...Against this background, let's look at the U.S., where these questions are particularly difficult. This is because there is no clear-cut Biblical example of a system where the people of grace are in power on this earth. Our founding fathers tried to bring about a state of affairs where ultimate authority rested in God's Word. Many attempts have been made to discredit their faith, and it must be admitted that not all of them were Biblical Christians.

But this is not as telling a criticism as it might at first appear. Those who were not Biblical Christians were willing to be a part of the formation of a government that the Biblical Christians among them could be at peace about and that did not violate the spirit of their faith. The Christians had sufficient input and veto power so that, whatever their percentage of leadership, their influence served to establish for the first time a system that to the best of its participant's knowledge was in harmony with God's Word. The system that they created grew to be the envy of the world, mightier than any nation that had ever been, more productive than any system, and providing a measure of liberty, happiness, and prosperity for its citizens that exceeded anything that anyone had ever known in the past.

At last a system had been set up that derived its just powers from the consent of the governed and that acknowledged that all of its power and rights were derived from inherent rights which were preexistent in the citizenry as a result of the work of the Creator. However, with all of these accomplishments, there were certain conflicts and difficulties for Biblical Christians as to their appropriate response and participation in the affairs of state.

Ultimate responsibility resided with the people, but this clouded the ability to place responsibility. Our founding fathers created a system where the enemy, to the extent that there was one, could properly be spoken of as the people: "Us." In some ways this took a natural check off of the power of government. In a sense, we the people didn't have to be wary of tyranny any longer because the government was nothing more than an extension of ourselves. Although we had been warned that "the price of liberty is eternal vigilance," we almost immediately proceeded to fall asleep. The fact that the power resided with the people, and the people soon lost sight of their founding principles has become license for whatever course of action our government chooses to pursue.

As that power, that government, that people moved away from a familiarity with and a respect for and a desire to obey God's Word, their government became a self-motivating, self-justifying sovereign power that grew increasingly alienated from God. This should come as no surprise, for this is precisely the pattern that we see throughout the Old Testament. Time and again God's blessing on His people was taken as license, and they were lulled into apathy, decline, degradation, and tyranny.

There are ways in which the deterioration of liberty in our country is a blessing. There was a time when God's people looked upon this nation as a New Jerusalem. Now it is clear that it is not the New Jerusalem after all, but rather one more example of man's vanity and man's weakness. The U.S. now appears to be in transition from a once-godly nation to perhaps the greatest Babylon of all. The reigning Christians, once masters of their fate through the institutions they had founded, are becoming captive once again, this time in a Babylon of their own making. But this very captivity is a blessing if it opens our eyes in the same way that the captivities of old opened the eyes of God's people.

It is no longer taken for granted that whatever this country proclaims or does corresponds to the righteousness of God. That kind of thinking is ridiculous when it is compared with what this nation has become. For this reason, we need an increasing measure of discernment. Now we have to go back to God's Word rather than trusting in our own righteousness. We need to weigh the edicts and decrees of government against God's Word, particularly as we move into these last days, lest we become part of the problem rather than the solution.

This is not to say that Christians have no business being part of or at the heart of government right now. It was perfectly reasonable and appropriate for our founding fathers to attempt to set up a government that reflected the letter, the sense and the spirit of God's Word. This should always be the expectation of God's people, whether or not they are in a "Christian" state or nation or in captivity in an alien land. Witness the relationship of our heroes, Daniel, Shadrack, Meshack, and Abednego to the government of Babylon and then Persia. They were clearly involved in the affairs of state.

In summary, looking for general principles for the believer's relationship to the established powers, we see clearly that the truth lies somewhere between Romans 13:17 and the behavior of Daniel and his associates in captivity. Our proper response is to be submissive to the things that states do as they administer the will of God. We are not to be in rebellion toward the state except and until it invites us to rebel against God's Word.

Having said this, we must then recognize the specific nature of the rebellion that the state invites. The state would tempt us into false worship, worship of a false object, an object that is the work of man's hands. All of this is part of the sifting process, the fidelity-testing process for the sake of separation, purification, refinement, strengthening, and edification. For Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego, the temptation was in the form of an image, a golden image in the form of a man. This was the image of the first head or ruler of the age of the Gentiles.

For the believer of the last days, the invitation to rebellion is found in the form of a mark, the name of a world dictatorship or dictator without which no man will be able to buy or sell. Even here in the U.S. we are much closer than might first appear. We are already using a mark to buy and sell: for those of us who "buy and sell" in the U.S., the mark we are using is the dollar sign. The dollar sign is formed by using the initials of the name of our country.

The name of a man will be perfectly consistent with our present direction as we head for the final sifting, the final choice:

The name of a man or the Word of God.

Are You Worried Yet? - Book One, Chapter 7 -

The Authorities of This World pg. 39