Accepting the State is a Rejection of God (Part Two)

The Consequences of Rejecting Anarchy and Establishing the State

This is the second part of a two-part article, titled “Accepting the State is a Rejection of God”. In the first part I argued using the Bible that anarchy is most likely how God intended societies to be, but evil angels perverted that arrangement, by leading the people to appoint monarchs and create states, and in so doing, they rejected God’s natural order and His rule.

In this part, I intend to use the Bible to present the consequences of rejecting God by abandoning anarchy for the state.

Israel Rejects God and Embraces the State

Against God’s counsel Israel insisted on being like one of the demon-led nations, by having a king and becoming a state.

Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall warn them strongly and tell them of the practice of the king who will reign over them.” So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who had asked him for a king. And he said, “This will be the practice of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and put them in his chariots for himself and among his horsemen, and they will run before his chariots. He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to gather in his harvest, and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. He will also take your daughters and use them as perfumers, cooks, and bakers. He will take the best of your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, and give them to his servants. And he will take a tenth of your seed and your vineyards and give it to his high officials and his servants. He will also take your male servants and your female servants, and your best young men, and your donkeys, and use them for his work. He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants. Then you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you on that day.” Yet the people refused to listen to the voice of Samuel, and they said, “No, but there shall be a king over us, so that we also may be like all the nations, and our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.”

[1Samuel 8:9-20 NASB]

God warned the people of Israel that asking for a king was rejecting Him, and that such a rejection would not be without consequence. Israel had no sooner gotten its first king than came the fulfilment of the warning God had issued them. To this day, they – and all the nations of the world – live with the consequences of rejecting the anarchy prescribed by God.

Implications of the State

Saul became the first king of Israel. A king needs officials to serve him and an army to fight his wars; and thus, Israel became a state, complete with the king’s officials and an army. Israel fought wars before this time, but the armies were made up of the men who took up arms in defense of their nation, and they disbanded after threats were vanquished, but now that they had become a state, the army – and all the troubles it brings – remained a permanent feature in Israel. Here are some implications of the state they so desperately wanted.

Bureaucracy and Corruption

Kings need officials, so they employ part of the citizenry to make up their cabinets. People who could have been productive members of society will no longer need to produce, but depend on the productivity of others to survive; and as is common with bureaucracies, they tend to expand, be oppressive, and corrupt, as can be seen in the Biblical cases of Haman, and king Nebuchadnezzar’s corrupt officials of [Esther 3; Daniel 3, 6].

Today, kings’ officials have become full blown ministries with parastatals that have tens of thousands of employees who contribute nothing to society, but have to depend on the productivity of others for sustenance. These ministries and the corruption they bring are ever expanding – as anyone in any nation of the world can see. Nigeria now has 45 ministers, all with ministries and staff, and all these are dependent on the productivity of others, and they keep looking for ways to take more money from the people.

The Military/Police State

Kings have armies and law enforcement officers. They are known to extort civilians and to be oppressive and violent to the innocent [Mark 15:16-25; Luke 3:14]. Nigerians know this one all too well.

War

Individuals do not start wars, kings [and other state heads] do. Defensive wars are necessary for survival, but they only exist because kings fight offensive wars. According to the Bible, there was a set time when kings were known to go to war [2Samuel 11:1]. Before Israel had a king, it is certain that the men of Israel did not go to war at that time, except to defend themselves.

Slavery

According to God, the people would become slaves of the king [1Samuel 8:17]. He would conscript their children into his service. Not only this, but throughout history, kings have gone beyond the borders of their lands to make slaves of peoples in other lands.

Taxes

Before Israel had a king, there was no one collecting taxes from them. Though the Law handed down to them by Moses required that they gave part of their earnings to maintain the priesthood, God did not appoint anyone to forcefully extort it from them. They were left to God’s divine judgment, and not thrown into a prison or killed for not giving it. The donations to the priests and the poor were just that, donations. There was no coercion or compulsion to give it.

However, In order to maintain the king’s officials and his army, the people would have to spend their entire lives, working, not just to cater to their families’ needs, but to cater to the needs of the king’s officials and his army. The people now had to pay for corrupt officials, as well as a military that oppressed them. They had ever increasing portions of their earnings taken away from them to support the expensive lifestyles of the king and his men.

Idolatry

It is important to note that God asked Israel to stay away from the nations – as they were entirely given to idolatry and other kinds of evils. Whether or not the idolatry is linked to the establishment of the state is anyone’s guess, but we observe that whenever Israel had righteous kings, the nation turned to God, and when it had unrighteous kings, it turned to idol worship and other vices.

Today, although governments do not yet directly lead their people to worship idols, there is still politician worship and the new state religions such as the climate cult and the CoViD regime. People turn against their kin because they refuse to take vaccines or refuse to believe in climate change. None of these would exist on so large a scale, if there were no governments to galvanize people against their brothers.

Religious Persecution

The priests of God were murdered by king Saul for doing their religious duty and helping out David (an innocent man). They were literally persecuted for fulfilling their religious duty [1Sam 22:6-24].

In the Middle East, China, India, Nigeria, and even in Western countries like America, England, and Canada, religious persecution by the state is not uncommon.

The Devolution of the State from Monarchy to Democracy

One unnoticed consequence of Israel (and other nations) rejecting anarchy for statism is the devolution of the state. The consequences of rejecting God’s natural order for this age are continuous, Just as man’s rejection of God led to the curse which introduced sickness, and other ills that eventually led man to die and caused him to return to dust [Gen 3:17-18; Psa 90:3], a rejection of God’s rule by abandoning anarchy and embracing statism would also be a degenerative condition. This is seen in the devolution of statism from bearable monarchy to vomit inducing democracy.

In the past – though it was not always the case – kings had incentive to do good. Kings with low time preference knew they could be overthrown if they were too harsh on their people or raised taxes too high. They also knew doing good would leave a good kingdom for their children to inherit, and this was enough to produce good kings in history who did the best they could to not be deposed, and to leave a legacy for their children.

Unfortunately, monarchies devolved into a most obtuse form of statism known as democracy. Democracy is a vile beast that removes the all incentives to good governance (well, as good as can be under statism).

Democracy Produces High Time Preference Rulers

On average, democratic governments have a maximum five-year tenure, and a maximum of two tenures. This means that the longest a ruler (and his appointed officials) can spend in office is ten years. Ten years is insufficient to build a lasting legacy – it is barely enough to build anything of worth, and whatever the ruler builds, another ruler will claim credit for, tear down, or abandon for another project a few years after he is gone. This causes rulers and their officials to:

• Focus less on projects that will endure (this is one of the reasons why they cut corners in executing projects).

• Spend on welfare projects that endear the population to them (so they can get re-elected, or have their chosen candidates be elected).

• Plan a comfortable retirement for themselves (which is one of the reasons why they inflate the currency to the hurt of the population, and embezzle taxpayer money).

Democracy Creates a Complacent Citizenry

King Louis XVI lost his head to the guillotine during the French Revolution because the French perceived him to be a bad king. Many kings in history suffered similar fates when their people (and even their officials) got tired of their antics. Sometimes, this served as incentive for the new king to be better than his predecessor. Under democracy however, people believe that rulers will serve their tenures and be gone in a maximum of ten years, so they are more likely to endure the tyranny and/or incompetence of rulers. Sadly, these rulers are replaced – more often than not – by similar or worse rulers, and the people endure for another decade, and the cycle continues.

In no place [that I know of] is this truer than in Nigeria. The Nigerian people have grown so docile that they take absolutely any kind of injustice and cruelty from the state.

Summary and Conclusion

Anarchy was most likely what God intended for humanity, but evil angels led us away from the original blueprint, and to this day, all societies are suffering the consequences of abandoning anarchy for the state.

The best solution would be to return to what God intended for us. Whether or not a return to anarchy is possible is uncertain; as God said of Israel when they asked for a king:

“Then you will cry out on that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you on that day.”.

[1Samuel 8:18 NASB]

Thank you for your time. God bless you