At the beginning of this year, I wrote a post titled Babylon as a prophetic template. The post explored why Babylon was used by John as the symbol of human governance apart from God in the book of Revelation. The basic thesis of the post was that that human governance embodied in Babylon manifested itself in authoritarianism, excessive pride and arrogance, and ruthlessness in the pursuit of its own self-interest. As a consequence, these characteristics of human governance have often resulted in the displacement of people, burdensome taxation, exploitation of resources, worship of the state and/or its leadership, and compelling people to serve in the military.
Contrary to the narrative that many biblical critics have promulgated, there are a number of very distinctive themes that run throughout the Judeo-Christian Scriptures; and this juxtaposition of God's government and human governance is one of the most important of them. In the post mentioned in the opening to this post, we looked at how the Babylon of the book of Daniel was used by John in his Apocalypse. This theme, however, really begins in the book of Genesis in the Garden of Eden! There we find the first humans symbolically portrayed as rejecting God's authority/revelation and deciding instead to depend on their own flawed understanding (which was deceived by a Serpent)! This, of course, resulted in God permitting them to experience and learn the hard way the consequences of their choice. (Genesis 2 and 3)
Interestingly, this theme pops up over and over again in Israel's relationship with YHWH; but it is particularly clear and poignant in the first book of Samuel. In that book, we are informed that the elders of Israel assembled at Ramah and asked Samuel to give them a human king. (I Samuel 8:4-5). This displeased Samuel, but God told him: "Do everything they say to you, for they are rejecting me, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer. Ever since I brought them from Egypt, they have continually abandoned me and followed other gods...Do as they ask, but solemnly warn them about the way a king will reign over them." (I Samuel 8:6-9, NLT) Once again, humans are rejecting God as their leader and asking for a human replacement, and God permits them to have what they want!
Nevertheless, in accordance with God's instructions, we are informed that Samuel did warn them about what a human leader would entail for them. We read: "So Samuel passed on the Lord’s warning to the people who were asking him for a king. 'This is how a king will reign over you,' Samuel said. 'The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers, making them run before his chariots. Some will be generals and captains in his army, some will be forced to plow in his fields and harvest his crops, and some will make his weapons and chariot equipment. The king will take your daughters from you and force them to cook and bake and make perfumes for him. He will take away the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his own officials. He will take a tenth of your grain and your grape harvest and distribute it among his officers and attendants. He will take your male and female slaves and demand the finest of your cattle and donkeys for his own use. He will demand a tenth of your flocks, and you will be his slaves. When that day comes, you will beg for relief from this king you are demanding, but then the Lord will not help you.'” (I Samuel 8:10-18, NLT)
Isn't that interesting? In Samuel's warning, we see the same characteristics and consequences of human governance which Daniel described with regard to Babylon, and which John borrowed to describe Rome and all of the human governments which would be its successors! What's even more interesting is the fact that Jesus rejected human notions about leadership and asserted that humankind's happiness would only ever be found in the acceptance of God's leadership!
In the Parable of the Ten Servants, we hear the echo of that same theme of human resistance to Divine leadership. Christ is reported to have said: "A nobleman was called away to a distant empire to be crowned king and then return. Before he left, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Invest this for me while I am gone.’ But his people hated him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be our king.’" (Luke 19:12-14, NLT) Of course, in the parable, the nobleman does eventually return and call his servants to account (see verses 15-27).
Jesus also told his disciples that he did not want them adopting human notions about leadership among his followers. In the Gospel of Matthew, we read that he told them: "You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (20:25-28, NLT) Talk about consistency! Once again, Scripture reinforces the shortcomings of human governance/leadership apart from God.
Finally, just as Daniel and John predicted that all human governance would eventually be supplanted and replaced by God's Kingdom (Daniel 2:44, 7:27 and Revelation 11:15), Jesus instructed his followers to pray for the time when that would happen! The opening to Christ's model prayer perfectly captures the importance of this concept for Christians. He said: "Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9-10, NLT) This is the lesson that humankind must eventually learn. This should be the hope of all true Christians. Human governments and leaders will NOT bring us real and lasting peace and happiness - they are incapable of doing this! ONLY God's leadership will finally bring "Peace on Earth, and goodwill towards humans!"
We are familiar with religious organizations that are stentorian about top down government. A common theme is that the government of God is a pyramidal hierarchy with today’s leading ministers destined to be at the noble top and the lay membership forming the broad bottom layer of commoners. The underlying argument behind this idea is that the hierarchical government of the church is just like the eternal government of God. I believe this idea was concocted to serve needy egos rather than God’s purposes here on earth at this time.
ReplyDeleteI reviewed briefly an archive of WCG literature online and found much concern about top down government and how it is a necessity for keeping the organization “on track.” This impresses me as a humanistic or manish viewpoint that stems from our natural hominid development. It is about authoritarianism, judgmentalism, pecking order, brusque enforcement of law and the quashing of putative rebellion. It is the form of government found among The Nations that Jesus condemns in his declaration of servant leadership. It emanates from what the Bible refers to as the “carnal” mind. It is what Paul appeals for us to struggle against.
Woody Allen said that any form of government will work as long as it is based on love. I am not a fan of Allen but I think this view has merit. I believe that people in the Kingdom of God will relate to each other through love and not hierarchical position and authority. When the kingdoms of the world are become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he shall reign for ever and ever, we will all be, as saints, in perfect harmony and with perfect hearts of love. The government will be under the direction of God but it will be hardly noticeable. It will be lost in love and mutual service. It will be very far removed from the angry, shouting, arm-waving sermon from the tyrannical pulpit. It will be the peaceable Kingdom.
Some people seem to cherish the idea of a pyramidal governmental structure with many, many layers and with each layer giving orders to the layers beneath. Everybody gets to be a tyrant except the little people at bottom. I do not think this is what Jesus meant when he said in my Father’s house are many mansions or offices. I believe he is talking about positions of service and usefulness and not defining yourself by “who I get to boss around.” I think there will be likely only two layers in the government of God – the God layer and the children’s layer. And that is all. It will be a profound disappointment for those who believe they are going to rule “directly under Abraham.”
I formed the conclusion while working at Ambassador College that an AC education was really about learning how to manage and leverage off of the church hierarchy. It was not what was taught in the classroom but what was vividly exemplified day to day. I can cite lots of examples but I will describe only one. I was in need of urgent help one time that involved some manual labor. It was for a college function. It was simple work but more than one man could do to meet schedule. A few guys could handle it nicely. There were a couple of students around so I asked one to give me a hand. He was some high ranking student – I think maybe he was the student body vice president – I know he was not the president. He had me in total derision and refused to help and walked away. People at his imposing level of importance did not do things like that. He had about three years of AC education behind him. For me, this experience was instructive. I learned something about Ambassador College and about myself. Happily, the government of God is the antithesis of this display of derision.