Civil Government

May 04, 2023

What is the best form of government? This is a really important question. I believe the answer to this question is in the Bible. The Bible describes a number of different systems, and most are condemned. We need to dig deep to find God’s optimal form of civil government.

Family Government

There was no need for civil government in the Garden of Eden. Everyone obeyed God, so there was no conflict. Sin had not yet entered in, so there was no theft or violence. Human government was not needed.

Once Adam and Eve sinned, crime and violence became a problem. Initially, these problems were dealt with by families. Fathers are required to teach their children to obey God and live in harmony with each other. They must provide for their children and resolve disputes between them. This is family government.

Abraham is a good example of family government. He was a very effective leader of his family. He protected them when they were attacked. He maintained harmony with family members.

But even Abraham got it wrong at times.

Nimrod

The first human civil government to emerge was established by a man called Nimrod.

Cush begot Nimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD.” And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. From that land he went to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city) (Gen 10:8-12NKJV).

Nimrod became the most powerful warrior on the earth. He established his kingdom in Babel and the surrounding towns. This is the first mention of a kingdom in the Bible. The name Nimrod comes from the expression “We will rebel”. So when the Bible refers to Nimrod as “before the Lord,” it means in opposition to the Lord.

Nimrod extended his kingdom to Babylon and Nineveh. This makes Nimrod the grandfather of all the early kingdoms and empires on Earth. They were started by a rebellion against God.

The fruit of Nimrod's rebellion was the tower of Babel.

Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth" (Gen 11:4).

Nimrod’s followers hoped to build a tower to the heavens and make a name for themselves apart from God. This was the ultimate rebellion against their creator. God had no choice but to break up this human government.

So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city (Gen 11:8).

The first human government started in rebellion against God. We must be very careful about human government because it has its roots in rebellion against God.

Moses

A new form of government emerged with Moses. During 400 years of slavery in Egypt, Israel has developed into a nation. God chose Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land. This would not be easy because the Egyptians did not want to lose their slaves, the Canaanites did not want to lose their land, and the nations in between were afraid of the nation on the move. Moses was primarily a military leader with responsibility for getting the people into the new land. He had been trained as a leader in Egypt, but after a false start, he escaped to the wilderness, where he was called by God. The calling was clear.

The LORD said, "I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey... So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt" (Ex 3:7-10).

Moses was appointed as a military leader to bring the nation out of Egypt into the Promised Land. He was not called to be a king, and his position was not permanent. Moses died when he had led Israel up to the edge of the promised land. Joshua was anointed to take Moses' place and finish the task (Deut 31:1-8). With God’s help, Joshua conquered the Promised Land by defeating the kings in the South and then the kings of the North. He then divided the land among the tribes and families. They completed the task that Moses had begun.

No successor was appointed for Joshua (Jos 23). The reason is that the task that Moses had started was now completed. Israel no longer needed a military leader. God had promised that if Israel obeyed him, he would keep them safe from their enemies (Deut 28:1-7). The Moses/Joshua model was not the optimal form of government. It was a temporary leadership model for a unique situation, which has not occurred again.

Moses the Prophet

We should note that Moses was not a lawmaker. Moses had a prophetic role in the giving of the law. He received the law from God and passed it on to the people. His skill was in hearing God, not in making laws.

Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those miraculous signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. (Deut 34:10,11).

The prophetic role included signs and wonders when confronting Pharaoh with God’s words. The most important aspect of this prophetic ministry was hearing God speak and the most important words that Moses received were the Laws for Society and the Instructions for Economic Life. His role was not one of law-making. His task was to pass God’s law on to the people.

This is another role that was completed with Moses. God’s law is perfect, so he only had to give it once. Jesus said,

I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished (Matt 5:18).

Many men and women succeed Moses in the office of prophet, but they do not have the role of law-giving. That task was completed with Moses. Even Jesus did not have to change the law. The role of law-giver finished with Moses.

Judge/Leaders

A new stage of human government began in the Book of Judges. This was also a temporary solution to a perennial problem. When people turned away from God, they lost God’s protection and were invaded by enemy nations.

Then the LORD raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of these raiders (Jud 2:16).

They needed a military leader to deliver them from these attacks.

Unlike their fathers, they quickly turned from the way in which their fathers had walked, the way of obedience to the LORD's commands. Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them, he was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them (Jud 2:17-18).

The people would become complacent and stop trusting in God. He would withdraw their protection and they would be invaded. When the nation repented, God would send them a military leader to rescue them from the invaders. These judges were not an ideal form of government. They were the response of a compassionate God to a people groaning under oppression and affliction. God only raised up a judge to lead the nation, when the nation was in trouble. They were a temporary solution to a serious problem. They were not the ideal form of government.

The title of the judges is a bit confusing. Some had started their careers as judges applying the law amongst the people when God turned them into military leaders to deliver the people. However, whatever their origin, they were primarily military leaders.

Kings

The people of Israel became dissatisfied with just having judge-leaders. The judge/leader was supposed to be a temporary solution. When the people went back to serving God, the judge-leader would no longer be needed. The problem was that the people did not want to serve God.

But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshipping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways (Jud 2:19).

The natural inclination of Israel was towards corruption and following other Gods. They refused to give up evil and their stubborn ways, so temporary judges did not work for them. Israel had lost God’s protection so frequently that they wanted permanent military protection. So they asked for a king like the nations around them.

We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles (1 Sam 8:19,20).

The king was not a totally new role, but a permanent form of the Judge-Leader military commander. Israel wanted a king, so they could live in permanent disobedience to God without threat of invasion, but a permanent military leader was not a godly solution.

Kingship was not God’s idea. It was copied from the heathen nations around Israel. That was never going to be a good place to find good government.

Samuel warned the people that a king was not part of God’s plan for them.

Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. He said, "This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves (1 Sam 8:10-17).

These are shocking words. The nation that chooses a human king will end up in slavery. The young men will be forced to serve in the king's army. The young women will be forced to serve in the king's palace. The king will take the best of the land for himself. He will tax all their income and make them poor.

Samuel was certain that the king would not be “God's servant to do you good” (Rom 13:4). The people hoped that the king would deliver them from the surrounding nations. Instead of setting them free, the king would make them his slaves. The worst thing was that Israel's kings constantly provoked the nations, or joined in unholy alliances with them. This resulted in more wars. The history of Israel is the history of wars, where the people had to fight for the king. This produced a great deal of suffering for the nation.

Many Christians believe that human kingship is a good form of government. This is not true. God never blessed human kingship as an optimal form of government.

King David

The Jewish people tended to look upon David as the perfect king and the ideal government. David was a great person with a good heart. His Psalms are a testimony to his good relationship with God. David was also an effective military leader. He demonstrated his courage in the defeat of Goliath and his battle skills by driving the Jebusites out of Jerusalem.

Despite having a good heart, David was not a good ruler of the people. He did not handle justice well. Absalom was able to make a place for himself by getting justice for people who did not believe they would get justice from King David (2 Sam 15:2-4).

The sad truth is that David did all the things that Samuel warned a king would do. Samuel said that the king would take the best property for himself. David had such great wealth and property that he needed twelve overseers to organize the people who worked it (1 Chron 27:25-31). Samuel warned that the king would take their daughters. David did worse; he took the wife of one of his soldiers, Uriah the Hittite, and then had him murdered. Samuel warned that the king would take all the young men for his army. David took a census of the people to find out how many soldiers he could have. This sin brought judgement onto the nation, as the king was their representative.

So the LORD sent a plague on Israel from that morning until the end of the time designated, and seventy thousand of the people from Dan to Beersheba died (1 Sam 24:15).

King David was just doing what kings do, but his mistake cost 70,000 lives. He was the best king that Israel had, but he was not good enough.

David's experience proves that kingship is not an ideal form of government. David was a good man with a good heart, but even he could not make kingship work. A human king can never escape the traps of pride and hubris.

David knew that he was not the ideal king. He constantly honoured the true king.

The LORD is King forever and ever; (Ps 10:16).
For the kingdom is the LORD's (Ps 22:28)
For God is the King of all the earth (Ps 47:7).
For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods (Ps 95:3).
Shout for joy before the LORD, the King (Ps 98:6).
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom (Ps 145:13).

David's Line

God made a promise to David through Nathan the prophet that has been widely misunderstood.

I declare to you that the LORD will build a house for you: When your days are over and you go to be with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, one of your own sons, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for me, and I will establish his throne forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. I will never take my love away from him, as I took it away from your predecessor. I will set him over my house and my kingdom forever; his throne will be established forever (1 Chron 17:10-14).

Christians often assume that God was giving the big tick to kingship by establishing David's descendants as kings over Israel. The problem is that Nathan's promise is to Jesus, not Solomon. God promised to love one of David's sons and that his kingdom would last forever. This was not fulfilled in Solomon. Solomon turned to foreign women, so he lost the blessing of God. His kingdom did not last forever, but was wrested away from his sons as soon as he died.

Nathan's promise to David was fulfilled in Jesus. God said of Jesus, I will be his father, and he will be my son. Jesus established the kingdom of God, which will last forever. This understanding is confirmed in God’s answer to Solomon's prayer. God did not promise that his family line would continue as kings of Israel.

And if you walk in my ways and obey my statutes and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life (1 Kings 3:14).

God only promised long life to Solomon. He did not establish a kingly dynasty through him.

Jesus is the ideal King.

Nebuchadnezzar's Dream

When Daniel the prophet was living in Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. Daniel told him the dream before he gave the interpretation.

You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue—an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance. The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay. While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth (Dan 2:31-35).

Daniel explained the meaning of the dream to Nebuchadnezzar.

You are that head of gold. After you, another kingdom will rise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth. Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron—for iron breaks and smashes everything—and as iron breaks things to pieces, so it will crush and break all the others (Dan 2:39,40).

Christians have put a lot of effort into working out who these kingdoms represent. They are generally thought to represent the kingdoms of Babylon, Media-Persia, Greece and Rome.

In many ways, it does not matter who the different parts of the statue represent. The really important point is that they are all part of the same statue. The statue represents human government in opposition to God. The various kingdoms are different attempts at human government, but they are all united in a common purpose. They all attempt to establish order in the world, without reference to God. They all follow their predecessor Nimrod in standing against God.

Empires

God often works out his purposes through large empires. He used Babylon to bring judgement against Israel. He then used the Medes to bring judgment against Babylon. God called Cyrus to accomplish his purposes.

This is what the LORD says to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I take hold of to subdue nations before him and to strip kings of their armour, to open doors before him so that gates will not be shut (Is 45:1).

God uses human empires to execute judgement on evil nations, but they are not the optimal form of government.

We always face a choice between the government of God and the government of man. When we reject God, we end up with the government of man. Some human governments are weak and pathetic, but all human government has a tendency towards accumulation of power. Under human government, state power grows and eventually swamps everything. The fourth beast of Daniel is the ultimate triumph of state power.

Democracy

The modern view is that democracy is the ideal form of government, but it does not get a good press in the Bible. The biblical evidence is that when the people joined together to make a unanimous or majority decision, they usually got things wrong. There are some examples.

The children of Israel frequently voted to return to slavery in Egypt, rather than follow God into the Promised Land.

In the desert, the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death." (Ex 16:2,3).

If Israel had been a democracy, it would never have got into Canaan. A democratic vote will often go the way of the world.

Even when they could see into the Promised Land, the people voted against going into it.

That night all the people of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt" The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: "How long will this wicked community grumble against me? (Num 14:1-4, 26,27).

The people wanted to elect a leader to take them back to Egypt, because they thought that obeying God would be too tough. This is typical of democracy. People will rarely vote for a tough option, even when it is needed. They will generally vote for the option that produces the most comfort.

Idolatry

Democracy often led to idolatry.

When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, "Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him" (Ex 32:1).

Aaron took their jewellery and built a golden calf.

So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward, they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry (Ex 32:6).

This pattern continued throughout the history of Israel.

This is what the LORD says about this people: They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet (Jer 14:10).

The people frequently voted with their feet for the worship of idols. In the modern world, we have made an idol of democracy. Gideon understood this problem well.

The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian." But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you" (Jud 8:22,23).

This is a good example of democracy getting things wrong. The people voted Gideon for president, but that was not God’s will. Gideon understood the issues better and reminded them that God was their ruler. The decision by Israel to have a king was contrary to God’s will, but it was a democratic decision.

But the people refused to listen to Samuel. "No!" they said. "We want a king over us. Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles" (1 Sam 8:19,20).

The people voted to be like the other nations, despite Samuel's warning that this would not lead to blessing. Democratic elections do not bring forth the best leaders.

Crucified Jesus

Jesus was crucified by a democratic decision.

Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified (Matt 15:15).

The representative of the evil empire wanted to set Jesus free. However, he agreed to put the decision to a vote; and Jesus was sent down. Democracy perpetrated the greatest injustice that has ever been done by sentencing the only perfect man to death for crimes he did not commit.

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge….. because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children (Hos 4:6).

Given that democracy gets things wrong so often, it is hard to understand why Christians are so enthusiastic about democracy. Christians have tended to recommend democracy as a political solution, but there is no biblical reason for this enthusiasm. People power leads to oppression because the crowd is usually wrong.

Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd (Ex 23:2).

We should be careful about recommending a system that does not have God’s approval. Just as a thorn bush cannot produce apples, a system where man establishes the laws can never advance the Government of God.

Dangerous Democracy

Many Christians are expecting a world government to emerge. The name they give to this dictator is the Antichrist. Looking for an antichrist is a mistake, because the word antichrist is never used in the Book of Revelation. The title is only used in the epistle of John to describe people who deny Jesus has come in the flesh, and he says that the antichrist had already come in his time (1 Jn 2:18-22).

Revelation does not refer to an antichrist, but it does describe the same beast that Daniel saw in his dream. Christians everywhere are searching for this beast. They sift through Revelation looking for clues and trying to work out the meaning of 666. However, they are looking for the wrong Beast, so despite all the searching, the Beast has arrived and no one has noticed. The beast represents restored democracy.

Democracy is the ultimate human government because it consists of an entire society refusing to accept God’s government. In a country ruled by a king or an emperor, only one man is rejecting God. God brought King Nebuchadnezzar from his throne, because he had exalted above God. Daniel and the other people in Babylon were not affected by this judgment.

Democracy comes into being when everyone in society rejects the government of God. This is the ultimate human government. The Beast of Revelation is the pinnacle of state power and the epitome of human government.

The apostle John saw a beast similar to the fourth beast of Daniel's vision.

And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. He had tinhorns and seven heads, with ten crowns on his horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion (Rev 13:1,2).

The resemblance to the leopard, the bear and the lion provides the link with Daniel's vision. John is indicating that this Beast is not something new. It is just one more human government in a long line that extended from Babylon to Rome. They may arise in different places, but they are all the same in their essence. They are human attempts to establish government without God. This human government grew very strong.

The dragon gave the beast h4is power and his throne and great authority…Men worshipped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshipped the beast and asked, "Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?" (Rev 13:2,4).

This beast has enormous power because the devil gave it all his power and authority. Everyone is amazed at what this political empire achieves. They have enormous faith in this human government.

Identification of the Beast

The key to the identification of this Beast is that it seemed to have died and then come back to life again. When it came back to life, the entire world follows the Beast.

One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast (Rev 13:3).

One head of the beast had been killed, but it came back to life, creating great amazement throughout the world. The terrible beast is a form of human government that existed before John's time, that came to such a violent end, that it seemed impossible that it could rise again. John saw a form of human government that appeared to be finished forever came into existence again. This is confirmed in a later vision.

The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the Book of Life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come (Rev 17:8).

The Beast once existed; in John's time, it did not exist; but in the future, it will come back into existence. People will be amazed when it comes back into existence, because it appeared to have been obliterated. John indicates the time when this government came to an end.

They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction (Rev 17:9-11).

John is referring to a form of human government that did not exit during his lifetime, but did exist at an earlier time. It is different from the sixth king, which did exist at the time when John received the vision.

The sixth king is easy to identify, because the Roman Empire dominated the world throughout John's lifetime. The Roman Empire is the sixth king. The key to identifying the terrible beast is to identify a different form of human government that came to a violent end prior to the time of the Roman Empire.

The major form of human government that existed prior to the Roman Empire was the Roman Republic. The Republic began in 500 BC and lasted for nearly five centuries. It was led by consuls elected for a year. An elected Senate was responsible for passing laws and appointing government officials. Not everyone had the right to vote, but the Roman Republic was based on the principle of democracy.

Democracy in Rome came to a violent end about thirty years before Jesus was born. Julius Caesar and then his successor Caesar Augustus turned the Roman armies against Rome and destroyed the Republic. By the time Jesus was born, the Empire was fully entrenched in power. This was an interesting period of history. Not only did Christianity begin, but democracy died.

When Caesar August took control of Rome, democracy was fatally wounded, despite being an important form of government for several centuries. It had begun in Greece, but had died there much earlier. By the time John received his vision, democracy appeared to be gone forever, having been destroyed by a fatal blow.

“The beast that once was, now is not” is the democratic form of Government. The beast with the “fatal wound had been healed" is another description of democratic government. Democracy died at about the same time as the Kingdom of God began.

John warmed that the beast that died would come back to life and become an eighth king. Democracy did not come back to life until ten centuries later, when a parliament emerged in England. The Beast of Revelation represents restored democracy. The leaders of democracy in England and the United States looked back to the example of the Greek and Roman Republics.

Restored Democracy

The idea that the beast of Revelation represents restored democracy is confirmed in several ways. The beast comes out of the sea (Rev 13:1). Throughout Revelation, the sea represents the people of the world.

Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw…. are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages” (Rev 17:15).

Most empires come into being when a few men seize control. The Beast is different; it emerges as the people govern themselves. The only way a great multitude of people can govern themselves is through democracy.

Men worshipped the Beast and said, “Who is like the Beast?” (Rev13:4).

This is already happening. People of the modern world have enormous faith in the democratic state. Most people have more faith in the state than Christians have in God. They say that democracy is the best form of government. Very few people are interested in government by God.

The statue in Nebuchadnezzar's vision had feet and toes that were a mixture of iron and clay. Iron represents strength, so it describes a strong government. Clay represents humanity, as we were created from the earth (Gen 2:7). The clay represents human government. A mixture of iron and clay represents a powerful democratic state.

Emerging Beast

The Roman Empire lasted for about five centuries. It was succeeded by a motley assortment of kings and fiefdoms. Democracy first emerged in England in the thirteenth century when some of the nobles began to resist the power of the king. However, real democracy only began in the nineteenth century when the vote was extended to the common people. It emerged in the United States about the same time.

The First World War ended the reign of kings throughout Europe. Democracy became the normal form of government. Following the Second World War, democracy spread throughout the world as the colonial power withdrew from their empires. Democracy is now accepted throughout the world as the best form of Government.

Francis Fukuyama wrote a famous article called “The End of History”. He was not talking about the end of the world. He was saying that with the collapse of communism, liberal democracy had triumphed over all alternative forms of government.

What we are witnessing is not just the end of the Cold War, or a passing of a particular period of post-war history, but the end of history as such: that is, the end point of mankind's ideological evolution and the universalization of Western liberal democracy as the final form of human government.

Fukuyama claims that liberal democracy has proven to be superior to all other forms of human government. Democracy started off the twentieth century as one among many possible systems of government. Now all contenders, including monarchy, communism, and fascism have failed, so he cannot envisage a future where liberal democracy is not the dominant form of government. Fukuyama believes that liberal democracy is the best form of government, so it cannot be superseded by a better or “higher” form of government. I guess he was really saying “Who is like the Beast?”

If America continues on its current path, the final manifestation of the Democratic Beast will be the American Beast.

Growing Power

As democracy has spread, the power of the state has expanded enormously. Although kings had absolute power, the scope of their authority and ability to levy taxes was limited. The modern democratic state has far more power than previous empires. It can conscript any citizen, male or female, to fight in its wars. The democratic state can tax income and wealth at whatever level it wishes. A democratic parliament can pass any law it chooses. Democracy has given the political state unprecedented power.

Collapse of the Beast

The book of Revelation tells the story of the rise and fall of the democratic state. Although it achieves power, it will eventually collapse under its own weight. When man ignores God, things go wrong on Earth. The curses and plagues described in the book of Revelation are the devastating consequences of rampant state power.

The democratic state will demand more and more power to deal with these problems and plagues, but they will fail. As they demand more power, the problems will just get worse. Eventually, everything will collapse under the strain. This will present a tremendous opportunity for Christians, if they are ready. Things will get so bad that the kings and politicians will want to hide.

Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains (Rev 6:15).

The powerful people will be so shaken that they will want to hide. The people of the world will be looking for a better form of government. They will have had enough of human government and be open to an alternative. If Christians are ready to present an alternative, it will be well received. People will be crying out for the government of God.

The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever (Rev 11:15).

The collapse of human government will create a great vacuum that only the Government of God can fill. Christians must not use force against human government. They must wait for God to judge it. They should wait for it to collapse under its own internal weakness.

Government Spirits

When the people of a city or nation submit to human political leaders, whatever the system, they give them authority over their lives. If the powers of evil get to control the people at the top of the political hierarchy, they gain authority over all the people submitted to them. Concentration of political power leverages the authority of the powers of evil.

The spiritual powers that control political leaders are called government-spirits in the Bible (this is a better translation of the Greek words than the popular expression principalities and powers). Some, like the Prince of Persia, take the name of their nation (Dan 10:20). They have immense authority on earth, despite their defeat on the cross, because people submit to the leaders controlled by them. Political leaders have legal authority over their people, so attacking them gives the government-spirits control over cities and nations.

Focusing on individual people is a very inefficient way for the powers of evil to use their shrinking power. If an evil spirit gains control over one person, it can make that person’s life miserable, but that is all. By getting control over a political leader, the same spirit can make an entire nation miserable. The powers of evil amplify their power by attacking people with political authority.

The power of evil is mostly an illusion, but concentrating on a few powerful people has allowed the forces of evil to magnify their pathetic power. Controlling human political power has amplified their authority out of proportion to their strength.

In the modern world, political power has been centralised and consolidated as never before. The leader of a modern democratic nation has greater power and authority than an emperor in Old Testament times, because they can control every aspect of life in their city or nation.

The political systems of great nations are extremely dangerous, because one person has control over hundreds of millions of people. The devil can gain huge power on earth, by deploying a few strong spirits to get control of the political leaders of a nation. By getting control of these leaders, the government-spirits get authority over everyone submitted to them. Concentration of human political power gives vast power to the government-spirits that control it.

Human political power is the main reason that the defeat of the spiritual powers of evil on the cross has not become a reality on Earth.

Awful Option

I will now deal with a form of government that is not in the scriptures, but is popular with many Christians. A common belief is that Jesus will return to Jerusalem at the end of the age and rule the whole world. The idea has emerged that Jesus ruling as king in Jerusalem would be the perfect government, but a little thought reveals this to be an awful idea.

The idea of Jesus sitting in Jerusalem and using an “iron fist” to crush all opposition is repulsive and contrary to the gospel. What is more, it would not work. Jesus would not be able to eliminate evil from a throne in Jerusalem. He could control those in the immediate vicinity, but those further abroad would escape his power. Jesus could get his followers to track them down and "zap" them, but that would increase their hostility to him. He might be able to gain control of the world, but it would not be a very pleasant place to live.

Thankfully, Jesus refused to establish his Kingdom using force. He said,

My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest… (John 18:36).

His kingdom will not be established by worldly means. Jesus refused to use force, even though he could have called on his Father to send a whole host of angels to his aid (Matt 26:52,53). Jesus knew that true converts cannot be won by force. God has a much better way; to win the hearts of men through the inner work of the Holy Spirit, as the church proclaims the gospel. The problems of the world cannot be solved by forcing people to do things they do not want to do. Evil will only disappear when all sinful hearts are transformed and to love of God. Jesus sitting on a throne in Jerusalem would not have the power to change hearts. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. And surprise, surprise! He can change hearts now without waiting for Jesus to return.

The millennium is a Jewish Idea. The Jews expected the Messiah to come as a mighty ruler and destroy all their enemies. They were disappointed and confused when Jesus came as a carpenter, teaching them to love their enemies. A messiah dying on a cross was well outside their expectations. Christians have embraced the messiah on the cross, but many still have the yearning for a messiah who will come with a rocket launcher and “blow away” their enemies.

For Jesus to rule the earth from Jerusalem, the church would have to become a giant bureaucracy. The saints would take orders from Jerusalem, so there would be no place for initiative and exercise of their talents. Being a cog in a giant bureaucracy does not sound like the hope to which we were called. We live in a bureaucratic age, and this idea may appeal to men who do not wish to take responsibility, but God would prefer men to be responsible, and exercise authority in obedience to the Word and the Spirit. Jesus can rule through Christians now, if they will submit to his word and the Spirit. There is no need for an earthly bureaucracy.

The kingdom of God cannot be established by force. Jesus can accomplish far more in the present age through the Holy Spirit. Working through him, Jesus can extend his power and influence throughout the entire earth.

Perfect Timing

Once we understand that kingship is a suboptimal form of government, we have to look for a different model. We know that democracy is contrary to God’s will. We need to find the optimal form of government.

As with most things, we find that God gets things right the first time. He gave Adam the responsibility for self-government. As the population of the world grew, God established family government through men like Noah and Abraham. While there was plenty of room on the earth and families were spreading out, so there was no need for civil government. However, by the time of Isaac and Jacob, people were beginning to clash with each other (Jacob and Esau, Jacob and Laban), so a better form of civil government was needed. The need was postponed when Israel went to Egypt and became slaves in the Egyptian system.

While Moses was leading the children of Israel out of Egypt towards the Promised Land, they had a military-style government. They were under constant threat of attack, so they travelled in a military formation. However, once they entered the new land, military government was not appropriate, so they needed a system civil government. Just before the need arose, God came through with a new system of government that would enable them to live peacefully in close proximity in Canaan. God’s perfect model of government was law and judges.

Perfect Government

God’s perfect government has two aspects. The first and most important aspect of God’s government is the law. Every civilised society needs law to function well. However, the problem is that most use human laws. God’s law is holy and good (Rom 7:12). The basis for perfect government is God’s law.

The second prong of a perfect government is wise judges. Law cannot function on its own, but has to be applied. Good law needs wise judges to apply it. At the same time as God gave Israel the laws they needed, he also gave them a system of judges.

The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power, he led them out of that country, he endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert, he overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to his people as their inheritance. All this took about 450 years. After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul, son of Kish (Acts 13:17-21).

God gave judges to Israel as they were going into the Promised Land. This was the second part aspect of God’s ideal government.

They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves (Ex 18:26).

When the children of Israel entered the Promised Land, they had judges to apply God’s law. This makes sense, as God would not give the law, without raising up judges to implement it. Moses gave the judges a “head start” by helping with the difficult cases.

Only the Best

God gave Israel a system of law and judges. This system of government has never been abolished. Jesus’ death on the cross ended the temple sacrifices. When he ascended as the great high priest, he ended the role of the priesthood. The role of judges administering God’s law has never been abolished or replaced. Jesus will return as judge at the end of the age. That will be the point at which the role of godly human judges comes to an end.

God’s ideal government is a system of law and judges. The law should be God’s law. Excellent judges will emerge as we submit our cases to the wisest people. This is the best system of government. Because it was given by God, a better system will never be found. Human wisdom can never match God’s wisdom.