Last time, in Part 1 The Case From Christ, we walked through the case for rejecting the use of political means for kingdom purposes from the life of Christ. We saw that on seven occasions, recorded in scripture, Jesus refused to use political means to achieve His kingdom’s purposes.
He was adamant that His kingdom was so not of this world that the means of power in this world couldn’t be used to establish, build, or promote it. His kingdom is spiritual and consensual and therefore can’t be pushed using political and coercive measures.
Today, we will explore the basis Jesus built from, the foundation of texts from the Tanak, or what most of us call the Old Testament. His actions were secured from the God’s activity in establishing the kingdom of Israel, which was a political kingdom.
Case from the Old Testament
Jesus alone is a compelling enough case for someone like me.
However, there are many of you who need more. You need to see this reality spelled out throughout all of Scripture. I find Christ’s assessment as the most valuable but want to meet you where you are so here we go.
I want to begin where our scriptural journey begins, in Eden. God’s mandate is where we’ll start.
“God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.””
-Genesis [1:28] NASB 95
When God put man in the garden he was given a mandate to “subdue” the earth. We must remind ourselves that no nations and armies existed in Eden. This subduing deals more with property rights and taking care of the land than anything to do with politics and power.
Man was given rule over wildlife. God intended for us to take care of them, as well as the land.
We’ve chosen to ignore that mandate and focus our efforts on dominating one another politically. So many use this verse to justify those efforts, but such a view is erroneous.
So, no, the Edenic mandate is really no mandate at all for the use of political power.
When does governmental and political power first arise?
Well, the first kingdom we see in scripture is Babel.
“The beginning of his kingdom was Babel”
-Genesis [10:10] NASB 95
This kingdom didn’t end so well.
God had commanded everyone to spread out.
Nimrod led Babel to instead come together and build a tower that would reach heaven. This was the first kingdom of this world and is the model for all of the kingdoms of this world.
Defiance.
The kingdoms of this world will always exist in defiance of God. We’ll see why shortly.
But for now, can we at least agree that God rejected this kingdom?
Later, much later, in scripture God establishes a nation for a very specific purpose … to bring the messiah into our world. Yet, as we see, God did that eventually in spite of that nation. I’m going to deal with that at some point in another column.
God really just needed an obedient household.
And He got it.
So, what of this nation of which we read in the Old Testament?
Most of you are going to hear this for the first time as you read this post. The nation of Israel wasn’t established as a political entity. Read that line again and allow it to marinate in your mind before moving on.
The nation of Israel was established as a spiritual entity. It was to be a unique nation in the world, governed by individual conscience through the kingship of God Himself.
Let’s look at God’s intention for the nation.
“When the Most High divided the nations, when he separated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God. And his people Jacob became the portion of the Lord, Israel was the line of his inheritance.”
-Deuteronomy 32:8-9 Septuagint
What do we see in this verse?
The only nation on the planet that belongs to God, is His people, and is His portion is Israel. Israel was supposed to be an authentic representation of spiritual life. Israel is not a political entity, but a spiritual one. It was centered, by design, on a temple and both individual and collective sacrifices overseen by priests and governed by God.
But Israel would eventually trade all that glory in. They wanted to be a nation like the rest and would suffer the consequences.
When Israel was established in the land, they decided that the protection offered by political kings and governments was more beneficial than the provision and protection received through a relationship with God.
Samuel’s sons lived in corruption. That corruption drove people away from God. Somehow a king would be different?
“Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah; and they said to him, “Behold, you have grown old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint a king for us to judge us like all the nations.””
-1 Samuel 8:4-5
Israel traded their special relationship with God for political dominance.
Don’t believe me?
Let’s see what God had to say about this choice when Samuel prayed.
“The LORD said to Samuel, “Listen to the voice of the people in regard to all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me from being king over them. Like all the deeds which they have done since the day that I brought them up from Egypt even to this day—in that they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them.”
-1 Samuel 8:7-9
The text can’t be more clear. The political power used and enjoyed by kings was in defiance and rejection of the kingship of God.
Political power is always going to be oppressive. Samuel lays out the case for Israel. Government leaders will confiscate people and resources for their own desires and demands. The king would enslave the nation through confiscatory means, we call that taxation, fines, and fees in our day.
Would anyone argue that isn’t the case still today?
Samuel finished with a very stern warning.
“Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
-1 Samuel [8:18] NASB 95
God’s people will be ignored by God when they chose to rely on political power and authority.
YIKES!
In proving the spiritual nature of God’s nation and kingdom we get to the book of Daniel. The prophet prayed and he was informed that his answer was delayed by spiritual warfare.
“But the prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding me for twenty-one days; then behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left there with the kings of Persia.”
-Daniel [10:13] NASB 95
Daniel wasn’t in political Israel, nor was he serving the nation’s king. He was setting the example for what Christ-followers should be today by living out his faith in a foreign land. We see that the angels of Persia were preventing the angel Gabriel from bringing God’s answer to Daniel.
Just as Daniel was serving in God’s kingdom while in Babylon, he was at war with the spiritual forces that controlled Persia, so we also serving in Christ’s kingdom while in the U.S. are at war with the spiritual forces that control America.
While we’re on Daniel, one of his prophecies makes one of the greatest scriptural arguments against using government and political power.
“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.”
-Daniel [2:44] NASB 95
Clearly, Christ’s kingdom is slowly crushing all the kingdoms of this world until all that remains is Christ’s kingdom.
It is inevitable that all the kingdoms of this world will vanish, like dust.
Those kingdoms are unfit to exist and exist only as a counter to Christ’s kingdom, not as a compliment.
If you’re still with me at this point, we’ll take a final look at the case for my view in the New Testament next time, in my final piece.
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The Case Against Political Means, Part 2 was written by Mark West
Mark West is the author of the book What He Said: Living the Sermon on the Mount, Transforming American Culture that is available to purchase online at www.markwest-author.com
That’s Me in the Corner: Politics “Trump”-ed My Faith, Part 3 of 3 was originally published here
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