Let me try to describe reality to you — what the universe really is, and how reality truly operates. If you could travel beyond Planet Earth, and go beyond Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and the rest of the solar system; if you could keep on traveling beyond this galaxy, and then go to the end of the universe, I don’t know if you would find a barrier there, or some kind of end, or some kind of nothingness, but beyond the universe, perhaps in another dimension, there is a real place called “Shamayeem” — Heaven. In that very real place, there are millions of great and wise and powerful angelic beings. In the center of Shamayeem there is a throne, and the Supreme Being sits on that throne, the Melech HaOlam — the King of the Universe, who has ultimate power and authority, rule and dominion and kingship over everything that exists. He rules over Heaven and Earth. He has dominion over powers and authorities, over angels and men, over everyone and everything in this universe.
He has a right to sit on that throne, and rule over all else, and make commands, and issue decrees and laws that we are obligated to obey, because He is the Creator. And, since He created us, He has the right to demand that we conform ourselves to His laws. You don’t like His laws, and don’t want to obey them? You don’t like the way He wants to rule the universe? Fine! You go create a universe of your own, and then you make the rules that you want! Until then, I suggest you come to grips with your non-divinity and submit yourself to the Creator, and obey His rules! And, His laws that He commands us to obey are good laws. His is a perfectly good administration. He is a good King, and only issues laws that are good, right and just: “Righteousness (doing the right things, being genuinely right) and justice (being fair, abiding by good rules) are the foundation (the very basis and essence) of Your throne” (Psalm 89:14).
God and His laws are good and right and fair. But the Fall of Man, the Rebellion of Adam and Eve against God, affected every aspect our lives. It made it easy and natural for us to violate God’s good laws. You want to live making up your own laws, with every person doing what seems right in their own eyes? Here’s what it eventually looks like. After the Fall of Man, and before the Flood, there doesn’t seem that there was much, if any human government on Earth. Not surprisingly, the wickedness of man became great on the Earth, and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Living according to your own wisdom is a prescription for anarchy and devastation! The Lord destroyed that entire civilization with a great flood, but He spared righteous Noah and his family, and with them, gave humanity a fresh start. But, things changed. The Lord established human government as soon as Noah and his family came out of the ark. The Lord said to us, “I will surely demand an account. I will require your blood for your lives; from every animal I will demand it, and from every man I will demand the life of his fellow man.” In other words, if a man or an animal unfairly and unjustly killed a human being, that man’s life, that animal’s life, was forfeit. Then the Lord instituted human government, that has the right to carry out that punishment, and take that forfeited life. “Whoever sheds mans blood, by man — not by God — by man his blood will be shed.” Human government has great authority, even the ultimate kind of authority to take a human life. This is not just a teaching limited to the Old Testament, but includes the New Testament, and applies still to nations and governments in our day.
Paul writes: “Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities. This is the general principle. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. To oppose good government that God has established is to resist God, and if you resist God, you will be punished for your resistance. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. This implies that rulers are ruling well, ruling wisely, ruling fairly, ruling justly. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a minister of God to you for good. This is human government’s purpose — it is serving God for the benefit of mankind. He is ruling through government. It is to do good, and we are to do good by being good, and obeying the good authorities. It also means that we need good authorities, that know how to rule well! But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Government has the right to punish wrong-doing of all kinds, and even has the right to use the sword, and impose the maximum penalty — capital punishment, on the worst offenders. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath — fearing punishment, but also for conscience’ sake — because it is genuinely right and necessary to obey government.” We, as a race, are fallen. We have been affected by sin. We need help to rule ourselves. We need human government, specifically one that is based on God’s wise laws and principles, to help us live the right way, to encourage us to do the right things, so we can live together in a good way. We need good human government to punish the wicked, and to restrain what is evil.
God created human government to help bring His good and wise and just laws to human beings. Mankind is responsible to govern the world, and govern ourselves, in God’s stead, when He is not physically present on Planet Earth. We call this stewardship. For most of history, and in most places, one man alone was entrusted with government, and ruled over the rest of the people. Among God’s Chosen Nation, however, it was not so. The Lord divided up the tasks of leadership among three offices: Kings, who had administrative rule; Priests, who ruled over religious matters; and Prophets, who spoke to God, and called the Kings and the Priests and the people back to God when they strayed. We live in a unique situation in this society. We live in a system of government in which the people rule. We are the rulers! We rule by voting for representatives, who are entrusted with the power to rule the rest of us. In this system of government, we are the rulers! We are the stewards. That means that we have duties and responsibilities. Bill Bright, the leader of Campus Crusade For Christ for many years, in an article entitled “Elective Duties” tells us the following: “Our once great country
Rabbi Loren Jacob’s comment: I agree — “once great” — no longer great.
How can a nation be great if it is not even good, when it kills 4000 of the most innocent and vulnerable each and every day?], now mired in numerous social ills, is facing an unparalleled moral crisis. God alone holds the solution to our nation’s problems — and we hold the key. British statesman Edmund Burke said, ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.’ America is one of the last strongholds of freedom on Earth — and citizens who are dedicated to God are the only resource for the preservation of our freedoms, including the freedom to serve Him. It has been reliably estimated that more than half of the United States professes faith in Jesus Christ. By following these five simple guidelines, even a small percentage of us can be used by God to set this nation on a new course of righteousness for His glory.
Pray without ceasing: The healing of our nation begins with the prayers of the saints. Pray that God will send a great spiritual awakening to America, that millions of our citizens will receive Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord, and that Christians will dedicate themselves to God for spiritual living and active service. Pray daily that leaders and authority figures will be filled with godly wisdom. And stand firm for what is right and true. We may be tempted to criticize our elected officials, but praying for them is far more profitable and effective.
Register to vote: Voting is a matter of stewardship under God, yet many of God’s people throughout America are not even registered to vote. Only as a registered voter will you be in a position to help elect godly officials.
Become informed: Just as the untrained soldier is at the mercy of his enemy, the uninformed Christian cannot prevail against evil forces in the world of politics. To serve God effectively as a citizen, you must learn how to act for His glory within the framework of existing political processes. Make a sincere effort to obtain reliable information about all issues and candidates before voting. If your congressmen and senators are running for reelection, find out how they voted on issues of critical importance. Many organizations and ministries provide summaries of current issues and updates on pending legislation. Rabbi Glenn Harris adds: “Don’t tell me you don’t have time to do this; you most certainly do! Even if you have neglected to do so, one afternoon or evening of reviewing the information available is sufficient to make your decisions.”
Help elect godly people: Righteous rule brings rejoicing: “When the righteous increase (and thereby gain power and authority) the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, people groan” (Proverbs 29:2). Godly people must vote for godly rulers. This can be done only by informed, praying Christians like you. The Word of God gives us the basic qualifications of a good candidate: “Select out of all the people able men, who fear God, men of truth; those who hate dishonest gain… let them judge the people at all times” (Exodus 18:21-22). Six qualifications are listed in this passage: demonstrated capability (they are able men. They have competence in managing business or professional affairs), godliness (spiritual maturity), honesty, integrity, industriousness (at all times) and justice (let them judge). If there is no qualified candidate who is spiritually mature, vote for the one whose personal principles and platform most nearly agree with the Bible. Remember that a candidate’s principles are far more important than his party affiliation.
Vote: It is commonly believed that decisions in America are made by a majority of the people. This is not so. Decisions are made by a majority of those who vote. As few as 16 percent of all eligible voters in a district can elect a member of Congress. By just one vote, Texas was admitted to the Union. By just one vote Hitler won leadership of the German Nazi Party. By just one vote the U.S. House of Representatives elected Thomas Jefferson as president. Your one vote can make a difference! Exercise the influence that God has given you through our unique system of self-government. Christian lawyer Michael Whitehead put it this way: “If America is to be saved, saved Americans must lead the way.” You know that I am convinced that the supreme moral issue of our day, the greatest issue that concerns righteousness, is the issue of murdering a child that is growing in his or her mother’s womb. I believe that anyone who is pro-abortion, pro-murder, whatever party they are from, is unfit for any kind of office.
Don’t be like the German people, who voted for what they thought was good for the nation’s economy, but at the expense of millions of innocent lives. You can’t vote for candidates who come to power, and stay in power, climbing over the crushed dead bodies of 40 million children! I believe that Christians and Messianic Jews must make this the highest priority and the supreme consideration in our voting. Politicians talk about a litmus test. I believe whether a person is for or against abortion is one of the most accurate litmus tests for righteousness. Some of the candidates running for office support abortion, even partial birth abortion. Our own Steve Wrathell wrote the following: “Partial-birth abortion occurs only during late-stage pregnancies. The baby is delivered feet-first. All of the baby comes out of the womb, except for the head. Then, sharp surgical scissors are used to puncture the back of the baby’s head and enlarge the opening. A suction catheter is then inserted and the baby’s brains are vacuum-sucked out of his or her head, causing the skull to collapse. Then, the dead baby’s head is pulled out. Some defend this brutal, gory practice by claiming that it is medically necessary to allow these brutal, painful killings in cases where it is considered necessary to help protect the life or the health of the mother. There is one “little” loophole here, though. If the step where pulling the baby’s head out of the womb (remember, the baby’s shoulders, which are wider, are already out) followed the step where the rest of the body was taken out, then the woman would not have to have all of those sharp instruments inserted into her body. It is absurd to claim that this is necessary or safer for the mother!”
My wife Martha, who is a nurse, tells me repeatedly that there is no medical need for this procedure. Most of the baby is already out of the womb! Just take the baby’s head out! The real reason partial-birth abortion is practiced is to try to justify killing a baby right before he or she is born. We must obey God above men. When the wicked decrees of human government and the good laws of God conflict, we must choose God’s laws above man’s decrees, even if it means suffering unpleasant consequences. We don’t cooperate with evil laws, we resist them! Steve Wrathell also reminds us that the Bible tells us that Egypt’s Pharaoh ordered the midwives to kill Jewish babies during birth (sound familiar?), but the midwives knew that this was immoral. They let the babies live and lied to the Pharaoh about this. God rewarded the midwives for this by letting them have their own children. Let me tell you how serious I think this is, how deeply I feel about this, and how I think the Lord feels about this. If you claim to be a Christian, a Messianic Jew, and thereby claim to follow God and His ways, and you vote for those who are sympathetic to baby killers, I don’t want to have fellowship with you. The Word of God tells us not to associate with any so-called brother, those who claim to be Christians, if they are immoral people (see 1 Corinthians 5:9).
Being for abortion is immoral! I don’t want eat with those who support murder, and those who strengthen them, and put them in office. I don’t want to eat with you, and I don’t think the Lord will welcome You at His table either. It’s a common understanding about American politics, “It’s the economy, stupid!” But, if you believe in God, it’s not the economy. It’s righteousness! We must vote for what is right, even if it hurts us economically. We must sacrifice our economic interests in favor of moral and righteousness interests. Seek first the Kingdom of God and what? Money? No! Righteousness, not money! You can’t serve God and money. The Holy Scriptures teach us that “righteous exalts a nation” — not good economic policy! We must place morality and righteousness before our pocketbook. Don’t vote your pocketbook! Vote the Holy Book! Vote righteousness! Christians and Messianic Jews need to vote, and be actively involved in the political process. If the righteous don’t vote, guess who will? The unrighteous, the wicked. For evil to triumph, all good men and women have to do is nothing. If the godly don’t bring God’s values into the political area, and the political arena simply means the way we rule ourselves, then the wicked and god-ignorers and God-rejecters will bring their satanic and demonic values, which will take over, and this is what has happened. Christians were encouraged to limit their activities to the Gospel. They were told that politics is dirty, and they shouldn’t get involved, and so they withdrew and left the political arena to the godless! Let’s start changing this. In this country, we can be saints, and actively promote the Gospel, and we can and should be actively involved in politics. Let’s be good stewards, and fulfill our duties and responsibilities as the leaders of this nation. We can and should do both!