If We Reject The Rule Of God
We Will Be Ruled By A Dictatorship

How does a nation succumb to a dictatorship? “We will find many useful idiots to further our cause,” Lenin is purported to have said.

Does the nation just wake up one morning and behold, there is “Hitler” at the helm? Usually not. Almost always there’s an historical prelude in which the minds of the people are reprogrammed. Believe it or not, they usually welcome the dictatorship of “Hitler” with open arms.

How is it that a people can stretch out grateful arms to receive the shackles of slavery with scarcely a whimper? There is an old saying that if men will not be ruled by God, they will be ruled by tyrants. There is no escaping it.

The Tyranny of Israel

We have seen how Ezra’s lengthy recital of the history of Israel stressed God’s faithfulness in spite of Israel’s unfaithfulness (Nehemiah 9). But finally, at the very end of the chapter (vv. 36-38) we come to the tragic end of this long history of rebellion.

“Behold, we are slaves today, And as to the land which Thou didst give to our fathers to eat of its fruit and its bounty, Behold, we are slaves on it. And its abundant produce is for the kings Whom Thou has set over us because of our sins; They also rule over our bodies And over our cattle as they please, So we are in great distress.”

A sadder tale can scarce be told. The land flowing with milk and honey, which God intended to bless His obedient people had become their prison.

Note carefully that it was God who set the dictatorship over His people. It was not just some unfortunate, random event.

The people are like a strong-willed child who can only be governed by the rod. God, as a faithful Father will always administer the required discipline. Notice how God sets a dictatorship over us because of our sins, which leaves us in “great distress.”

The Tyranny of America

How did this transpire in early America? How did a nation that started with such great promise go astray? There was a mastermind. James Madison was at the heart of it. The First Amendment as well as his earlier Memorial & Remonstrance in Virginia make it clear that Madison believed government should keep its hands off the church. But he also believed that religion should reciprocate and have little if any influence on civil government. He was committed to the ideal of a secular republic and a strict separation of church and state.

In the place of religion Madison exalted the republican model as the remedy which "promises the cure for which we are seeking" (Federalist #10). This is a form of idolatry: exalting the design however excellent above the Designer, the creature above the Creator (Rom. 1:25). This would be similar to the Jews rejecting God, while clinging to and relying on the beautifully designed temple and external form of temple worship (Jer. 7:4,5).

When men reject self-government under God they become slaves. It was not necessarily wrong for the Israelites to ask for a king, for a constitutional monarchy or kingship subject to the Law of God (Deut. 17:18-20) was typologically interwoven with the destiny of Israel. The kings of Israel, David in particular, were used as illustrations of the great King the Messiah who would one day deliver the people from their transgressions.

However, their attitude was one of rejecting God as God and establishing civil government in His place as ultimate source of authority, power, security and provision. They wanted a king to govern them like all the nations, not a king to govern according to God's Law (I Sam. 8:5).

Samuel warned them that this action would lead to a dictatorship. They were being conformed to the world, rather than providing a model to which the world would be attracted:

"Keep them and do them; for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people'...And what great nation is there, that has statutes and ordinances so righteous as all this law which I set before you this day?" (Deut. 4:6-8)

This passage demonstrates the power of God's Law as an evangelistic tool when properly administered by godly civil government. The nations around Israel would be attracted by the justness of God's Laws and yield their allegiance to Him.

Just as it was not wrong for the Israelites to ask for a king, it was not wrong for the founders to ask for a republic. However, it was just as devastating for the founders to reject the civil authority of God as it was for the Children of Israel. In so doing they consigned their descendants to a dictatorship.

In summary, we note that among other things, two key elements of any covenant, are: 1) specification of the parties to the covenant; and, 2) the details of administration. As we have seen, if a national organic document is in fact a covenant with God, then it must state this clearly in the Preamble. A covenant, as opposed to a contract, includes God as Party to the agreement.

The second key element is a delineation of how the covenant is to be administered. If a covenant is made with God, then it must spell out the nature of the authority to whom God has delegated administration of the covenant. Who represents the people before God?

If these two elements are missing, it is impossible to claim that the document represents a covenant with God. In fact, if these elements are absent or distorted, it is possible to argue that the document represents a national break from covenant with God. This covenant had been established earlier in the Mayflower Compact and the various colonial charters. It was broken in 1787 to be replaced eventually by a dictatorship.