Our government through bloodshed has squandered its legitimacy
Tom Hoefling
God created and instituted human government. It started with the explicit, imperative command that the body of the people take the life of any man or animal that took the life of an innocent human being.
“Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
Whoever sheds man’s blood,
By man his blood shall be shed;
For in the image of God
He made man.”
— Genesis 9:5-6
This command to all the nations has never been amended or repealed. Every human government there has ever been draws its legitimacy, if it has any, from this command of God to Noah and his sons. God intended human governments to exist to assure that violent bedlam did not reign on the earth, as it had before the flood. He granted those governments the power of the sword and established them as an important restraint on evil, and on evil-doers.
“Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil.”
— Romans 13:1-4
Human government’s raison d’etre, or reason for being, is to protect the people. First and foremost, their purpose is to protect them in their supreme right, the right to live.
The founders of the American republic, being, by and large, very well educated Christian men, knew all of this quite well. When they laid out their reasons for separation from Great Britain, this was among their serious charges against King George III:
“He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.”
— The Declaration of Independence
The throne of legitimate government in America was empty. The King had abdicated by failing to do the one thing that gave him any legitimacy, which was to protect the people. He in fact was doing the exact opposite, by making war on them.
Today in America, those who take the oath of office have for half a century refused to protect unborn children. Many tens of millions of these helpless innocents have been slaughtered because of this bloody nonfeasance.
A long string of presidents, and Congresses, and courts, along with state and local officials, have abdicated government here, by declaring the least among us to be out of their protection. They have, in effect, waged war against those who are least able to defend themselves.
When you see government tottering in America, when you see insurrectionists violently attacking our capitol, or violent mobs burning and looting our major cities, or barbarous gunmen opening fire in public places, you need not wonder why. At the root, it’s because of the loss of governmental legitimacy. The restraints on the violent have been willfully removed. The rule of law has lost its power and effect.
Don’t think for a moment this is a partisan thing. It’s not. The Democrats and the Republicans have both abdicated. They’re both responsible. The Democrats insist that women be allowed to destroy their offspring at any stage up to birth, while the Republicans allow all the babies to be murdered too, as long as they are murdered on schedule and by the “pro-life” rules.
Almighty God isn’t going to let this continue forever, people. We have a whole Bible, and a pile of history books, full of stories of what became of nations that allowed the shedding of the blood of the innocents. And those stories are not pretty.
He’s been merciful to us - though we don’t really deserve it - and given us space to repent. We must take that gracious opportunity, before it’s too late. Because at some point, if we won’t repent, if we won’t once again requite the shedding of innocent blood, He most certainly will.
