Government and the Bible Part 1

Ever wonder where government came from?  How government was developed?  Many of us learned in social studies that people were once hunters and gatherers.  After discovering agriculture, (namely farming of grains like wheat in Europe or rice in Asia) the people pretty much settled and began bartering or trading their goods.  "I don't have enough barley, I'll give you 6 chickens for a measure of barley."  The people also raised livestocks to eat or use its byproducts to make food (like milk to yogurt, or cheese).  Then seashells or rocks were used as currency and somewhere along the way, people started to make coins and paper money.  In all of this, civilizations started to form, cities started to form, and there was a need for order in the towns and cities, thus government happened.

Imagine this: what if God didn't want us to have governments?  That's a novel thought.

A key passage in the Bible is found in 1 Samuel 8, verses 4-9:

So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not follow your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.” But they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the Lord. And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will claim as his rights.”

The next chapter then sees Saul anointed as king of Israel.

Don't get me wrong.  God wanted Israel to have a nation of its own after He lead them out of Egypt.  In between the Exodus to the time of Samuel, the Israelites were ruled by priests, judges and elders.  God probably wanted the Israelites to be an exception, unlike the other surrounding nations which had kings.  However, back in Deuteronomy 17, we do see how God instructed the Israelites about kings, as if God knew that someday Israel will have one.  Not because God wanted them to have a king, but because of what 1 Samuel 8 says of the Israelites that they were continuing to sin and reject God as their King.  Israel eventually had a king, the split nations of Israel and Judah/Benjamin, and many many kings to come.  Some were good, most were bad.

Today, we have a lot of different types of governments and leaders.  There are democracies, republics, socialists, communism, dictatorships, and various ones in between.  We still have kings (although, they are more like figureheads and have little involvement with government), presidents, premiers, prime ministers, etc.  Then there are political parties and groups in countries that have these parties.  So, throughout history, the forms and leadership of government have become complex and varies from country to country.  And like Israel and Judah, there were some good leaders and some bad ones.

The next blog, I will talk about my personal opinions about government, and what I truly believe what God wants us to do in any government and county we live under.