Whose Shoulder?

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign … over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this (Is 9:6-7).

This is simple. Jesus has been born. He will be the government
from that time forward and forever.

So why does Donald Trump think that he should be the government?
or Keir Starmer, or Christopher Luxon?

Herod understood this prophecy.
He knew that his government was a goner,
so he tried to kill Jesus.

Satan understood the threat.
That is why he came up with clever deception that
This prophecy is not for now,
but for later,
This is why he pretends that his government is for now;
Jesus government comes at the end of the age.
You could trust Satan to thrust his shoulder in.

No!!
The government is on Jesus shoulders
He will govern with justice and righteousness.
and his government will never stop increasing.
The Zeal of the Lord will do it,
and all human governments will wither away.

Freedom (4) and Government

In the modern world, everyone wants their nation to be governed by a government (I don’t, but that is another story). Expectations of governments have vastly increased and people now expect their government to resolve all the big problems that hinder their living. Modern governments see themselves as responsible for solving all problems that may arise in their society. And most people seem to be happy with this. Even farmers, who were once ruggedly independent, now call on the government to help when they face labour shortages, droughts or flood damage.

The corollary is that modern governments have demanded more and more power to deal with their increasing responsibilities. And most people seem to be happy with that too.

However, we need to understand that when we submit to our government by voting in an election, we are giving up considerable freedom. We are giving the government authority significant power to interfere in our lives to limit what we can do, and to force us to do things that we don’t want to do. A human government can decide how much of our income they will take in taxes. They can take land and use it for public purposes. They can conscript young people and force them to fight in wars that they don’t support.

The distinguishing feature of every government is that it has a monopoly to use force and coercion to get its will done. Government is the only agency in society that has this power. That is why people like it; because they hope it will force people whom they think are bad to do the right thing.

This problem is not new. Back in the time when Samuel was a prophet to Israel (1 Sam 8), the people said,

We want a government, like the other nations.

Samuel warned them what will happen,

You will lose your freedom.

This was a serious loss. When God gave the Torah through Moses, he gave Israel a legal system that would allow the people to live in close proximity and interreact with each other within society with minimum loss of freedom. Unfortunately, the children of Israel rejected God’s system, and chose to be ruled by a government like the heathen nations around them.

People in the modern world have made the same choice. They have rejected the Government of God, and chosen to be ruled by a human government. However, the cost is a loss of freedom.

In New Zealand, the parliament has absolute sovereignty. (This is different from the United States where the constitution places a few limits on what Congress can do). The elected government can pass any law for which it can get a majority of votes. There are no limits on what it can do, except that if people hate its actions too much, it might be voted out in the next election. However, if both main parties are in agreement, the parliament can pass unpopular laws and enforce related regulations. Our bill of rights is relatively weak, because the specified rights can be proscribed by any “law that can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society”.

People are currently protesting against their loss of freedom due to vaccine mandates. The reality is that freedom disappeared long ago when people decided to put their trust in governments to resolve the problems of life. The governments that are enforcing vaccine mandates are just doing what governments everywhere are doing and have always done. In every situation, they decide what should be done and people have to go along.

Forcing the minority to go along with majority wishes is what democratic governments do. During the second world war, young men were sent off to war whether they wanted to fight or not. Many of those who refused to fight were imprisoned and treated brutally. I recently read about a farmer of German extraction living in the rural district where I grew up. The rumour circulated among his Christian neighbours that he would climb up into the hills at night and flash signals to a German U-boat out in the Pacific Ocean. Although he was more than thirty kilometres from the sea and there was no military activity in the area to report, he was interred for the rest of the war and lost his farm.

During the 1951 waterside lockout in Auckland, emergency regulations were introduced to allow people could be imprisoned for supplying food to the workers who were locked out from their work. During the decade when I was growing up, children of Maori parents were forced to stop speaking their native language. Homosexual men were harassed and put in prison. This was at a time when there were more Christians in Parliament than there are now.

Governments have always forced minorities to do things In the United States and Australia, indigenous people were herded onto reservations against their will. In numerous American states, blacks were forced to go to different schools from whites, and sit on different parts of the bus. Many of these actions seem shocking today, but they were all done with the support of the majority. And usually, they were usually supported by Christians because they were part of the majority.

Christians have tended to support government power because, until recently, it has mostly been on their side. However, many minority groups have suffered terribly at times under government power, so now that Christians have become a minority, their complaints are a bit lame.

If you give people power, they will always try to use coercion and force to make the world better, even if they are good people. Therefore, human governments will always force minorities to do things they don’t want to do. If you believe in government power, when you are in the majority, it is a bit hypocritical to complain about losing some freedom when you become the minority.

Politics and Torah

We tend to take a fishing approach to the Torah (Genesis to Deuteronomy) looking for a few things that we can use in our own political systems, usually to justify some idea that we are pushing. This is the wrong approach.

The only way to understand the Torah correctly is to realise that it describes a complete political/governmental system. God used Moses to give the Israelites a new system of government that is radically different to any other government that has ever existed.

Unlike traditional kingdoms and empires, there was no human ruler in control. God was the King of the Israelites, so there was no need for a human king or emperor.

Modern governments separate out three government functions, that were combined in the traditionally combined in a king: legislative, executive and judicial.

The system that God gave through Moses had no legislative assembly or person with a legislative function, because God had revealed his perfect laws prophetically through his prophet Moses. We cannot say that we can make better ones.

The Torah gave no authority for the imposition of compulsory taxation. This meant there could not be any permanent executive function or associated administrative bureaucracy (a temporary military leader could only be raised up if the community was under attack). The Torah gives no authorisation for coercion or force; only love and commitment to neighbour.

The main government in the Torah is judicial. Judges would be raised up within their community by proving to be trustworthy. Their implementation of justice was voluntary, because there was no police force to enforce them. Justice depended on family and community honesty and social pressure.

I explain this further in my book called Government of God.

Government Support

Governments and central banks think that the current economic problems can be resolved by making money available to businesses and people. Unfortunately, money is usually the symptom of a problem. not the underlying cause.

You cannot eat money.

Money is a means of exchange. It is useful, because it allows people to buy things that they need. But to get money, people have to sell things, or work in paid employment. Money only has value if there are things being produced that people want to buy.

Businesses and economists often assume that economic activity is demand-driven, so giving people extra money to spend will keep the economy going. Economies actually work the other way around. Supply creates demand. When people supply labour or produce something they can sell because they do not need it for themselves, they get income that enables them to buy things produced by others. If nothing is produced, people with money cannot buy anything, even if they have some spare money. Therefore, giving people extra money as a grant or loan does not help the economy, if nothing extra is produced.

When all businesses are expanding, it is easy for each business to expand. When many businesses are decline, most business will get caught in the downturn.

In the long term, a nation can keep only buying things, if it keeps on producing things that other people and nations want to buy.

New Zealand is a small nation that needs imports of good from overseas to support our daily lives. Although we are a food-producing nation, much of the processed food that we eat each day is imported.

This dependence on imports means that we need to be exporting goods and services overseas to pay for the imports. Fortunately, most of our export industries the export season is well through, so we will receive most of the overseas income for goods that were exported. For example, the dairy season is well through. This is important, because dairy products are a major part of our exports. Likewise, the tourism season was well through when the restrictions on travel were put in place. The concern is kiwifruit and other horticultural exports, for which the export season is only just beginning.

Governments will spend like crazy in a desperate attempt to keep their economy going, as if it had not stopped. They will keep some businesses from going under, but at a serious cost. Every dollar that the government spends on supporting business will have to be borrowed. Government debt, which is already high everywhere will blow out to unprecedented levels. Fortunately, the New Zealand government is not starting with high levels of debt, but if the crisis goes on too long, the build-up in debt could be massive.

Expanded Government debt will be a deadweight on economic recovery. This will make it much more difficult to deal with any economic crisis that occurs in the next few years.

Rather than focussing on when they will be able to restart their church services, pastors should be thinking about how they can organise their churches to support and care for people who fall through the cracks of government support. The government will not do it all.

Whose Shoulder?

Isaiah prophesied boldly about Jesus.

For to us, a child is born,
to us, a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.

Of the increase of his
government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign … over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the LORD Almighty
will accomplish this.

The government will be on his shoulder.

Who?

The Child
Jesus.

The simple reading of this text is that Jesus will be the government
from that time forward and forever.

So why does Donald Trump think that he should be the government?
or Boris Johnson, or Angela Merkel, or Xi Jinping, or Vladimir Putin, or Jacinda Adern?

Why do we put our faith in democracy?
Why do we think that we can vote in a new government,
At the next election?

Herod understood Isaiah's prophecy.
He knew that his government was a goner,
so he tried to kill Jesus,
but he was still a goner.

Mary understood it too. That is why she said,
Kings would be thrown down from their thrones
and the humble raised up.

The spiritual powers of evil understood the threat.
That is why they came up with clever deception that
this prophecy is "Not for now, but for later",
"Jesus government comes at the end of the age."
You could trust them to thrust their shoulder in.

The government is on Jesus' shoulder.
He will govern with justice and righteousness.
and his government will never stop increasing.
The Zeal of the Lord will do it.

When?

Not in the future.
No!
From that time on and forever.

We had better work out what this means.
Soon!

Law and Government

In his book called Islamic Exceptionalism, Shadi Hamid explains that Christians have mostly been ambivalent about law and government.

That the Christian tradition seems ambivalent about law, governance and power is no accident…When Jesus died on the cross, he, in effect, released man from the burden of law. With the coming of Christ, salvation is achieved through faith in Jesus Christ rather than through observance of the law.

Christianity’s story of salvation is one of progression, with humanity passing through different states of spiritual development. Jewish or Mosaic law was provisional, meant for a particular time and place and for a particular chosen people, whereas Christianity was universal and everlasting…. The Mosaic Law was never intended to be either universal or eternally binding.

In short, it is not so much that Christianity has little to say about law, it that this ambivalence, or even opposition, to law was a feature of Christian theology during its early development.

In later centuries, Christian no doubt played a powerful role in public life, but this did not lead to legal development. As Ralston writes, “Simply put, there is nothing resembling a developed Christian account of public law in the New Testament.” This had important implications: “Christian theology, especially in the medieval period, primarily, divides ecclesial law from civil law into distinct sphere of society. Ecclesial laws govern the church and civil laws govern the public” (p.48)

No Criteria

People will argue that governments do good. The problem is that when it comes to governments, we do not know what “good” means. The bible does not give criteria for assessing a government, because they are not part of his plan.

Only God knows whether the actions of government are good, because only he knows whether the action fits with his purposes.

If the people have forgotten God, the government cannot protect them from the consequences. That might appear to be good, but if it prevents the people from turning back to God, it is not good. What may appear to be good is actually bad, because it leads away from God. Political actions that appear to be good, may be bad, if they cause the people to stop trusting God.

The only way a government be sure it is doing good by applying the Law of God in God's way (voluntary judges). Unfortunately, that never really happens. Moreover, the government action would be unnecessary, because it would happen anyway.

Whose Government?

The government shall be on Jesus’ shoulder.

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders….
Of the greatness of his government and peace
there will be no end (Is 9:6,7).

So what do Obama, Vladimir, François, David, Malcolm and John think they are doing? They obviously do not understand who Jesus is.

Mary understood what the prophecy meant.

He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble (Luke 1:52).

We do not understand who Jesus is, because we still want to raise power men on thrones to rule over us.

Government by Social Media

Scott Adams suggests that democracy and elections have been replaced with government by social media.

Today, social media decides what is “right” and politicians follow their lead.

The so-called “government” still has budgets and politicians and processes. But at this point in history they just do what social media tells them. They have to. Doing otherwise means failure and job loss.

Emotion is a legitimate part of decision-making, even at the national level. Social media has fixed the one-vote problem by allowing emotion to be a multiplier.

One of the reasons the so-called “outsider” politicians are doing well this year is that voters know it doesn’t matter that much who has the job. Social media will tell the President what to do and he or she will do it.

I think that he is onto something here. I have noticed that pressure groups wanting to change government policy have far more success if they can get a good social media campaign going than by working through more traditional lobby groups. Especially, if they can get a few people who would benefit from the change to weep when describing their problems.

A recent example here was an anti-cancer drug that the government funding agency refused to buy. It said that the cost of $200,000 per person was not justified by the uncertain benefits. A television program interviewed one person who had improved dramatically after getting the drug in a trial. They did not interview any from the trial who had no benefit (presumably the majority). They interviewed several weeping people who were desperate for the drug.

The drug purchasing agency was unmoved, but then social media got going. Now politicians from both sides of the house have come out and said that they would like to fund the drug.

I notice that most of the social legislation that has been passed by the parliament was backed by entertainment media and social media working together. Changes to social policy that would not have stood a chance twenty years ago have been passed, because the backing of entertainment social media meant that politicians could not resist the change.

Therefore, I would modify Scott's equation slightly.

(Entertainment media + social media) = (emotion x people) > one vote per person

Government

Paul Green makes an interesting point about the validity of government.

Most Christians, including those who genuinely want to uphold family life, are convinced that government as an institution was placed on earth by God. They include the well known “family values” campaigner, Dr. James Dobson who recently said publicly:

“The institution of the family is one of the Creator’s most marvelous and enduring gifts to humankind …before He established the two other great human institutions, the church and the government.”

There are, of course, chapters of the Bible dedicated to or explaining the creation of Adam and Eve. And there are many chapters, even the whole book of Acts, dedicated to the establishing of the church. So if Dr. Dobson is correct, then surely there must be at least some verses establishing that other “marvellous and enduring” gift to mankind?

Unfortunately, this great announcement simply does not exist.

Unrighteous Wealth (6) Government,

Jesus did not give governments responsibility for confiscating unrighteous wealth. Confiscated wealth remains unrighteous wealth. Unrighteous wealth that Government transfers to another person remains unrighteous wealth. The only way to escape the clutches of unrighteous wealth is to give it away.

• When the state confiscates unrighteous wealth, it remains unrighteous wealth.

• Unrighteous wealth must be given away to become righteous wealth.

When a person becomes a Christian, one of the first things that we should expect is that the Holy Spirit will convict them about the unrighteous wealth that they own. They should be encouraged to give it away.

When unrighteous wealth is given away, it is transformed into righteous wealth. In the book of Acts, people sold their property and laid the proceeds at the apostle’s feet. They were most likely getting rid of unrighteous wealth. That fact that Ananias and Saphira had trouble giving up their wealth indicates that it was probably unrighteous wealth.

Do Unto Others

People want a government that will force other people do things.

People don’t want the government forcing them to do things, so they want limited government.

This is do unto others, but not unto me. A slight distortion of the golden rule.

Political power does not attract the best people. It throws up power seekers and self-servers. Sometimes a really nasty person will get to hold political power.

Giving these people the power of the state, amplifies their ability to do harm.

Empire to Kingdom of God (6)

If the modern church wants to influence the government, it must send Christians to work within it. This is never very successful, because it is very difficult to work in the state without being corrupted by its power. The principalities and powers are still at work in the state, so those who submit to it are opening themselves up to their influence. The government works by power and control, which tends to undermine the gospel.

Law Released

Isaiah 2:2-4 is a great prophecy of peace. It is repeated again in Micah 4:1-5. The prophecy ends with a marvellous vision for the future.

They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore (Is 2:4).

The prophecy explains the reason for this great transformation.

The law will go out from Zion
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem (Is 2:3).

Most Christians assume this will be fulfilled when Jesus returns to rule the world from a throne in Jerusalem. But this is not want the prophecy declares. The reason for the peace between the nations is that God’s law gets out of Jerusalem.

God gave his perfect law to Moses more than 3000 years ago. Since then it has generally been ignored by the nations. Most Christians hate God’s law and assume that it is only for Israel. God’s law has been locked up in Jerusalem.

The law is the word of the Lord for nations and government. Peace between the nations will emerge, when God’s law gets out of Jerusalem and is accepted by the peoples of the nations as the only true basis for good government.

Theology of Government

Christians try to build a theology of Government on the basis of Romans 13. This just does not work. Paul was not articulating a theology of government. He was providing advice about coping with life under a despotic ruler, not articulating an ideal.

God had already given a theology of government in the Torah. Christians who are serious about developing theology of government should begin there.

Church in a Box

General McChrystal talked of taking a "Government in a Box" into the towns in Afghanistan where US forces took control. Speaking of the surge against Marja, he said,

We’ve got a government in a box, ready to roll in.

This sounds like modern church planting.

The New Testament model is to plant people, not to bring in a Church in a Box.

The modern emphasis on planting church is misguided. When a new church is planted, the usual procedure is to start a weekly meeting with good teaching and inspiring worship. This does not do much for those who receive the good news. A weekly sermon trains them to be passive. Participation in communal worship trains them to be escapist. Focusing efforts into a Sunday meeting gives the impression that a lot is going on, when nothing really happens. Planting a Church in a Box makes about as much sense as plans to bring a Government in a Box to the towns of Afghanistan.

When people are apostled into a new area to build relationships with the people, they can focus on do the stuff that Jesus did. New Christians will be able to join in doing this stuff with them. If a team of people with balanced giftings are planted, a lot of different stuff will happen. Every new believer will find something they can get into. Action becomes the normal Christian life.

Kingdom and Government

Jesus came to inaugurate the Kingdom of God. He proved this by healing the sick. The resurrection confirmed him as king.

The Kingdom continued to advance and the kings and ruler fell before it. The ruling class in Israel was swept away in AD 70. The Roman Empire collapsed in the fourth century. Unfortunately, the church were not ready with an alternative kingdom government, so they attempted to prop up the existing governments. That was a disaster that killed the kingdom

Volume of Money

The volume of money is not something that the government should control. Nor should it be kept constant, or only allowed to increase at a constant rate. People generally sell things (including their labour), so that they can buy other things that they want. Therefore, the volume of claims, which exist at any time, will depend on how many people have completed both their buying and selling. The number and value of half completed transactions will fluctuate dramatically.

It is possible in theory, say at the end of the financial year, that all people will have completed all their transactions. There might be no outstanding claims to goods and services. The total volume of claims could be zero. In practice this is unlikely to occur, as in the modern economy the flow of transactions from producers to retailers is continuous. However the fact that it is theoretically possible for all legitimate claims to be extinguished at a particular point in time, shows the stupidity of trying to control the volume of money. It can be very small at one point in time and quite large a few days later, depending on how people stream their transactions.

Changing Governments

The story of Abimelech in Judges 9 contrasts three different methods of bringing political change . The first two methods bring bad results.

1. Abimelech was elected by a democratic process, but he did great harm to the people of Shechem. This incident is a timely reminder that democracy gives power to the wrong people. The skills needed to get ahead in politics are pragmatism, arrogance and a light hand on the truth. These are very different from the skills needed by a good judge.

2. Rebelling against an evil leader will usually fail, because violence produces violence. A person capable of rebellion is also capable of being a dictator.

   Now Gaal son of Ebed moved with his brothers into Shechem, and its citizens put their confidence in him…. Then Gaal son of Ebed said, "Who is Abimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should be subject to him? If only this people were under my command! Then I would get rid of him. I would say to Abimelech, 'Call out your whole army!' (Jud 9:26,28,29).

   Gaal led a rebellion, but the and those who followed him were destroyed (Jud 9:38-41).

3. Prophetic proclamation is the best way to remove a bad government. When a prophet voice speaks God’s judgment against an evil ruler, God will honour that word and bring sanctions against the wicked person. Jothan, the youngest brother escaped and prophesied against Abimelech and the people of Shechem.
   

   If then you have acted honorably and in good faith … may Abimelech be your joy, and may you be his, too! But if you have not, let fire come out from Abimelech and consume you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and let fire come out from you, citizens of Shechem and Beth Millo, and consume Abimelech!" (Jud 9:19,20).

   God honoured this prophetic word.

   After Abimelech had governed Israel three years, God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the citizens of Shechem, who acted treacherously against Abimelech (Jud 9:22,23).

   Abimelech was removed by prophecy.

   Thus God repaid the wickedness that Abimelech had done…. God also made the men of Shechem pay for all their wickedness. The curse of Jotham… came on them (Jud 9:56,57).

Modern Christians place a lot of faith in democracy, even though it does not produce godly government. Others have tried rebellion, but this has failed too.
Prophetic proclamation is the best way to get rid of an evil government. Unfortunately, belief that God can bring governments down is rare. The missing element is a strong prophetic voice to release God’s power to bring political change.

God and Government

Christians believe that God is the King of all Creation.

How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth (Ps 47:11)!

For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods (Ps 95:3).

The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over
all (Ps 103:19).

The fact that God is a king means that he is very interested in the principles of government. Governing is the main role of a king. God is the king above all kings, so he must be the world’s top authority on good government.

If God is an expert on government, we would that he has shared his wisdom about government in the scriptures. The only place in the scriptures where he gives a full system of government is in Exodus and Deuteronomy. If we want God’s wisdom about government, we have to go back there.

The essence of government is good law. Every culture recognises the need for good laws. If God is an expert on government he must be an expert on law. He wants good government on earth, so we would expect him have revealed a good system of law to us. He is perfectly wise, so his laws will be the best laws available.

I will speak of your statutes before kings and will not be put to shame (Ps 119:46).

The law of the LORD is perfect (Ps 19:7).

God’s system of perfect law is revealed in Exodus and Deuteronomy, all ready for us to use.

Modern debates about government focus on the election of governments. The emphasis is on developing a good system for writing laws. If God has already provided the best laws available, this is a waste of effort. Human legislators will always produce sub-optimal laws, so arguments about how politicians should be appointed are irrelevant. God has already given us the perfect laws that are essential for good government.