The Race against Racism

 I'm just going to go through a few passages to lay out the facts so that the racist cult that has been gaining steam in Reformed circles has no excuse before God on judgment day.

1. The popular idea amongst racists that the mark of Cain was God making people black has no support in the text. And how exactly would his lineage look after marrying a white woman and having mixed children who then went on to marry white people? Black people don't come from Cain. This was an attempt by racist groups to stigmatize black people as murderers. It's purely eisegetical.

2. The popular idea amongst racists that Ham is cursed by being made black is not only without support in the text, it actually negates what the text says. Ham isn't cursed. Hence, all of his descendants aren't cursed. Only Canaan is cursed. Hence, only Canaan's descendant's are cursed, and they aren't black. The Canaanites are Middle Eastern. We know this from archaeology and from their depictions in Egyptian literature as the "Asiatics." Either way, the Hamites who may have made up Africa aren't the cursed ones. Given all of this, it's clear that the curse isn't making them black. That's not even a part of the curse in the text so to say that changing their skin color is part of it is, again, eisegetical.

3. Moses married an Ethiopian woman and the attempts to say that she probably belonged to the "other" Cush doesn't fit the context of Miriam and Aaron becoming made about it. First, it should be clear, they're not mad about racial differences per se. It's clear in the context that they are mad that Moses might be thinking he's a king, and they don't like him lifting himself up over them. Like all people who envy others in authority, they're arrogance detectors and so accuse him of arrogance because he married an Ethiopian. Why would this have anthing to do with him lifting himself up over them? Because Ethiopian women, both in appearance and in wealth, were often seen as exotic and women that only kings and extremely rich and powerful men in other countries would marry. This is consistent with their reaction. It's not because he married more than one wife, since that was common among lower class men too. It's not because she's a foreign woman because that was also common and he had already done that with Zippora who was a Midianite. Marrying a black woman signified wealth and power, and they didn't like him flaunting his power over them since they too were prophets of God.

4. Those who emphasize externals (skin color) over culture (the most important element being religious culture and values) don't have the Spirit of Christ in them. God looks at the inward person over the outward one. Blind men look to the outward so they worry a whole lot about how that cup looks and clean it constantly to hide the fact that cleanliness and filth matters far more on the inside. The Pharisees hated Christ on this point, as his dirty disciples didn't wash their hands before they ate and they could not stand anyone claiming to be godly doing such a thing. These people care much about appearances and think it's a tragedy if everyone were to return to a single color. You know, like Adam and Eve were, or weren't. 

And that brings up an interesting point. Were Adam and Eve both the same skin color? Is it possible that God actually made them genetically diverse? In fact, isn't it probable and even biblical to say that they had all the genes of all the races in them? If that's the case, aren't they a case of every race being married as God's original intent to every race? This brings us to another popular suggestion that isn't supported by the text.

5. God made the races when he divided the nations at Babel. Um, no, He didn't. He split people off linguistically. There is nothing in the text that supports the idea that He made them all different races. In fact, we know that it isn't true, as there are a lot of nations created here that are still made up of the same races. Also, God didn't make new humans at Babel, so every human being has the same genetics he had from Adam and Eve, which means that everyone could have taken upon the characteristics of everyone else given the same environment, time and genetic combination through procreation. The borders are given so that these people who speak the same language can have a homogenously linguistic society, not because Macedonians and Greeks are different races of people. And this isn't even talking about the entire world but the entirety of the land in the Ancient Near East which have a total of three groups involved, those who came from Shem, those who came from Ham, and those who came from Japheth. The lands mentioned are just within that sphere.

6. The fact that God tells them they can marry other women who are slaves or captured in battle from other nations means he has no problem with interracial marriage. What he does have a problem with throughout the Bible is interreligious marriage, daughters of a foreign god. He also allows men from other nations, like Caleb for instance, to marry Israelites wives. The host of Egyptians and Nubians and other slaves who went out from Egypt with Israel are never prohibited from marrying Israelite women as long as they were non-Israelite Israelites, religiously speaking.

7. This brings us to the final point I want to make here and that is that interracial marriage is never forbidden or even frowned upon implicitly in Scripture, and I would argue, it is actually encouraged implicitly through the principle of the incest laws. The further one gets away from one's own genetics, the healthier and stronger humanity becomes. The closer one gets, the more defects are multiplied. Now, of course, this can be accomplished with white people marrying white people and black people marrying black people but my point is that, if anything, it would more a sin to marry closer to one's genetic pool than further away from it. Obviously, it's only a stated sin to have relations to close within family units but the principle would show that the opposite has no similar principle governing it.

Like all cults, this one takes verses out of context to support it and then tries to mangle the texts that speak against it so that they silence the voice of God in opposition to them. 

I get that our culture is emotion and reactionary and most people condemning the movement have no credit since they react by their own brainwashing rather than with exegesis, but this movement really is unbiblical. It's not simply a virtue signal or cultural indoctrination. This is actually something our culture gets right because of its remnant Christian influence. What our culture gets wrong is the blending of religious races, sons of God and daughters of the devil, or vice versa, and the reverse racism and genocide they practice. But an overreaction is what the devil wants here. As I've said before, he doesn't lead conservative Christians astray by telling them to attend Drag Story Hour or ordain homosexual bishops. He drags them away from the importance of the gospel and the inward and eternal trajectory of our sights by causing us to overreact with another falsehood and immoral sentiment. 

I'm sure those forbidding marriage and the eating of certain foods were reacting against rampant sexual immorality and the celebrations of foods in honor of idols. Nonetheless, Paul also calls this the teaching of demons, and that's what we need to understand.

Biblical Versus "Christian" Nationalism, Part IV: Why We Need to Learn to Be Quiet in a World of Puffed-Up, Rebellious Loudmouths

It's estimated that the Roman government was made up of approximately 25-40% slaves. That means 2-4 out of every ten people in that culture was a slave. Indeed, we might think that the empire could not survive without an emperor, but actually, it would have done just fine. It would, however, have collapsed in a day without its slaves. They were everything from low laborers to house and state managers to doctors. The entire culture was dependent upon their submission to their authorities, and without that submission, Rome would have fallen apart because the fruit of the kingdom was dependent upon their loyalty to their tasks at hand.

Because the promise of the new covenant, as we have seen, look more like they are the curses of the old covenant in this world, a radical reversal in Jesus' teaching that not only promises suffering but makes it the primary catalyst through which the faithful are transformed into those who long for and are fit for the world to come, the question becomes, What role should Christians play in the world when it comes to the nations in which they reside? Are they to seek to take over them either through the gospel or some other means? In other words, do we see in the Bible that it is God's goal to use Christians, through whatever means, to take over the nations, and should they actively be talking about and seeking to do that?

There is, of course, a prophetic voice that Christians can play, but the question becomes what the content of the message should be as well as how that message should be delivered to those who are in authority over them. 

It is not a mystery as to what the content of the message is. Throughout Acts, the apostles come into contact with their pagan leaders and their message is singular to them. God has fulfilled His promise of salvation through Jesus Christ who was raised from the dead. All are now called to repent for the forgiveness of their sins and live righteously in that hope. 

In other words, they preached the gospel. They weren't preaching about taking over the nations. We know this because we don't believe the apostles are liars and lying about what their message is. Preaching about taking over nations and making them Christian nations would have been treason. Yet, the entirety of the Book of Acts makes a literary argument that Christians are not preaching that message. Hence, the leaders should conclude with Agrippa's council after hearing Paul's defense of the gospel and what he is actually preaching, “This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment" (Acts 26:31).  

Now, one might say, "Well, the taking over nations is implicit," but the pagan leaders aren't that stupid to miss the implicatures if they were there. It is clear that the message of the apostles is strictly religious in nature. In other words, whether the entire nation were the believer it or whether only a few believe it, the apostles do not have the goal to change the culture of the nations in which they reside. If all became Christians, certainly that would change the culture, but that is not the goal of the apostles. Rather, their goal is to save all sorts of people, as many as have been appointed to eternal life, by calling all men everywhere to repent from their idolatry and believe the gospel of Christ's death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 17:30). "For this is what the Lord commanded us: 'I have made you a light for the Gentiles that you may be bring salvation to the ends of the earth." That salvation is not ambiguous. It's not talking about the redemption of culture, but the individual forgiveness of sins and redemption of that life both now and on the day of judgment. In other words, although cultural change would surely take place IF everyone repented, the goal is restoration to God through Christ in the hope of the resurrection for the world to come, not the changing of this world, whether that were to occur as a byproduct or not. 

Hence, the commands given to Christians are not to become loud voices for social change in their communities. It's not to become political critics of policies or preach moralism to the pagans when they are not fulfilling their role God laid out for nations in Genesis 9, which I discussed previously. It recognizes that the world is dark, the devil has rule of it, and men need to be transferred out of its citizenship rather than stay in it and rearrange the furniture in a burning house (Acts 26:17; Eph 2:1-3, 12, 19-20; Col 1:13-14). 

And this is significant since the Romans are not fulfilling their role as government in so many ways. They are in other ways, but in terms of protecting children, not waging wars of conquest, unjustly enslaving people, etc., they are a far cry from being what they should be. Yet, the apostolic message does not include a critique of their failure to govern as God has commanded in Genesis 9 and an encouragement to do so. We might say it would be fine to include it in a rebuke that preceded the gospel since law before gospel is something they do preach (cf. Acts 17). However, there is never a goal to change the government moralistically. There is no condemnation that they aren't using the Mosaic lawcode or biblical law as their standards to govern their nations. That's because the apostles aren't sent with that message. They aren't sent with that purpose. They are sent to save men.

Paul, therefore, commands all Christian men to pray as follows.

 I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying—and a true and faithful teacher of the Gentiles.
Therefore I want the men everywhere to pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or disputing. 9 I also want the women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, adorning themselves, not with elaborate hairstyles or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission . . .

In other words, pray for the individual salvation of everyone and pray not only for leaders to be saved but that they may not persecute you as a Christian so that you can live out your Christian life QUIETLY. Notice, that you might live a quiet life, a life not filled with conflict between you and government because they are not coming down on you. How would one live a quiet life, however, if he's commanded to change the culture and involve himself in culture wars? It would not depend solely on the government, so praying for it to get off your back wouldn't have the effect of you living a quiet life anyway. But here, it does. That's because Christians aren't called to get involved in culture wars and make political changes in government. Certainly, a Christian can do that on his own, but this isn't the goal and message of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ. A Christian can decide to change the way shoes are made or invent a new way to travel. Great. That isn't the goal and purpose of God in the gospel and therefore it is not the message the church should spend its time speaking to the world and to Christians.

Peter states that all are to be subject to every HUMAN authority (1 Pet 2:13-15). He uses the phrase every human authority to let Christians know that human authority is God's authority and to be in subjection to it is to preach the gospel message to those in authority without opening the mouth. This is repeated to women who are under men who are not obedient to God's Word. They are to win over their husbands, not by critiquing their wayward government over them but rather "without a word by the way you live when they see your pure and reverent conduct" (1 Pet 3:1-2). In other words, as we show that we honor and fear the authorities placed over us, we preach, without a word, that the gospel is true because when normally men would want to protest, we have come into a control of our tongues and lives believing that Jesus is Lord and trusting in Him and the hope He gives us, and so we do not protest but rather submit to even unjust governments. 

Hence, Peter argues that God wants us to be in submission to human authorities, whether kings or lower all lower authorities over us, because by doing so we "silence the ignorance of foolish men by doing good" (2:15). Notice, not with words of protest, critique, sitting around on Youtube talking about taking over governments and making them Christian, but by our good deed of being a fully loyal and submissive servant of the human authority that we honor that does not complain about it, we establish the truth of the gospel before it is preached with words. And then what is that gospel? God has brought about the salvation He promised in the prophets through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in whom we now may receive the forgiveness of our sin by repentance and loyalty to Him. 

Hence, Peter commands, "Keep your behavior excellent among the pagans, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation" (1 Pet 2:12).

In other words, the goal of every Christian is to preach the gospel and adorn it with their complete submission, honor, and conduct in the world as they lead quiet lives of devotion to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. When given opportunity, they preach the gospel of Christ's death and resurrection and call people to repent and give their allegiance to Christ for the forgiveness of sins. 

They don't go on and on blabbering about how we need a Christian prince because the authorities we have now just don't cut it. Does that sound respectful to you? Does it sound loyal? Imagine if Daniel were to be constantly talking to other people about how Nebuchadnezzar is not as good as an Israelite king who would rule so much better and so much more in accordance with God's law. Maybe an Israelite king would be better, but that would be seen as treasonous and shameful conduct for Daniel to conduct himself in such ways when he is under the particular authority of a non-Israelite king. Loyalty and submission to an authority a Christian is under is a greater witness to the world of Christ's sovereignty than complaining about current authorities and talking about making all things Christian. In other words, those who talk about culture change are just complainers and rebellious men who testify to the world the same thing that everyone else does, i.e., when things don't go as they like, since they are their own masters and Christ does not rule over them, they complain about it and protest that those things they don't like should change. I can get that from spoiled children. The Bible calls us to a better witness to adorn the actual message we should be proclaiming, which isn't Christian nationalism but rather Jesus Christ and Him crucified and resurrected. 

In short, maybe Christians need to shut up more. Maybe they need to sit down when they want to stand up because although standing up will get changes made, sitting down causes a different kind of change that God wants to happen in the midst of a messed-up culture and bad leadership. Maybe quite conduct is a louder message that speaks to a world beyond the concerns of this one. Maybe we need more Christian slaves than princes. 

Biblical Versus "Christian" Nationalism, Part III: A Tale of Two Covenants

I'll comment on how Christians are to live under governments in the final post, but I wanted to lay a foundation for why we are to live that way in this one.

Along with the debate concerning Christian Nationalism seems to be an understanding that Christians should physically dominate every sphere of life in the way that God promised Israel to physically dominate every sphere of life in the old covenant if they remained faithful to Him.

God states in Deuteronomy something that will be echoed throughout the Prophets, namely, that Israel, if faithful, will dominate every aspect of physical life in this world. In Deuteronomy 28, God declares to them the following.

28 “Now it shall come to pass, aif you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God bwill set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and covertake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God:

3 d“Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be ein the country.

4 “Blessed shall be fthe 1fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.

5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.

6 g“Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.

7 “The Lord hwill cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.

8 “The Lord will icommand the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you jset your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you.

9 k“The Lord will establish you as a holy people to Himself, just as He has sworn to you, if you keep the commandments of the Lord your God and walk in His ways. 10 Then all peoples of the earth shall see that you are lcalled by the name of the Lord, and they shall be mafraid of you. 11 And nthe Lord will grant you plenty of goods, in the fruit of your body, in the increase of your livestock, and in the produce of your ground, in the land of which the Lord 2swore to your fathers to give you. 12 The Lord will open to you His good 3treasure, the heavens, oto give the rain to your land in its season, and pto bless all the work of your hand. qYou shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. 13 And the Lord will make ryou the head and not the tail; you shall be above only, and not be beneath, if you 4heed the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, and are careful to observe them. 14 sSo you shall not turn aside from any of the words which I command you this day, to the right or the left, to go after other gods to serve them.

The very first promise here is that Israel will dominate the nations. In fact, this is where the kingdom of God idea comes from. Israel will be the empire that rules the world. The nations will bow down to it and acknowledge the Lord through them. Along with this is the promise of prosperity and riches in this life. They will be physically protected and so no one who seeks to do them physical harm will be able to overcome them. Their very lives are protected by the promise of God that none of their enemies will be able to physically harm them or kill them. They will have no miscarriages. They will have no famine. Everything will prosper and they will be on top of the world and below no one and nothing else in this physical world. Again, this is offered if they are faithful and in a good standing relationship with God.

In contrast, the people of the new covenant who are in good standing with God through faith in Christ's perfect work and obedience are promised none of this in this world. There are no physical protections of their lives promised. Instead, we are told that the devil is given authority and gives that same authority to overcome the faithful physically and not only harm them, but kill them, i.e., to take away their physical lives completely (Rev 13:7-8). The ruling authority over all nations is not given to the new covenant saints but rather to the devil and the beast (Eph 2:2; Rev 13:7-8; 2 Cor 4:3-4). Paul, who could be seen as the most faithful among all early Christians is plagued with sickness (2 Cor 12:7-10; Gal 4:13-14), has no authority over anything physical in the world, whether humans or animals, and is on the run from them, even being in danger at every moment, in contrast to the Deuteronomic promise that all enemies will run from God's people and they will flee from no one (1 Cor 15:30-32; 2 Cor 4:6-13). We are told that the normative Christian life will be suffering, oppression, being at a loss of physical possessions, slandered to the point of losing our very names and being without honor rather than being feared/revered (again, as promised in Deuteronomy), being beaten, and even killed (Rom 8:17, 36; Heb 12:2-11; 13:12-13; Rev 13:7-8; James 5:6; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 4:12-19). As Paul and Barnabas tell all of the believers in various places, "through many hardships we must enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). Christ Himself, before leaving the apostles, stated, "“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). The entire book of Revelation is a testimony that faithfulness for a Christian means the opposite of receiving the Deuteronomic blessings in this life. It actually looks like receiving the curses. 

Now, why is this? Why such a stark contrast between the promises of both covenants? I have said this many times. It is what the New Testament teaches. Please hear it loud and clear. ISRAEL IS A SHADOW OF THE NEW HEAVENS AND NEW EARTH, NOT A PICTURE OF THE CHURCH IN THIS AGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I don't know why this is hard to understand other than we have been so influenced by the health and wealth cult in our society that we can't get this through our thick skulls. The promise of Deuteronomy is for Christians to the utmost, but not in this world. In fact, if you've read through the verses I quoted above, you'll actually see that.

For instance, in Hebrews 13:13-14, he states, "Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore. For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come." Peter says that we are strangers and aliens here, i.e., this isn't our world, so we are just resident aliens like people from other nations residing in a foreign land (1 Pet 2:11); and that we suffer various trials for the purpose of preparing us for the new world that will be revealed when Christ comes again (1:7-13). This text also states that the stuff in the Prophets was about revealing of Christ and the kingdom to come. Paul states that we are heirs of all things, but only if we now suffer with Christ in this world so that we may share in His glory in the one to come (Rom 8:17). These trials aren't viewed as possible or optional. They are said to be a necessity in each of these passages: "even though, now, SINCE IT IS NECESSARY, you have been besought with all kinds of troubles," "through troubles we MUST enter the kingdom of God," "if we suffer with Him" we are heirs to all things, "everyone who is a son is disciplined," etc. 

These sufferings prepare us for the world to come, and that is the world that Christ died for. That is the world that God so loved. It is the world to come. It is the world that He made this world as a means to create that one (Gen 2:3 - שָׁבַת מִכָּל־מְלַאכְתּוֹ אֲשֶׁר־בָּרָא אֱלֹהִים לַעֲשׂוֹת "He rested from all his work which he created in order to create"). Christ's kingdom is the world to come. The already-not yet, clearly, does not include the literal physical promises of the shadow to the already. Suffering is promised for the already because we are Christ's body in this world and Christ had trouble in this Satanic and fallen world. Hence, we will have trouble, as Christ, in this world. Instead, the promises of the shadow are cast from the world to come, and it is this world that Christ seeks to fill up with a people who have been prepared for it through the gospel and sufferings in this world. Hence, as Christ did not rule over the nations in this world, neither will we. As Christ did not have immortality in this world, neither will we. He could be slandered, under oppressive and unjust rulers, hungry, thirsty, and even die in this world. Hence, so will we. We look like, as Paul said, the dregs of all the world, scum, losers, cursed because our Lord bore the reproach of the world and became a loser in this world for our sakes and the sake of the world and the glory He would inherit, a world and glory to come. 

What does this have to do with understanding the Christians role when it comes to nations? It means that there is no promise to take over this world and that rather it would be contrary to the Christian promise to suffer, which, as shown above, means not ruling, fleeing from enemies, not being honored but slandered and accused falsely, not being physically unharmed but beaten, made sick, and even killed. Victory in the Apocalypse is actually being persecuted and killed because a saint would not deny Christ verbally or through his or her actions. Success is losing in this world, not because one is trying to lose but because the devil will make sure that any faithful Christian does lose in this world and God has so predestined to use that suffering for the Christian's ultimate victory in the world to come.

It would be nice to rule nations. It would be nice for lions and bears to bow down when we walk by. It would be nice to always have food and drink, clothing and shelter. It would be nice to have the respect of all men, to never be slandered/lied about, to never have a miscarriage, to never have to be afraid of harm and run from enemies. But that isn't the promise that we are given, and therefore, pursuing these things in this world as such a major part of the Christian message soon becomes another religion. The Israelites under the old covenant are promised success as a shadow of the world to come. We are promised the opposite because we need to be molded into the people who are fit to live in that world. Our promises are not the same. 

So what then? It means that political domination might be possible, but not promised or even probable. It is not a coincidence that when Christians gain the comforts and power in this world, success in this world, that truth and morality are almost always compromised. Corruption sets in because the program of God is to bring about loss in this world in order to gain our souls, the losing of our lives in order to find them, picking up our crosses that we might one day pick up our crowns. We will rule upon the earth (Rev 5:10), but not until we suffer, overcome, and Christ returns with our reward (Rev 3:21).

What then am I saying? I'm saying that there seems to be some idea that we're supposed to rule here, and that if we don't, it's because we've denied our birthrights and adopted some sort of defeatist Christianity that lacks the full power and promises given to us. 

I became a Christian in the early nineties, which was the height of the health and wealth cult that was spreading everywhere within the church. No one was ever saying that those who didn't seek success in this world weren't Christians but what they were saying is that those who don't are missing out on the full gospel and everything that God has promised to give us. My people, do not miss out on everything God has for you by spending one more minute with this false gospel. It distracts from the true one, and it discourages and even shipwrecks the faith when false expectations are unfulfilled. Our hope and promises are not of this realm because Christ's kingdom is not of this realm (John 18:36). We are a strange people who are citizens of an invisible foreign land (Phil 3:20-21). We await, not a Christian prince of this world to bring us our sabbath, but rather the King of Kings who will wipe away every tear born of suffering, every loss in this age, and will restore every life from death and bring eternal light into this dark place. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! 

Biblical Versus "Christian" Nationalism, Part II: What Is the Role of God-Ordained Governments?

 If the purpose of God is to express His dominion through a world filled up of His images then His command to His images, as we have seen, is to be fruitful and multiply, i.e., to participate in the creation of those individuals. But what of preserving them? 

Obviously, preservation is needed to a degree since the images have to exist in order to create other images. Hence, God lays down in Genesis 9 principles of preservation that become the building blocks for familial and national governments. 

Genesis 9:1-7 reads as follows:

               וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֱלֹהִ֔ים אֶת־נֹ֖חַ וְאֶת־בָּנָ֑יו וַיֹּ֧אמֶר לָהֶ֛ם פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֖וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

     וּמוֹרַאֲכֶ֤ם וְחִתְּכֶם֙ יִֽהְיֶ֔ה עַ֚ל כָּל־חַיַּ֣ת הָאָ֔רֶץ וְעַ֖ל כָּל־ע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם בְּכֹל֩ אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּרְמֹ֧שׂ הָֽאֲדָמָ֛ה וּֽבְכָל־דְּגֵ֥י הַיָּ֖ם בְּיֶדְכֶ֥ם נִתָּֽנוּ׃

              כָּל־רֶ֙מֶשׂ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר הוּא־חַ֔י לָכֶ֥ם יִהְיֶ֖ה לְאָכְלָ֑ה כְּיֶ֣רֶק עֵ֔שֶׂב נָתַ֥תִּי לָכֶ֖ם אֶת־כֹּֽל׃

   אַךְ־בָּשָׂ֕ר בְּנַפְשׁ֥וֹ דָמ֖וֹ לֹ֥א תֹאכֵֽלוּ׃

    וְאַ֨ךְ אֶת־דִּמְכֶ֤ם לְנַפְשֹֽׁתֵיכֶם֙ אֶדְרֹ֔שׁ מִיַּ֥ד כָּל־חַיָּ֖ה אֶדְרְשֶׁ֑נּוּ וּמִיַּ֣ד הָֽאָדָ֗ם מִיַּד֙ אִ֣ישׁ אָחִ֔יו אֶדְרֹ֖שׁ אֶת־נֶ֥פֶשׁ הָֽאָדָֽם׃

                       שֹׁפֵךְ֙ דַּ֣ם הָֽאָדָ֔ם בָּֽאָדָ֖ם דָּמ֣וֹ יִשָּׁפֵ֑ךְ כִּ֚י בְּצֶ֣לֶם אֱלֹהִ֔ים עָשָׂ֖ה אֶת־הָאָדָֽם׃

    וְאַתֶּ֖ם פְּר֣וּ וּרְב֑וּ שִׁרְצ֥וּ בָאָ֖רֶץ וּרְבוּ־בָֽהּ

Then God blessed Noah and his sons when he said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, and fill up the earth. Your fear and terror will be over every animal of the earth, over every bird of the sky, over everything which scurries on the ground, and over every fish of the sea. They have been given as your responsibility. 

Everything that scurries which is living belongs to you. It will be for eating.  As I gave you the green vegetation, I give to you everything. Only the meat! You are not to eat it with its life, it's blood. 

Surely, your blood which contains your lives I will most certainly prosecute as the responsibility of any animal or as the responsibility of a man, the responsibility of each man his brother, I will prosecute the life of a man. 

He who spills the blood of a man by a man his blood must be spilled because as the image of God He made the man. 

So you will be fruitful, multiply, swarm upon the earth, and multiply on it."

There are so many things that are often missed in this passage but I will stick to what pertains to our subject. First, the passage exists in the framework of the original command and is therefore a continuation of that original command. Preservation cannot work against creation, as preservation is subservient to creation. Hence, the original command remains as the governing principle. So preservation exists that the image's participation in the creation mandate might continue. 

These preservational elements include two new commands. The first is the expansion of food sources. Since dominion in the original command was a command, not over other humans, but over the animals, God now gives them the right to eat the animals over which they rule in order to preserve their lives.

The second command now includes a dominion over other humans who take the lives of other humans. This is the sole reason given over other people, i.e., to execute murderers. In this context, it can be assumed that to let murder go unchallenged would work against the creation mandate as it would reduce rather than multiply possible images of God upon the earth. Hence, it is the job of the image to be fruitful, to expand his food sources by killing animals, and to execute those who take human life.

This is the job of governmental authority. Whether that governmental authority is a small family like Noah's or that small family grows into a giant family we refer to as a nation. The government is given no other role here. It must promote the preservation of human life by expanding food sources and the preservation of human life that is under the threat of demise from criminals who would take that life. That's it.

Now, as many of you may know, murder is not simply defined in the Bible as when some guy with a hockey mask knifes a bunch of college girls at a sorority house. To reject the original creation mandate in one's sexuality is murder. To steal the food (or other life-giving) sources from someone is murder. To dishonor authorities like parents is murder. Anything that takes the physical life of a civilly innocent human being is murder.

If this is true, and it is the sole job of government to oversee this, then we would expect God to only require this of the nations of the world, as we will see in the upcoming post, only Israel functions as God's priests to preserve human life spiritually and eternally, but the nations are required to preserve the physical life of its people. There is no command here for the nations to function as priests in any way.

In fact, this is what Paul is talking about in Romans 13. Notice, as here in Genesis 9, the authority that God gives over to Noah and to "you" (plural, not singular so that the reader might know that this command is for all humans, not just Noah) to have a "fear and terror" over all of the animals, and now criminals. 

Paul states in Romans 13:1-7:

⸂Πᾶσα ψυχὴ ἐξουσίαις ὑπερεχούσαις ὑποτασσέσθω⸃*. οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν ἐξουσία εἰ μὴ ⸀ὑπὸ θεοῦ, αἱ δὲ οὖσαι ⸆ ὑπὸ ⸇ θεοῦ τεταγμέναι εἰσίν*. 2 ὥστε ὁ ἀντιτασσόμενος τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ τῇ τοῦ θεοῦ διαταγῇ ἀνθέστηκεν, οἱ δὲ ἀνθεστηκότες ἑαυτοῖς κρίμα λήμψονται. 3 οἱ γὰρ ἄρχοντες οὐκ εἰσὶν φόβος ⸂τῷ ἀγαθῷ ἔργῳ ἀλλὰ τῷ κακῷ⸃*. θέλεις δὲ μὴ φοβεῖσθαι τὴν ἐξουσίαν· τὸ ἀγαθὸν ποίει, καὶ ἕξεις ἔπαινον ἐξ αὐτῆς· 4 θεοῦ γὰρ διάκονός ἐστιν °σοὶ εἰς °1τὸ ἀγαθόν. ἐὰν δὲ τὸ κακὸν ποιῇς, φοβοῦ· οὐ γὰρ εἰκῇ τὴν μάχαιραν φορεῖ· θεοῦ γὰρ διάκονός ἐστιν ⸂ἔκδικος εἰς ὀργὴν⸃ τῷ τὸ κακὸν πράσσοντι. 5 διὸ ⸂ἀνάγκη ὑποτάσσεσθαι⸃, οὐ μόνον διὰ τὴν ὀργὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ τὴν συνείδησιν*. 6 διὰ τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ φόρους τελεῖτε· λειτουργοὶ γὰρ θεοῦ εἰσιν εἰς αὐτὸ τοῦτο προσκαρτεροῦντες. 7 ἀπόδοτε πᾶσιν τὰς ὀφειλάς*, τῷ τὸν φόρον τὸν φόρον, τῷ τὸ τέλος τὸ τέλος, τῷ τὸν φόβον τὸν φόβον, τῷ τὴν τιμὴν τὴν τιμήν*. 

Every soul is to be in submission to the governing authorities. For there is no authority if not by God. But the authorities that exist are set up by God. Therefore, the one who resists authority, rebels against God's order, and those who resist will receive condemnation. For those who rule are not a fear for [those doing] good deeds but for [those doing] bad deeds. Do you want that fear of authority to not be there? Do good and you will have praise from it. For it is a servant of God for you resulting in the good work. But if you do what is bad, fear! For it does not bear the sword for no reason. For it is the servant of God as an avenger resulting in wrath for those who practice what is bad. Therefore, it is absolutely necessary to be in submission, not only because of that wrath but also because of the conscience. For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are administers for God to perform this very governing work. Give to everyone what is owed, whether tax to whom tax is due, revenue to whom revenue is due, fear to whom fear is due, honor to whom honor is due.

It is difficult to imagine that Paul did not have the Genesis 9 text in mind, as he begins by saying "Let every ψυχὴ be in submission." The word ψυχὴ is used throughout the Genesis 9 passage and is an unusual way to start. Why not say "Let everyone" or "Let every man/human"? Secondly, he refers to governmental authority as "fear," which is also the way authority is described in the passage. Finally, the larger idea is that the government exists to preserve civilly innocent human life. It is a servant of God, like the image, to promote "good" [see the use in Genesis 1 as that which creates and preserves human life] and to bring vengeance with the sword, i.e., execution, upon the one who does "bad," the opposite of good. 

This is why Paul has no problem saying this of a pagan government. It is because a pagan government, as long as it performs this role, is functioning as God's servant. In other words, it's a government functioning how God wants it to function, Christian or not, because it is preserving innocent human life, which is its role. It's not a priest of God saving people or pushing them toward Christianity. That isn't its function. That is the function of Israel and then spiritual Israel, the church, as we see throughout the Bible. As long as the government is preserving innocent human life, it is a biblical government and must be honored as such. And the preservation of that human life has to do with temporal preservation upon this earth, not eternal or spiritual preservation which, again, is the job of God's priests, the church.

This is why Paul tells Christians to pray for government that they might lead a quiet and godly life. He also tells them to pray that they might be saved but there is no indication that this is because the government needs to become Christian in order to bring in a utopian society. Instead, he expresses that it is because God desires that all sorts of people in all kinds of stations in life be saved (1 Tim 2:1-8).

If this is all true, then we would expect God to judge the nations for failing to function in this specific way, and not because they are not worshiping YHWH or obeying Sabbath laws or anything specific to God's priests but not generalized to all nations. Let's briefly look at a few of those judgments that represent the larger corpus of God's expressed wrath upon the nations.

For instance, God tells us the reason He destroyed Sodom in Ezekiel 16:49-50.

‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did abominations before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

This text says they were judged, not for worshiping other gods or ignoring the Sabbath but because they lifted themselves up over what God had tasked them to do, which was to share their food with the poor (i.e., physically preserving human life by expanding food sources with those in need) and practiced תֹועֵבָ֖ה "abomination," the word used to refer to sexual practices that are not fruitful and do not multiply. In other words, they not only did these things but openly ("before Me") promoted them in their arrogance. Hence, they were doing the opposite of what God had tasked them to do, so He "did away with them."

Even Rome in Revelation 18, which is being judged because it propped itself up as a priest to the nations that spread false religion rather than kept its falsehoods to itself, is also being judged for attacking God's people, and making itself rich by murdering other nations. For "In her was found the blood of prophets and of God’s holy people, of all who have been slaughtered on the earth" (v. 24).

Those who attack Israel and other nations or try to replace God for Israel by promising to protect Israel when they cannot are going to have a unique judgment given to them because they have become the murderers rather than the avengers of those murders. Hence, God becomes the avenger instead upon them. These are not judgments because these nations are not fulfilling the Mosaic law code in their national practices. Almost all of these have to do with these nations attacking God and His people. For instance, in Isaiah 14, God is judging Babylon and Assyria because they oppressed and murdered, not only other people, including God's people, but even their own people.

    "You will not be buried with them, 

    because you destroyed your land 

    and killed your people." (14:20)

In other words, rather than preserve innocent human life by executing murderers, they became murderers of others and their own people. A nation that has continually does things like this is described consistently in the Bible as "arrogant" because they have lifted themselves and their purposes to gain resources through bribery and murder over God's purpose to preserve human life. This is the main reason they are judged.

It must be understood that God speaks about destroying their idols and making fun of the fact that they think these things will save them because they have brought havoc to His and other peoples, so according to lex talionis, He will bring the same upon their gods and temples. It is not because they are breaking some law He gave them concerning worshiping other gods. Instead, when the biblical text talks about the evil of wicked nations, it refers to their oppression, injustice toward the widow and the orphan, promoting sexual immorality (i.e., sexual acts that do not fulfill the creation mandate of being fruitful and multiplying), and allowing the wicked to thrive instead of the innocent. In other words, He judges them for not doing their one job as a governing authority. They are not preserving innocent human life.

There is also a judgment upon the nations when Israel is judged because Israel functioned as the priesthood of the world. When the priest is removed, the world is judged, as the existence of God's priests keep the wrath of God from coming upon the nations. Again, none of these judgments are specifically for idolatry or things that are specific to Israel's law code. 

Hence, the false dichotomy between a wicked nation and a "Christian" nation is unbiblical. The Biblical dichotomy is between a wicked nation and a righteous nation that fulfills its mandate to physically preserve innocent human life. A biblical nationalism, therefore, is one that looks to its government to perform the biblical duty of physically preserving its people by expanding life-sustaining sources and executing justice upon those who would take away that life, Christian prince or not.

Perhaps, we should take our key from Luther (or at least what is attributed to him) who, when talking about what he wanted in a shoemaker stated that he would rather have an excellent shoemaker than a Christian one who was not so excellent and made bad shoes. Of course, he was exhorting Christians to make good shoes but as I reflect upon that I think of all of the horrible governments that claimed to be Christian throughout the history of Christendom who did not fulfill this biblical model, and then I look at nations that have sought to fulfill it and think how much better of a job they have often done than these Christian nations ever did. I would like a Christian prince to rule but not to demand what was demanded by Christ of His people, but that he might know and understand the biblical model of government and execute it in a way that allows the images of God to fulfill the creation mandate.

We'll pursue what relationship Christians are to have with governments like those of Rome that may not be fulfilling the command in times of persecution or in various ways toward people in the next post.

Biblical Versus "Christian" Nationalism, Part I: What the Bible Actually Says about the Cultural Mandate

There is a saying that goes something like, "One day, you'll only be a memory for some people. Be a good one." But we should be more than just good memories. We should actually do the good God has set us to do. So what is our part to play in all of this? What is the good God has set us to do?

In the new world of internet revivalism, where the cultural mandate is anything from influencing the town council in order close bars on Sunday to painting pretty pictures because your art is going to change the world, I thought it might be helpful to actually look at the cultural mandate. "Why?" you might ask. Because it isn't what you think it is. In fact, it's actually the opposite emphasis of what many consider the cultural mandate.

Many people think that the cultural mandate, as they call it, is the building up of material culture through dominion in the areas of hierarchical structures in empires, the arts, entertainment, the ritualistic expressions that dominate a society.

The irony is that the people in Genesis who are doing all of the art, architecture, and cultural influence through those types of externals (craftsmanship, music, physical infrastructure, etc.) are the bad guys. They're in the line of Cain, which in Genesis 4, is framed with an inclusio that presents these people as the murderers, the destroyers, those who are the seed of the serpent and have wandered far afield from God's true cultural mandate. They've emphasized this development of material culture, as Genesis implies, because they believe they are doing good by pursuing the preservation of society through these things. 

But this isn't the cultural mandate that God gave to His images in Genesis 1. Instead, the Hebrew text reads as follows:

 וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים נַֽעֲשֶׂ֥ה אָדָ֛ם בְּצַלְמֵ֖נוּ כִּדְמוּתֵ֑נוּ וְיִרְדּוּ֩ בִדְגַ֨ת הַיָּ֜ם וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֗יִם וּבַבְּהֵמָה֙ וּבְכָל־הָאָ֔רֶץ וּבְכָל־הָרֶ֖מֶשׂ הָֽרֹמֵ֥שׂ עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃  וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃  וַיְבָ֣רֶךְ אֹתָם֮ אֱלֹהִים֒ וַיֹּ֨אמֶר לָהֶ֜ם אֱלֹהִ֗ים פְּר֥וּ וּרְב֛וּ וּמִלְא֥וּ אֶת־הָאָ֖רֶץ וְכִבְשֻׁ֑הָ וּרְד֞וּ בִּדְגַ֤ת הַיָּם֙ וּבְע֣וֹף הַשָּׁמַ֔יִם וּבְכָל־חַיָּ֖ה הָֽרֹמֶ֥שֶׂת עַל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃

"Then God said, "Let Us make man as our image, according to our likeness; and he will rule over the fish of the sea, over the bird of the sky, over the domesticated animals, over the earth, and over all the scurrying animals which scurry upon the land. So God created the man as his image, as the image of God, He created him, male and female He created them. Then God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful, multiply, fill up the earth, take dominion, and rule over the fish of the sea, over the bird of the sky, and over every living thing that scurries upon the earth."

So the image of God is linked to the mandate but what is the mandate? To build magnificent buildings, sculpt beautiful statues, and obtain the mandate through the influence of material culture? 

Let's take a look at the actual command because it's often read as though it is a series of multiple commands where I would suggest that it is actually a single command. 

This is easier to see when we go backward, so let's do that. "Rule over the fish of the sea, the bird of the sky, and the animals that scurry upon the land." How does the image rule over it? By fulfilling the imperative that comes before it. By subduing the land. What is the means the image is to take to subdue it? By fulfilling the imperative that precedes it as well. By filling up the land. How does the image fill up the land? By fulfilling the imperative that precedes it. By multiplying. How does the image multiply? By fulfilling the imperative that precedes it. By being fruitful.

Hence, the singular command is, "Be fruitful in order to multiply. Multiply in order to fill up the land. Fill up the land as the means to subdue it. Subdue it in order to rule over it."

In other words, the means the image is to take to subdue and rule over the earth is to have children, to multiply God's image upon the earth through childbirth. Not painting pretty pictures. Not building fortresses. Not craftmanship and weaponry and ingenuity and innovation. Not in commanding great armies and building empires. But by having children.

Children are the influence we are to leave upon the world. When you die, your memory will fade, your material accomplishments may or may not be remembered, but it does not matter, as that was not your task to begin with. How do we rule the world? Not by might. Not by prestige. Not by impressing the world through empires. Rather, by having godly children, images of God, multiply in the world, filling it up. 

Every invention will be replaced by another. Every city will be buried in the dust. Every attempt at preserving life will fail. All die. There is nothing we can do about that. That is an accomplishment only one can achieve, and has achieved, for us. Our role is not to eternally preserve our children as it was not our parents' role to eternally preserve us. Our role is to have and raise godly offspring so that Christ will eternally preserve them. 

Empires will not save them. They will not save the world. It is not how we take over it. My encouragement is to invest in your family, not as a means, but as THE means through which God will fill up the world to come. 

The reason why the destroyers focus on preservation through material culture is because they are still under the lie of the devil that they are God, that they can do what only God can do, which is to not only to decide whether they will have children (something God just commanded them to do), but also to use their divine powers to preserve them. They bring only death who play God. But they who are the image of God, who subjugate their lust to rule as God rules, and instead, submit to God's rule, will bring forth God's dominion over the earth by multiplying godly children. Their role is one of participation, not in ultimate preservation, but in creation. It is not through aggression, political or physical or cultural, that  the meek shall inherit the earth but through the humble means God has laid out for them. One day, neither you nor your children will be remembered but you and your children will be preserved and brought back into not only memory but life, not through your work but through His and His Son's. We who have this hope pursue His means of dominion and not that of Cain's world, and so we seek to obey the biblical mandate and though our lives are temporary here, and though they look as though they are unaccomplished, we present our bodies as living sacrifices to God and gladly receive children in whatever number He chooses. And though we and our children may be lost for a moment, we look for the world to come, where every child in Christ is restored and every tear of loss wiped away. "And they will rule upon the earth" (Rev 5:10).

Please Pray and Consider Donating

My old Moody Bible roommate’s daughter has been diagnosed with bone cancer. Please pray and consider giving toward her medical expenses.

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