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| The Judges’
Judge and the Rulers’ Ruler INTRODUCTION “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” But what if it is? This not only is a question to ask on the micro level (the fixing of toasters, etc), it is a question for the macro level as well. Families can be broken, and in that case need fixing. Communities can also be broken. Even governments. DAVID FOUND THE GOVERNMENT OF ISRAEL TO BE BROKEN AND IN NEED OF FIXING. (Read Ps. 58) We’ve been reviewing the career of king-to-be David as he has been running for his life, hiding out in caves, and jumping from one frying pan into another fire. It was God’s will that David be anointed as the future king of Israel while still a boy, years before he would assume his duties. This gave him time to get a long, close look at the regime of Saul, to evaluate it, and develop convictions that would stay with him a lifetime. What David saw in Saul was wickedness, and he saw how this wickedness infected the whole nation. The first two verses of Psalm 58 form an indictment against the judges, or rulers. What follows is the trickle-down effect: evil breeding more evil. He observes that it afflicts even the youngest, and that it is as deadly as the venom of a cobra. For this reason, he turns his mind to the day when all such evil will be stamped out for good, and prays that this day would come soon. Verse 9 deserves special mention because it is curious. What does it mean? Israel is an arid place, even more so than San Diego. In order to cook a pot of stew over an open fire, branches of thorn bushes, something like tumbleweeds, made the best source of fuel. When still green they might be piled up and left to dry before burning. But a good wind could always come along and blow them away. This, David says, is how it will be for the wicked. The wind of judgment will blow long before the pot of stew even begins to heat up. There is always satisfaction to be taken, knowing who the real Judge really is: “Surely there is a God who judges the earth.” (v. 11). The lesson of Psalm 58 is this: judges should judge and rulers rule according to the example of the Lord who is the judges’ judge and the rulers’ ruler. This lesson is reinforced in other places in Scripture. To name one: II Chronicles 19, Jehoshaphat lived in Jerusalem, and he went out again among the people from Beersheba to the hill country of Ephraim and turned them back to the LORD, the God of their fathers. He appointed judges in the land, in each of the fortified cities of Judah. He told them, “Consider carefully what you do, because you are not judging for man but for the LORD, who is with you whenever you give a verdict. Now let the fear of the LORD be upon you. Judge carefully, for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery.” (II Chronicles 19:4f.) Trans. Judges, rulers, kings, and presidents, because they are in positions of authority, represent God, and thus have a duty to dispense righteousness. When they fail in that duty, the people suffer and have a right to rebel. This is how the Revolutionary War came about. OUR FOUNDING FATHERS FOUND THE GOVERNMENT OF ENGLAND TO BE BROKEN AND IN NEED OF FIXING. One colonial regiment bore a standard with 13 stars in the upper left corner, like the American flag, and an arm, bearing a sword, protruding from a cloud. Along the bottom were inscribed these words: “Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God.” (Source, Christian History, issue 50, p. 25) Patrick Henry was a brilliant orator who addressed the Virginia Convention on March 23, 1775, ending his speech with a famous phrase: “give me liberty or give me death.” He said,
(From Patrick Henry’s speech before the Virginia Convention, March 23, 1775) In Patrick Henry’s case, though he was willing to lay down his life, he was never called upon to do so. On Memorial Day we reflect upon those countless men and women who actually made that sacrifice. They died to make our nation great, and we pause and express appreciation for them. That leads us to evaluate this nation for which they died. Is it humming along, or is it in need of repair? APPLICATION John Witherspoon, the Presbyterian minister who signed the Declaration of Independence, said, “A republic once equally poised must either preserve its virtue or lose its liberty.” In 1981 Francis Schaeffer expressed concern that, based on a loss of virtue, America was breaking down. Using the specific example of the Supreme Court’s pro-abortion decision, Schaeffer wrote,
He goes on to remind us that,
(Francis Schaeffer, A Christian Manifesto, pp.48, 49) I thought of this when I saw in Thursday’s paper that the Ninth U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the Attorney General of the United States cannot interfere with Oregon’s physician-assisted suicide law, to stop it, even though physicians are required to have a federal license to practice medicine. I wonder what the late Dr. Schaeffer would have said about that, or what he would have said about the plethora of gay issues that continually confront us. Marriage between homosexuals is now legal in Massachusetts, and, like it or not, the day may come when we are no longer allowed to speak out against it, if our country follows the lead of Canada on this matter. Canada recently passed a law that sounds harmless enough. Homosexuals have been added to the list of people who can be victims of hate crimes. On the surface of the matter this sounds reasonable because, categorically, we oppose all hate crime. Many people, however, are shocked and dismayed at the law, including Focus on the Family, Concerned Women for America, and the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, and when we hear them out we understand why. Dr. Janet Buckingham, director of Law and Public Policy for the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada, objects to it out of the concern that if an individual uses passages from the Bible in a manner that could be considered incitement of hatred, the Bible could be considered hate propaganda. She writes, “We no longer trust that the guarantee of religious freedom in the Charter is necessarily going to apply to protect religious free speech.” (Source, EFC Press Release, 4/28/2004) Most of us are not Canadians, and so may not be troubled by such a development in our neighbor to the north, but perhaps we should be. The California Family Council says that similar legislation is in the works for California. Specifically, it is SB 1234. They say that this bill restricts the freedom of speech on a host of sensitive subjects, including abortion and homosexuality. They oppose SB 1234 and give this as part of the reason,
CONCLUSION If the machinery is breaking down, what can we do? First, of course, we can pray. The framers of the constitution were acutely aware that they depended upon God’s guidance, and we do well to consider these stirring words spoken by Benjamin Franklin,
(Benjamin Franklin, speaking to the Constitutional Convention, on June 28, 1787) Second, we need to prepare ourselves for civil disobedience, something many of us have never before considered. Historically, Christianity has nowhere been safer than here “from sea to shining sea,” and to believe in God and country have almost been one and the same, but today it is not that simple. Now, increasingly, we are being forced to choose between God and country. Although the Bible tells us to submit to governing authorities, and specifically to obey the king, we also find in it the words of Peter and John, “We must obey God rather than man.” I feel certain that this is a choice you and I will face soon. When that time comes, which will it be for you? May God give us the insight to see what needs fixing, the wisdom to know what to do, and the boldness to do it. |