Saturday, January 31, 2015

For Hardness Of Hearts God Imposes Bad Laws

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God Imposes Bad Laws
For Hardness Of Hearts
“He said to them, ‘Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so’” (Matthew 19:7-8 ESV).

            God permitted many things (and commanded many things) in His law that were less than His ideal. The reason? Hardness of hearts. Under the Law of Moses God permitted slavery and concubines. For the same reason He also required many ceremonial laws as types and shadows of better things. But in the beginning it was not so. The prophet Micah gives the ideal when he says a day was/is coming when the ideal will be restored. Hearts will be softened by a mighty move of God and the law shall go forth from Zion and be established. In that day there will be no slavery, no war, and no socialism. Every man will sit under his own fig tree and his own vine (Micah 4). That is free enterprise and private property.
            Because of the hardness of hearts God gave Israel a king. Samuel warned of what it would be like under a monarchy. And the LORD said to Samuel, “Obey their voice and make them a king.” (1 Samuel 8:22 ESV) “And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day” (1 Sam 8:18). “But the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel. And they said, ‘No! But there shall be a king over us…’”(1 Samuel 8:19 ESV). So it is today. We get what we ask for.

“And now behold the king whom you have chosen, for whom you have asked; behold, the LORD has set a king over you. If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well…  And you shall know and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking for yourselves a king.” …And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for ourselves a king.” And Samuel said to the people, “Do not be afraid; you have done all this evil. Yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. And do not turn aside after empty things that cannot profit or deliver, for they are empty. For the LORD will not forsake his people, for his great name's sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you a people for himself’” (1 Samuel 12:13-22 ESV).

            The confederacy during the time of the judges would have been the ideal government if the people had made God the king. But because of their hard hearts five cities in the Gaza strip dominated all the scores of cities in Israel. It could not work because of man’s fallen nature. Under Saul and David’s central government Israel dominated not only the Philistines but also all its neighbors. No prophet came later demanding that Israel return to the confederacy of former days, God promised that He would not answer (1 Sam 8:18). God gives us the leaders we deserve. “Because of your hardness of heart” God gave you a king and here are the laws you will live under. You asked for it.
            But God turned around and used this “lesser ideal.” And the prophets even used it as a type of the greater ideal. “But they shall serve the LORD their God, And David their king, Whom I will raise up for them” (Jer 30:9).
            Nevertheless, “do not turn aside from following the LORD.” The idealist would interpret “following the LORD” as a return to the confederacy. We actually have one or two modern teachers that do the same by claiming that America should return to the Articles of Confederation. The Articles might have been the ideal (arguably), but it did not and could not work for the same reason the confederacy under the judges did not work. Hardness of hearts forbids it. Every state did what was right in its own eyes. The nation chose the U.S. Constitution as king just as Israel chose a king.
            So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “he will take your sons… and your daughters… your fields… a tenth of your grain… a tenth of your flocks… and you shall be his slaves… And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day” (1 Samuel 8:10-18 ESV). The American people have chosen what we have and the Lord will not answer until the people repent. God’s law cannot be imposed, it must be requested by the people. “No law structure can be enforced… unless almost everyone accepts it as the necessary law order”  (Rushdoony, Inst. II, p. 466).
            But we say, “Conscription is against God’s law! Taking our fields and taxing us is against God’s law!” The prophet’s response: “Too bad. You asked for it. God promised He would not answer you in that day. A deal is a deal. Serve God with what He gave you.”
            Some people thought David and Solomon were unjust. If they had had Facebook and cable news in those days, all we would hear would be complaints about the government oppression. In those days, “Absalom would say, ‘Oh that I were judge in the land! Then every man with a dispute or cause might come to me, and I would give him justice’” (2 Samuel 15:4 ESV). Absalom was no doubt justified in his complaint that David did nothing about his son raping his daughter. But God’s prophets said nothing about this and even held up David’s kingdom as a model example of God’s kingdom. “Solomon sat on the throne of the LORD as king instead of David his father’ (1 Chron 29:23). His throne is called “the throne of the LORD.”

God’s Bad Laws Under Babylon
            A similar situation took place under the king of Babylon. The last king of Judah, Zedekiah “rebelled against King Nebuchadnezzar, who had made him swear by God. He stiffened his neck and hardened his heart against turning to the LORD, the God of Israel. All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful...” (2 Chronicles 36:13-14 ESV).

“As I live, declares the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king dwells [in Babylon] who made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose covenant with him he broke, in Babylon he shall die” (Ezekiel 17:16 ESV).

            God then says in the next verses that the covenant Zedekiah made with the king of Babylon was God’s covenant.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: “As I live, surely it is my oath that he despised, and my covenant that he broke. I will return it upon his head. I will spread my net over him, and he shall be taken in my snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and enter into judgment with him there for the treachery he has committed against me” (Ezekiel 17:19-20 ESV).

            This captivity then resulted in Judah living under bad rules that God Himself ordained.

Moreover, I swore to them in the wilderness that I would scatter them among the nations and disperse them through the countries, because they had not obeyed my rules, but had rejected my statutes and profaned my Sabbaths, and their eyes were set on their fathers' idols. Moreover, I gave them statutes that were not good and rules by which they could not have life, and I defiled them through their very gifts in their offering up all their firstborn, that I might devastate them. I did it that they might know that I am the LORD (Ezekiel 20:23-26 ESV).

            Now, because of the hardness of their hearts, God forced them to live under Babylon’s civil laws instead of those of Moses. God did it. Daniel was forced to attend the university of sorcerers and was even made the supervisor over all the tax collectors of the Persian Empire. God Himself defiled them with civil laws that were not good. They asked for it by breaking God’s covenant. “And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day” (1 Samuel 8:10-18 ESV).
            Cyrus and later Persian kings gave the Jews permission to rebuild the temple and Jerusalem. God’s people did not rebel against Persia; they asked permission. They believed “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Prov 21:1). They understood that they must “be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and God has instituted those that exist. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment” (Romans 13:1-2 ESV). All of this less than ideal bondage was their punishment because of the hardness of hearts.
At the same time, God’s faithful ones understood that the meek should one day inherit the earth. But they understood it would become a reality by means of meekness and not by force.
However, there is a time for armed resistance. But armed resistance for the purpose of freedom of religion and conscience must come under the authority of lesser magistrates. 
The Maccabees’ rebellion is a good example of righteous rebellion under the authority of a lesser magistrate. Their leader, Mattathias was a judge in Judea and a priest that raised an army that rebelled against the Syrian king who would not allow Jews to circumcise their children and was forcing Jews to offer incense to Apollo.  We ought to obey God rather than man. For the sake of their conscience, the Maccabees defeated the Syrian army, re-captured Jerusalem, and cleansed the temple against impossible odds.
On the other hand, the zealots that rebelled against Rome (Barabbas types) were not rebelling out of obedience to their conscience but rather for what they thought were their rights. They thought they had a right to rebel against Roman civil laws. They no doubt believed they were in righteous rebellion. They desired to restore Jerusalem to the Law of Moses. They opposed the tyranny of Rome. But they did not understand or believe that God would or could overthrow Rome in a meek manner and in His due time. Nor did they understand the difference between rebellion for conscience’ sake and rebellion for rights’ sake. Disobedience for the sake of the conscience is obedience to God and disobedience for the sake of rights can be sin. Non-violent demonstrations, however, are not sin and are legal in America.
Rome’s unjust laws that required things like forcing a citizen to carry a soldier’s one hundred pound load for a mile was a very unjust law that violated human rights. It did not however violate one’s conscience. Therefore Jesus’ law says, “Carry it an extra mile.” The same is true of taxes and a soldiers “right” to slap you or beat you without a trial. The law of Christ to His church is, “Turn the cheek and put up your sword, Peter.”
The function of government is to protect its citizens from plunder. Governments therefore are duty-bound to bear the sword. Individuals under their own authority do not have the right to resist unjust laws. They must address the proper authorities in a lawful manner like the apostle Paul did. He first submitted to be beaten unjustly. When the jailer started to release him, he sent a message through the jailer to the magistrates and cited Roman law (Acts 16:35-39).
When individuals in Scotland rebelled against the tyrant kings of England, they did it in a popular uprising for the sake of their conscience, not simply because their rights had been violated. We ought to obey God rather than man. Carnal babes cannot understand the difference. Nor do they trust God to fight for them while they hold their peace. (When the sovereignty of God is taken out of the equation, all kinds of carnal efforts based on fear will be made. Unbelief deems it absurd to submit to injustice because it does not believe that nothing can happen unless God permits it, and that if He does it will be for good, even unto death.)
In America non-violent demonstrations and freedom of speech are legal. When civil laws say we cannot preach all of Scripture including the sinfulness of gay sex, we ought to disobey the law and obey God’s command to preach the word rather than man. When lesser magistrates are commanded to confiscate arms, they have a duty to obey the Constitution and to disobey such laws.
Humanist governments (states) are evil in many ways, but because of the hardness of hearts and the choice of the people, God has placed these governments as His servants. “For he [the government] is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience” (Romans 13:4-5 ESV).
The logic of the neophyte babe in Christ is, “Statism is evil; therefore we must get rid of the state.” He forgets that God is the One who ordains evil states for a good reason: the hardness of hearts. The one and only solution is a mighty revival that would result in fulfilling 2 Chronicles 7:14. Then and only then will the law go forth from Zion and the land be healed.
How do we get from “A,” the present reality, to “Z,” the ideal? How can we jump from “A” to “Z” when we have not even gotten to “B?” “ “If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, Then how can you contend with horses?” (Jer 12:5) One of the reasons the average Christian rejects the idea of God’s law as the ideal for the culture is that they think Theonomists want to impose it soon. This causes a “knee-jerk” reaction that even rejects the ideal. They think God’s law is evil. They even hold the current state as the ideal.

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