Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Obeying God's delegated authority, part 34. Rom 13:1-7.

Title: Joshua and Judges: Crossing the Jordan - Obeying God's delegated authority, part 34. ROM 13:1-7.   

 

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Some time after midnight on July 19, A.D. 64, the night after full moon, a fire broke out at the north-east end of the Circus Maximus in Rome, adjoining the Palatine and Caelian hills. The shops which stood in a colonnade round the outer face of the Circus were full of combustible wares which provided fodder for the flames, and the conflagration, securing a hold there and fanned by the wind, raged throughout the city for five days. When at last it was stamped out, a fresh outbreak started on the estate of Tigellinus. Of the fourteen districts into which the city was divided, only four were spared; three were completely destroyed and the remaining seven received severe damage. The imperial palace itself, on the Palatine hill, was burned out.

 

Nero was out of town when it started but he rushed back to organize relief for those made homeless. However, despite his seeming generosity, many were unwilling to believe that the fire was accidental, and many thought that Nero had arranged it in order that he might rebuild the citer nearer to his heart's desire.

 

These rumors only increased in intensity when Nero's rebuilt palace, 'the Golden House', was incredibly luxurious and extensive. Nero accordingly found it expedient to provide scapegoats.

 

The Christians of Rome, by now a large community, were charged with instigating the fire. Why the Christians? First, they were disliked. Life in Rome under Nero was hedonistic to say the least and these Christians, in the eyes of a Roman, went around as if in mourning. They were actually called 'haters of the human race.' So much of the Roman way of life was bound up with what Christians regarded as immorality and idolatry that they would not take part in (this is beginning to be the mainline belief in the US). In Juvenal's words, they belonged to the sewage of the Orontes which had discharged itself into the Tiber; in Suetonius's words, they were 'a race of men given to a novel and baneful superstition'; Tacitus describes them as notorious for their depravity. Not only so, but popular Christian eschatology looked for the fiery dissolution of the current world-order, and not on some remote, hypothetical 'last day', but soon, any time now. When Rome caught fire we can imagine that some Christians saw it as fulfillment of God's judgment and welcomed it. This only fueled the belief that they were the ones responsible for it.

 

Christians lost their possessions to the fire as did their pagan neighbors, but the Christians didn't seem to care as much, or at all. They claimed to be looking for a city that was not of this world, what did they care if they lost some material things?

 

'a huge crowd was convicted not so much of arson as of hatred of the human race.' [Tacitus, Annals xv, 44.5]

 

Their execution was an occasion for popular entertainment; Nero's gardens were thrown open for the occasion.

 

 

According to Tacitus, some were crucified, some were sewn up in the skins of animals and hunted down by dogs, some were covered with pitch and set alight to serve as living torches when darkness fell. Thirty years later, Clement of Rome recalls how 'a great multitude' of believers had to endure cruel sufferings, how Christian women were forced to act the parts of popular theater. We know that they were forced to play the role of Dirce, who was killed by being tied to the horns of a bull. They were forced to play the daughters of Danaus. He had fifty daughters who married the sons of their father's twin brother. On their wedding night the daughters of Danaus killed their husbands and because of this they were condemned to carry water in perforated vessels to the delight of the spectators.

 

This went on for years and it is possible that Paul was executed during this time and possibly Peter also, though less evidence is known about Peter's end.

 

Although persecutions continued in pockets around the empire, we cannot say with any certainty that they were severely persecuted by the state all the time, because history doesn't record it for us. By the end of the first century it was clear to all Romans that Christianity was here to stay, and although it was an illegal religion, it was clear that eradicating it was impossible.

 

After the age of the apostles had gone, the churches founded by the apostles attached great importance to the documents that they possessed, the gospels and the epistles, but the canon of scripture was not yet a reality.

 

With the apostles gone, the attacks of Gnosticism flew into full gear and some of the church certainly succumbed to that false teaching, but God preserved His word and His church.

 

With the apostles gone, it was vital that the churches understand that what they heard from them was the word of God and was not subsequent to change by those who attempted to take their place.

 

COL 2:6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

 

COL 2:7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude.

 

COL 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.

 

1JO 2:18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.

 

1JO 2:19 They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, in order that it might be shown that they all are not of us.

 

1JO 2:20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One [the HS at salvation], and you all know.

 

1JO 2:21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.

 

1JO 2:22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

 

1JO 2:23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

 

1JO 2:24 As for you, let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.

 

2Jo 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.

 

Those who did not acknowledge Christ as coming in the flesh were the Gnostics. They were the popular false doctrine at the time, but they would not be the only one. Many more would come with various perversions of the scriptures. Many deceivers have gone out into the world. When the apostles were gone there was no longer a need for any such position, or God would have ordained it. The authority that was left behind for the pastors and their local churches was the scriptures. One pastor had authority over one congregation and no one had the position to be a ruler of many churches as the apostles once had.

 

2Jo 8 Watch yourselves, that you might not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.

 

2Jo 9 Anyone who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son.

 

2Jo 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting;

 

2Jo 11 for the one who gives him a greeting participates in his evil deeds.

 

3Jo 9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say.

 

3Jo 10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, neither does he himself receive the brethren, and he forbids those who desire to do so, and puts them out of the church.

 

3Jo 11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

 

And it was from the problem of false doctrines infiltrating the churches that a monarchical bishop [episkopos - word for pastor or overseer] was born who was to watch over the churches in a city. This position was no where ordained by God.

 

With his power he was able to regulate baptisms and the taking of the Lord's supper. If he deemed a church to be teaching falsehood, like Gnosticism, then he would deny them these rights. This was their solution in the absence of an apostle and it is a typical man-made solution in which the problems brought on by the so-called solution is worse than the original problem.

 

If a church behaves badly it is not a bishop that is needed but only the watchful eye of the Lord.

 

REV 2:5

'Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place —  unless you repent.

 

ROM 13:1 Let every person be in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.

 

ROM 13:2 Therefore he who resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.

 

ROM 13:3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same;

 

Such a passage really can't be applied to Nazi Germany or the USSR since they did not praise much as good but in fact praised evil. But for the most part, and at the time of writing under Roman rule, if you behaved yourself and paid your taxes to the state and didn't commit criminal acts then the state pretty much left you alone and you had nothing to fear. It should be noted that the Romans allowed the Jews to practice their religion in the Palestine territory and, in fact, anywhere else in the empire, just as long as they didn't revolt and paid their taxes. Judaism was a legal religion in Rome. At the time of writing Romans, nothing was decided as to the legality of Christianity since it was too young, but that was soon going to change.

 

ROM 13:4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. 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 upon the one who practices evil.

 

Capital punishment.

 

The Emperor Trajan presented to a provincial governor, on starting for his province, a dagger, with the words, 'For me. If I deserve it, in me."' Alford comments; "In ancient times and modern times, the sword has been carried before sovereigns. It betokens the power of capital punishment: and the reference to it here is among the many testimonies borne by Scripture against the attempt to abolish the infliction of the penalty of death for crime in Christian states."

 

The question to be solved is: At what point does human law run counter to divine law?

 

Just where may a man defy constituted authority on the ground that such authority is opposed to divine principles? Inevitably each Christian must answer this question in the context of his own life.

 

Two sincere believers might reach opposite conclusions and become stern antagonists in a civil struggle, and yet both be in the will of God.

 

I can imagine one Christian in New York in 1776 coming to the conclusion that he should continue to obey king George while his neighbor Christian concludes that he should obey George Washington and take up arms against the red coats. Who is to say one is right and the other is wrong in God's eyes? Yet, if the former believer remains in America after the government has transitioned, he is now obligated to obey the governing authorities and not the government of England.

 

On the other hand, the French Revolution was a different story. What happened in America inspired nations in Europe to follow suit. France's revolution began peacefully but very soon it blew up into murder, evil, and tyranny. No right minded Christian could have ever been a part of it.

 

This world is ruled by principalities and powers under the leadership of Satan (EPH 6:12); yet we are free from those powers and know no dominion except that of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

However, Christian liberty is no excuse for anarchy. We are freed from all law in order to be subject to Christ, who, in turn, sets us in the midst of the world, subject to earthly powers which sometimes act in a most devilish way.

 

"There is no authority except from God," as we read in the first verse of this chapter, "and those that exist have been instituted by God." Bishop Anders Nygren of Sweden comments, "That does not say that all the authorities do will agree with God's will. There are good and bad authorities, God-fearing and godless governments. There are some authorities that use their powers in harmony with God's will, and others that misuse their powers and trample the will of God under their feet. But Paul is not now talking about such distinctions. He is speaking of that which all authorities have in common, namely, that they are instituted by God. That there are governments in the world is not an arbitrary invention of man; it is a fact ordained by God. Thus it is God who grants power to the governments. It does not at all follow that actions of the governments are ethically approved. God uses even unworthy and culpable men as means to the accomplishment of His purposes (ACT 4:24-28). But on the other hand, the offenses of governments do not undo the fact that it is God who has given the power — even the power which they misuse — and that He can use even unrighteousness for the accomplishment of His purpose."

ROM 13:5 Wherefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience' sake.

 

ROM 13:6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.

 

ROM 13:7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.

 

Eighteen times, conscience is spoken of merely as a man's awareness of right and wrong.

 

The conscience may be likened to a sundial, which is made for the sun even as the conscience, rightly directed, reflects God's will. But suppose a sundial is consulted by moon-light. The dial may read ten o'clock when actually it is two o'-clock. By a candle or some other light, the dial may be made to tell any hour, at the whim of the one who holds the light. Thus conscience, which in man is fallen and so can be fooled into thinking that which is good is bad and vice versa, can be a safe guide only when it is turned toward God for His illumination.

 

The other 14 times, the word is modified by an adjective; we read six times of a good conscience, three times of a weak conscience, twice of a pure conscience, and of a seared, defiled, or evil conscience.