A post by Maynard
I’m posting this note in contemplation of the relationship between the individual (us peons) and coercive authority (those folks with badges and bigger guns).
This is one of humanity’s fundamental problems, and we’ll wrestle with it as long as we exist. If left to our own devices, we mess up. But if we must be controlled by a heavy hand, then what’s the point in being an individual?
What does the Bible say about the rise of secular power? That’s a bigger topic than I can explore here, and my knowledge is pretty rudimentary. So consider my comments as food for thought rather than a broad or reputable interpretation…
After the Israelites arrived in the Promised Land, authority was vested in the Judges. But what exactly were these Judges? Did they lead the nation?
Here’s the Wikipedia description:
Historically, the Hebrew verb meant to act as a Divine judge, and was applied to God and to the prophet Moses acting as the specially inspired lawgiver and judge of Israel. In the Biblical context of the Book of Judges, the term designates those who act as deliverers. The word, however, means more than this; it refers to leaders who took charge of the affairs of the tribes in case of war (similar to a ‘war king’ amongst the Germanic tribes, for example), and who assumed leadership of their respective tribes in the succeeding times of peace.
I’m not exactly sure what that means. It seems to imply a degree of partial authority, which is more absolute in times of war or national crisis. But the Judges didn’t constitute the full force of civilian authority.
The Book of Judges closes on this note:
In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as he saw fit.
Looks like ancient Israel fell out of balance, with everybody “doing their own thing” and nobody doing the right thing.
Thus came Samuel, who was the bridge between the waning era of Judges and the rising era of Kings and Prophets.
As described in 1 Samuel 8:
1 When Samuel grew old, he appointed his sons as judges for Israel. 2 The name of his firstborn was Joel and the name of his second was Abijah, and they served at Beersheba. 3 But his sons did not walk in his ways. They turned aside after dishonest gain and accepted bribes and perverted justice.
…which just goes to show that dynasties can be a problem, even when they derive from holiness. And corruption among high officials is nothing new. Continuing…
4 So all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah. 5 They said to him, “You are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways; now appoint a king to lead us, such as all the other nations have.”
You can see why the elders are perturbed. The nation has gone astray. Samuel bears some responsibility for the problem.
If we can’t find our own path anymore, we should follow in the footsteps of others. We’re not a special nation; we’re just a nation that took a different — and wrongful — path.
6 But when they said, “Give us a king to lead us,” this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. 7 And the LORD told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. 8 As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. 9 Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.”
God is saying that although the people are venting wrath upon the shortcomings of the government, in fact the failure is their own. The only thing to do is try to reason with them. And if reason isn’t enough, they’ll have to suffer the consequences.
10 Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who were asking him for a king. 11 He said, “This is what the king who will reign over you will do: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your menservants and maidservants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, and the LORD will not answer you in that day.”
That notion about the government taking a tenth of your property is looking pretty good these days. But aside from the fact that Samuel grossly underestimated the avarice of modern Caesars, you can see he pretty much hit the nail on the head.
Although I can imagine the elders wondering: If we don’t go ahead with this king thing, what do we do? We’ve got to do something. The people expect it!
19 But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “No!” they said. “We want a king over us. 20 Then we will be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.”
We want to be just like those socialistical Europe Peons so we can get socialisticalized medicine just as easily as we get our driver’s licenses. (By the way, I’ve had it with the DMV. The next time my license comes due, I’m not going to stand in line; I’ll just hop over to MacArthur Park for quick, friendly service; the sort of traditional American entrepreneurship we thought had been lost. But I digress.)
21 When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the LORD. 22 The LORD answered, “Listen to them and give them a king.”
That’s how we got King Saul. And it’s not as if Saul turned out to be an entirely negative figure…but that’s another story.
“Protection of the needy is of special concern to God: They are, after all, the least able to vindicate their own interests, especially in the face of a government that is easily subverted to favor the powerful. However, extra sensitivity to the abuse of the poor does not warrant prejudice in their favor. God commanded: “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly†(Lev. 19:15).
My wife was blinded in her left eye by incompetent surgeons who mucked up two corneal transplants. Her left eye was in trouble, so we opted to travel, twice monthly, to the best in the world ( “Wills Eye Institute” in Philly). 6 hour drive one way, and our insurance only covered 80%. My medical out-of-pocket soared as high as 17K + a year, but we opted for that choice. After 3 years, her vision in her remaining “good” eye has stabilized.
Had we been subjugated to socialized healthcare, Will’s Institute certainly wouldn’t have been an option, and she would be completely blind today.
Socialized “universal” healthcare hasn’t worked anywhere in the world. And we can’t afford it anyway. Any illegal alien or unemployed/uninsured individual can walk into any emergency room in America right now, and cannot be refused care. Many doctors, several in my area in fact, now offer managed healthcare at a cheap flat fee. WalMart now offers prescription drugs CHEAPER than my prescription plan at work. Am I missing something here?
Maynard,
You have triggered many questions that have been troubling me of late. Why do so many seek to willfully forfeit their sacred Sovereignty of Self? What would compel any individual to abdicate his or her own Divinely conferred seat of power only to bow before the throne of a dictatorial State? Have the burdens of making one’s own decisions and living with their all too predictable consequences become too onerous to bear for even a minute longer, so much so that one would exchange personal liberty for the manacles of a slavish dependence? And one final query: Doesn’t the same book from which you quote tell the story of a young carpenter who taught us all that no manner of mortal man shall intercede between any one of us and God? That is, of course, before those pompous wielders of either scepter or censer who so desperately feared the diminishment of their own threatened authority hoped to forever silence him by using the very nails and wood of his own honest trade?
Voltaire wrote that he who would give up divinely given essential liberties for temporary security deserve neither