Civil Government (14) - 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 Mosesand Aaron. The Israelites said to them, "If only we had died by the LORD'shand 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 todeath." (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 theirvoices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses andAaron, and the whole assembly said to them, "If only we had died in Egypt! Or inthis desert! Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fallby the sword? And they said to each other, "We should choose a leader and goback to Egypt" The LORD said to Moses and Aaron: "How long will this wickedcommunity 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.

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