Obey, or Pay – The Kingdom Curriculum III (4)

Obey, or Pay

“Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.” Daniel 4:27

Nebuchadnezzar was no friend of God. He destroyed the temple of God and razed Jerusalem, carrying off into captivity thousands of God’s people to a pagan land. Daniel was one of them, but, by the grace of God, he was able to achieve a role as adviser to King Nebuchadnezzar. In helping the king to understand a particularly troublesome dream, Daniel warned him that it was a message from God. The king needed to repent of his sin, turn away from his iniquities, and practice righteousness, mercy, and justice in ways that were pleasing to God. Failure to do so would bring calamity.

Daniel did not hesitate to confront a pagan king with his need to submit to God and His Law. Notice that it was not enough that Nebuchadnezzar had spared multitudes of the Jews, or that he had elevated some of them to service in his court. Nor was it enough that he allowed them to continue in their own communities and to worship the God of Israel. It was not even enough that Nebuchadnezzar had borne public testimony to the greatness and wisdom of God (Dan. 2:47). What God required of Nebuchadnezzar as king was that he submit to the God of heaven and bring his reign into line with the just and righteous requirements of God’s Law.

Nebuchadnezzar, however, failing to obey, suffered tremendously under the judgment of God. But consider where he ended up: this is the conclusion to the decree Nebuchadnezzar published throughout his empire upon being graciously returned from his time of judgment to his throne: “Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble” (Dan. 4:37). Did God intend for Nebuchadnezzar, the very template of a pagan king and an enemy of God, to live in obedience to His Law? It seems clear that He did, and that He was prepared to do some pretty heavy leaning on the king to get him to come around and see the light.

Has God changed His mind about this? Does He still intend the rulers of the earth, whom He has raised up to serve Him for good (Rom. 13:1-4), to acknowledge Him and to submit to His Law? And if this is to be so, will it not require of the people of God today that we stand up, like Daniel, and call our rulers to turn away from every law or policy that flies in the face of God’s righteous demands and to work for statutes and civil codes more in keeping with what the Law of God outlines and explains? This is not a practice wholly foreign to the pagan governments of our day, as we have seen. However, through ignorance or rebellion, governments today are turning ever more pointedly away from the standards of righteousness, justice, and goodness encoded in the Law of God, and are implementing laws and policies which are abominations in His sight. If we fail to challenge all such laws and to point our rulers – by our lives and our words – to the holy and righteous and good standards of the Law of God, then we shall bear a portion of the blame when our rulers and our nation come under the judgment of God (cf. Ezek. 33:1-9). Such determined and consistent involvement in matters of public policy according to the Law of God – where demonstration and persuasion are our tactic, and not coercion – is not only part of our duty to seek the welfare of the nation to which God has consigned us (Jer. 29:7), but, as we have seen, an essential component of our witness to the pagan world around us.

Order your copy of The Law of God today. Go to www.MyParuchia.com, click Publications, Waxed Tablet, to place your order and take up the Kingdom curriculum of our Lord.

—

“In the Gates” is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T.M. Moore

T. M. Moore is editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001,2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.