A Biblical View on Politics

This topic is one that many churches avoid, but it needs to be had as God is the one who ordained civil government, and the purpose of government can be seen in many places in Scripture.  First the "king" was to be a representative of God to the people in that the king is to know and love the Law of the LORD and obey it.  He was to read the Law and keep it close to him so that at any point in time that he needed to make an important decision, he could reference the Law of the LORD.  He was to seek the advice of the LORD's prophets and to seek mediation from the high priest as needed.  He was to hear the civil disagreements of the people and act as a judge to decide rightly so that righteousness would increase, and wickedness would decrease.  By promoting obedience, he would ensure the LORD's blessings on His people so that they would not battle with disease, famine, or pestilence.  The king also would represent the whole nation before God.  If the king sinned, the whole nation would suffer the consequences.  The king was to make sure that the people obeyed the Law, especially in keeping the Sabbaths and would help lead the people in worship and would lead by example.  He would lead the people into war when the LORD called His people to battle, and he was to destroy every idol and high place where the people would be tempted to worship another god and he was to put to death all those who would practice idolatry, sorcery, witchcraft, divination, homosexuality, bestiality, murder, adultery, fornication, rape or those who would engage in human trafficking (I may have missed some of the crimes punishable by death, but you can read about them in the book of Deuteronomy).

Some things have changed, and some things have not changed.  The "king" is still a representative of the people before a God and a representative of God before the people (even if he doesn't think he is).  God will still hold such a person to account for how they lead the nation, and God will just those who lead people into sin and wickedness.  However, He will bless those who lead those they govern into His paths of righteousness.  So, then we should be looking for leaders who meet the biblical qualifications that God gave His people.  Though there is no nation that can say "The LORD is our King" like Israel did during their time of wandering in the wilderness and during the time of judges (their lives said something different many times), we still can learn much from what God said to His people about choosing a king for themselves (and how the people and the LORD were involved in the process), and what God had to say to the kings and the people through the prophets before sending them to Exile and after they returned.  God even used His prophets to condemn that kings and the nations that were Gentiles, and we can look there for what God expects from every country and "king," because those nations like Assyria, Babylon, and Edom did not have the Law like the kings of Israel did.  We can look to the books of Kings and Chronicles to see which kings of Israel and Judah that the LORD was pleased with and which He was not pleased with.  All of this can help us to make good choices when choosing leaders in our communities, since I think all of you reading this live in a nation where you have the right to vote and participate in elections for your local, state, and national leaders.  It is true that there are other unelected leaders that we don't get to choose, but they are appointed and confirmed by leaders that we do elect, so our vote still influences those choices.

Note that I'm not telling you to vote for anyone in particular or even to vote for a particular party.  If you look for candidates that follow the biblical prescriptions for civil government then you will know who to vote for and who not to vote for.  Let's take a moment to look at some of those requirements now.


Exodus 18:21-22
New International Version
21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you.




Deuteronomy 17:8-20
New International Version
Law Courts
8 If cases come before your courts that are too difficult for you to judge—whether bloodshed, lawsuits or assaults—take them to the place the Lord your God will choose. 9 Go to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office at that time. Inquire of them and they will give you the verdict. 10 You must act according to the decisions they give you at the place the Lord will choose. Be careful to do everything they instruct you to do. 11 Act according to whatever they teach you and the decisions they give you. Do not turn aside from what they tell you, to the right or to the left. 12 Anyone who shows contempt for the judge or for the priest who stands ministering there to the Lord your God is to be put to death. You must purge the evil from Israel. 13 All the people will hear and be afraid, and will not be contemptuous again.

The King
14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, “Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us,” 15 be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your fellow Israelites. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.
18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the Levitical priests. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his fellow Israelites and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.




Romans 13:1-7
New International Version
Submission to Governing Authorities
13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.
6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.





1 Peter 2:11-17
New International Version
Living Godly Lives in a Pagan Society
11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. 16 Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves. 17 Show proper respect to everyone, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.

There are many other passages that tell us specifically how to choose leaders in the church and qualifications for those who want to be a deacon or elder.  I'll save that for another time.  Today, I simply want to encourage you to seek the counsel of God's word when deciding where you stand on "political" issues (especially when those issues are actually "moral" issues) and what your priorities are when casting your vote for anything from school board members, mayors, county commissioners, governors, congressmen, senators, and even President.  God has called those who would serve in these roles to a special task and with this authority comes responsibility and accountability to the Lord for how they lead.  It's not a job that anyone should enter into for selfish means, nor should anyone take on this role without great thought and care.

God uses all kinds of governments to accomplish His good purposes, and while we know He is sovreign, He has given us the ability to work alongside Him in choosing our leaders so that nations who love the LORD and His Law will choose good leaders that will lead to blessing and those who hate the LORD and His Law will choose wicked leaders that will lead to judgment.  Changing the course of a nation starts within the individual and the home and changing the hearts of the individuals (especially the children we are responsible to raise in the nurture and admonition of the LORD) and only then will we choose leaders who are "a man after God's own heart" like King David was.