The Gettysburg Address: Iconic, But is it Biblical? Pt. 3

Posted: 5th December 2013 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
11

[T]he law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted. (Habakkuk 1:4)

November 19, 2013, was the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The speech is iconic, but is it Biblical?

Unfinished Work

It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced.

The Confederate soldiers who lost their lives at Gettysburg and in all the other battles of that war would certainly find it treasonous if any of their descendants were to dedicate themselves to furthering the unfinished work of the United States Constitutional Republic’s aggressive and escalating imperialism. They died with the hope of freeing their posterity from this ungodly abuse of power.

It’s been argued that the Confederates fought for the right to govern themselves. However, without Biblically qualified “governors” ruling on Yahweh’s1 behalf, this too is unbiblical. God intends that we be governed by Him and only those submitted to Him2 (unless otherwise as a judgment when we fail to seek Him and His administrators—Daniel 4:17). Anything else is executive and legislative usurpation:

…their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. …imputing this his power unto his god. (Habakkuk 1:7, 11)

The New American Standard Bible renders verse 7 more accurately: “their justice and authority originate with themselves.” This sounds very much like the Preamble of the United States Constitution that begins and ends “WE THE PEOPLE,” for various reasons, do “ordain and establish this Constitution….”

Yahweh’s Constitution (His triune immutable moral law as reflected in His commandments, statutes, and judgments) was established long before 1789. Because the federal Constitution was not based upon Yahweh’s Constitution, We the People’s constitutionalism is a collective form of humanism. The framers would have done well to have heeded Moses’ warning:

Ye shall not do after … whatsoever is right in [every man’s] own eyes. (Deuteronomy 12:8)

Unlike the secular United States Constitution, some of the Colonial constitutions in the 1600s were based upon Yahweh’s constitution:

In June of 1639 the leading men of New Haven held a convention in a barn, and formally adopted the Bible as the constitution of the State. Everything was strictly conformed to the religious standard. The government was called the House of Wisdom…. None but church members were admitted to the rights of citizenship.3

In contrast, the Preamble for the Constitution of the Confederate States of America didn’t fare much better than the Union’s:

We, the people of the Confederate States, each state acting in its sovereign and independent character, in order to form a permanent federal government, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity [sic], and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity—invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God—do ordain and establish this Constitution for the Confederate States of America.

It does not matter that the Confederate Constitution replaced “in order to form a more perfect union” with “each state acting in its sovereign and independent character.” Without Yahweh’s law as the declared standard, the Confederate Constitution was merely another contemporary form of “every man [whether individually, collectively, or by representation] doing that which was right in their own eyes,” per Judges 21:25.

Not only did the Confederate Constitution fail to designate Yahweh’s moral law as the standard for government and society, in the seditious tradition of the Union’s Constitution, it specified itself as the supreme law of the land and also banned Christian tests for its civil leaders (Article 6, Sections 3 and 4).4

One need look no further than the Constitution of the Confederate States (particularly Article 6) to find reason the South lost the war. Their Constitution contains many of the same grievous violations as the Union’s Constitution. The South had the opportunity to do it right(eous) and failed.

It is of little consequence that the Confederates included the phrase “invoking the favor and guidance of Almighty God.” We must do more than merely invoke Yahweh’s guidance. We must execute His guidance (most of which is already provided in His inspired Word) at all levels of society. This is the unfinished work of Christians: The advancement of Yahweh’s kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10, 33).4

Dying in Vain

It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—….

When we scrutinize the war’s principle cause (the perpetuity of its Biblically seditious Constitutional Republic5) by the Bible, it’s evident that those who gave their lives for it did, in fact, die in vain.

Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. (Ecclesiastes 12:13)

But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33)

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:58)

Abraham Lincoln was wrong. It is vain for men to die for any cause other than Yahweh’s, particularly one so ungodly as the War of Northern Aggression.

 

See Part 4.

 

Related posts:

The Gettysburg Address: Iconic, But is it Biblical? Pt. 1

The Gettysburg Address: Iconic, But is it Biblical? Pt. 2

Preamble (Biblical rewrite)

Article 1 (Biblical rewrite)

Article 2 (Biblical rewrite)

Article 3 (Biblical rewrite)

 

1. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. It was unlawfully deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”

2. Exodus 18:21-22; Romans 13:3-4; etc.

Article 1 (Biblical rewrite)

Article 2 (Biblical rewrite)

Article 3 (Biblical rewrite)

3. John Clark Ridpath, History of the United States, 4 vols. (New York, NY: The American Book Company, 1874) vol. 1, p. 181.

4. Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

5. Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

The Gettysburg Address: Iconic, But is it Biblical? Pt. 2

Posted: 29th November 2013 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
8

[T]he law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted. (Habakkuk 1:4)

November 19, 2013, was the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The speech is iconic, but is it Biblical?

That the Nation Might Live

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

Let’s not overlook that President Lincoln had no thought for Gettysburg’s Confederate dead, who were not at all interested in giving their lives so the corporate United States of America might endure. Moreover, a nation exists not so much by the lives of those lost in her battles, but as a result of Yahweh’s1 predetermined design for His ultimate purpose. This is true even for nations whose leaders (such as Lincoln2) are in rebellion to Yahweh:

[T]he most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men. (Daniel 4:17)

Consecration

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

Webster’s 2000 College Dictionary defines “consecrate” as “to make or declare sacred; dedicate to the service of a deity.”3 The blood of soldiers can no more consecrate the killing fields of Gettysburg than the lives lost in New York’s Twin Towers can hallow Ground Zero.

Numbers 35:33 tells us that “blood it defileth the land.” After Cain killed Abel, in Genesis 4:9-10, Yahweh informed Cain that “the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” One can only imagine the deafening uproar created by the blood shed just at Gettysburg alone.

An Ungodly Battle in an Ungodly War

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

If we’re smart, we will never forget what was done at Gettysburg and vow never to repeat it. (Thus far, Americans have not proven themselves very smart.) It was an ungodly battle in an ungodly war.4

The power to declare war is a serious responsibility. Why were the framers so vague in defining the parameters of war and the conditions under which it could be declared? Article 1, Section 8, Clause 115 is the only place of significance where warfare is mentioned in the Constitution. Little wonder this power has been abused. Luther Martin (one of Maryland’s delegates to the Constitutional Convention) protested:

…the congress have also a power given them to raise and support armies, without any limitation as to numbers, and without any restriction in time of peace. Thus, sir, this plan of government, instead of guarding against a standing army, that engine of arbitrary power, which has so often and so successfully been used for the subversion of freedom, has in its formation given it an express and constitutional sanction….6

John Quincy Adams predicted the consequences of America’s imperialistic military entanglements:

America … has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when the conflict has been for principles to which she clings…. Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions, and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad [How much more so within her own borders?]in search of monsters to destroy.… She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy and ambition, which assume the colors, and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force; the frontlet on her brow would no longer beam with the ineffable splendor of freedom and independence; but in its stead would soon be substituted an imperial diadem, flashing in false and tarnished luster, the murky radiance of dominion and power. She might become [and has] the dictatress of the world: she would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.7

Because the framers provided no Biblical parameters, unbiblical warfare (including the War of Northern Aggression) has been the rule ever since. Yahweh prescribes strict rules of warfare for His people.8 These Biblical parameters determine the righteousness of a war.

Untold numbers of people have been killed in wars fought in the name of Christianity, but few of these wars were Christian. If a military conflict waged in the name of Christianity is not Biblical, it is not Christian. More often than not, the departure from the Biblical rules of warfare is what is responsible for the unjustified deaths in these “holy” wars.

Only conflicts waged in legitimate defense of one’s homeland are justified and godly. The South had no intentions of attacking their Northern brethren. Consequently, President Lincoln had no Biblical authority to declare war against the Southern states. On the other hand, the Southerners were justified in defending themselves against their invaders.

Abraham Lincoln was wrong. The fields of Gettysburg were not consecrated by the blood shed there. Rather, they were defiled.

 

See Part 3.

 

Related posts:

The Gettysburg Address: Iconic, But is it Biblical?, Part 2

Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

 

1. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. It was unlawfully deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”

2. The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, Thomas DiLorenzo.

3. Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, s.v. “consecrate” (New York, NY: Random House, 2000) p. 284.

4. In the beginning, Lincoln’s War had nothing to do with abolishing slavery. That slavery became an issue is merely an instance of political opportunism on Lincoln’s part.

5. “[Congress shall have power] To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.” (United States Constitution: Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11)

6. Luther Martin, Jonathan Elliott, ed., The Debates in the Several State Conventions, on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, 4 vols. (Washington, DC: Jonathan Elliott, 1836) vol. 1, p. 59.

7. John Quincy Adams, quoted in William H. Seward, Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams (New York, NY: C.M. Saxton, Barker & Co., 1860) p. 132.

8. Deuteronomy 20, etc.

The Gettysburg Address: Iconic, But is it Biblical? Pt. 1

Posted: 23rd November 2013 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
17

 [T]he law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted. (Habakkuk 1:4)

November 19, 2013, was the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The speech has become iconic. On June 1, 1865, Senator Charles Sumner described the Gettysburg Address as a “monumental act” and “the battle itself … less important than the speech.”1

Iconic, yes. But the fact that the speech came from the lips of President Lincoln2 and that it’s so often used to represent the Constitutional Republic is a red flag. But more important, how does it fare when compared with Scripture?

Created Equal

Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

This is, of course, referring to Thomas Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence. The language is that of the Enlightenment (perhaps even Masonry), but not the Bible. The Bible never declares that all men were created equal. In fact, quite the opposite. For example: Before the foundation of the world,3 the Israelites were chosen by Yahweh4 to be His wife5 (under both Old and New Covenants alike6). This is an exceptionally privileged position, “above all people that are on the face of the earth.”7 In Romans 9:10-13, the Apostle Paul informs us that before Esau was born, he was destined to serve Jacob so that “the purpose of God according to election might stand.” It may not be politically or religiously correct, but men were created to be anything but equal.

Conceived in Liberty

President Lincoln began his speech by claiming that the United States Republic was “conceived in liberty.” The Preamble of the United States’ Constitution states one of its purposes was to “secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.” 2 Corinthians 3:17 informs us “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” How then could a document that is devoid of Yahweh (except, perhaps, as the Paper’s timekeeper in Article 7), Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit secure true liberty for anyone?

R.J. Rushdoony pointed out the sophistry of governments based upon freedom:

….[A] society which makes freedom its primary goal will lose it, because it has made, not responsibility, but freedom from responsibility, its purpose. When freedom is the basic emphasis, it is not responsible speech which is fostered but irresponsible speech. If freedom of press is absolutized, libel will be defended finally as a privilege of freedom, and if free speech is absolutized, slander finally becomes a right. Religious liberty becomes a triumph of irreligion. Tyranny and anarchy take over. Freedom of speech, press, and religion all give way to controls, totalitarian controls. The goal must be God’s law-order, in which alone is true liberty.8

Societal liberty is found only in the Bible’s perfect law of liberty:

But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. (James 1:25)

James was not describing some New Covenant law that allegedly frees us to do whatever we wish. That kind of freedom is nothing more than baptized humanism, which eventually leads to anarchism, one of the quickest paths to legal slavery. What James was describing was the same perfect law of liberty—Yahweh’s commandments, statutes, and judgments—that King David wrote about:

So shall I keep thy law continually for ever and ever. And I will walk at liberty…. (Psalm 119:44-45)

This was the same law David described as “perfect” in Psalm 19:7.

Forgiveness (liberty from our personal sins) is realized through Jesus’ blood-atoning sacrifice and resurrection from the grave. All other liberty is found in the implementation and enforcement of Yahweh’s perfect law of liberty—never in the hollow promises of man-made covenants, such as the United States Constitution. Yahweh’s grace on the personal level and Yahweh’s law on the community level are our only means to true freedom. When either of these is abused, freedom is also abused:

Whenever freedom is made into the absolute, the result is not freedom but anarchism. Freedom must be under law, or it is not freedom…. Only a law-order which holds to the primacy of God’s law can bring forth true freedom, freedom for justice, truth, and godly life. Freedom as an absolute is simply an assertion of man’s “right” to be his own god; this means a radical denial of God’s law-order. “Freedom” thus is another name for the claim by man to divinity and autonomy. It means that man becomes his own absolute.9

The Spirit of the Lord cannot be found in the Constitution because Yahweh and His perfect law of liberty were flagrantly disregarded by its framers.10 Without the Spirit of the Lord, true liberty is impossible.

[M]y people are gone into captivity … because they have cast away the law of YHWH of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. (Isaiah 5:13, 24)

Abraham Lincoln was wrong. The United States Constitutional Republic was not conceived in liberty but instead in bondage to a political system hostile to Yahweh’s.10

See Part 2.

 

Related posts:

Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Rights, Rights, Everyone Wants Their Rights

America’s Hell: Paved With Rights

 

1. Abraham Lincoln Online, “The Gettysburg Address,” <http://www.abrahamlincolnonline.org/lincoln/speeches/gettysburg.htm.>

2. The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, Thomas DiLorenzo.

3. Ephesians 1:4

4. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. It was unlawfully deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”

5. Jeremiah 3:11-14

6. Romans 9:3-4; Hebrews 8:8-9.

For more regarding to Yahweh’s marriage to Israel under both Old and New Covenants alike, see The Mystery of the Gentiles: Who Are They and Where Are They Now?

7. Exodus 19:5; Deuteronomy 7:6,14, 10:15, 14:2, 26:18-19, Psalm 135:4; 1 Peter 2:9

8. Rousas John Rushdoony, The Institutes of Biblical Law (The Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing Company, 1973) p. 581.

9. Ibid., p. 583.

10. Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

America’s Road to Hell: Paved with Rights

Posted: 8th November 2013 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
112

 [B]ecause they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law … they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…. (Hosea 8:1, 7)

 Whirlwind Rights

A familiar proverb declares, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” America’s road to “hell” has been paved with rights, including:

  • Natural rights
  • Human rights
  • Civil rights
  • Political rights
  • Religious rights (including the right for all non-Christian religions to proliferate)
  • Educational rights
  • Women’s rights (including the right to murder one’s unborn baby)
  • Children’s rights
  • Health care rights
  • Welfare rights
  • Homosexual rights
  • Transgender rights

And this is the short list. Former United States Attorney General Stephen J. Markman confirmed that the unbiblical rights above are included in the Ninth Amendment’s unidentified enumeration of rights:

[T[he Ninth Amendment constitutes a “license to constitutional decisionmakers [sic] to look beyond the substantive commands of the constitutional text to protect fundamental rights not expressed therein.” Rights to abortion, contraception, homosexual behavior, and similar sexual privacy rights have already been imposed by judges detecting such rights in the Ninth Amendment.1

Because the framers failed to expressly establish the Constitution on Biblical ethics, the Ninth Amendment was inevitably interpreted to include the above list, as well as other Biblical infractions.

The latest to come from the rights culture created by the framers is the right of young men who claim to be transgender to share locker rooms, bathrooms, and even showers with girls in our public schools.

 Cause and Effect

These “whirlwind” rights are the consequence of the “wind” rights established by the framers in the Bill of Rights. Most Christians believe the rights found in the first Ten Amendments are God-given. But there are two problems with this cherished idea:

1) The Constitution knows nothing of God (except perhaps as the Paper’s timekeeper in Article 7).

2) God and His Word know nothing of optional rights. Instead, the Bible is replete with non-optional responsibilities:

The Scriptures provide no evidence of God-given (or unalienable) rights. Even life and liberty are not rights, but rather responsibilities delegated by Yahweh.2 Of course, rights are much more popular than responsibilities. Everyone, including homosexuals and infant murderers, demand their rights. Few are interested in fulfilling their responsibilities.3

America was sold down the river when the framers replaced God-expected responsibilities with optional rights, which are easily suppressed by whatever government is in power at the time. There’s no better example than the Second Amendment and its wording “shall not be infringed.” The Second Amendment is the most infringed, licensed, and limited Amendment of the entire twenty-seven.4

Rights vs. Righteousness

Rights have also contributed to an irresponsible and, in turn, pompously cavalier public that is more interested in exercising its “rights” than in living responsibly, especially in relation to a sovereign God.

People who demand their rights are like children, focused only on themselves. People who pursue righteousness are focused on Yahweh and their fellow man. The former promote a government of, by, and for the people; the latter promote a government of, by, and for Yahweh.5

In theory, rights are one of the “holy grails” of American Republicanism. In reality, they’re just another example of the framers’ apostasy, which continues to reap the whirlwind.

 

Related posts:

Rights, Rights, Everyone Wants Their Rights

Rights: Man’s Sacrilegious Claim to Divinity

Chapter 11 “Amendment 1: Government-Sanctioned Polytheism” of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Chapter 18 “Amendment 9: Rights vs. Righteousness” of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

 

1. Stephen J. Markham, “The Coming Constitutional Debate,” Imprimis (Hillsdale, MI: Hillsdale College, 2010) vol. 39, num. 4, p. 5.

2. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. Regrettably, it was deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”

3. Rights, Rights, Everyone Wants Their Rights

4. The Second Amendment: A Knife in a Gunfight

“You Can’t Win Bringing a Knife to a Gunfight”

5. Rights, Rights, Everyone Wants Their Rights

 

Yahweh’s Everlasting Righteousness, Part 2

Posted: 1st November 2013 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , ,
3

Shall mortal man be more just [righteous] than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? (Job 4:17)

In Part 1, I began with the assumption that Christians would answer both questions with a resounding, “No!” I then established that because Yahweh1 does not change (Malachi 3:6, Hebrews 13:8, James 1:17), His everlasting righteousness (Psalm 119:142) doesn’t change, and because His righteousness doesn’t change, neither does the triune moral law (His commandments, statutes, and judgments) that conveys His righteousness to us.

Pre-Sinai Law

Practically speaking, this is where many modern Christians find themselves living as if they are more righteous than Yahweh. Because they erroneously believe the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments did not exist prior to Moses’ interaction with God at Mt. Sinai, they believe the law was only relevant to the Mosaic Covenant. They consequently dismiss the idea that Yahweh’s triune law transcends the covenants. As a result, they also reject any notion that His law is relevant under the New Covenant. But if the law that reflects God’s moral nature doesn’t transcend the covenants, then neither does His righteousness. Righteousness would, for the most part, be left to conjecture—every man doing that which is right in his own eyes, per Judges 21:25.

Yahweh’s triune moral law did not come into existence at Mt. Sinai. Over 500 years prior to Moses, Abraham kept that same law:

And YHWH appeared unto him [Isaac], and said, … I will make thy seed to multiply as the stars of heaven, and will give unto thy seed all these countries; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because that Abraham [thy father] obeyed my voice, and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws. (Genesis 26:2-5)

The book of Jasher2 expounds upon Abraham’s law observance and, in so doing, identifies the law he kept:

…Abram served the Lord his God all the days of his life, and he walked in His ways and followed His law. (Jasher 12:42)

…He [Yahweh] said unto me [Abraham], to thy seed I will give all these lands, and they shall inherit them when [at the time of Moses] they keep my commandments, my statutes and my judgments that I have commanded thee [Isaac], and which I shall command them. Now therefore my son, hearken to my voice, and keep the commandments of the Lord thy God … that it may be well with thee and thy children forever. …teach then thy children and thy seed the instruction of the Lord and His commandments. (Jasher 26:24-26)

In Jasher 26, we find the law that Abraham kept structured into three integral components—commandments, statutes, and judgments. This is the same structure Moses later codified under the Mosaic Covenant:

Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which YHWH your God commanded to teach you…. (Deuteronomy 6:1)

There is a plethora of pre-Sinai evidence for the existence of Yahweh’s moral law, including the fact that Moses himself used it to judge the nation of Israel prior to receiving the two tablets on Mt. Sinai:

And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses sat to judge the people…. 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. (Exodus 18:13-16)

This was recorded two chapters prior to Moses’ descending Mt. Sinai with the Decalogue. The two tablets didn’t mark the beginning of Yahweh’s moral law, but the beginning of the Mosaic Covenant.

Covenant Change

It is true that the covenants (the way Yahweh chooses to deal with man at any given time) change. But Yahweh and His everlasting righteousness transcend not only the covenants, but time itself. Therefore, the triune moral law that conveys His righteousness to man also transcends the covenants.

The Old Covenant and its approach to the moral law of Yahweh (i.e., that the law be kept for righteousness—Deuteronomy 6:25) has been superseded by the New Covenant (Romans 10:4) and Christ’s imputed righteousness to us (Romans 3:22-26, 4:6-8). However, the moral laws that have been integral to all the covenants have not been abrogated. They cannot be abrogated without effectively abrogating Yahweh’s everlasting righteousness.

Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:19-20)

But seek ye first the kingdom of God [established on His moral law], and his righteousness [as reflected in His moral law]…. (Matthew 6:33)

Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.” (Romans 3:31)

Is mortal man more just or righteous than God?

To eliminate Yahweh’s triune moral law is to eliminate His everlasting righteousness, and to eliminate His righteousness dictates that we institute and live our lives by our own righteousness.

Anyone who refuses to admit that Yahweh’s righteousness (as represented in His moral law)  transcends all covenants, must then admit that man is at least as righteous as Yahweh. Why? Because without his immutable, fixed, and perpetual righteousness, Yahweh would be just as fickle as finite man. Praise God, He’s not fickle, and neither has He withdrawn His righteous guide as represented in His commandments, statutes, and judgments.

The law sends us to the gospel for our justification; the gospel sends us to the law to frame our way of life.3

 

Related posts:

“Yahweh’s Everlasting Righteousness, Part 1”
Yahweh’s Everlasting Righteousness (Audio Sermon)
Yah’s Laws: Are They For Today?
Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

 

1. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. Regrettably, it was deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”

2. Although Jasher is not a part of canonized Scripture, it is cited in Joshua 10:13 and 2 Samuel 1:18.

3. Samuel Bolton, The Moral Law: A Rule of Obedience, <http://www.the-highway.com/articleFeb00.html>.

Yahweh’s Everlasting Righteousness, Pt. 1

Posted: 25th October 2013 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: , , ,
1

Shall mortal man be more just [righteous] than God? shall a man be more pure than his maker? (Job 4:17)

As Christians, I hope we would respond to those questions with a resounding “No!” But is this really how Christians answer?

Yahweh’s inalterable nature

For I am YHWH, I change not…. (Malachi 3:6)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning [no slightest hint of change, NET]. (James 1:17)

Yahweh1 does not change. He is perpetually the same. But what about Him doesn’t change? He changes forms. He changes in, some respects, how He deals with man, per the different covenants. But one thing about Yahweh doesn’t change.

In Hebrews 13:8, we’re informed Jesus (Yeshua or Yah who saves) is “the same, yesterday, today, and forever.” In other words, in whatever aspect it is that He doesn’t change, He’s eternally the same. This aspect is something fixed, inflexible, and inalterable. It’s everlasting:

Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth. (Psalm 119:142)

But the mercy of YHWH is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children; to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. (Psalm 103:17-18)

Yahweh’s everlasting righteousness

In addition to His mercy, His righteousness transcends not only the covenants but time itself. This is true because His righteousness is the very essence of His being:

YHWH is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. (Psalm 145:17)

Possibly more than anything, this everlasting, immutable aspect of the infinite, time-transcending God is what sets Him apart from fickle, finite man. Whereas Yahweh is eternally righteous, “there is [no man that is] righteous, no not one,” for “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory [righteousness] of God” (Romans 3:10, 23). Yahweh’s righteousness transcends time. Man has no righteousness by which to transcend anything.

But what exactly is Yahweh’s righteousness? The Complete Word Study Dictionary uses the words “right,” “justice,” “ethical,” “blameless conduct,” and “integrity” to define the Hebrew words translated “righteousness” in Psalm 119:142.2 The Theological Workbook of the Old Testament declares, “This root basically connotes conformity to an ethical or moral standard.”3

In other words, Yahweh’s everlasting righteousness embodies or is exemplified by His ethics, His justice, and His morality. If Yahweh’s righteousness is everlasting, then His justice and ethics, as defined by His morality, must also be perpetual.

Yahweh’s moral disposition transcends the covenants and time itself. Therefore, His triune moral law (His commandments, statutes, and judgments), which reflects His righteousness and therefore His morality, also transcends all four major covenants (Adamic, Abrahamic, Mosaic, and Christian).

But what’s this have to do with whether we live our lives as if we’re more righteous than Yahweh? For the answer, stay tuned to Part 2.

 

See Part 2.

 

Related posts:

Yahweh’s Everlasting Righteousness

Yah’s Laws: Are They For Today?

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

 

1. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. Regrettably, it was deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”

2. The Complete Word Study Dictionary, tsedeq, tsidqaat-kaa, Copyright © 2003 by AMG Publisher, quoted in PC Study Bible.

3. The Theological Workbook of the Old Testament, tsedeq, tsidqaat-kaa, Copyright © 1980 by The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago, quoted in PC Study Bible.

Article 3

Posted: 4th October 2013 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
1

Section 1. All judicial authority resides in Almighty God and is, therefore, vested in Almighty God by Almighty God.

Isaiah 33:221 declares Yahweh2 is King, Lawgiver, and Judge. His sovereignty is inherent in and over all three branches of government. Consequently, any civil judgment not congruent with His perfect law and altogether righteous judgments3 is an instance of judicial usurpation.4

Section 2. All viable, dynamic law consists of three integral components: commandments, statutes, and judgments.5 The commandments express the primal, foundational law. The statutes expound upon the commandments. And the judgments enforce the commandments and their respective statutes. Without any one of these three components, the law is crippled. A law without a judgment becomes merely good advice.

Whoever defines criminal behavior and dispenses judgments holds dominion in society. Yahweh intends for the judgments to be in the hands of His people.6

Section 3. Yahweh’s judicial order is a graduated system—a magistrate rather than a litigant appellate system. Difficult cases in lower courts are to be turned over to higher judges (over fifties, hundreds, and thousands)7 for adjudication.

Yahweh’s morality as expressed in His triune law is infallible and therefore immutable. His standard is inalterable and therefore does not change over time or with newly appointed judges. Therefore, except in cases where a higher court discerns a demonstrable decision- or judgment-altering error, a lower court’s decision or judgment cannot be overturned by a higher court. Intervention by a higher court (unless requested by a lower court) is otherwise not allowed.

After a verdict has been rendered, compelling new evidence can be cause for a reversal or a new trial.

Because delayed judgment diminishes the deterrent effect, all judgments are to be carried out expeditiously.8

Section 4. There is nothing in the Bible that resembles a jury system. Even with jury nullification (a juror’s right to judge a law as unjust, oppressive, or inapplicable to any particular case) in force, juries invariably render decisions based upon each jury’s collective standard of morality or immorality. Juries are notoriously fickle and produce, at best, erratic justice.

Without Yahweh’s law as the standard, jury decisions are based upon the capricious morality of its members and are just as likely (perhaps even more so) to render bad decisions as they are good decisions. Most people lack the independence and resolution to resist the will of a majority.9 Juries put juridical determinations in the hands of an unpredictable and unequally yoked public, the majority of whom are likely to be non-Christian.10

Juries drawn from the general population are unlikely to be astute in Yahweh’s law and, therefore, no more apt to render justice than a corrupt judge. Moreover, unlike a corrupt judge who can be removed from his bench, there is little or no recourse for inept juries.

Section 5. The Bible provides for judges, officers, and magistrates.11

Judges shall be composed of Biblically qualified men,12 who will remain in office as long as they aspire to the position,13 are mentally capable, and remain Biblically qualified.

Judges must rule in the fear of Yahweh and on His behalf instead of the state or any one race, class, gender, or person. This can only be accomplished when judges’ rulings are based exclusively upon Yahweh’s never-changing morality as reflected in His commandments, statutes, and judgments.14

At the same time, judges must be impartial in their decisions, regardless race, class, gender, or person.15

Section 6. Judges are to be nominated by other men from their immediate community who can personally attest to the nominees’ Biblical qualifications.16 When there are more candidates than positions, nominees shall be elected by Yahweh via casting lots.17

The number of judges per local community shall be determined by the numeration provided in Exodus 18.18 With one judge for every ten families, speedy trials should prevail.

Judges are to be compensated for their time and services from tithes and freewill offerings.19

Section 7. If during his tenure a judge becomes Biblically unqualified, the men of his community must remove him from his bench, lest the community become complicit in any misuse of his position as judge.20

If a judge knowingly rules on behalf of a criminal (as the result of being bribed or for any other reason), he is to be impeached and then punished with the same judgment the guilty party would otherwise have incurred.21

Section 8. Depending upon the nature of the crime, Yahweh’s civil laws call for five principal modes of punishment:

  • The death penalty22
  •  Retribution, with penalties23
  •  Restitution, with penalties24
  •   Indentured servitude25
  •   Floggings26

Except for short-term, pre-trial incarcerations, prisons (which are a tax burden upon law-abiding citizens) are superfluous. Bail is likewise redundant. It is also unbiblical.27

The absence of prisons necessitates speedy trials and expeditious punishment.

Except for two instances,28 Yahweh’s law does not provide for fines to be paid to the state or government. In all other instances, monetary remuneration in the form of fines or penalties must always go to the injured party or the relatives of the deceased.29

No one is liable unless damage or injury has occurred to another person or his property. The state cannot be a damaged party. Consequently, there is no liability for such things as speeding or other victimless “crimes.”

Following conviction, anyone (regardless of sex, age, or mental capacity) found guilty of pre-meditated murder must be put to death.30

For cases other than first-degree murder, monetary indemnity is allowable, at the discretion of the victim’s next of kin.31

Section 9. Stoning is the principle means for execution,32 for the following reasons:

  • Because of its remedial and preventative effect.33
  • Because it provides the means for the next of kin (blood avenger),34 witnesses,35 and the community36 to participate in the execution.

The harsher the punishment, the greater the deterrent. People are less likely to commit felonies when the maximum penalty is mandatory for unrepentant criminals. This is especially true if it is compulsory for the whole community to attend and participate in public executions.

When stones are not accessible, firing squads37 (which also allow for community participation) may be used in substitution of stoning.

Section 10. Because Yahweh is sovereign over His triune law order and because judges represent Him, contempt of court (refusal to comply with a judge’s verdict or order) is contempt for God and His law. Contempt of court is, therefore, a capital crime.38 Because contempt is a capital crime, noncompliance in non-capital cases would be virtually unheard of.

Section 11. The following six safeguards are to be implemented in all cases. They should all but eliminate false testimony and protect the integrity of the court and its decisions:

  • Defendants are to be given the opportunity to defend themselves against their accusers.39
  • Litigants are required to take self-maledictory oaths by which they call Yahweh to curse them if their testimony is false.40 In some cases, perjury can be considered a Third Commandment infraction and, as such, incur the death penalty.
  • Witnesses (or anyone with pertinent information) to a crime are required to testify, regardless whether they’re married or related to a litigant.41
  • Convictions require two or more witnesses.42
  • Witnesses are required to participate in the execution or flogging of those whom they help convict.43
  • False witnesses are to suffer the same punishment they intend for their victims.44

Section 12. Trials are to be open to the public in easily accessible locations.45 Public trials place judges under the scrutiny of the community that nominated them. This will help curb temptation for judicial abuse.

Executions, retributions, and floggings are likewise to be held in public view.46 The community against which the crime was committed is required to attend and participate in the execution or flogging of convicted criminals.47

Executions are a covenantal community responsibility. The Bible knows nothing of private executions or tax-paid professional executioners, both of which impersonalize crime and diminish the deterrent effect of the death penalty.

Stone piles covering executed criminals are to be left intact in open sight, in order to perpetuate the deterrent effect.48

Section 13. Lex talionis, or the law of retribution (an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, etc.), mandates equitable retribution and restricts the extent of retaliation in order to keep the punishment proportional to the crime.

Lex talionis is especially important for its potent deterrent effect upon non-capital criminals.49

The inherent liabilities in the “an eye for an eye…” judgment promotes personal responsibility for one’s actions, which, in turn, eliminates the need for insurance companies and encroaching government agencies such as OSHA and the FDA. Lex talionis also substantially reduces both premeditated crime and careless disregard for the lives and property of others.

Retribution is required only if the victim demands it, not the state.

In addition to “an eye for an eye…,” the perpetrator of an injury upon another person is also liable for any medical expenses and/or loss of income50 incurred as a consequence of intentional harm or reckless negligence.51 This stipulation does not include remuneration for any supposed or real pain, suffering, embarrassment, or indignity suffered at the hands of someone else.

__________________________

1. “For YHWH is our judge, YHWH is our lawgiver, YHWH is our king….” (Isaiah 33:22)

2. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. It was unlawfully deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”

3. “The law of YHWH is perfect…. The statutes of YHWH are right … the commandment of YHWH is pure … the judgments of YHWH are true and righteous altogether.” (Psalm 19:7-9)

4. “[You have] … changed my judgments into wickedness … for they have refused my judgments and my statutes, they have not walked in them. Therefore thus saith the Lord YHWH; Because ye … have not walked in my statutes, neither have kept my judgments … behold, I, even I, am against thee, and will execute judgments in the midst of thee in the sight of the nations.” (Ezekiel 5:6-8)

“Her princes within her are roaring lions; her judges are evening wolves … they have done violence to the law.” (Zephaniah 3:3-4)

5. “And YHWH … declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments…. And YHWH commanded me at that time to teach you statutes and judgments, that ye might do them….” (Deuteronomy 4:12-14)

6. “…judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it. Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?” (Psalm 94:15-16)

“Let … a twoedged sword [be] in their hand; to execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; to bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; to execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye YH.” (Psalm 149:6-9)

“The evil bow before the good; and the wicked at the gates [where court was convened] of the righteous.” (Proverbs 14:19)

“For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil…. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” (Romans 13:3-4)

“Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? Know ye not that we shall judge … things that pertain to this life?” (1 Corinthians 6:1-3)

“[W]e are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.” (2 Corinthians 10:6, NASB)

“But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully; Knowing this, that the law is … made … for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine.” (1 Timothy 1:8-10)

See also Leviticus 26:14-16; Deuteronomy 7:11-12; Proverbs 28:5; and Habakkuk 1:4.

7. “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.” (Exodus 18:21-22)

8. “Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them [given fully, NASB] to do evil.” (Ecclesiastes 8:11)

9. Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment.” (Exodus 23:2)

10. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” (Matthew 7:13)

11. Exodus 18:20-22, 22:9; Deuteronomy 1:16, 16:18, 25:1; Ezra 7:25.

12. Exodus 18:19-21; Deuteronomy 1:13-17, 17:15-20; 2 Samuel 23:3; 2 Chronicles 19:5-8; Jeremiah 30:21; Romans 13:1-4; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; and Titus 1:5-9.

13. 1 Timothy 3:1; 1 Peter 5:1-3

14. “And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; but ye shall hear the small as well as the great; ye shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s….” (Deuteronomy 1:16-17)

“And he [King Jehoshaphat] set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for YHWH, who is with you in the judgment…. And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of YHWH, faithfully, and with a perfect heart.” (2 Chronicles 19:5-9)

15. “Neither shalt thou countenance a poor man in his cause…. Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause. Keep thee far from a false matter…. And thou shalt take no gift [bribe, NASB]: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.” (Exodus 23:3-8)

“Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.” (Leviticus 19:15)

“Ye shall have one law … both for him that is born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.” (Numbers 15:29)

“Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen.” (Deuteronomy 27:19)

16. Exodus s18:21; Deuteronomy 1:13-15; Acts 6:3

17. “Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom YHWH thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.” (Deuteronomy 17:15)

“And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken [by lot] … the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken…. And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom YHWH hath chosen….” (1 Samuel 10:20-24)

“The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of YHWH.” (Proverbs 16:33)

“The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty.” (Proverbs 18:18)

“And they appointed [put forward, NASB] two, Joseph called Barsabas…. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen…. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” (Acts 1:23-26)

18. Exodus 18:21-22

19. 2 Chronicles 31:4; Luke 10:7; Romans 13:6-7; 1 Corinthians 9:11-14; 1 Timothy 5:17-18

20. 1 Samuel 14:26-45; 1 Chronicles 21:1-14; 1 Timothy 5:22

21. Deuteronomy 19:16-21

22. First Commandment violations: Exodus 22:20; 22:18; Leviticus 20:27; Deuteronomy 13:1-10; 17:2-5, 9-13; 18:20; 19:16-21; Luke 19:27; Romans 1:30-32; 1 Timothy 1:10

      Second Commandment violations: Exodus 22:20; Deuteronomy 13:1-10; Romans 1:30-23

     Third Commandment violations: Leviticus 24:10-16, 23; Deuteronomy 19:16-21; John 10:30-33; 1 Timothy 1:9-10

     Fourth Commandment violations: Exodus 31:14-15; 35:2; Numbers 15:32-36; Deuteronomy 19:16-21; 1 Timothy 1:10

     Fifth Commandment violations: Exodus 21:15, 17; Leviticus 20:9; Deuteronomy 19:16-21; 21:18-23; Matthew 15:4;  Romans 1:30-32; 1 Timothy 1:10

     Sixth Commandment violations: Genesis 9:5-6; Exodus 21:12, 14, 16, 22-25, 28-31; Leviticus 20:2; 24:17, 21; Numbers 35:16-21, 30-31, 33-34; Deuteronomy 19:11-13, 16-21; 24:7; Romans 1:29-32; 1 Timothy 1:10

     Seventh Commandment violations: Exodus 22:19; Leviticus 20:10, 11-12, 13, 15-16; 21:9; Deuteronomy 19:16-21; 22:13-21, 22-24, 25-27; John 8:3-5; Romans 1:26-32; 1 Timothy 1:10

23. Exodus 21:23-25; Leviticus 24:19-20; Deuteronomy 19:16-21; 25:11-12;

24. Exodus 22:1-15

25. “[H]e should make full restitution; if he have nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.” (Exodus 22:3)

26. “[I]f the wicked man be worthy to be beaten, that the judge shall cause him to lie down, and to be beaten before his face, according to his fault, by a certain number. Forty stripes he may give him, and not exceed: lest, if he should exceed, and beat him above these with many stripes, then thy brother should seem vile unto thee.” (Deuteronomy 25:2-3)

See also Proverbs 10:13, 19:29, and 26:3.

27. Proverbs 11:15; Proverbs17:18; Proverbs 27:1

28. Leviticus 5:15-16; Numbers 5:5-8

29. Exodus 22:1-15; Leviticus 6:2-5

30. “[S]urely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man … will I require the life of man. Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he man.” (Genesis 9:5-6)

“[Y]e shall take no satisfaction [restitution] for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death…. So ye shall not pollute the land wherein ye are: for blood it defileth the land: and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him that shed it.” (Numbers 35:31-33)

“[I]f a man come presumptuously upon his neighbour, to slay him with guile; thou shalt take him from mine altar, that he may die.” (Exodus 21:14)

31. Exodus 21:28-30

32. Leviticus 20:2, 7; 24:16; Numbers 15:32-34; Deuteronomy 13:6-10; 17:2-5; 21:20-21; 22:20-21, 23-24.

33. “And thou shalt stone him [a promoter of false gods] with stones…. And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.” (Deuteronomy 13:10-11)

See also Deuteronomy 17:12-13, 19:18-21, 21:20-21; Proverbs 21:11, 21:15; and 1 Timothy 5:20.

34. Deuteronomy 19:11-12

35. Deuteronomy 17:5-7

36. Leviticus 24:13-16; Deuteronomy 13:9, 17:6-7

37. “[H]e shall surely be stoned, or shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live….” (Exodus 19:13)

38. “And thou shalt come unto … the judge that shall be in those days, and inquire; and they shall shew thee the sentence of judgment: And thou shalt … observe to do according to all that they inform thee: …thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall shew thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto … the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel. And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously.” (Deuteronomy 17:9-13)

39. Deuteronomy 19:16-18

40. Exodus 22:11; 1 Kings 8:31-32; Nehemiah 10:29; Hebrews 6:16

41. Leviticus 5:1, 5; Deuteronomy 13:6-10; Acts 5:1-11

42. Deuteronomy 19:15

43. Deuteronomy 17:5-7

44. Deuteronomy 19:16-21

45. “Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates [to the main entrance to every city and town] … and they shall judge the people with just judgment.” (Deuteronomy 16:18)

46. “Then shalt thou bring forth that man or that woman, which have committed that wicked thing, unto thy gates, even that man or that woman, and shalt stone them with stones, till they die.” (Deuteronomy 17:2-5)

47. Leviticus 24:13-16; Deuteronomy 13:9; 17:6-7

48. Joshua 7:24-26

49. “And if any mischief follow, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.” (Exodus 21:23-25)

“Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother: so shalt thou put the evil away from among you. And those which remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. And thine eye shall not pity; but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.” (Deuteronomy 19:19-21)

50. “And if men have a quarrel and one strikes the other with a stone or with his fist, and he does not die but remains in bed; if he gets up and walks around outside on his staff, then he who struck him shall go unpunished; he shall only pay for his loss of time, and shall take care of him until he is completely healed.” (Exodus 21:18, NASB)

51. Exodus 21:28-32, 33-34; Deuteronomy 22:8

 

Related Posts:

Preamble

Article 1

Article 2

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Article 3: How Would You Write It?

Posted: 13th September 2013 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: , , ,
1

With the Preamble, Article 1, and Article 2 “completed,” let us consider Article 3.

As with the Preamble and first two Articles, I’ll submit my proposal in a week or two. In the meantime, I am requesting Article 3 proposals from our readers: If you were asked to be a delegate to a constitutional convention for the purpose of establishing a Biblical government, how might you write Article 2, concerning a judicial branch for its constitution?

You can either submit your proposal below in response to this post, or email it to me at tweiland@vistabeam.com. I look forward to your submissions.

Related posts:
The Preamble: How Would You Write It?
Preamble
Article 1: How Would You Write It?
Article 1
Article 2

Article 2

Posted: 6th September 2013 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
4

Section 1. All legislative authority resides in Almighty God and is, therefore, vested in Almighty God by Almighty God.

Isaiah 33:22 and James 4:121 declare Yahweh2 is the exclusive legislator. There are no others. Anyone who claims the title of legislator (particularly when his “laws”—whether commandments, statutes, or judgments—are inconsonant with Yahweh’s) is a usurper and is perpetuating the same anarchy initiated by Adam and Eve. Anarchy is defined as “a state of society without government or law.”3 Because all legitimate law originates with Yahweh, any “legislation” not in accord with His amounts to an act of anarchy against God Almighty and, therefore, His kingdom.

Yahweh is the only lawgiver because as Creator and Sovereign He is the only one with the authority to determine what is good and what is evil. This is so, not because we recognize it as such, but because He has so declared it.

Because there is only one true God, there is only one standard for morality. As the source of morality, Yahweh is the source of all true law and, therefore, holds the monopoly on legislation. Because legislation enacts morality, morality and legislation are indivisible.

Any legislation antithetical to Yahweh’s is tantamount to calling good evil and evil good.4 It amounts to a usurpation of His place as God. When man rejects Yahweh’s standard of morality, he invariably makes legal what God has made unlawful and illegal what He has made lawful, making a mockery of His law. Case in point: All governments that have not recognized Yahweh’s exclusive legislative authority.

His triune moral law cannot be improved upon because it is perfect.5 It is unlawful for man to amend or repeal it in whole or in part.6 Because Yahweh’s moral law is perfect, any endeavor to improve upon it is an attempt to dethrone Yahweh and commandeer His throne.

Section 2. Because it is impossible for man to make law, he is either a usurper or merely an administrator of Yahweh’s law. Administrators (not to be confused with judges) are law finders, not lawmakers. An administrator’s responsibility is to implement Yahweh’s law (government) here on earth at all levels of society—individually, domestically, and civilly. Every Christian man should be an administrator of Yahweh’s law on at least the first two levels.

Administrators represent Yahweh, not the people. It is their duty to search out the law of Yahweh as it applies to any particular situation, and then to teach and implement the law(s) appropriate to that situation or need.7

This does not mean supplementary stipulations cannot be implemented, provided they are consonant with Yahweh’s prescribed law. For example, a father, who governs his family by God’s authority and with His law has the liberty to implement house rules, such as hygienic and household chores. The same is true on all other levels of society.

Today’s technology did not exist when Moses codified Yahweh’s moral laws. Therefore, additional stipulations are required for these new conditions under and in accord with God’s case laws (His statutes and judgments). Provided such regulations do not conflict with Yahweh’s moral law, they are perfectly acceptable. Biblical precedents are found in Jeremiah’s land deeds,8 Rachab’s patriarchal requisites,9 and Mordechai’s Purim celebration,10 none of which are directly provided for in the commandments or statutes.

Section 3. Civil administrators shall be composed of Biblically qualified men11 (either twenty, twenty-five, or thirty years up to fifty years of age12), who will remain such so long as they aspire to the position,13 and provided they remain Biblically qualified.

Administrators are to be nominated by other men from their immediate community who can personally attest to the nominees’ Biblical qualifications.lots.14 When there are more candidates than positions, nominees shall be elected by Yahweh via casting lots.15

The number of administrators shall be determined by each and every local community, as their needs require. Communities would be well-advised to consult the numerical model for judges in Exodus 18 as a guide for administrators as well.16

Civil administrators (like judges) are to be compensated for their time and services from tithes and freewill offerings.17

Section 4. If, at any point during his tenure, a civil administrator becomes Biblically unqualified, it is then incumbent upon the men of his community to remove him from office, lest the community become complicit in any misuse of his position as administrator.18

__________________________

1. “For YHWH is our judge, YHWH is our lawgiver, YHWH is our king….” (Isaiah 33:22) “There is [only, NASB] one lawgiver…” (James 4:12)

2. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. It was unlawfully deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”

3. Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, s.v. “anarchy” (New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 2000) p. 48.

4. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)

5. “The law of YHWH is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of YHWH is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of YHWH are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of YHWH is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of YHWH is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of YHWH are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.” (Psalm 19:7-11)

6. “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of YHWH your God which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2)

7. “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of YHWH, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” (Ezra 7:10)

“And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood … [and] opened the book in the sight of all the people…. Also … Levites, caused the people to understand the law…. So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.” (Nehemiah 8:4-8)

8. Jeremiah 32:9-14

9. Jeremiah 35:5-19

10. Esther 9 11. Exodus 18:19-21; Deuteronomy 1:13-17, 17:15-20; 2 Samuel 23:3; 2 Chronicles 19:5-8; Jeremiah 30:21; Romans 13:1-4; 1 Timothy 3:1-13; and Titus 1:5-9.

12. Numbers 4:3, 30, 47, 8:23-24; and 1 Chronicles 23:3, 24, 27. (I am unable to reconcile these ages. If anyone has an explanation, please share your thoughts with me.)

13. “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.” (1 Timothy 3:1)

“The elders which are among you I exhort…. Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock.” (1 Peter 5:1-3)

14. Exodus 18:21; Deuteronomy 1:13-15; Acts 6:3

15. “Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom YHWH thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.” (Deuteronomy 17:15)

“And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken [by lot] … the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken…. And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom YHWH hath chosen….” (1 Samuel 10:20-24)

“The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of YHWH.” (Proverbs 16:33)

“The lot causeth contentions to cease, and parteth between the mighty.” (Proverbs 18:18)

“And they appointed [put forward, NASB] two, Joseph called Barsabas…. And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen…. And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” (Acts 1:23-26)

16. “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.” (Exodus 18:21)

17. “…give the portion of the priests and the Levites, that they might be encouraged in [devote themselves to, NASB] the law of YHWH.” (2 Chronicles 31:4)

“…the labourer is worthy of his hire….” (Luke 10:7)

“For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute [tax, NASB] to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.” (Romans 13:6-7)

“If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing if we shall reap your carnal [material, NASB] things?…. Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach [or minister] the gospel should live of the gospel. (1 Corinthians 9:11-14)

“Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.” (1 Timothy 5:17-18)

18. 1 Samuel 14:26-45; 1 Chronicles 21:1-14; 1 Timothy 5:22

 

Related Posts:

Preamble

Article 1

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Article 1

Posted: 30th August 2013 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , ,
13

All executive authority resides in Almighty God and is, therefore, vested in Almighty God by Almighty God.

Isaiah 33:221 declares Yahweh2 is King. He has never abdicated His throne.3 He is as much King now as He was at creation and at the time Isaiah affirmed His sovereignty. As perpetual King, the kingdom He rules over is also perpetual.4

When, in 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites sought an earthly king, Yahweh gave them the desires of their hearts. Nevertheless, they were punished for seeking a covering other than His5 and paid a dear price for their lack of faith in and fidelity to Him.6

We therefore have no need of an earthly king (president or monarch) to reside over kingdom affairs.7 In the tradition of our 17th-century Christian American forebears, we commit ourselves to Yahweh alone as our sovereign.8

__________________________

1. “For YHWH is our judge, YHWH is our lawgiver, YHWH is our king….” (Isaiah 33:22)

2. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. It was unlawfully deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”

3. “…YHWH sitteth King for ever.” (Psalm 29:10)

“But YHWH is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king….” (Jeremiah 10:10)

“Behold, the days come, saith YHWH, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, YHWH our righteousness.” (Jeremiah 23:5-6)

“Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.” (1 Timothy 1:17)

4. “Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.” (Psalm 145:13)

“For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever….” (Isaiah 9:6-7)

“To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 1:25)

5. “Woe to the rebellious children, saith YHWH, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin.” (Isaiah 30:1)

The Hebrew word nacak, translated “covering,” is indicative of anointing a king (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance).

6. 1 Samuel 8; 1 Samuel 10:17-19; Hosea 13:9-11

7. “…[Yahweh] who is the blessed and only Potentate [Sovereign, NASB], the King of kings, and Lord of lords.” (1 Timothy 6:15)

8. “God was their King; and they regarded him as truly and literally so….” William Holmes McGuffey, McGuffey’s Sixth Eclectic Reader (New York, NY: American Book Company, 1879) p. 225.

 

Related Posts:

Preamble

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Older Entries
Newer Entries