LAW AND GOVERNMENT IN SCRIPTURE, PART 1
Introduction
Like many events in the Bible, the event of the ark and the flood have been mangled by man, and treated so lightly that people actually smile when you mention Noah’s ark and the flood. The universality of the flood can be seen through stories of “a great flood” throughout many vastly different past cultures in the world. The memory of “a flood” has been preserved in the traditions of widely separated nations and cultures: ranging from the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Armenians, Persians to India, China, North American Indians, Pre-Columbian Indians, and South America cultures. This was a universal flood, not a local flood. The various descriptions of these stories are mostly ridiculous in their details of the ark and the flood, but it was in the memory! However, one record has many similarities and just a few differences, and that is the Babylonian record.
Keep in mind that the physical and material antediluvian world is an unknown world, except for the few views we get of it from the Bible. We know quite a lot about the people, and their godless culture from the Word of God. We know that God allowed man to bring his principles to fruition, and this led to man’s ruin. God has allowed man in past dispensations, and is allowing man in the age of grace, to pursue his principles and beliefs. Whenever mankind follows a path without God, or a path without godly structure, man always fails and eventually faces ruin.
We know nothing of the landscape, the land masses (continents or seas), hills, and mountain ranges. We understand from Genesis 1:9 that the waters were gathered in one place, and God called these waters, Seas. We do not know the structure and parameters of the Seas, nor do we know the structure of the antediluvian landscape. It is very difficult for our minds to conceive of a planet that may have been quite different from what we have today.
We have been taught to accept a belief system that does not consider (1) the action of God in the lives of men, and (2) a changing system of cataclysmic events by the hand of God. Man not only WANTS, but he NEEDS to believe in an unchanging landscape; man wants to believe in a closed system of only cause and effect. Within this belief system the occasional disturbance by a tsunami, hurricane, or volcanic eruption is called “mother nature” at work.
God not only created the world, but He maintains the world. He and He alone acts within His creation. There is no “mother nature”! There is God! Man uses this term “mother nature” in his desire to remove God from all actions on earth, and because man cannot understand that “if there is a God” how can God bring severe action upon His creation? Yet man refuses to read the Scriptures to learn of God actions, His plans, His purposes, His dealings with man and with His creation. Notice in Genesis 6:17 And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die. God asserts that it is He, and He alone who will bring the flood upon the world. God doesn’t hide behind a “mother nature.” God emphatically repeated that this judgment would come from His hand, and His hand alone. This flood would not be a product of “natural causes,” no “mother nature” in this act of judgment! This verse tells us that this flood was not going to be a local event, but it would be a universal judgment on the entire planet.
Jeremiah 13:25 This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
The uniformity of natural causes in a closed system is not a valid belief system. We do not live in a closed system of cause and effect only; God can and does reach into His machine (His creation) and acts. In 2 Peter 3:3-7 we read that during the last age (before the coming of the Lord) that men will mock the belief in the coming of the Lord. Men will point to the unchanging landscape, and the normalcy of life as being a constant element from the beginning of the world.
The Beginning of Mans Government
After exiting from the ark, the first thing that Noah did was to build an altar and offer a burnt offering from the seventh part of the clean animals. The cargo of the ark consisted of two classifications of animals: clean and unclean. God sets His drama by introducing us to a basic Biblical principle: the separation of clean from unclean. (This will be for a further survey in Scripture). Of the clean animals, there were seven pairs. Of the unclean animals, there were two, a pair, male and female. Genesis 7: 2, 3.
- And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth.
- And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered.
- Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
- But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
- And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man’s brother will I require the life of man.
- Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man. (Genesis 9:1-6)
This new earth or new beginning for mankind started with a covenant, known as the Noahic Covenant, in which God promised man that He would never again destroy the world by water. There are fundamental concepts that God sets down that should govern the actions of mankind: (1) adding dead animals to man’s food selection. By this very act of feeding on dead carcasses, man should be aware of the significance that he is able to live because of the death of another: (2) the sacredness of blood to God, to recognize the importance of life, and thus, to honor and respect God. God Himself shed the first blood in the garden of Eden by slaying an animal (probably a lamb) to cloth Adam and Eve. This was a type of the blood sacrifice that would be shed by Himself, through the Lord Jesus Christ, on Calvary to cover the sin of man. God does not want man to take lightly the shedding of blood-sacrifice: (3) Control by force and fear over the animal creation, to be responsible for the welfare of animal life, as Adam was the caretaker over the animal world so too man in this new world would have the same responsibilities, however, in this new beginning there would be fear among the animals: (4) dispersing of man for his wellbeing, for protection and for the development of tribal and physical characteristics: (5) human government — in order to form a civilization with responsibility towards God, and thus, justice and social responsibility should be a part of this oversight; and finally: (6) capital punishment.
Before the flood there is no record in Scripture of any special dealing with man regarding government. It was an age of unrestrained self-will. We read of no restraint put on man in the way of government. There appears to be conscience and testimony whereby man acted. We do not read of any governmental suppression of crime, nor do we see any governmental interaction to punish those who committed evil. When Cain murdered his brother Abel, God spared his life. When Lamech boasted about committing murder, we do not read of any action, or threat from any magisterial authority.
In the new world God establishes a new principle — human government.
The principle of human government is established in Genesis 9:1-6. Why was this law given here at the beginning of this new age of man? It wasn’t primarily instituted for the welfare of mankind, but it was based on one fact alone, and that is, man is “made in the image of God.” The fundamental terms by which God would deal with the nations on earth is very simple: (1) man is unique: (2) man is made in the image of God, (3) to honor and respect man would be to show honor and respect to God: (4) blood is sacred to God, and (5) the murderer will be judged and punished.
The establishment of government by man teaches us that the purpose of government is to preserve the rights of God, and to preserve and protect the rights and dignity of man as His creature. No deadly influence should ever be allowed to kill man, because man was created in the image of God. The image of God is to be preserved and honored in man. The proper place of man should be upheld with dignity and honor because man was created originally in the image of God; however, since the fall of Adam, the moral image of God in man is no more, but nevertheless, the image of God is revealed through man, and thus, man should realize his place in the universe is indeed unique. The theory of evolution teaches that man is merely an animal, and thus, the tremendous significance of man’s place in the universe is removed from his thoughts. This uniqueness of man ceases to exist in the hearts of man, and thus, murder then becomes inherently no different from any other crime. Whenever man loses the understanding and the appreciation of his own uniqueness, he then loses the understanding and the appreciation of others, nor is he able to respect the uniqueness of others, thus, he cannot understand or appreciate the sacredness of life. The murderer does not value his own uniqueness, so how can he value the uniqueness of his victim? After the flood, capital punishment was ordained by God as the penalty for murder. This statement by God came centuries before the Mosaic law, thus, universally binding until the end of time.
First Commandment in Scripture
Genesis 9: 5- 6 reveals to us that the first law presented to man by God in this new world was that of capital punishment. Remember that the first law, or commandment, given in the new earth in Genesis to Adam and Eve was based on: obey and live, or disobey and die.
In the process of time Israel, under Moses (the law giver), was tested and tried in the wilderness by God, and formed spiritually and nationally to prepare them to enter into the land that He promised to give to them. During the very beginning of Israel’s journey in the wilderness, God gave Moses what is called “the ten commandments.” I recommend that you read the entire chapter 19 in Exodus to get an understanding of the where, and the why, and then read Exodus 20.
The law in Exodus was given for a specified time, to a special people, and for a definite purpose. In the Mosaic Law, or moral law there are approximately 658 laws. The Mosaic Law formed a constitution on which the civil government of the Israelites was founded, and by which leaders were required to rule (Deuteronomy 17:18-20; 2 Kings 11:1; 2 Chronicles 23:11). There are laws concerning: forms of government, citizenship, laws of theocracy, criminal laws, laws pertaining to domestic relations, laws of estates, descent and distribution, social security and welfare laws, laws pertaining to contracts, religious laws, laws pertaining to legal procedure, tort laws, laws of sanitation and cleanliness, laws pertaining to animals, and laws concerning interest and loans.
God gave the law to show man his ruin and condemnation, and yet man tries to use the law as a ladder to reach heaven by works. This law is known as the Law of Moses or the Moral Law. At this point I need to remind you that God gave the Law to show man what he ought to be, and what he ought to do. Tied to the law was also the curse or penalty for failing to obey the law. God gave the law to show man that he could not obtain it, that man could not live up to God’s earthly human moral standards and because man cannot achieve this law — death is upon him. Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Man is under the false assumption that the Law as given by God to Moses is attainable. It is NOT. It is a good standard for any nation or individual to live by, but because man is inherently sinful, he cannot attain the law, man alone cannot satisfy the law of God.
The book of Romans in the New Testament is a doctrinal book on law versus faith and teaches us where we are today in the grand plan of God and His law as given to the children of Israel. The book of Romans in the New Testament steps aside from the law and announces that the “just shall live by faith.” Though the law is good and holy, it cannot produce holiness and righteousness in sinful man. Galations 3:24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
The Ten Commandments in Exodus, Chapter 20, verses 1-17
The supreme law – no other object of worship. To recognize that there is only one God (Elohiym).
Here is forbidden visible representation of Deity. We are forbidden to worship even the true God by and through imagery. We are forbidden to make images, statues of anything that we perceive to be heavenly, or earth like, or under the earth, and use them as religious or worship subjects. No matter how we rationalize all these; it is against God’s commandment. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him? (Isaiah 40:18) Our worship must be governed by the power of faith and not the power of imagination.
His name is profoundly sacred. His name, His being is to be spoken of in reverence, and with reverence. He is not “the guy in the sky!”
Work calls for rest from work. The Lord separated the seventh day for his own, for his service and for man’s holy use and rest. God’s care for man is shown not only in providing a time of rest, but a period for rejuvenation, a time to contemplate on His Holiness and on His provision for man. Much can be said on God’s Sabbath and God’s day of rest, being for the Christian, the first day of the week, but let us progress on.
This is more than obedience; this is more than love — it is esteem. All parents are not created equal — there are good parents and bad parents. God doesn’t call us to “love our father and mother,” but He does call us to “honor” our parents. As children, God requires us to act honorably towards our parents in consideration of God. I fully understand that there are parents who are not worthy of honor nor are they worthy of respect. Honor goes beyond love, honor is a much higher element than love, honor may include forgiveness, and in honoring parents one shows honor and obedience to God.
Believe me, I am really trying to stay focused on commandment # 6, Thou shalt not kill. Do not try to prove your point or back your belief system on this verse alone! By pulling this one verse out of its context without the knowledge of other verses reveals a person’s complete lack of Scripture knowledge. I brought up the entire ten commandment section so that you could see these commandments apply to INDIVIDUALS. These are not governmental responsibilities but INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITIES.
Let’s see what Scripture has to say about governmental actions and the responsibility of people who are in leadership positions and who have to answer to God in their caretaker role.
- He that smiteth a man, so that he die, shall be surely put to death. (Exodus 21:12)
- If a thief be found breaking up, and be smitten that he die, there shall no blood be shed for him.(Exodus 22:2)
- Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put to death by the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person to cause him to die. Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death. (Numbers 35:30,31)
- And he that killeth any man shall surely be put to death. (Leviticus 24:17)
There are many verses requiring leadership or government to exercise their right to take the life of a murderer; however, God made a distinction between premeditated murder, manslaughter, a mistake, or an accident. God made special provisions for all conditions. The execution of justice after a lawful manner, for a suitable offense, and by a lawful judicial system is clearly demonstrated in the laws of God in Exodus.
In the ten commandments, note all the negatives, “no,” and “not.” These negatives imply that transgression, not obedience is natural to man. Remember that a child does not have to be taught to lie but has to be taught to tell the truth. Sin nature is within all mankind. The first ten commandments of the Mosaic law are directed to man in his human responsibility to God. Ten is the number of man’s responsibility: ten fingers “our work,” ten toes “our walk.” The number ten represents the completeness of man’s responsibility to God.
The purpose of the law was to bring us to Christ because no man can live up to the law, none can live up to Gods holy and righteous law, that all are under the condemnation and the penalty of death. It was Christ on the cross at Calvary who bore your sins and paid the price for your sins — He and He alone satisfied God’s righteous judgment against sin through the sacrifice of His body and through His blood!
A principle in Scripture is to recognize man’s responsibility to govern himself under God’s directive — human government. The tragedy of human government is that for the most part it is built on a wrong foundation. It’s built on the assumption that men have the ability to govern with truth, justice and righteousness. It’s built on the presumption that men know what is “right” for the masses. It’s built on the presumption that because men know what is right, they will do what is right, and herein, is the failure of the government of man.
© Copyright 2017, Mary Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. Freely ye have received, freely given.
All Scripture references are from the King James Bible. (KJB).