Government for the People

Good government of the people requires that the government take responsibility to protect every individual citizen’s God-given rights. In government by the people, we noted the people’s responsibility to be mature, self-governing citizens that properly steward their private property. Now let’s look at government for the people, which is how the government and the people work together so that the power of government remains with the people.

Power Can Corrupt

First, we need to understand that power can and often does corrupt.  God gave His Word to know how to live. Yet people want men to give them guidance and direction. When Israel asked the Prophet Samuel for a king, God  reminded him that they were forgetting the great deliverance that He, not men, brought to His people. They turned to other gods, including a desire to ruled by men.

I Samuel 8:5-9:
And said unto him…now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.　
But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the Lord.　
And the Lord said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.　
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.　
Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.　

The Lord showed Samuel the exact kind of person a king would be. Samuel warned Israel that earthly power can cause even the most well-meaning leader to abuse the people’s trust in him.

I Samuel 8:10-17:
And Samuel told all the words of the Lord unto the people that asked of him a king.
And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.
And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots.
And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.
And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.
And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants.
And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work.
He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants.　

God wanted them to know how a king would treat them so he instructed Samuel to make sure they understood. A king would take their daughters to be his bakers, take their sons for his own armies, take the best of their lands for his own, in essence, he would use his political power for his own selfish interests with little regard for his subjects’ rights. This describes the nature of tyranny, the ultimate end of a people who refuse to take on the responsibilities to be self-governing under the Supreme Governor, God.

Restraining the Corruption of Power

 In order to restrain the power of government over the people, it is necessary for a government by the people to employ four principles.

The Rule of Law

A written constitution—this is an agreement between the government and the people on the responsibilities of government and the limitations placed on the government’s power. All are to be held to the written constitution. This establishes the rule of law. Even God Almighty holds Himself to a written standard.

Psalms 138:2:
I will…praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.　

We obey God’s Word first, for it will effectually work in every situation. When a written constitution for an earthly government is based on Biblical principles founded by God, it will work as well.

I Thessalonians 2:13:
For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

 Here is a story that will further explain the rule of law in practice:

On March 5, 1770, eight British soldiers opened fire on an unruly mob of rebel Americans when someone threw a rock at them. When the shooting was over, five Americans were dead and others were wounded.

 It seemed all Boston was inflamed against the British soldiers. The ‘Boston Massacre’ became a rallying cry for those eager to revolt against England. Few Americans wanted to bother to try the prisoners in a court of law, most wanted them hanged immediately. Officials delayed the trial for seven months hoping that emotions would subside. They didn’t.

 After a number of lawyers refused to defend the British soldiers, 35-year-old John Adams took the case. Adams supported the American revolutionaries, but also fervently believed in the rule of law. Representing the British soldiers in court, he managed to get all but two of the soldiers acquitted. Those two were convicted of the lesser charge of manslaughter. Thus, Adams won his case, and won freedom for the men who had killed his countrymen.

But by insisting on a fair trial for his country’s enemies, Adams served his cause far better than if he had bowed to the popular desire for mob justice. Adams and his team established that Massachusetts—and by extension, the new nation—would put no man, even a killer, beneath the law, and no man above it. Theirs would be a nation based not on popular sentiment, but on law.

Separation of Powers

Second, to restrain the power of a federal government, there must also be a separation of powers—legislative, executive, judicial. No one man or woman can claim to have all the wisdom and understanding of God. Separating the powers among more men and women (there is safety in a multitude of counselors, Proverbs 11:14; 24:6), and putting in place checks and balances between the different branches, can help prevent one or even a group of individuals from taking too much power for themselves.

Elected Representatives

Third, the people must have the power to elect representatives in government to protect all individual’s rights. That is the essence of a republic. When the early church needed to get all the people like-minded on how to live together, leaders and elders sent “chosen” men to deliver their message.

Acts 15:25,26:
It seemed good unto us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men unto you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,
Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.　

Note that these chosen men had proven themselves to be faithful and qualified to carry out the people’s trust.

 Federalism

And finally, federalism can be set in place. That is, power diffused through levels of government from the overall federal government, limited in power, down to a state level with its certain powers to govern, to a county level, and so on. The basic unit of society, where true authority can be exercised is the family unit.

Exodus 18:13-26:
And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people: and the people stood by Moses from the morning unto the evening.
And when Moses’ father in law saw all that he did to the people, he said, What is this thing that thou doest to the people? why sittest thou thyself alone, and all the people stand by thee from morning unto even?
And Moses said unto his father in law, Because the people come unto me to enquire of God:
When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another, and I do make them know the statutes of God, and his laws.
And Moses’ father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.
Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.
Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:
And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.
Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.
And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.

Moses sat judging the people from the morning unto the evening. Moses’ father in law saw what he was doing and asked why he governed the people alone. He told Moses that he couldn’t do it all by himself. He advised Moses to first teach all the people together God’s Word and the work that they should do. Then he was to choose out of the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness and place these as rulers over thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens. They could then judge the smaller matters and bear the burden with Moses.

In this way, the people’s concerns could be handled on a more local level. Because the rulers were chosen from among the people, this is also an example of representative government with those who are of a high moral and ethical value. Note especially that they were to hate covetousness, the love of money and power.  This was before Israel desired a king to rule over them. At this point, they were still willing to take on the responsibilities of self-government under the Supreme Ruler, God.

In Government for the people, we recognize that power can and often does corrupt. The Bible’s principles give us four ways to restrain government power and to keep it in proper bounds: 1) maintain a written constitution or the rule of law; 2) separation of powers with checks and balances; 3) representative government; and 4) federalism where power is diffused through different levels of government.

What Shall We Do?

Now that we’ve concluded our survey of some of the Biblical principles regarding government, the question remains: What can we do? Here are five essentials that all of us can do in any country, under any form of government.

• Keep God first, trust Him (Proverbs 3:5,6; Psalms 127:1)
• Pray (I Timothy 2:1,2; Ephesians 6:18)
• Live, Act, and Speak up with the truth in love (Acts 5:20; Ephesians 4:15)
• Educate ourselves and teach others, especially our families, about our God-given rights and responsibilities (Deuteronomy 6:6,7; Acts 13:49)
• If your government allows it, vote to elect virtuous men and women, like those leaders In Exodus 18.

The American historian, Henry Grady Weaver, profoundly declared this in his book, The Mainspring of Human Progress.

The great fact in history is this: the American Revolution had no leader. This fact is the hope of the world because human freedom is a personal matter. Only the individual can protect human rights in the infinite complexity of men’s relationships with each other. Nothing on earth is more valuable than the person who knows that all men are free and who accepts the responsibilities that go with freedom.

That is you and me.