alive, and that his entrails be taken out and burned before his face, and his head cut off, and his body divided into four quarters, and his head and quarters disposed of at the king’s pleasure. Some of the precedents add other circumstances, of still more grossness and aggravation. But this horrible denunciation was very seldom executed in its more terrible niceties.

As we can see, treason was not taken lightly in history. Yet, I am reminding my audience, that the penalties nations have regularly imposed for treason are found nowhere in God’s law. They are invisible in Scripture.

The closest types of offenses I have discovered in God’s law are blasphemy and violations of holy things, like sacrifices, or the tabernacle. Blasphemy is, the malicious revilement of God and religion according to Blackstone. That seems an accurate depiction of what I see in Scripture. The penalty for blasphemy is death sans the string of tortures. I can see though, that blasphemy is significantly different than treason. With treason there has to be a civil body politic that has been wronged. With blasphemy the offense is primarily against God Himself. It is a personal offense. Treason is an offense against a nation. Under God’s law offenses are either against God or against men, but I see nothing about offending the nation; at least not anything that calls for civil punishment. Hence, the entire concept of treason is foreign to Scripture.

Violations of holy things are also serious under the law of Moses. For instance, if you drink blood from the sacrifice you can be cut off (Lev. 7) from the people, which typically means banishment, though in some cases it means death. The punishment is public but once again, the crime seems to be more against the Lord than against the nation. Thieves are called upon to provide restitution to the victim, nothing to the nation. This is the way God’s law works. The injured party is either God Himself or individual men. I cannot find the example where criminal sanctions are required due to someone injuring the nation. It is possible to injure a nation with immoral behavior, but there is no civil penalty for it. God works out those penalties in His own way.

Treason is a crime possible only where an unbiblical, third-party, civil government, is established in lieu of what God’s law provides. Biblically-based government carries no allowance for these types of arrangements, and therefore offers no statutes regarding treason. God’s law does not contemplate treason because the civil arrangements required for treason to be possible run against the expectations of a righteous God for nations. Therefore, though we understand that nations ought to punish crimes God has declared to be crimes, treason is not among them.

For Christian Culture,

Don Schanzenbach

Related Articles

Tyranny & Treason
Covenantal Government—The Biblical Basis