Beware The False God of Government
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(29) <Paul said to the Council of Areopagus in Athens,> “Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill. (30) In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.”’ (Acts 17:29-30)
The trouble with most empires or governments, since such things began to appear, is they are created with good intentions that slowly grasp power. Often it is a spoonful at a time, a little bit here and there, and before the people realize it, the government over them is not seeking their best interests but the interests of itself. This grasping of power is sometimes unintentional, and sometimes it is intentional but it eventually comes to fruition. The Bible showcases this in the ancient Kingdom of Israel, where David was chosen by God to lead His people in Righteousness, which he did to some extent (though he did have some indiscretions).
After David and his son Solomon, the Kingdom, due to the need for ten tribes to escape growing tyranny and favoritism by the Judahite kings, split into two, Israel (ten tribes) and Judah (Judah and Benjamin). In both kingdoms, the righteousness in following God was overcome by the greed and increasing power taken by the ruling governments until the fall of Israel by Assyria and the fall of Judah by Babylon.
Subsequent empires, such as the Greek, the Roman, the Byzantine, on up to the British all had a need to grow and consolidate power, with the implied intent to better the people but all began to collapse and recede after their power corrupted the ruling factions. As an example, the Roman Republic slowly morphed from a supporting structure for the Roman citizen into the Roman Empire as the need for power grew culminating in a consolidation of power by the first Emperor Augustus Caesar in 27 BC in an oligarchy with the Roman Senate.
The United States initially sought a righteous path in attempting to ensure a government ‘for the people’ by putting the people collectively in charge of their government, following the principles and rules laid out in the US Constitution. Unfortunately, we find 235 years after the creation of the Constitution, the Federal government has become more repressive and controlling on its people. It is becoming apparent the government ‘by the people’ is becoming more of a government ‘over the people’, and its participants (our Senators, Representatives, the President and his Cabinet, and the bureaucrats) are no longer answering to the people but having the people answer to them.
The reason for this inevitable shift is the false worship of ‘self’, the image of a ‘god’ made by human design and skill through a desire of power over others. While it is not an idol crafted from wood, stone or metal government has become a crafted symbol of man’s attempt to rule and control through the continual grasping and attainment of power. Paul, in addressing the Athenians, recognized not only their worship of false gods, each having a particular role of control in their lives, but also knew of the control the Roman Empire had over the Greeks. They admired the power of Rome and the Roman Emperor Nero (who ruled Rome and its vassal Greece at that time) as they admired the power of Alexander the Great years prior.
The totalitarian leader is often given attributes of a ‘god’, such as Kim Jong Un in North Korea. The leader becomes an idol, either through the subjugation of the people or by the charismatic qualities the leader has to persuade the people to accept him as such, or a combination of both. Paul, in recognizing the ‘placeholder’ temple of ‘the unknown god’, allowed him to provide the Truth those false gods, whether fashioned by man’s hand or feelings, are not divine and have no eternal power. The Kim dynasty of North Korea has gone through three generations of ‘Kim’s’ since its creation as a Communist nation in 1950, yet each one has had failings and eventually grew sick and died. Oligarchic empires (ruled by an elite class of a select membership) eventually collapse through the frustrations of the people who topple them.
The one who God has given absolute power to is Jesus, who has been given the title ‘King of Kings’. He has earned this title through His selflessness and righteousness, to be truly for the people by sacrificing Himself to atone for the sins of the people. His governance is based on the fulfilling the needs of His people by providing Salvation and granting Grace. Throughout history, God has allowed the people to be ignorant and ignored the divine Lordship of Christ, but as he did with Israel and Judah, He demanded they repent or face consequences – and followed through with those consequences through the Assyrian and Babylonian conquerors.
God provided Jesus for the repentance of people of their sins, and though the day and time is not known, each day draws closer to God stopping to ignore the ignorance of the non-believers and send His son Jesus to finish the reconciliation of man to Him. We can work to keep the US from becoming a repressed nation, but it cannot be at the expense of worshipping our Lord as our true leader. Our duty as Christians is to ensure those who do not know Him hear the Gospel to be given the opportunity to turn to Him. Don’t grasp for power, don’t admire our political leaders for their command of power, seek and response to Jesus.
