CONSTITUTION MYTHBUSTERS

Ecclesia vs. Church, Pt. 3

Posted: 3rd February 2020 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized

“And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus¹ answered and said unto him, … upon this rock I will build my church [?]; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:16-18)²

Old Covenant Foreshadowing

The difference between ecclesia and church is prefigured in Zechariah, Zephaniah, and Haggai:

“I [Yahweh³] am very angry with the nations who are ease; for while I was only a little angry, they furthered the disaster.: (Zechariah 1:15, NASB)

“And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees [stagnant in spirit, NASB]: that say in their heart, Yahweh will not do good, neither will he do evil.” (Zephaniah 1:12)

Not only were Zephaniah’s Judahites lukewarm (Revelation 3:15-16), they also accused Yahweh of the same. Moreover, instead of heeding God’s displeasure when He was still only slightly agitated with them, the Judahites fell asleep on God. They allowed God’s enemies to become further entrenched while they rested on their lees.

I wouldn’t be at all surprised to discover Edmund Burk’s renowned quotation was inspired by Zechariah 1:15:

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”⁴

Zechariah was a prophet at the same time as was Haggai, who also preached concurrently with the return of Ezra, Nehemiah, and the Judahites from the Babylonian captivity. The returning Judahites were commissioned with not only rebuilding Jerusalem but also restoring the Temple—the house of God, representing the Kingdom of God.

Haggai’s condemnation of the resting-on-their-lees Judahites was the same as Zechariah’s, albeit more protracted:

“Thus speaketh Yahweh of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that Yahweh’s house should be built. Then came the word of Yahweh by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled [paneled, NASB] houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith Yahweh of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes. Thus saith Yahweh of hosts; Consider your ways … build the house [of God]; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith Yahweh. Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it [blow it away, NASB]. Why? saith Yahweh of hosts. Because of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.” (Haggai 1:2-9)

For Our Admonition

As with most everything in the Old Testament, this was written as much for our admonition as for those living at the time of Haggai. Today, not only are most people focused on themselves and their own pursuits rather than Yahweh and His house, the bulk of today’s Christians are likewise focused more on building their own churches than they are God’s kingdom.⁶

Worse yet, the bulk of today’s alleged Christians are adamantly opposed to building the kingdom—at least as it pertains to the kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven:

“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven … seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness….” (Matthew 6:10, 33)

What do you think God expects of His subjects here on earth? These are instructions for Christians here and now. There’s no need for seeking or advancing the kingdom in heaven. There’s nowhere in heaven where Yahweh is not already Sovereign and His morality supreme. In turn, the phrase “as it is in heaven” reveals how much is yet to be done here on earth, which, in turn, requires we work toward creating ecclesias.

Tragically, today’s churches are communal paneled houses, while the house of God—the kingdom of God here on earth—is laid waste by God’s enemies. What’s going on in today’s churches is tantamount to Christians hiding their light under a collective bushel basket.

This is not to say some of these church attendees don’t take their light and venture out to gain proselytes. But to what end? They again retreat with their converts to their four-walled church buildings to sing and praise the King while the kingdom languishes because the alleged subjects have deserted it to the King’s enemies.

These enemies couldn’t be more thrilled that today’s Christians have abandoned their biblical ecclesias for their churches. At the same time, the King’s enemies have been busy beavers building their own secular ecclesias, by which they have dominionized society and reduced today’s Christians to begging for scraps under the table of their secular masters.

That’s Not How It’s Supposed To Be!

Someone is certain to declare, “That’s not how it’s supposed to be! Christ declared in Matthew 16:18 that He would build His church and gates of hell would not prevail against it!”

But that’s not what He said!

The gates of hell have easily prevailed against those at ease in their four-walled churches. The more churches, the quicker America has gone to “hell.” Perhaps instead of picketing infanticide clinics, we should be picketing new churches.

When translated correctly, Matthew 16:18 declares the gates of hell will not prevail against Christ’s ecclesia—that is, His kingdom here on earth as established in communal ecclesias in the fullest sense of the term.

In other words, when you look around and see the wicked bedlam in which we find ourselves in America, it’s not because God has failed us. It is because we have failed Him by erecting churches when we were commissioned to establish biblical ecclesias.

The Tragedy

The tragedy here in America is we could have built upon our ecclesias in the 1600s and ruled society under God’s laws. Tragically, what we had was squandered. We therefore need to look to do it again:

“If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3)

This question begs an answer. In fact, the question is not so much what can we do, but what should we do? Get off our lees and our knees (after fervently praying) and rebuild the foundations!

In America’s present rebellious state of affairs, we find ourselves once again at the very beginning of this process, as depicted by the Apostle Paul:

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh [carnal], but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations [including the deception regarding church] and every lofty things raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. and we are ready to punish all disobedience whenever your obedience is complete.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6, NASB)

The battle begins with bringing our minds into harmony with God’s word and law, especially as it concerns ecclesia. How? With the double-edged sword of God’s word:

“For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12, NASB)

Thrilling Prospect

Although we’re at the very beginning of taking back the kingdom, this could be—depending upon our faithfulness—the beginning of the most exciting paradigm shift in America’s history.

Let’s hone our skills in wielding this double-edged sword and then go out and put it to use for King and kingdom. One day, we will see the enemy’s fortresses topple. Their world will be turned upside down and ours right side up. If not for ourselves, then we must do it for the sake of our posterity.

Praise God! What a glorious commission we’ve been called to—not just to church, but to ecclesia and thereby to dominionize society on behalf of our King.

When we are obedient to this mandate (instead of building four-walled sepulchers) and, in turn, when we have once again established ecclesias, it will be impossible for the gates of hell to prevail against the King’s subjects in either death or life. The ecclesias of God will rule over the gates of hell and its minions, punishing all disobedience by means of God’s perfect law and altogether righteous judgments, per Psalm 19:7-11, Romans 13:4, 2 Corinthians 10:6, and 1 Timothy 1:8-11.⁷

May God hasten the day by awakening His New Covenant remnant to their ecclesia commission!

Related posts:

Ecclesia vs. Church, Pt. 1

Ecclesia vs. Church, Pt. 2

Ecclesia vs. Church (Two-part audio series)

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

The Romans 13 Template for Biblical Dominion: Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government

End Notes

1. Yeshua is the English transliteration of our Savior’s given Hebrew name, with which He introduced Himself to the Apostle Paul in Acts 26:14-15. (Jesus is a twice-removed transliteration: the English transliteration of the Greek Iesous, which is the Greek transliteration of the Hebrew Yeshua.) Because many people are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with Yeshua, I have chosen to use the more familiar name Jesus in this article in order to remove what might otherwise be a stumbling block.

2. All scripture is quoted from the King James Version unless otherwise noted.

3. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. It was unlawfully deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, I have chosen to memorialize His name, per Exodus 3:15, in this article.

For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see Thou shalt not take the name of YHWH thy God in vain, the third in a series of ten free online books on each of the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments.

4. Edmund Burke, Letter to Thomas Mercer, Thoughts on the Cause of the Present Discontents, pp. 82-83 (1770), quoted in Select Works of Edmund Burke, vol. 1, p. 146 (Liberty Fund ed. 1999)

5. Not everyone claiming to be a Christian has been properly instructed in the biblical plan of salvation. Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:36-41, 22:1-16; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:11-13; and 1 Peter 3:21 should be studied to understand what is required to be covered by the blood of Jesus and forgiven of your sins.

For a more thorough explanation concerning water immersion and its relationship to salvation, the book Baptism: All You Wanted to Know and More may be requested from Bible Law vs. The United States Constitution Ministries, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for free.

Additionally, listen to audio series “I Had a Dream: Judgment’s Coming. Are You Under the Blood?” Part 1 can be found here. Or a MP3 CD, containing all ten messages, can be requested from Bible Law vs. The United States Constitution Ministries, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for free.

6. For more on the kingdom’s present reality here on earth and how the King’s immutable moral law applies and should be implemented today as the law of the land, see free online book Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant.

7. See free online book The Romans 13 Template for Biblical Dominion: Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government.

Ecclesia vs. Church, Pt. 2

Posted: 26th January 2020 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized

Either Yahweh³ is a liar or something’s amiss with the church today, as evidenced in that the gates of hell are prevailing against the church rather than the other way around.

Today’s churches do not resemble anything we find in the New Testament or anything historically found at the birth of Christendom in the First Century AD. The reason for this is because Christians⁴ are not called to church but to ecclesia. Whereas the gates of hell have easily prevailed against our four-walled, stain-glassed churches and the inhabitants enslaved therein, the gates of hell cannot prevail against what should instead be ecclesias.

The Problem with the Word “Church”

How is it that the word “church” contributes to the gates of hell prevailing over today’s Christians—that is, to contemporary Christianity being subjugated under secular dominion and ruled by secular humanists?

When you hear the word “church,” what comes to mind? For most people, the word “church” means one of two things, depending upon the context:

1) A building they frequent once, twice, or three times a week in which to pray, sing praises, and listen to preaching.

2) The people who allegedly make up the church, aka the body of Christ,⁴ who frequent a building known as a church to do the things depicted in Option #1.

What doesn’t come to mind is a community of believers in the fullest sense of the word—a biblical community that has been established, not only on the Word of God, but also on the moral laws of God.⁵ When obedient to our ecclesia commission, these biblical communities will be established not on the Ten Commandments alone, but upon the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes that explain the Ten Commandments and their respective civil judgments that enforce the Ten Commandments and their statutes, adjudicated by biblically qualified men of God who are a continual blessing to the righteous and a perpetual terror to the wicked, per Exodus 18:21, Deuteronomy 4:5-8, Psalm 19:7-11, Romans 13:1-7,⁶ etc.

There is not a living person today who hears the word “church” and thinks of what’s depicted in the paragraph above. And yet this description represents the true meaning of the Greek word ecclesia, which has been tragically translated “church.”

With that, it should be obvious how the word “church” has contributed to the defeat of Christendom—that is, Christians dominionizing society on behalf of their King. Just think what America would look like today if instead we were ecclesias (fully developed Christian communities) rather than merely street-corner churches.

1600s Christendom

To see the difference, one only needs to compare early 1600s Christendom with today’s four-walled, stain-glassed Christianity—just another religion among many vying for the attention and resources of the masses rather than transforming society on behalf of King and kingdom. Consider carefully the following two examples:

The Portsmouth, Rhode Island, Compact, 1638

We whose names are underwritten do hereby solemnly in the presence of Jehovah incorporate ourselves into a Bodie Politick and as He shall help, will submit our persons, lives and estates unto our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords, and to all those perfect and most absolute laws of His given in His Holy Word of truth, to be guided and judged thereby….

Fundamental Agreement of the Colony of New Haven, Connecticut, 1639

Agreement; We all agree that the scriptures hold forth a perfect rule for the direction and government of all men in duties which they are to perform to God and to man, as well in families and commonwealth as in matters of the church; so likewise in all public officers which concern civil order, as choice of magistrates and officers, making and repealing laws, dividing allotments of inheritance, and all things of like nature, we will, all of us, be ordered by the rules which the scripture holds forth; and we agree that such persons may be entrusted with such matters of government as are described in Exodus 18:21 and Deuteronomy 1:13 with Deuteronomy 17:15 and 1 Corinthians 6:1, 6 & 7….

Consider also the following testimonies concerning these same governments of, by, and for God expressly established upon the triune moral law of God:

“Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835: They [the Puritans] exercised the rights of sovereignty; they named their magistrates, concluded peace or declared war, made police regulations, and enacted laws as if their allegiance was due only to God. Nothing can be more curious and, at the same time more instructive, than the legislation of that period; it is there that the solution of the great social problem which the United States now presents to the world is to be found [in perfect fulfillment of Deuteronomy 4:5-8, demonstrating the continuing veracity of Yahweh’s law and its accompanying blessings, per Deuteronomy 28:1-14].

“Amongst these documents we shall notice, as especially characteristic, the code of laws promulgated by the little State of Connecticut in 1650. The legislators of Connecticut begin with the penal laws, and … they borrow their provisions from the text of Holy Writ. “Whosoever shall worship any other God than the Lord,” says the preamble of the Code, “shall surely be put to death.” This is followed by ten or twelve enactments of the same kind, copied verbatim from the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. Blasphemy, sorcery, adultery, and rape were punished with death….”⁷

McGuffey’s Eclectic Reader (America’s most popular school book in the 1800s) also testified to America’s early form of theocratic government:

“Their form of government was as strictly theocratical insomuch that it would be difficult to say where there was any civil authority among them distinct from ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Wherever a few of them settled a town, they immediately gathered themselves into a church [building]; and their elders were magistrates, and their code of laws was the Pentateuch [the first five books of the Bible]…. God was their King; and they regarded him as truly and literally so….”⁸

William McGuffey was undoubtedly influenced by the writings of early American preachers such as John Cotton. The renowned John Cotton—the first minister of Boston—earnestly pleaded that the “government might be considered a theocracy, wherein the Lord was Judge, Lawgiver and King that the laws which he gave Israel might be adopted.”⁹

What Was King James So Fearful of?

No wonder King James gave special instructions to the King James Bible translators to render the Greek word ecclesia as church,¹⁰ something other than what would depict its full intent and which would in all likelihood be as much a threat to King James’ regime as it was to Caesar’s:

“[C]ertain lewd fellows of the baser sort … gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar … crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also … and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.” (Acts 17:5-7)

Is de Tocqueville’s, McGuffey’s, and Cotton’s depictions, what comes to mind when you hear the word “church” today?

Not only are the early 1600s American ecclesias not representative of today’s churches, today’s antinomian,¹¹ anti-kingdom now, and anti-dominion churches adamantly denounce any promotion of such ecclesias today. Is there any question that the word “church” is one of the most injurious renditions of the Bible’s original languages? Christendom has been all but sacrificed on its altar.

Christendom’s early 1600s Christians were dominionizers on behalf of their King. They established ecclesias, including civil governments of, by, and for God based upon His moral law. The Christians of today’s churchianity are dominated, subjugated, and imprisoned within their own four-walled buildings—most of which are 501(c)(3) corporations with the State as their legal head.¹² This, in part, is the consequence of ecclesia being translated “church,” along with a number of other suicidal doctrines, three of which are alluded to in the previous paragraph.

Translation

If not “church,” how then should ecclesia have been translated?

Does a building where Christians meet weekly do justice to the word? Not hardly!

How about a called-out assembly of Christians—meaning the Christians themselves meeting in those church buildings? Better.

But this still falls far short of ecclesia’s full intent. It’s for this reason I choose to use ecclesia rather than church or even assembly when discussing God’s intentions on this matter. Christians assembling together to do only what they do today (when biblical) represents only a fraction of this word’s intent.

A Political Term

Ecclesia is first and foremost a political term. This is easily proven from its etymology and its historical and biblical use. Of course, the naysayers will be quick to parry, “Separation of Religion and State!” But there is no such thing as separation of religion and state. It’s a myth, a figment of man’s fertile imagination or, in reality, the evil machinations of those with wicked designs for only their religion to influence the laws of the state.

There are no vacuums when it comes to legislated morality or, more often than not, immorality. Thus, the foundational law of any government determines the God of that government. Consequently, there are likewise no vacuums when it comes to religious-influenced government, be it even Secular Humanism in its multifarious forms (and it usually is). Case in point: the biblically adverse Constitutional Republic born of the biblically seditious Constitution.¹³

Politics cannot be severed from religion anymore than morality can be severed from legislation. One’s political persuasion is a reflection of his morality (or, more often than not, his immorality) and one’s morals determines his religion. Therefore, applied politics is applied religion and applied religion is applied politics.

Consequently, that ecclesia is a political term should not be an issue with anyone. As Christians—subjects of the King of kings and thus His kingdom and societal laws¹⁴—we’re called to the King’s polity and thus to ecclesia, as intended by the meaning of the word and such passages as Romans 13:1-7¹⁵:

Consider the Encyclopedia Britannica’s definition of ecclesia:

“[An] ancient Greek assembly (“gathering of those summoned”), in ancient Greece, assembly of citizens in a city-state. … the Ecclesia … the body of male citizens 18 years of age or over and [who] had final control over policy, including the right to hear appeals in the heliaia (public court), take part in the election of archons (chief magistrates), and confer special privileges on individuals. … Assemblies of this sort existed in most Greek city-states, continuing to function throughout the Hellenistic and Romans periods, though under the Roman Empire their powers gradually atrophied.”¹⁶(emphasis added)

That the Greeks’ ecclesias were eventually eliminated under the Roman Empire should not come as surprise to anyone. Much like King George dictating to his translators to render ecclesia as church, the Roman dictators made sure they also had the monopoly on such political assemblies over the Greeks. The Romans further designed to do the same with anyone like those depicted in Acts 17:6-7 who were in the process of turning the Roman Empire upside down by declaring Christ as their King, His laws as supreme, and thereby doing “contrary to the decrees of Caesar.”

The Free Dictionary sums up ecclesia as “The political assembly of citizens of an ancient Greek state.”¹⁷ Does the New Testament bear out this definition? Indeed it does:

“And the same time there arose no small stir about that way. For a certain man named Demetrius … which made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen; whom he called together … and said, Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth. Moreover ye see and hear, that … this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands…. And the whole city was filled with confusion: and … they rushed with one accord into the theatre…. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused … [knowing] not wherefore they were come together…. And … the townclerk … said, Ye men of Ephesus, … ye have brought hither these men [Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions], which are neither robbers of churches [robbers of temples, Greek hierosulous], nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. Wherefore if Demetrius, and the craftsmen which are with him, have a matter against any man, the law is open, and there are deputies: let them implead one another. But if ye inquire any thing concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly. For we are in danger to be called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we may give an account of this concourse. And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.” (Acts 19:21-41)

The Greek word ecclesia is found three times in this passage, and it has absolutely nothing to do with either church buildings or Christians. Instead, it’s translated “assembly,” referring to a political gathering, conducted by the town clerk, for the purpose of litigating a legal issue against Paul’s companions.

A Generic Political Term

Ecclesia is a generic political term that does not represent or resemble at all what we call church today. Instead, ecclesia has everything to do with our Romans 13 commission for biblical dominion over government and society.¹⁸

Yes, ecclesia can be used to talk about Christian worship assemblies. But, it cannot be limited to worship assemblies, as is the case with the bulk of today’s Christians.

Ecclesia is much more comprehensive than that—a term that implies community in the fullest sense of the word. A Christian community under one God and King and, therefore, established upon the King’s law. A community governed by biblically qualified elders, some of whom serve as judges, adjudicating the King’s laws, and thereby proving themselves a blessing to the righteous and a terror to the wicked as depicted by the Apostle Paul in Romans 13 and the Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 2.¹⁸

The implications of this should be exhilarating—at least for those of us who are subjects of the King of kings with a vision for our posterity. Not so much for the likes of Caesar, King George, and America’s Constitutional Republic’s civil rogues who would like nothing more than for Christians to remain oblivious to the dominion implications of ecclesia and, in turn, to just keep playing church.

See Part 3.

Related posts:

Ecclesia vs. Church, Pt. 1

Ecclesia vs. Church (Two-part audio series)

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

The Romans 13 Template for Biblical Dominion: Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government

End Notes

2. All scripture is quoted from the King James Version unless otherwise noted.

4. Not everyone claiming to be a Christian has been properly instructed in the biblical plan of salvation. Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:36-41, 22:1-16; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:11-13; and 1 Peter 3:21 should be studied to understand what is required to be covered by the blood of Jesus and forgiven of your sins.

5. For more regarding how the Bible’s immutable/unchanging moral law applies today and should be implemented as the law of the land, see free online book Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant.

6. See free online book The Romans 13 Template for Biblical Dominion: Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government.

7. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 2 vols. (New York: NY: The Colonial Press, 1899) vol. 1, pp. 36-37

8. William Holmes McGuffey, McGuffey’s Sixth Eclectic Reader (New York, NY: American Book Company, 1879) p. 225

9. Jeremy Belknap, John Farmer, The History of New-Hampshire (Dover, NH: George Wadleigh, 1862) pp. 42-43

10. “3. The old ecclesiastical words to be kept; as the word church, not to be translated congregation, &c [etc].” Instructions to the Translators

11. Antinomianism: The teaching that Yahweh’s triune moral law (His Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments) has been replaced by Yahweh’s grace and is no longer applicable under the New Covenant. This, despite such passages as Romans 3:31 and Jude 1:3-4.

Salvation, justification, forgiveness, and all things comparable are provided us exclusively by God’s grace via the blood-atoning sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. Praise Yahweh! This fact, however, does not mean that Christ abolished His Father’s morality as reflected in His Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments as society’s standard. God forbid! These are two different issues entirely. The first has to do with the remnant’s individual salvation, the second with whose ethics God intends for us to govern our lives.

12. For more regarding the idolatrous 501(c)(3) corporation status of most of today’s churches, see Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, the second in a series of ten free books on each of the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments.

13. For evidence that the Constitution is biblically seditious, see free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective,” in which every Article and Amendment is examined by the Bible.

14. See free online book A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government.

15. See free online book The Romans 13 Template for Biblical Dominion: Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government.

16. Ecclesia: Ancient Greek Assembly, Encyclopedia Britannica, www.britannica.com/topic/Ecclesia-ancient-Greek-assembly

17. Ecclesia, The Free Dictionary, https://www.thefreedictionary.com/ecclesia

18. For more, see free online book The Romans 13 Template for Biblical Dominion: Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government.

Ecclesia vs. Church, Pt. 1

Posted: 20th January 2020 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized

Who’s Prevailing Over Whom?

Nearly every town in America has multiple churches representing different denominations. The number of attendees is presently (January 2020) estimated at 214 million throughout America. There is no other organization with such representation, and yet where do we find America today? Has America become more Christian or less Christian as the numbers of Christians³ have burgeoned? Is America less or more ungodly as her churches have multiplied?

As the churches increase, so do the infanticide clinics, sodomite parades, drag queen library shows, abhorrent legislation, debt and economic woes, and a plethora of other national, state, and local abominations.

Furthermore, Christians are often forced into the Constitutional Republic’s biblically adverse secular courts⁴ in order to protect themselves and their businesses against wicked litigation initiated by atheists, sodomites, lesbians, and other non-Christians. Occasionally, those same courts grant Christians judicial victories, but these amount to scraps thrown to them under their secular masters’ table.

So who’s prevailing over whom? Does this sound like the church prevailing over the gates of hell, or does it sound like the gates of hell prevailing over the church? If the gates of hell have prevailed against the church, wouldn’t this make Yahweh⁵ a liar?

Who’s the Problem?

Is God the problem, or are the churches the problem?

Yahweh does not fail, therefore His promises don’t fail:

“God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” (Numbers 23:19)

Consequently, the problem must lie with the churches. Some of the reason for this is because of the word “church,” an extremely poor translation of the Greek word “ecclesia.” When translated and interpreted correctly, ecclesia is a potent threat to all ungodly governments of this world, against which the gates of hell cannot prevail, precisely as Christ promised.

Why Was Caesar Threatened?

Understood correctly, ecclesia in practice today becomes the same threat Caesar feared from the 1^st-century Christians:

With all the power of the Roman Empire behind him, why did Caesar feel so threatened by the small band of 1^st-century Christians that he murdered them at his pleasure. Yet even with the threat of death, this movement could not be thwarted:

“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God’s elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-39)

How glorious and dynamic Christ’s resurrection from the dead as it pertains to eternity and potent its implications for us while living here on earth:

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” (Psalm 23:4-5)

“Yahweh shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.” (Psalm 110:2)

Caesar and his subjects understood what has escaped today’s double-minded constitutional Christians here in America: there can only be one supreme law. Choose wisely! Either the Constitution is supreme per Article 6.⁶ Or Yahweh’s moral law is supreme per the Bible. To attempt to choose both is to choose the lesser of the two, which harks back the double-minded Israelites on Mount Carmel with Elijah:

Why halt ye between two opinions? If We the People (a contemporary form of Baal⁷) be God, serve them. If Yahweh be God, serve Him.

The wrong choice is an act of idolatry. Idolatry is not so much about statues as it is statutes, such as what one considers the supreme law of the land.

Caesar understood the implications of the supreme law and so did the 1^st-century Christians, who therefore became a supreme threat to Caesar’s government.

**Where Were the 1^st–Century Churches?**

Had Rome been populated with Christians and churches like those here in contemporary America, would Caesar have had the same response? Of course not! There would have been no reason for him to fear his regime being toppled by such churches. Today’s Christians might well have been considered some of Caesar’s finest citizens.

There were no churches like those here in America colonizing the 1^st-century Roman Empire. Stop and think about that. Neither are there ecclesias populating America like there were in the Roman Empire—at least not anymore.

Caesar feared the 1^st-century ecclesias, against which the gates of hell could not prevail and which would in turn ultimately prevail against the gates the hell. In other words, these ecclesias would turn the world upside down (or, in reality, right-side up). When you’re on the top—as was Caesar—your greatest fear is that someone or something will turn your world upside down, by which you end up on the bottom or worse.

“[I]n the days of these kings [those of the Roman Empire] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed … but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” (Daniel 2:44)

Contrast the 1^st-century ecclesias with what’s found on street corners in nearly every town in 21^st-century America, where people gather in four-walled, stain-glassed church buildings doing their church thing—what, if we’re honest, mostly amounts to putrefying. Tragically, the bulk of today’s alleged Christians⁸ are best depicted by Christ in Matthew 5:13 as salt that’s lost its savor, good for nothing but to be trampled under the foot of man. Hardly a depiction of prevailing against the gates of hell.

1600s America

It was not always this way here in America. In the early 1600s, America was known more for her ecclesias than for her churches:

Whereas the oft-parroted quotation, allegedly from de Tocqueville, regarding America’s churches¹⁰ cannot be found in any of his writings, the quotation above regarding the legislation of that period is easily documented from his Democracy in America.

Some Good Things

This is not to say some good things do not occur in today’s church buildings—just like there are good things taking place in your local Elks Club, Moose Lodge, and even your local Masonic buildings. But those good things—such as praising God, commemorating Christ’s sacrifice, and praying—do not negate what is otherwise scripturally egregious in those same churches.

“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’” (Matthew 7:21-23, NASB)

As an example, in 2 Samuel 6, when King David set out to bring the Ark of the Covenant back to its rightful place in the Tabernacle in Jerusalem, he proceeded with a great praise procession that would have certainly rivaled any praise service in today’s mega churches. Despite the spiritual celebration, God was not pleased with David and the others involved. The event concluded with the death of the Levite Uzzah when he reached out to prevent the Ark from toppling to the ground. Why? Because instead of being obediently transported via two poles on the shoulders of four Koahite Levites, the Ark had instead been put on an ox cart.

Consequently, David’s praise procession was as much an abomination as are the prayers of today’s antinomian⁸ Christians:

“He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” (Proverbs 28:9)

“Thus saith Yahweh, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein … [consequently] your burnt offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto me.” (Jeremiah 6:16, 20)

King, Kingdom, and Law

Many of today’s churches are renowned for their praise and prayers. However, such prayers and praise are nothing but a facade without recognition of the King, the present reality of His Kingdom and His law,¹² and obedience to His dominion commission.¹³ They are stain-glassed window dressing—baptized humanism.

Because the bulk of today’s Christians have rejected Yahweh’s moral law as applicable today under the New Covenant, there’s no consistency between denominations and churches. This essentially amounts to every man doing what is right in his own eyes, per Judges 21:25.

Part of the reason for this sad state of affairs is because of the word “church” and what it’s come to represent to people calling themselves Christians. Worse, it has helped modern Christianity fulfill Matthew 5:13—that is, to become trampled, savorless salt rather than the “tramplers” Christ our King intends us to be on behalf of Him and His kingdom.¹³

See Part 2.

Related posts:

Ecclesia vs. Church (Two-part audio series)

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

The Romans 13 Template for Biblical Dominion: Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government

End Notes

2. All scripture is quoted from the King James Version unless otherwise noted.

3. Not everyone claiming to be a Christian has been properly instructed in the biblical plan of salvation. Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:36-41, 22:1-16; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:11-13; and 1 Peter 3:21 should be studied to understand what is required to be covered by the blood of Jesus and forgiven of your sins.

For a more thorough explanation concerning water immersion and its relationship to salvation, the book Baptism: All You Wanted to Know and More may be requested from Bible Law vs. The United States Constitution, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for free.

Additionally, listen to audio series “I Had a Dream: Judgment’s Coming. Are You Under the Blood?” Part 1 can be found here. Or a MP3 CD, containing all ten messages, can be requested from Bible Law vs. The United States Constitution, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for free.

4. See Chapter 6 “Article 3: Judicial Usurpation” of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

5. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. It was unlawfully deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, I have chosen to memorialize His name, per Exodus 3:15, in this article.

6. See Chapter 9 “Article 6: The Supreme Law of the Land” of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

7. See blog article “Could You Be a Disciple of Baal and Not Know It?”

8. Not everyone claiming to be a Christian has been properly instructed in the biblical plan of salvation. Mark 16:15-16; Acts 2:36-41, 22:1-16; Romans 6:3-4; Galatians 3:26-27; Colossians 2:11-13; and 1 Peter 3:21 should be studied to understand what is required to be covered by the blood of Jesus and forgiven of your sins. For a more thorough explanation concerning water immersion and its relationship to salvation, the book Baptism: All You Wanted to Know and More may be requested from Bible Law vs. The United States Constitution, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for free.

Additionally, listen to audio series “I Had a Dream: Judgment’s Coming. Are You Under the Blood?” Part 1 can be found here. Or a MP3 CD, containing all ten messages, can be requested from Bible Law vs. The United States Constitution, PO Box 248, Scottsbluff, Nebraska 69363, for free.

9. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 2 vols. (New York: NY: The Colonial Press, 1899) vol. 1, pp. 36-37

10. “I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers—and it was not there … in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there … in her rich mines and vast world commerce—and it was not there … in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution—and it was not there. Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

Salvation, justification, forgiveness, and all things comparable are provided us exclusively by God’s grace via the blood-atoning sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. Praise Yahweh! This fact, however, does not mean Christ abolished His Father’s morality as reflected in His Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments as society’s standard. God forbid! These are two different issues entirely. The first has to do with the remnant’s individual salvation, the second with whose ethics God intends for us to govern our lives.

12. For more on the kingdom’s present reality here on earth and how the Bible’s immutable/unchanging moral law applies and should be implemented today as the law of the land, see free online book Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant.

13. See free online book The Romans 13 Template for Biblical Dominion: Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government.

The Beauty of Judicial Supremacy, Pt. 2

Posted: 22nd June 2018 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized

It is better to trust in Yahweh¹ than to put confidence in man. (Psalm 118:8)

What’s Your Paradigm?

Psalm 118:8 is not only the middle verse of the Bible, it is also represents the crux² of the entire Bible. As amplified in the next verse, it is “better to trust in Yahweh than to put confidence in princes”—or presidents, or any other politician.

Christians would agree to this, at least when it comes to today’s “princes.” Perhaps not so much when it comes to yesterday’s “princes,” particularly those known as America’s founding fathers (not the early 17^th-century Christian founding fathers, but instead the late 18^th-century founding fathers). One only needs to point out to today’s Christians and patriots that the bulk of the constitutional framers were not Christians but instead Enlightenment and Masonic theistic rationalists³ to find out how much those men are not only implicitly trusted but almost deified. They can do no wrong, or what “little” wrong they did do—that’s admitted to—is quickly brushed aside as inconsequential.

Heroes/champions/idols do not die easily, especially those who have been all but sainted by Christians who desperately want them to be “our guys” and their Constitution to be “our document.”

In whom do you trust? God, or finite and fickle men? Whose canon do you appeal to for your arguments? From what paradigm are you working?⁴

If you love and promote judicial supremacy, then your standard of measurement is Yahweh and His immutable triune moral law.⁵ However, if you disdain judicial supremacy, then your paradigm is invariably We the People and the biblically adverse United States Constitution.⁶

Review

This and the previous article were inspired by a mailing I received from Pastor Matthew Trewhella,⁷ containing an article entitled “The Early Years of the Supreme Court’s March to Destroy the Sovereignty of the States.”

Many Christians and patriots are rightfully concerned about today’s judicial supremacy (aka, judicial activism) in violation of the original intent of the constitutional framers. Some of the 18^th-century founding fathers warned against this abuse of power, already occurring in their day. The abuse they witnessed in their day has only intensified in ours. Grave concern is therefore justified. However, judicial abuse was inevitable for two principle reasons.

Reason #1

Any government not founded on an immutable/unchanging moral standard (found only in Yahweh’s triune moral law) as its supreme law, invariably deteriorates from bad to worse, regardless how good such a government may at first appear. It’s what God depicts as the whirlwind effect:

[B]ecause they have … trespassed against my law … they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…. (Hosea 8:1, 7)

That the Constitutional Republic’s judiciary has gone bad is not so much the consequence of today’s progressive judges as it is the consequence of the 18^th-century progressive founding fathers. Liberal progressivism on a national basis officially commenced in America in 1787 when the constitutional framers replaced the early 17^th-century colonial governments of, by, and for God expressly established upon His immutable moral law for their own humanistic government of, by, and for the people based upon capricious man-made traditions.⁸

Judicial abuse was inevitable under the Constitution’s capricious law system.

Reason #2

The second reason it was inevitable that the Constitutional Republic’s judiciary would devolve into what it is today (to only get worse) is found in Article 6’s Christian test ban by which mandatory biblical qualifications for civil leaders were also eliminated:

The Bible stipulates, among other things, that judicial appointees must be men of truth who fear Yahweh and hate covetousness…. The United States Constitution requires no Biblical qualifications whatsoever. Nowhere does the Constitution stipulate that judges must rule on behalf of Yahweh, rendering decisions based upon His commandments, statutes, and judgments as required in Exodus 18. That not even one constitutional framer contended for Yahweh, as did King Jehoshaphat, speaks volumes about the framers’ disregard for Him and His judicial system:

And he [King Jehoshaphat] set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for Yahweh, who is with you in the judgment…. And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of Yahweh, faithfully, and with a perfect heart. (2 Chronicles 19:5-9)⁹

Once Article 6 was adopted, it became inevitable that America would be ruled by nothing but nincompoops, incompetents, scoundrels, immoral reprobates, and outright criminals. Sound familiar?

Take nincompoops for example: The qualifications for judges in Exodus 18:21 begin with the fear of Yahweh:

Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them to be rulers…. (Exodus 18:21)

Kings David and Solomon inform us that wisdom, knowledge, and understanding all begin with the fear of Yahweh.¹⁰ Thus, without the fear of Yahweh, you end up with, at best, nincompoops.¹¹

Such judges cannot be expected to even keep an oath to We the People and the Constitution, let alone to Yahweh and His law, the latter of which is the only means by which justice is determined:

Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy [Yahweh’s] throne…. (Psalm 89:14)

Anytime autonomous man attempts to establish justice outside the Bible’s triune moral law (as did the constitutional framers), the result is always injustice. Isaiah 5:20¹² depicts this transposition as calling good evil and evil good. The word “autonomy” is derived from two Greek words: auto meaning self and nomos meaning law. The word, which literally means self-law, is just another way of describing humanism and, in this instance, constitutionalism. This, juxtaposed with theonomy, meaning God’s law.

Justice is defined as “the quality of being just; righteousness, equitableness, or moral rightness.”¹³ This is a perfect description of Yahweh and His law, particularly from the perspective found in Isaiah 33:22¹⁴ and James 4:12¹⁵ that there is only one lawgiver…. All law, righteousness, equity, morality, truthfulness, and justice originate with and emanate from Him. None of this exists outside Yahweh and His law, and it all existed long before 1787. Because the Constitution did not uphold Yahweh’s lawfulness, righteousness, and justice, it established lawlessness, unrighteousness, and injustice. Christian Constitutionalists recognize this in regard to any other false god. Their unwillingness to apply the same criterion to WE THE PEOPLE is evidence that WE THE PEOPLE is indeed a god to them.¹⁶

The wind was sown and we’re reaping the whirlwind. Under the Constitution’s inherent capricious fallibility, governed by biblically unqualified men and women,¹⁷ the Republic has predictably devolved from bad to worse. Thus, what was from its inception a biblically incompatible juridical system, could only grow worse and more abusive, including the Supreme Court’s dominance over the executive and legislative branches. But, once again, judicial supremacy is not the problem. The problem is the caliber of men (and women) overseeing the Constitutional Republic’s judicial branch and the “law”¹⁸ they’re adjudicating.

State Sovereignty

Those who take a constitutional approach to today’s judicial supremacy, invariably promote state sovereignty and the intervention of lesser magistrates as the solutions to this abuse of power. I am completely on board when it comes to the doctrine of lesser magistrates. However, returning power to the states via Amendment 10 is not the answer for our nation.

For example, most Americans (regardless their Party affiliation) considered the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia a veritable conservative.

Question: What’s the true conservative position¹⁹ regarding in utero infanticide (wrongly termed “abortion”²⁰)?

Answer: The conservative position is that it’s murder as established by Yahweh, the only One with the authority to determine whether or not it’s criminal and deserving of capital punishment. Turning the decision over to the states to decide (which was Scalia’s position) is not the conservative position.

Question: Why was this Scalia’s position?

Answer: Because Scalia swore allegiance to uphold the Constitution rather than God’s law as the Supreme Law of the land.

When biblical standards are rejected, state governments are just as wicked as is the federal government. It’s a roll of the dice, and the odds don’t favor state governments doing any better than the federal government, especially with biblically unqualified men and women at their helm. In turn, millions of in utero infants will continue to be murdered.

Case in point: New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy recently reinstated ObamaCare’s individual mandate that includes an “abortion” (in utero infanticide²⁰) premium mandate, to take effect January 1, 2019, the same day the federal mandate is set to expire. Are those who promote the Tenth Amendment as the solution for America’s woes going to be consistent and promote New Jersey’s right to re-implement the individual mandate?

Every Christian needs to answer the following question: When did God turn over His exclusive authority to secular government²¹—federal or state—to determine what constitutes good and evil?

America’s only answer is to return to Yahweh as her Sovereign, His Son as the Savior of the remnant, and His morality as found in His perfect law and altogether righteous judgments for society.

I repeat: Despite how vigorously some people may try to do so, remedying today’s whirlwind (including today’s judicial supremacy) will never be achieved by appealing to the wind (including Amendment 10’s state sovereignty) responsible for spawning the whirlwind.

Biblical Judicial Supremacy

For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king; he will save us. (Isaiah 33:22)

One King. Thus, under His sovereignty, there’s no need for a human executive branch, like that instituted by the constitutional framers.²²

One Lawgiver. There’s likewise no need for a human legislative branch.²³ God has already determined all law as reflected in His Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments.²⁴ Nothing can be added to the Bible’s triune law. Any attempt to do so makes legal what God has determined unlawful and illegal what He’s made lawful.

Legislators? No. Overseers? Yes.

Overseers who are responsible for applying and adjudicating Yahweh’s law—which principally devolves to the judicial branch, delegated to biblically qualified men, adjudicating according to Yahweh’s moral law.

Such judges are a blessing to the righteous and a terror, or deterrent, to the wicked “continually,” as depicted by the Apostle Paul in Romans 13:1-7. It is important to note that there is nothing in Romans 13 depicting a secular civil government. Everything therein depicts a biblical civil government. The one word “continually” (amplifying Verses 3 and 4) alone proves the point. Thus, Romans 13 is a template for biblical dominion—that is, for establishing Christian judges, first over ourselves, and eventually over all of society.²⁵

Under a biblical paradigm—with Yahweh as the exclusive King and Lawgiver—the judicial branch, under the command of godly judges (identified as rulers in Exodus 18:21), reigns supreme, and it’s a beautiful thing to behold. It is the epitome of justice. This is because it’s delegated to only biblically qualified men who recognize, execute, and adjudicate only God’s law as society’s standard.

Without the extra burden of maintaining an executive and legislative branch, such a government is where we find a truly limited and inexpensive government, easily supported by the Kingdom tithe.²⁶ When the incredible blessings from such a government²⁷ are savored, citizens will willingly support such a government with ten percent of their increase.

That in a nutshell is the beauty of judicial supremacy under the biblical government prescribed by our King, Judge, and Lawgiver,²⁸ as contrasted with the ugliness of judicial supremacy under the Constitutional Republic.²⁹

Rather than fighting against judicial supremacy from a constitutional paradigm, we should instead be fighting for judicial supremacy from a biblical paradigm. This in turn will eliminate abusive constitutional supremacy on both the federal and state levels.

Chapter 3 “The Preamble: WE THE PEOPLE vs. YAHWEH” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Chapter 4 “Article 1: Legislative Usurpation” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Chapter 5 “Article 2: Executive Usurpation” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Chapter 6 “Article 3: Judicial Usurpation” of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Chapter 9 “Article 6: The Supreme Law of the Land of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

End notes:

1. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was divinely inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. In obedience to the Third Commandment and in honor of His memorial name (Exodus 3:15), and the multitudes of Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, I have chosen to use His name throughout this article. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment,” the third in a series of ten free online books on each of the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments.

2. The English word “crux,” of Latin origin, means cross. Better to trust in God than man, lest the man be Yeshua (Yah who saves) hanging on the cross in our place. There indeed is the crux of the matter.

3. For more regarding the late 1700s founders’ religious persuasions, see Dr. Albert Mohler’s interview with Dr. Gregg Frazer. Dr. Frazer proves from the key founders’ own writings (without cherry picking) that they were neither Deists in the purest sense of the word, nor were they Christians in the biblical sense of the word. Instead, they were theistic rationalists.

Dr. Mohler is President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Frazer is Professor of History of the Master’s College in California.

4. Listen to audio series “What’s Your Paradigm?”

5. Yahweh’s triune moral law is cited numerous times in the Bible. For example: “Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them….” (Deuteronomy 6:1)

For more on how Yahweh’s immutable moral law applies and should be implemented today, see free online book Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant.

6. See free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective in which every Article and Amendment is examined by the Bible.

7. These articles are not meant to be an attack upon Pastor Trewhella, whom I appreciate very much, especially for his courageous stand on behalf of the unborn. I view his article as merely an opportunity to hopefully enlighten him and other good men as to the reason America finds herself precipitously teetering on the precipice of moral depravity and destruction, and the only solution to the same.

8. For more regarding these two polar opposite forms of governments, see Chapter 3 “The Preamble: WE THE PEOPLE vs. YAHWEH” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

9. Chapter 6 “Article 3: Judicial Usurpation” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

10. Psalm 111:10; Proverbs 1:7; Proverbs 9:10

11. For more regarding Article 6’s Christian test ban, see Chapter 9 “Article 6: The Supreme Law of the Land” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

12. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)

13. Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, s.v. “justice” (New York, NY: Random House, Inc., 2000) p. 720

14. “For Yahweh … is our lawgiver….” (Isaiah 33:22)

15. “There is one lawgiver….” (James 4:12)

16. Chapter 3 “The Preamble: WE THE PEOPLE vs. YAHWEH” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

17. Chapter 28 “Amendment 19: The Curse of Women’s Suffrage” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

18. Isaiah 33:22 and James 4:12 depict Yahweh as the only lawgiver. Thus, only His law is genuine law.

19. See blog article “Right, Left, and Center: Who Get’s to Decide?”

20. The battle against this atrocity begins with identifying it correctly. By calling it “abortion,” we’ve acquiesced to the opposition’s terminology. Look up “abortion” and “miscarriage” in any dictionary. A miscarriage is an abortion. What doctors (and parents) do to infants in the womb is murder. Had Roe v. Wade been waged over in utero infanticide rather than abortion, it would have never made it to the court room. In fact, by employing the word “abortion,” Roe v. Wade was won before it ever got to court.

Had the constitutional framers (like their 17^th-century Christian colonial predecessors) expressly established government and society upon Yahweh’s moral law (including Exodus 20:13 and 21:22-23), there would be no government-financed infanticide in America, Roe v. Wade would have never seen a courtroom, Planned Parenthood wouldn’t exist, and millions of babies would have seen the light of the day.

The Greek word brephos employed in the New Testament for infants already born is the same word used for infants in the womb (Luke 2:12 and Luke 1:41), without specifying the precise moment they became a brephos. Therefore, our only option is to accept they became such at conception. Thus, intentionally killing a brephos at any point is “brephocide” or, more properly, infanticide. The same is true for the Hebrew word in the Old Testament translated “infant.”

21. What makes a government secular is its rejection of Yahweh as its Sovereign and thus His moral law as supreme. Case in point: the United States Constitutional Republic.

22. Chapter 5 “Article 2: Executive Usurpation” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

23. Chapter 4 “Article 1: Legislative Usurpation” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

24. For more on how the Bible’s triune moral law applies and should be implemented today, see free online book Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant.

25. See free online book The Romans 13 Template for Biblical Dominion: Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government.

26. Listen to audio series “Kingdom Tithing.”

27. See Deuteronomy 4:5-8; 28:1-14; Psalm 19:7-11; Romans 2:20; 7:12; 1 Timothy 1:8; etc.

For more on how Yahweh’s immutable moral law applies and should be implemented today, see free online book Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant.

28. See free online book A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government.

29. Chapter 6 “Article 3: Judicial Usurpation” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

The Beauty of Judicial Supremacy, Part 1

Posted: 11th June 2018 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized

This and the article to follow were inspired by a mailing I recently received from Pastor Matthew Trewhella,¹ containing an article entitled “The Early Years of the Supreme Court’s March to Destroy the Sovereignty of the States.”

Pastor Trewhella’s article is not all that different from what I’ve received from many others who are equally concerned about today’s judicial supremacy. All of these good men, I’m certain, would be aghast at the title I’ve assigned this article. To them, judicial supremacy is the polar opposite of what I have expressed in the title above. To them, judicial supremacy is the problem, not part of the solution, as I maintain it is. For example, Pastor Trewhella wrote:

[B]y 1823, Thomas Jefferson penned the following, “At the establishment of our constitutions, the judiciary bodies were supposed to be the most helpless and harmless members of the government. Experience, however, soon showed in what way they were to become the most dangerous.”²

The reason Jefferson made this statement, and the reason he spent the last 23 years of his life at war with the Supreme Court [SCOTUS], was because the Supreme Court spent the first 40 years of its existence trampling the sovereignty of the states.³

The reason for this difference in assessment concerning judicial supremacy is because I’m working from a biblical paradigm whereas Pastor Trewhella’s approach is constitutional, as demonstrated throughout his article and especially in his concluding remarks:

In a true federalism—which is what our founders established—there is no final arbiter of constitutional questions; there is no oligarchy to which all other branches of government must bow and which tramples representative government. That is the beauty of checks and balances. That is the beauty of federalism. The states must assert their sovereignty.³

Justified Concern

Many Christians and patriots are rightfully concerned about today’s judicial supremacy (aka, judicial activism) in violation of the original intent of the constitutional framers. Some of the 18^th-century founding fathers warned against this abuse of power. Thomas Jefferson and George Mason were prophetic in some of their comments regarding this exploitation by the third branch of the Constitutional Republic, which was already occurring in their day:

The constitution … is a mere thing of wax in the hands of the judiciary, which they may twist and shape into any form they please.⁴

It has long, however, been my opinion, and I have never shrunk from its expression … that the germ of dissolution of our federal government is in the constitution of the federal Judiciary … working like gravity by night and by day, gaining a little to-day and a little to-morrow, and advancing its noiseless step like a thief, over the field of jurisdiction, until all shall be usurped.⁵

The Judiciary of the United States is so constructed and extended, as to absorb and destroy the Judiciaries of the several States; thereby rendering Law as tedious, intricate, and expensive, and Justice as unattainable, by a great part of the Community, as in England, and enabling the Rich to oppress and ruin the poor.⁶

The abuse they witnessed in their day has only intensified in ours. Grave concern is therefore justified. However, judicial abuse under the Constitutional Republic was inevitable for two principle reasons:

Reason #1

Any government not founded on an immutable/unchanging moral standard (found only in Yahweh’s⁷ triune moral law⁸) as its supreme law invariably deteriorates from bad to worse, regardless how good such a government may at first appear. It’s what God depicts as the whirlwind effect:

[B]ecause they have … trespassed against my law … they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…. (Hosea 8:1, 7)

That today’s Constitutional Republic’s judiciary has gone bad is not so much the consequence of today’s progressive judges as it is the consequence of the 18^th-century progressive founding fathers. Liberal progressivism on a national basis officially commenced in America in 1787 when a cadre of Enlightenment and Masonic theistic rationalists⁹ replaced the early 17^th-century colonial governments of, by, and for God expressly established upon His moral law for their own humanistic government of, by, and for the people based upon capricious man-made traditions.¹⁰

That the entire Constitutional Republic (all three branches) has progressively degenerated since its inception shouldn’t surprise anyone who understands the inherent fallibility of man’s edicts as juxtaposed with the perfection of God’s law:

The law of Yahweh is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of Yahweh are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. (Psalm 19:7-11)¹¹

The devolution of any government not established upon God’s perfect law and altogether righteous judgments is to be expected and can only get worse as time progresses. Consequently, despite how vigorously some people may try to do so, remedying today’s whirlwind will never be achieved by appealing to the wind responsible for spawning the whirlwind.

Among other things, this deterioration has manifested itself in the Constitutional Republic’s judicial branch’s predictable rise to power.

Although Article 6 declares the Constitution the supreme law of the land,¹² whoever has the power to interpret that law is the supreme legislator. Chief Justice Warren Burger commented on the landmark case Marbury v. Madison, which established judicial review under Article 3 of the Constitution:

The cornerstone of our constitutional history and system remains the firm adherence of the Supreme Court to the Marbury principle of judicial review that “someone must decide” what the Constitution means.¹³

James Madison concurred:

I acknowledge, in the ordinary course of government, that the exposition of the laws and Constitution devolves upon the Judiciary.¹⁴

French historian Alexis de Tocqueville observed:

There is hardly a political question in the United States which does not sooner or later turn into a judicial one.¹⁵

The Supreme Court, composed of one chief justice and eight associate justices, with its power to not only judge the facts of any case but also to interpret and overrule any “law”¹⁶ passed by Congress (what Dr. Gary North describes as “retroactive legitimacy to legislation”¹⁷), makes the Supreme Court the powerhouse of today’s renegade government.

The power of the people of the United States of America and their representatives is subject to the Judicial Branch, and ultimately the Supreme Court, which is essentially immune from any kind of censure. The real power or sovereignty of the United States Constitutional Republic resides in a biblically unqualified and nearly always biblically adverse five to four majority, regardless their Party affiliation.

The United States government is ultimately under the control and direction of five “lawyers.”¹⁸ And why not? In 1787, it was predominately “lawyers” (thirty-four of the fifty-five delegates were “lawyers”) who framed the Constitution and gave ultimate power into the hands of their own trade, whether intentionally or not.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Charles Evan Hughes also commented upon the inescapable reality of judicial supremacy:

Article VI of the Constitution makes the Constitution the “supreme Law of the Land.” …[But it] is emphatically the province and duty of the judicial department to say what the law is…. It follows that the interpretation of the [Constitution] enunciated by this Court … is the supreme law of the land….¹⁹

Constitutionalists may protest, but this is nonetheless a practical reality. It was inevitable that the Supreme Court would dominate the Constitutional Republic’s three branches. But judicial supremacy is not the problem. The problem is the caliber of men (and women²⁰) overseeing the Constitutional Republic’s judicial branch and the “law” they’re interpreting.

Compounding the Problem

For all practical purposes, the Constitution is whatever the Supreme Court—at any given time—says it is. Because the United States Constitution is based upon capricious man-made traditions and the Supreme Court ruled by biblically unqualified fickle finite men and women, it invariably changes. Judicial records expose this capricious tendency of the Constitutional Republic’s juridical system:

The Court had reversed itself in 219 cases by 2000. Of this total, all but seven instances came after the Civil War. All but 28 came after 1913. Over 60 percent came after 1941. This process is accelerating.²¹

Judicial “standards now change as rapidly as the Justices. This causes an uncertainty for society; and, in fact, often establishes a dubious standard which, in effect, is no standard at all.”²² This should not surprise anyone. Such volatility is precisely what we should expect from a man-made arbitrary system, adjudicated by biblically unqualified fickle justices. Unlike the Bible, the Constitution is not an infallible standard. Thus, returning to a “purer” constitutionalism is not the answer for our nation. The answer is found in returning to Yahweh’s perfect law and altogether righteous judgments:

Without God’s word as our anchor for law, we are ultimately governed by activist judges and their judicial whims. Under that standard, law is manipulated to correspond … to what the judges think it should say rather than what it actually says…. Law becomes whatever a few elitist judges say it is….²³

Under biblical government, such a judiciary would be considered treasonous. At the very least, any judge involved in such insurrection would be immediately removed from the bench. He would furthermore be held complicit in any injustice adjudicated upon the innocent, as determined by God’s law.

Compounding the Problem Even More

Because under the Constitutional Republic’s spurious system, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, constitutional judges are required to render verdicts in agreement with the Constitution rather than the Bible anytime the two are in disagreement, as attested to by Constitution signatory (and later Supreme Court Justice) James Wilson at the Pennsylvania Ratification Debates:

[W] hen they … find it [any law] to be incompatible with the superior power of the Constitution, it is their duty to pronounce it void.²⁴

This was later confirmed in the renowned Supreme Court case Marbury v. Madison:

[A] law repugnant to the Constitution is void.²⁵

What does this say about the numerous biblical laws in disagreement with the Constitution?²⁶

There’s only one standard by which everything (including the Constitution) is to be ethically evaluated: By God’s unchanging morality as reflected in His Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments. When the Constitution is actually examined by this standard (instead of a bunch of dead politicians’ cherry-picked quotations), it’s found to be anything but biblically compatible. In fact, there’s hardly an Article or Amendment that’s not antithetical, if not seditious, to Yahweh’s sovereignty and morality. Consequently, there are multifarious examples in which God’s law is in conflict with the Constitution.²⁶

Add to this, Reynolds v. United States, arguably the most consequential of all Supreme Court decisions. Reynolds addressed the Mormon Church’s claim that polygamy was a right afforded them under Amendment 1. Because most Americans find polygamy repugnant, the magnitude of Supreme Court Justice Morrison R. Waite’s decision is lost on them:

Laws are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious belief and opinions, they may with practices. Suppose one believed that human sacrifices were a necessary part of religious worship, would it be seriously contended that the civil government under which he lived could not interfere to prevent a sacrifice?… So here, as a law of the organization of society under the exclusive dominion of the United States, it is provided that plural marriages shall not be allowed. Can a man excuse his practices to the contrary because of his religious belief? To permit this would be to make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land.²⁷

Contrary to Matthew 7:21-27²⁸ and James 1:22-25,²⁹ the Supreme Court ruled that a man’s actions can be severed and isolated from his faith and judged illegal according to the Constitution and its supplemental edicts. This precedent paved the way for any Christian³⁰ action based upon a biblical conviction—such as refusing to bake a wedding cake for two sodomites, or preaching against sodomy—to be arbitrarily outlawed in the same fashion. Had the framers instead established Yahweh’s law and its predetermined and immutable morality as the supreme law of the land, polygamy and human sacrifice (and all other issues) would have fallen under its jurisdiction and thereby determined to be either lawful or unlawful.

As Expected

All of the foregoing shines a spotlight on what’s predictable from any government constructed upon man-made edicts rather than upon Yahweh’s perfect law of liberty. Judicial abuse was thus inherent in the Constitutional Republic from its inception and can be expected to only progressively get worse.

In closing, I repeat: Despite how vigorously some people may try to do so, remedying today’s whirlwind (including today’s judicial supremacy) will never be achieved by appealing to the wind (including Amendment 10’s state sovereignty³¹) responsible for spawning the whirlwind.

On February 27, 2009, James Dobson conceded that we have lost the culture wars. This is the consequence of Christians having spent the last two centuries lopping at the rotten branches of our culture’s corrupt tree while watering and fertilizing its roots.

We should lop away at the tree’s corrupt branches (in utero infanticide, sodomy, the economy, etc.) every opportunity we get. However, until the root of these problems is biblically addressed, we will never shut down the infanticide mills, we will never defeat the sodomites, and we will never fix the economy. In short, we will never win the culture wars. This issue is more than important for anyone concerned about God, our nation, and the future of our posterity, it’s the cutting-edge issue of our day.³²

Stay tuned for Part 2.

A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

Chapter 6 “Article 3: Judicial Usurpation” of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Chapter 9 “Article 6: The Supreme Law of the Land of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

End Notes:

1. These articles are not meant to be an attack upon Pastor Trewhella, whom I appreciate very much, especially for his courageous stand on behalf of the unborn. I view his article as merely an opportunity to hopefully enlighten him and other good men as to the reason America finds herself precipitously teetering on the precipice of moral depravity and destruction, and the only solution to the same.

2. Thomas Jefferson, Letter to Adamantios Coray, October 31, 1823, quoted by Pastor Trewhella.

3. Pastor Matthew Trewhella, “The Early Years of the Supreme Court’s March to Destroy the Sovereignty of the States.”

4. Thomas Jefferson, H.A. Washington, ed., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 9 vols. (Washington DC: Taylor & Maury, 1854) vol. 8, p. 134.

5. Thomas Jefferson, Andrew A. Lipscomb, ed., The Writings of Thomas Jefferson, 20 vols. (Washington, DC: The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Association of the United States, 1905) vol. 15, pp. 331-32.

6. George Mason, David Wootten ed., The Essential Federalist and Anti–Federalist Papers (Indianapolis, IN: Hackett Publishing Company, 2003) pp. 1-2.

7. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was divinely inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. In obedience to the Third Commandment and in honor of His memorial name (Exodus 3:15), and the multitudes of Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, I have chosen to use His name throughout this article. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment,” the third in a series of ten free online books on each of the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments.

8. Yahweh’s triune moral law is cited numerous times in the Bible. For example: “Now these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them….” (Deuteronomy 6:1)

For more on how Yahweh’s immutable moral law applies and should be implemented today, see free online book Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant.

9. For more regarding the late 18^th-century founders’ religious persuasions, see Dr. Albert Mohler’s interview with Dr. Gregg Frazer. Dr. Frazer proves from the key founders’ own writings (without cherry picking them) that they were neither Deists in the purest sense of the word, nor were they Christians in the biblical sense of the word. Instead, they were theistic rationalists.

Dr. Mohler is President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Dr. Frazer is Professor of History of the Master’s College in California.

10. For more regarding these two polar opposite forms of governments, see Chapter 3 “The Preamble: WE THE PEOPLE vs. YAHWEH” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

11. See also Deuteronomy 4:5-8; 28:1-14; Romans 2:20; 7:12; 1 Timothy 1:8; etc.

For more on how Yahweh’s immutable moral law applies and should be implemented today, see free online book Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant.

Then A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

12. Chapter 9 “Article 6: The Supreme Law of the Land of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

13. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, Introduction, William Swindler, The Constitution and Chief Justice Marshall (New York, NY: Dodd, Mead & Company, 1978) p. xiii.

14. James Madison, June 17, 1789, The Debates and Proceedings in the Congress of the United States (Washington, DC: Gales and Seaton, 1834) vol. 1, p. 520.

15. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America and Two Essays on America (London, UK: Penguin Books Ltd., 2003) p. 315.

16. Isaiah 33:22 and James 4:12 depict Yahweh as the only lawgiver. Thus, only His law is genuine law.

17. Gary North, Political Polytheism: The Myth of Pluralism (Tyler, TX: Institute for Christian Economics, 1989) p. 502.

18. Isaiah 33:22 and James 4:12 depict Yahweh as the only lawgiver. Thus, only His law is genuine law. Therefore, only those who represent His law are lawyers. Those representing the biblically seditious Constitution are legalers, not lawyers. See blog article “Lawyers vs. Legalers.”

19. Cooper v. Aaron, 358, U.S. 1 (1958)

20. Chapter 28 “Amendment 19: The Curse of Women’s Suffrage” of free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

21. Gary North, Conspiracy in Philadelphia: The Broken Covenant of the U.S. Constitution (Draper, VA: Nicene Council.com, 2004) p. 278.

22. David Barton, Original Intent: The Courts, the Constitution, & Religion (Aledo, TX: Wallbuilder Press, 2005) p. 233.

23. Mark A. Beliles, Douglas S. Anderson, Contending for the Constitution: Recalling the Christian Influence on the Writing of the Constitution and the Biblical Basis of American Law and Liberty (Charlottesville, VA: Providence Foundation, 2005) pp. 138-39.

24. James Wilson, at the Pennsylvania Ratification Debates on Saturday, December 1, 1787, Debates in the Several State Conventions on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, Jonathan Elliot, ed., 5 vols. (Washington, DC: Printed for Jonathan Elliot, 1836) vol. 2, p. 446.

25. Marbury v. Madison, 5 US (2 Cranch) 137, 164, 176 (1803)

26. See free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective in which every Article and Amendment is examined by the Bible.

27. Reynolds v. United States, 98 U.S. 145 (1879)

28. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity [anomia, lawlessness]. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:21-27)

29. “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.” (James 1:22-25)

30. This is not to say the Mormon Church is Christian. It is not Christian but rather a cult masquerading as Christian.

31. I will address the inherent problem with Amendment 10’s provision for state sovereignty in Part 2.

32. “5 Reasons the Constitution is our Cutting Edge Issue”

The Lying Pens of Today’s Scribes

Posted: 23rd August 2017 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized

How can you say, “We are wise, And the law of Yahweh¹ is with us”? [B]ehold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. (Jeremiah 8:8)

No one except the Pharisees were as maligned by Christ as much as were the scribes (who in some instances were also Pharisees). In Matthew 23 alone, Jesus scathed the scribes and Pharisees seven times with the following reprimand: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!” The following rebuke is the most relevant to this article:

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:27-28)

The media business

The media is a business, which like all businesses is driven by the bottom line: it must make a profit to stay in business. Its reporters must, therefore, write articles that motivate readers to come back for more, making them loyal customers.

This requires sensationalism. Because sensationalism doesn’t necessarily lend itself to the truth, no one should expect truth to be of paramount importance to the media, especially since the Author of truth is of little significance to them:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)

Howard Beal in the 1976 film Network described the media:

If you want truth, don’t come to us. We will tell you anything but the truth. Go to God.… Go to your gurus, go to yourselves. But, don’t come to us.… Your lives are real, we are an illusion.²

That is what an idol³ is: an illusion. Thomas Jefferson recognized the media for what it is:

The man who never looks into a newspaper is better informed than he who reads them, inasmuch as he who knows nothing is nearer the truth than he whose mind is filled with falsehoods and errors.⁴

Many Americans have an undying faith in the media and thus revere this man-made entity without realizing they are doing so. These people usually consider anything printed or spoken by the media as gospel, which is precisely how these opinion-shapers would have it.

People who idolize the media are, at the best, naïve:

The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going. (Proverbs 14:15)

Deuteronomy 8:3 charges us to live “by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh.” The word of everyone else should only be accepted based upon the criterion of “two or three witnesses,” per 2 Corinthians 13:1.⁵ Seldom is this statute observed by the media. Instead, they find their own preferred sources, which contribute to their desired sensationalism (e.g., the Southern Poverty Law Center), citing them as their experts, and then broad-brushing everyone they’ve targeted. Truthful, unbiased testimony is seldom their objective.

This is also why the media is notorious for quoting someone out of context, to back up their distorted impression of the one they’ve interviewed. This is known as libel and/or slander and is a violation of the Ninth Commandment,⁶ not that the media cares. Trust me, I know firsthand. Do not give interviews to prevaricators!

The agenda-driven media

Whereas the bottom line is of paramount necessity, it’s not the media’s paramount objective. The media is not impartial. It has an agenda like everyone else. To know what that agenda is, one needs to ascertain whether the media is known for being conservative or liberal?⁷ Each news service, television and radio network, website, and blog should be evaluated on its own merits. As for the mainline media, it should be self-apparent theirs is not a conservative agenda.

The impression of an independent press in America is part of its illusion. In 1898, at an annual dinner of the American Press Association, John Swinton, the one-time editor-in-chief of the New York Times, was called upon to toast journalism and America’s free press. He was surprisingly candid:

There is no such thing in America as an independent press, unless it is in the country towns.⁸ You know it and I know it. There is not one of you who dares to write his honest opinions, and if you did you know beforehand that it would never appear in print. I am paid $150.00 a week for keeping my honest opinions out of the paper I am connected with—others of you are paid similar salaries for similar things—and any of you who would be so foolish as to write his honest opinions would be out on the street looking for another job. The business of the New York journalist is to destroy the truth, to lie outright, to pervert, to revile, to vilify, to fawn at the feet of Mammon, and to sell his race and his country for his daily bread. You know this and I know it, and what folly is this to be toasting an “Independent Press.” We are tools and vassals of rich men behind the scenes. We are jumping-jacks; they pull the strings and we dance. Our talents, our possibilities and our lives are all the property of other men. We are intellectual prostitutes.⁹

Mr. Swinton also identified modern journalism as a crime:

Journalism, once a profession, and then a trade, is now a crime.¹⁰

Social change is one of God’s objectives. It is also the aim and design of today’s media. In his book Mind Control in the United States, Steven Jacobson wrote about the media’s ability to program the masses:

It is possible to program an entire population to respond to certain words, images, vocal qualities, body movements, gestures and expressions with certainty. The result of such programming is a population that is highly suggestible, a population that can be manipulated with precision.¹¹

The only means to overcoming mind control is by control of the mind:

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

Edward Bernays, assistant to William Paley, founder of CBS, admitted that the media intentionally exploits the masses:

Those who manipulate the organized habits and opinions of the masses constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country…. We are dominated by a relatively small number of persons…. Media corporations, practicing ‘press release’ journalism, have become dependent on established sources of information available through government and corporate channels. These channels sanitize and spin the news to reflect their special interests…. Therefore, stories that run counter to major corporate or governmental messages tend to be ignored or discounted.¹²

Ben Bradlee, former executive editor of The Washington Post, also revealed the media’s real agenda:

To hell with the news. I’m no longer interested in news. I’m interested in causes. We don’t print the truth. We don’t pretend to print the truth.¹³

Although not specifically directed at the scribes of the first century or the media of the twenty-first century, the following warning is nonetheless applicable:

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers [and lying scribes] among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord…. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. (2 Peter 2:1-3)

The hate–fomenting media

Because the media is both sensational and agenda-driven, it’s not opposed to fostering division or even hatred. Such makes for more sensational headlines, which seduce more people into their agenda-driven purpose.

Fear not the media

Thanks to Amendment 1’s provision for the freedom of the press, the media can say or write just about anything with immunity (until they stand before the judgment seat of God). The media slanders and libels and is very seldom required to prove their allegations. The Constitution’s lack of moral parameters allows the “freedoms”¹⁴ enumerated in the First Amendment¹⁵ to be interpreted by the prevailing morality or immorality of the American courts at any given time:

In developing a truly free press, newspapers found they had a powerful ally in the supreme court, which turned a single phrase, “or of the press,” (contained in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution) into a potent shield for press freedom.¹⁶

If you believe in unqualified freedom of speech and freedom of the press, you have probably never had your name sullied by individuals with whom you have little recourse under today’s juridical system. Neither have you been libeled by the press, whose editors care more about titillating headlines than a person’s reputation.

The average citizen has virtually no recourse against the media’s calumny. This unbridled power is feared by nearly everyone, including many Christians, despite the fact that we are commanded to fear only God:

Thou shalt fear Yahweh thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name. Ye shall not go after other gods…. (Deuteronomy 6:13-14)

Consequently, to unquestionably believe or fear the media is an act of idolatry.

When attacked, Christians must guard themselves from fawning at the media’s feet by making inappropriate concessions:

Like a trampled spring and a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. (Proverbs 25:26)

Consider how foolish it is to fear the media—words are their only arsenal. Yahweh advised the Prophet Ezekiel not to be afraid of such impotent weapons:

And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words…. (Ezekiel 2:6)

The Apostle Paul provides additional incentive:

Only conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ; so that whether I come and see you or remain absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God. (Philippians 1:27-28, NASB)

Thou shalt not make unto the any graven image. This is the second in a series of ten free online books on each of the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments.

Thou shalt not bear false witness. This is the ninth in a series of ten free online books on each of the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments.

Chapter 11 “Amendment 1: Government-Sanctioned Polytheism” of the free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

“Right, Left, and Center: Who Gets to Decide?”

1. YHWH, the English transliteration of the Tetragrammaton, is most often pronounced Yahweh. It is the principal Hebrew name of the God of the Bible and was inspired to appear nearly 7,000 times in the Old Testament. Regrettably, it was deleted by the English translators. In obedience to the Third Commandment and the many Scriptures that charge us to proclaim, swear by, praise, extol, call upon, bless, glorify, and hold fast to His name, we have chosen to memorialize His name here in this document and in our lives. For a more thorough explanation concerning important reasons for using the sacred name of God, see “The Third Commandment.”

2. Howard Beal, quoted by Lloyd Billingsley, Christianity Today, 4 October 1985.

3. Thou shalt not make unto the any graven image. This is the second in a series of ten free online books on each of the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments.

4. Thomas Jefferson, quoted by Steven Jacobson, Mind Control in the United States (Santa Rosa, CA: Critique Publishing, 1985) p. 18.

5. “[I]n the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established.” (2 Corinthians 13:1)

6. Thou shalt not bear false witness. This is the ninth in a series of ten free online books on each of the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments.

7. There’s Only One with the authority to determine what constitutes conservatism. Anything left of His right is left, liberal, and ungodly. For more, see blog article “Right, Left, and Center: Who Gets to Decide?”

8.Even most small-town newspapers and radio and television stations are now owned by large conglomerates.

9. John Swinton (1829-1901), Editor-In-Chief of the New York Times, speech at an annual dinner of the American Press Association, sponsored by the New York Press Club, quoted by Upton Sinclair, The Cry for Justice: An Anthology of the Literature of Social Protest (New York, NY: Lyle Stuart Inc., 1963) p. 482.

10. John Swinton, quoted by Sender Garlin, John Swinton: American Radical (New York, NY: The American Institute for Marxist Studies, 1976) p. 29.

11. Steven Jacobson, “Mental Programming and Mass Media,” Mind Control in the United States (Santa Rosa, CA: Critique Publishing, 1985) p. 25.

12. Edward Bernays quoted by Peter Phillips and Tom Tomorrow, Censored 1997: The News that Didn’t Make the News—The Year’s Top 25 Censored News Stories (New York, NY: Seven Stories Press, 1997), quoted by Andrew Amirault, “The Invisible Hand of the Media.”

13. Ben Bradlee, quoted in “Boycotting the Media.” Quoted in The News Manipulators by Reed Irvine, Joseph C. Goulden, and Cliff Kincaid, Publishers: Book Distributors, Incorporated, p. 179. Quoted in Trashing the Planet by Dixy Lee Ray with Louis R. Guzzo, p. 76. The latter gives as its source an article by David Brooks in The Wall Street Journal, 5 October 1989.

14. Liberty was formally lost in America when the 18th-century Enlightenment founders made liberty a goal (almost a god) instead of a corollary of implementing Yahweh’s perfect law of liberty (Psalm 19:7-11, 119:44-45, James 2:12) as the supreme law of the land.

For more on how Yahweh’s moral law applies and should be implemented today, see Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant.

See also series of ten online books on each of the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes, and judgments, beginning with Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

15. Chapter 11 “Amendment 1: Government-Sanctioned Polytheism” of the free online book Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

16.International Information Programs, USINFO.STATE.GOV, “Freedom of the Press,” Rights of the People: Individual Freedom and the Bill of Rights, http://usinfo.org/enus/government/overview/press.html.

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Letting Trump Speak for Himself: Biblically Examining Trump’s Inaugural Speech, Pt. 4

Posted: 24th February 2017 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: America's greatness, bigot, bigotry, Constitutional Republic, Cyrus, Donald Trump, Enlightenment traditions, government of by and for God, government of by and for the people, inauguration, King Cyrus, King David, making America great again, Masonic traditions, Nimrod, patriotism, prejudice, President Trump, President Trump's inaugural speech, supreme law of the land, Ted R. Weiland, Tower of Babel, We the People, Yahweh's moral law, Yahweh's sovereignty

[E]xamine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)

As well-intentioned as President Trump may be, it should be abundantly clear that without allegiance to Yahweh’s¹ exclusive sovereignty² and His moral law³ as government and society’s standard,⁴ his achievements for a better America will be severely limited. Trump’s victories will ultimately be overshadowed by the harm the nation suffers via his policies based upon man-made traditions.

Letting Trump speak for himself

Donald Trump: “At the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America, and through our loyalty to our country we will rediscover our loyalty to each other.”

Bedrock allegiance to the United States of America: What about total allegiance to Yahweh as God, King, Judge, and Lawgiver?⁵ Of course, Trump was not about to swear allegiance to Yahweh and thus His law as supreme, especially after having just sworn allegiance to We the People⁶ and the biblically seditious Constitution as supreme.⁷

The alleged bedrock to which Trump referred is anything but rock:

Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. (Matthew 7:24-27)

The house known as the Constitutional Republic was not built upon the rock of Yahweh’s word, but instead upon the ever-shifting sands of humanistic Enlightenment and Masonic traditions.⁸ The day is therefore approaching when the Republic’s cup of iniquity will be full⁹ and God’s longsuffering exhausted. At that time, the Republic will be subject to His judgment. Like all nations before her built on sand, she will cease to exist. The question that remains is whether that generation’s Christians will be prepared to build upon her ruins. If not, another ungodly government will fill the void until finally a future generation of our posterity are prepared to erect a government and society upon Yahweh’s righteousness as expressed in His triune moral law (His commandments, statutes, and judgments).¹⁰

It’s evident from his own words that Trump has rejected the only bedrock that can again make America a righteous nation, which is the only thing that can again make her great. It is therefore incumbent upon this generation of Christians to cease promoting Trump’s biblically incompatible politics and do everything in their power to help prepare for that future generation of Christians to do it right(eous) the next time.¹¹

DT: “When you open your heart to Patriotism, there is no room for prejudice.”

No room for prejudice: It’s true. When one finds himself under the spell of patriotism (one of the most potent propaganda tools of all time), there’s no room for prejudice—except as defined by the object or focus of your patriotism.

There are no vacuums when it comes to prejudice: some people like apples and dislike bananas and other like bananas and dislike apples. Some people are opposed to heterosexuality and some are opposed to homosexuality. Some people prefer to slaughter infants in their mothers’ wombs while others are intent on protecting them.

Everyone’s prejudiced. In fact, everyone’s a bigot,¹² a word derived from the German phrase bī got, meaning “by God.” Consequently, what you’re bigoted for or against depends on your god and the ethics of that god. Beware! Trump has all-but proclaimed We the People his god. Consequently, there’s no telling what all constitutes his patriotism and prejudices. However, you can be sure his definition of patriotism will dictate his prejudices. Or, his prejudices—as determined by his moral standard—will dictate his patriotism.

DT: “The Bible tells us how good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity.”

God’s people: This is Trump’s only reference to the Bible in his inaugural speech and it’s used improperly. It’s taken from Psalm 133:1 and doesn’t say “God’s people” but instead “brethren.”

Trump used the term “God’s people” to imply all Americans—regardless their religion or sexual orientation—to promote his idea of patriotism. Neither are all Americans God’s people nor are they all brethren. In fact, quite the contrary. In Matthew 7:13-14,¹³ Christ informs us the majority at any given time are in the broad way leading to destruction. God’s Word is clear in its distinction between those on the narrow path and those on the broad way—that is, between brethren and non-brethren. He also has stringent and consequential restrictions on relationships between the two:

For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist…. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine [such as Rabbi Marvin Hier who led a prayer at Trump’s inauguration], receive him not into your [personal, State, White, Senate, or] house [of Representatives], neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds. (2 John 1:7-11)

Most of those to whom Trump referred to as “God’s people” are non-brethren. Consequently, to have unqualified unity with such people is to find ourselves complicit in their sins:

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

This begins with our individual interpersonal relationships. How much more so government? The consequences are much more far-reaching when those governing the nation are unequally yoked with unbelievers.

DT: “We must speak our minds openly, debate our disagreements honestly, but always pursue solidarity. When America is united, America is totally unstoppable….”

A united America is an unstoppable America: At this point in Trump’s speech, I didn’t hear Cyrus, but rather Nimrod giving the same speech at the Tower of Babel. Listen and see if you too don’t hear echoes from the Tower.

DT: “When America is united, America is totally unstoppable…. Do not allow anyone to tell you that it cannot be done. No challenge can match the heart and fight and spirit of America. We will not fail. Our country will thrive and prosper again. We stand at the birth of a new millennium, ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the earth from the miseries of disease, and to harness the energies, industries and technologies of tomorrow.

“A new national pride will stir ourselves, lift our sights and heal our divisions. It’s time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget, that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots. We all enjoy the same glorious freedoms and we all salute the same great American flag.”

When united, America cannot fail: Cyrus or Nimrod?

Regardless how united America may be under a Trump presidency, only Yahweh determines what constitutes greatness, and only He can make America great again, as determined by America’s surrender to Him and His moral standard as the supreme law of the land.

The fact is, America is anything but united. She’s probably more divided and splintered than at any time in her history, including during the Northern War of Aggression. And the divides in America are only widening under polarizing President Trump. If you believe Christ, you already know how impossible it is for Trump to make America great again:

[E]very kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. (Matthew 12:25)

The United States Constitutional Republic began and continues as a divided house. Nothing’s going to change under today’s Nimrod, who’s promising a return to the same man-made traditions that are responsible for America’s present volatile state of affairs.

A future Cyrus, or better yet a David

Might President Trump yet prove to be a modern-day Cyrus, or better yet a King David totally committed to leading the nation back to Yahweh and His moral standard? I hope so, and we need to pray for him to that end.

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:1-4)

Just a month into his presidency, Trump has delivered some Cyrus accomplishments. However, it must not be overlooked that even if Trump proves himself more of a Cyrus than a Nimrod, but still doesn’t become a David, all the good he accomplishes can just as easily be undone by a future President and Congress. This demonstrates the incredible volatility of the Constitutional Republic.

As contrasted with Yahweh’s immutable moral law as the standard for government and society, there’s no enduring continuity in such capricious traditions. They provide a never-ending cycle that invariably will send America over the precipice. Alleged conservative Presidents like Trump periodically keep other alleged conservatives happy just long enough to keep them from searching for the real solutions for society’s woes.

America needs more than just a Cyrus. She needs a David who will look to Yahweh as sovereign and His law as supreme. In order for Trump to be a David, he’ll need to give another inaugural speech that includes something akin to the following:

“Today marks the beginning of a return to what made America great: Our 17th-century Christian Colonial roots when they formed governments of, by, and for God established upon His immutable moral law, as contrasted with the humanistic government of, by, and for the people based upon capricious Enlightenment and Masonic traditions, responsible for America’s fall into degradation and disrepair.

“I, therefore, Donald J. Trump, renounce my oath to support and defend the biblically seditious Constitution of the United States Republic, and in its place I now look to Yahweh God of the Bible as the only sovereign per 1 Timothy 6:15, His son as my Savior per John 14:6, and, in turn, I swear to uphold only His moral law as the supreme law of the land per Psalm 19:7-11.

“May America bless God again!”

The great opportunity presented by President Trump

It is not my intent with this series of articles to bash President Trump, but instead to make the most of the great opportunity he presents for waking up God’s people. I fully anticipated Trump would win over Hillary for the simple reason that he provides a much greater opportunity for awakening people than she ever could.

Without the kind of repentance I just depicted, Trump will fail to fulfill his promise to make America great again. For those who have put so much faith and hope in him, the opportunity couldn’t be greater to use his failure in demonstrating the superiority of a government established upon Yahweh as king, judge, and lawgiver and His moral law as supreme.¹⁴

But we don’t need to wait for Trump to fail. These articles (and my two-part audio series by the same title¹⁵) can be used to this end immediately by sending their links to your family and friends. But, whatever you do, do not let this opportunity be squandered. The destiny of America, the state of the kingdom here on earth, and the future of our posterity is at stake.

For the eyes of Yahweh move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His…. (2 Chronicles 16:9)

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. (1 Corinthians 15:57-58)

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 1 (blog article)

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 2 (blog article)

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 3 (blog article)

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 1 (audio sermon)

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 2 (audio sermon)

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

2. “I charge you in the presence of God … and of Christ Jesus … who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.” (1 Timothy 6:13-15, NASB)

3. Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

4. A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

See also series of ten free online books on each of the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes, and judgments, beginning with Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

5. “For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king; he will save us.” (Isaiah 33:22)

6. Chapter 3: “The Preamble: WE THE PEOPLE vs. YAHWEH,” of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

7. Chapter 9: “Article 6: The Supreme Law of the Land,” of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

8. Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

9. “And he [Yahweh] said unto Abram, Know of a surety that … the fourth generation [of thy seed] they shall come hither again [to the land of whom the Israelites were to procure, but postponed]: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.” (Genesis 15:13-16)

10. See series of ten free online books on each of the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes, and judgments, beginning with Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

11. A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

12. Everyone’s a Bigot, By God!

13. “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

14. Deuteronomy 4:5-8, Deuteronomy 28:1-14, Psalm 19:7-11, Romans 13:1-7

15. Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 1

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 2

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Letting Trump Speak for Himself: Biblically Examining Trump’s Inaugural Speech, Pt. 3

Posted: 18th February 2017 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: America first, America's greatness, anti-federalists, constitution, constitutional framers, Deuternomy 28, Donald Trump, federalists, First Commandment, God first, Isaiah 5:20, King Cyrus, liberty, making America great again, Nimrod, Patrick Henry, perfect law of liberty, President Trump, President Trump's inaugural speech, President's Inaugural Speech, secular government, sovereignty, supreme law of the land, Ted Weiland, Trump's inaugural speech, We the People, We the Peopleism, Yahweh's law, Yahweh's moral law, Yahweh's perfect law of liberty, Yahweh's sovereignty

[E]xamine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)

President Trump, America’s King Cyrus?

In Part 2, I began a biblical examination of President Trump’s inaugural speech. For everyone who looks to Yahweh¹ as their sovereign and thus His Word as their authority, I cannot imagine they don’t already view his speech in a completely different light:

To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. (Isaiah 8:20)

There was no mention of Yahweh’s law in Trump’s speech. This alone speaks volumes as to Trump’s intentions for America. Consider the following telling statement from then Congressman Mike Pence:

The Constitution and the Declaration should be on a president’s mind all the time, as the prism through which the light of all question of governance passes.²

Not the light of God’s Word but the alleged light of the Constitution—the Constitution that established a government of, by, and for the people.³ In other words, a secular government⁴ like in Habakkuk 1, in which authority and alleged justice originates with itself. This is the government that’s cursed by God in Deuteronomy 28:15-68. Is it any wonder today’s America finds herself on the brink of destruction?

On the other hand, Deuteronomy 28:1-14 depicts a nation blessed by God for having established government of, by, and for Him—a nation above all other nations and first in a great number of blessed areas. A nation like early Colonial America that became a light to the rest of the world:

Behold, I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as Yahweh my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as Yahweh our God is in all things that we call upon him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day? (Deuteronomy 4:5-8)

Contrasted with America’s former greatness, today’s America finds herself first in reported rapes, murders and total crimes, first with the highest incarceration rate and prison population, first in divorce rate, first in illegal and legal drug use, first in pornography distribution, first in national debt, and worst of all, first in infanticides (wrongly termed “abortions”⁵). These are not firsts the rest world wants imported to their shores.

These firsts represent just a small sampling of the abominable firsts America is presently reaping as a result of the wind sown by the 18th-century founding fathers:

[B]ecause they have transgressed my covenant, and trespassed against my law … they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind…. (Hosea 8:1,7)

This is a whirlwind that will continue to intensify until repented of.

As we return to examining Trump’s inaugural speech, do not overlook that Trump intends to use this “wind” to allegedly return America to her former greatness. This is tantamount to throwing a drowning man an anchor instead of life preserver.

Letting Trump speak for himself

Donald Trump: “The oath of office I take today is an oath of allegiance to all Americans.”

Allegiance to all Americans: Without a superseding declaration of allegiance to Yahweh as his sovereign, Trump’s declaration of allegiance puts him at the beck and call of the people’s will—but, of course, only as Trump interprets the people’s will and only the people he chooses to interpret. In other words, Trump’s allegiance to Americans is, at best, arbitrary, as it always is when not working from an immutable standard.

In this instance, it’s the people’s will as determined by the President, or in some overriding instances as determined by Congress or the Supreme Court, all of which represent We the Peopleism—aka, man doing what is right in his own eyes.⁶

DT: “For many decades we’ve enriched foreign industry at the expense of American industry, subsidized the armies of other countries while allowing for the very sad depletion of our military. We’ve defended other nations’ borders while refusing to defend our own. And we’ve spent trillions and trillions of dollars overseas while America’s infrastructure has fallen into disrepair and decay. We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon. One by one, the factories shuttered and left our shores with not even a thought about the millions and millions of American workers that were left behind. The wealth of our middle class has been ripped from their homes and then redistributed all across the world.”

America’s wealth spread across the world: All of the above abuses are more consequences of the whirlwind today’s America is reaping.

To employ the genesis of America’s woes as the solution is folly, if not insanity. It’s what’s depicted in Isaiah 5:20⁷ as calling evil good and good evil. Isaiah 5:24⁸ describes this transposition as the consequence of casting aside Yahweh’s law and despising His word as society’s standard. I submit to you that this is precisely what Trump is doing or he would have acknowledged Yahweh’s moral law as America’s ethical standard for government and society somewhere in his speech.

DT: “From this day forward, it’s going to be only America first, America first. Every decision on trade, on taxes, on immigration, on foreign affairs will be made to benefit American workers and American families. We must protect our borders from the ravages of other countries making our product, stealing our companies and destroying our jobs.”

America first: I appreciate Trump’s America-first sentiments. Nevertheless, it needs to be understood that if America would only put God first, “America first” would take care of itself.

God first requires America be governed by His law, including the First Commandment as our foundational border, immigration, and international trade law.⁹ As such, America would be blessed for her obedience to the First Commandment in all of these crucial areas of national and international commerce.

The same holds true with liberty. Liberty was formally lost in America when the 18th-century Enlightenment founders made it a goal (almost a god¹⁰) instead of a corollary of implementing Yahweh’s perfect law of liberty¹¹ as the supreme law of the land.¹²

What we have today in America is comparable to what the Prophet Jeremiah confronted in his day:

For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them … from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:13-14)

Today’s mantra is “Liberty, liberty!” when there is no liberty. Patrick Henry, who refused to attend the Constitutional Convention as one of Virginia’s delegates (declaring “I smelt a rat!”), understood the framers’ specious claim to liberty. Convinced the Constitution would fail to secure and protect liberty, Patrick Henry voiced his concerns to the Virginia Ratifying Convention in 1788:

…I say our privileges and rights are in danger. …the new form of Government … will … effectually … oppress and ruin the people…. In some parts of the plan before you, the great rights of freemen are endangered, in other parts, absolutely taken away…. There will be no checks, no real balances, in this Government: What can avail your specious imaginary balances, your rope-dancing, chain-rattling, ridiculous ideal checks and contrivances? …And yet who knows the dangers that this new system may produce: they are out of the sight of the common people: They cannot foresee latent consequences…. I see great jeopardy in this new Government.¹³

In contrast to the federalists’ failed predictions, this and nearly everything the anti-federalists forecast about the Constitution (even with the addition of the Bill of Rights) has come true. The constitutional framers could not provide their fellow Americans with liberty (nor can their disciples today) for the simple reason that blind leaders cannot lead other blind men to safety, any more than slaves can confer freedom on fellow slaves:

[I]f the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch. (Matthew 5:14)

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption…. (2 Peter 2:19)

The answer to this self-imposed delusion is provided by Jeremiah two verses later:

Thus saith Yahweh, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls…. (Jeremiah 6:16)

Put succinctly, put God first (which requires establishing His moral law as the standard for government and society) and both America first and liberty will take care of themselves as natural corollaries.

DT: “America will start winning again, winning like never before.”

Winning: Only our Creator determines what constitutes greatness and thus winning.

There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 16:25)

I’m confident that many of the things Trump intends to do for America will look like winning, especially when juxtaposed with the last eight years of the Obama administration. However, in the end, America will, in fact, lose, regardless what Trump does (short of repentance). America will continue to be cursed per Deuteronomy 28:15-68. How do I know this? Because:

God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good? (Numbers 23:19)

It was inevitable from the inception of the secular Constitution¹⁴ that America would someday find herself teetering on the precipice. Even with any reprieve Trump might provide, America will find herself there again. Without Yahweh’s law as America’s supreme law, Trump’s intentions for America, as well-intended as they may be, are just more of the same.

He who turns away his ear from listening to the law, Even his prayer is an abomination. (Proverbs 28:9)

Consequently, America will not win but instead lose under Trump’s presidency because God is always true to His word.

See Part 4.

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 1 (blog article)

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 2 (blog article)

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 1 (audio sermon)

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 2 (audio sermon)

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

2. Republican Representative Mike Pence, Speech at Hillsdale College, “The Presidency and the Constitution,” quoted in Imprimis, October 2010, Volume 39, Number 10, https://imprimis.hillsdale.edu/the-presidency-and-the-constitution/.

3. Chapter 3: “The Preamble: WE THE PEOPLE vs. YAHWEH,” of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

4. What makes a government secular is its rejection of Yahweh as its sovereign and thus His law as supreme. See blog series “Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government.”

5. The battle against this atrocity begins with identifying it correctly. By calling it “abortion,” we’ve acquiesced to the opposition’s terminology. Look up “abortion” and “miscarriage” in any dictionary. A miscarriage is an abortion. What doctors (and parents) do to infants in the womb is infanticide. Had Roe v. Wade been waged over infanticide rather than abortion, it would have never made it to the court room. In fact, by employing the word “abortion,” Roe v. Wade was won before it ever got to court.

The Greek word brephos employed in the New Testament for infants already born is the same word used for infants in the womb (Luke 2:12 and Luke 1:41), without specifying the precise moment they became a brephos. Our only option is to then to accept that they became such at conception. Thus, intentionally killing a brephos at any point is “brephocide” or, more properly, infanticide.

6. “In those days … every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)

7. “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20)

8. “Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust: because they have cast away the law of Yahweh of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.” (Isaiah 5:24)

9. Immigration: Lawful, Legal, and Illegal, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

10. Liberty: The God that Failed: Policing the Sacred and Constructing the Myths of the Secular State, from Locke to Obama, Christopher A. Ferrara.

Caveat: Mr. Ferrara aggressively promotes Catholicism as the answer to America’s woes.

11. Psalm 19:7-11; Psalm 119:44-45; and James 2:12

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

12. A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

13. Patrick Henry, Ralph Ketcham, ed., “Speeches of Patrick Henry (June 5 and 7, 1788),” The Anti-Federalist Papers and the Constitutional Convention Debates (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2003, 2nd ed.) pp. 200-08.

14. Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Letting Trump Speak for Himself: Biblically Examining Trump’s Inaugural Speech, Pt. 2

Posted: 11th February 2017 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: Alexander Hamilton, authority, constitutional framers, Donald Trump, founding fathers, government of by and for the people, humanism, James Madison, John Adams, multi-generational battle, power to the people, Preamble of the United States Constitution, President Trump, President's Inaugural Speech, sovereignty, Ted Weiland, Ten Commandments, Trump, Trump's inaugural speech, United States Constitution, We the Peopleism, Yahweh's law, Yahweh's sovereignty

[E]xamine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)

Letting Trump speak for himself

Patriots and Christians alike got so caught up, first, with someone finally appreciating their concerns and then again in the euphoria of Trump overcoming all odds to win the presidency, that they’ve predominantly failed to follow Paul’s instructions in 1 Thessalonians 5.

Christians so desperately want Trump to be “our” guy that they’ve failed to examine him, his oath of office, and his inaugural speech by the only true ethical standard: Yahweh’s¹ unchanging morality as reflected in His Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments.²

Let’s remedy this wrong:

Donald Trump: “Chief Justice Roberts, President Carter, President Clinton, President Bush, President Obama, fellow Americans and people of the world, thank you. We, the citizens of America, are now joined in a great national effort to rebuild our country and restore its promise for all of our people.”

Restoring America’s promise: Whether Trump is able to succeed in this noble endeavor depends upon what he means by “its promise.” As will become apparent from the rest of his speech, Trump is not referring to the only thing that can restore America’s promise, but instead to that which from its inception has provided a false sense of hope because it was built on the shifting sands of humanism.³

DT: “Together, we will determine the course of America and the world for many, many years to come. We will face challenges. We will confront hardships. But we will get the job done.”

For many years to come: This is true. We’re involved in a multi-generational battle that demands we get this right—that is, if you’re at all concerned with the America we’re leaving our children and grandchildren.

DT: “Today’s ceremony, however, has a very special meaning because today we are not merely transferring power from one administration to another or from one party to another, but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C., and giving it back to you, the people.”

Power to the people: This, of course, was precisely what the people wanted to hear. However, where in the Bible do we find anything close to Trump’s declaration? We don’t. Instead, we find the Bible replete with warnings against looking to the people as the source of power or authority:

Thus saith Yahweh; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm [of strength]…. (Jeremiah 17:5)

Regardless the numbers—whether the few in Washington D.C. or the majority of the populace—power or authority given to humans is an act of humanism. It’s also a repudiation of what Christ claimed in the Great Commission, namely, that all authority has been given to Him in both heaven and on earth.⁴ It’s also a contemporary manifestation of what the Prophet Habakkuk warned against:

[Yahweh’s] law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth … their judgment and their dignity shall proceed of themselves. (Habakkuk 1:4,7)

The New American Standard translates Verse 7 more accurately as, “Their justice and authority originate with themselves.” Sound familiar? It should:

The Preamble of the United States Constitution: WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.⁵

Because the Constitution is a Godless, Christless, and biblically lawless document, We the Peopleism is just an agreed-upon form of humanism. It is man doing what is right in his own eyes, per Judges 21:25. That this is true is demonstrated throughout the Constitution itself.⁶ It has, furthermore, been attested to by some of the framers and founding fathers themselves. Note the affinity between Trump’s statement “we are giving … [power or authority] back to you, the people” and the declarations that follow:

In one of his many arguments on behalf of the Constitution, James Madison revealed where ultimate power resides in a Constitutional Republic:

As the people are the only legitimate fountain of power … it is from them that the constitutional charter under which the [authority of the] several branches of government … is derived.⁷

Alexander Hamilton stated it similarly:

The fabric of American empire ought to rest on the solid basis of THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE. The streams of national power ought to flow immediately from that pure, original fountain of all legitimate authority.⁸

John Adams confessed to the same humanism regarding the States’ Constitutions:

It will never be pretended that any persons employed in that service [the establishment of the States’ Constitutions] had interviews with the gods, or were in any degree under the inspiration of Heaven … it will forever be acknowledged that these governments were contrived merely by the use of reason and the senses…. Thirteen governments [of the original states] thus founded on the natural authority of the people alone….⁹

In other words, returning power to the people, as Trump put it, is a return to the 18th-century Enlightenment founders’ sedition against Yahweh’s authority. Not to be overlooked: “Power to the people! Power to the people!” didn’t originate with the constitutional framers. It was expelled from the Garden with Adam and Eve.

DT: “What truly matters is not which party controls our government….”

Which Party matters not: How very true. When examined by the only standard by which left and right is determined, the Democrats and Republicans are just two different wings of the same liberal bird.¹⁰

DT: “What truly matters is not which party controls our government, but whether our government is controlled by the people.”

Government controlled by the people: What truly matters is not that government is controlled by the people, a recipe for disaster if ever there were one. This is especially true since, according to Matthew 7:13, the majority of the population at any given time is in the broad way leading to destruction. Just where do you suppose the broad-way folk are going to lead America? The only place such people can lead America is to the precipice of moral depravity and destruction, which is precisely where she finds herself today.

What truly matters is not that government is controlled by the people, but that government is under the control of Yahweh and governed by biblically qualified authorities, servants of God who are continually a deterrent to the wicked and a blessing to the righteous, as depicted by Paul in Romans 13:3-6.¹¹

DT: “January 20th, 2017, will be remembered as the day the people became the rulers of this nation again.”

Rulers of the nation: Cursed be January 20, 2017, if this proves to be true. The term “rulers” is just another term for “sovereigns.” Just as there is only one lawgiver per Isaiah 33:22¹⁴ and James 4:12,¹³ there is likewise only one sovereign:

I give thee charge in the sight of God … and before Christ Jesus … who is the blessed and only Potentate [sovereign, NASB], the King of kings, and Lord of lords. (1 Timothy 6:13-15)

Any ruler who doesn’t recognize Yahweh’s sovereignty is not a God-ordained authority for our blessing, but merely a God-established power for our judgment.¹⁴ If Trump were otherwise, he would have unequivocally acknowledged Yahweh’s sovereignty like King Jehoshaphat did when setting up judges in his realm:

And he [King Jehoshaphat] set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for Yahweh, who is with you in the judgment…. And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of Yahweh, faithfully, and with a perfect heart. (2 Chronicles 19:5-9)

Note, unlike President Trump, King Jehoshaphat clearly acknowledged that his and the judges’ authority was subordinate to Yahweh’s.

DT: “At the center of this movement is a crucial conviction that a nation exists to serve its citizens.”

Serving its citizens: Of course, this tickles the ears of the people and explains why so many were so exhilarated with Trump’s speech. The following warnings also explain the people’s intoxication with Trump:

An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests [also presidents] rule on their own authority; and my people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it? (Jeremiah 5:30-31)

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

This last statement by Trump and the overwhelming response to it by alleged conservatives¹⁵ is just more evidence of how entrenched the humanism of the 18th-century Enlightenment founding fathers’ is in America. This is not the solution to America’s woes. Government of, by, and for the people is the crux of the problem.¹⁶

In the 1600s, the Colonial Puritans established governments, not to serve the people, but to serve Yahweh. It follows that the people are best served when Yahweh is served first:

Thy kingdom come. They will be done in earth, as it is in heaven … seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:10, 33)

The 17th-century Colonials sought first Yahweh, His kingdom, and His righteousness and because Yahweh is always true to His word, America became great, blessed by God, per Deuteronomy 28:1-14.

With this last statement and others like it—lauded by non-Christians and Christians alike—Trump is not calling down Yahweh’s blessings upon America but rather the continued curses of Deuteronomy 28:15-68.

Stay tuned for Part 3.

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 1 (blog article)

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 1 (audio sermon)

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 2 (audio sermon)

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

2. The bulk of contemporary Christianity has approached the United States Constitution in the same optimistic but insubordinate fashion.

3. “And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:26-27)

4. “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power [authority, NASB] is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” (Matthew 28:18)

5. Chapter 3: “The Preamble: WE THE PEOPLE vs. YAHWEH,” of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

6. Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

7. James Madison, The Federalist, No. 46 (New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1888) p. 217.

8. Alexander Hamilton, The Federalist, No. 22 (New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1888) p. 135.

9. John Adams, The Works of John Adams, 10 vols. (Boston, MA: Little, Brown, and Company, 1865) vol. 4, pp. 292-93.

10. Right, Left, and Center: Who Gets to Decide?

11. Ten Reason Why Romans 13:1-7 is Not About Secular Government

12. “For Yahweh is our judge, Yahweh is our lawgiver, Yahweh is our king; he will save us.” (Isaiah 33:22)

13. “There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?” (James 4:12)

14. For more regarding God-ordained authorities versus God-established powers, see blog article “Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government, Part 3.”

15. Right, Left, and Center: Who Gets to Decide?

16. Chapter 3: “The Preamble: WE THE PEOPLE vs. YAHWEH,” of Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective.

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Letting Trump Speak for Himself: Biblically Examining Trump’s Inaugural Speech, Pt. 1

Posted: 4th February 2017 by Ted Weiland in Uncategorized
Tags: 17th-century Christian Colonial America, Alexis de Tocqueville, America's greatness, and for God, and for the people, by, Cyrus, Deuternomy 28, Donald Trump, government of, governments of, King Cyrus, making America great again, Nimrod, President Trump, President Trump's inaugural speech, Ted R. Weiland, Trump's inaugural speech, Yahweh's moral law, Yahweh's sovereignty, Yahweh's triune moral law

[E]xamine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22)

January 20, 2017, Donald J. Trump was inaugurated the 45th President of the United States Constitutional Republic. His inauguration was preceded by a historical campaign and run for the presidency. Love him or hate him, Trump has everyone’s attention.

Cyrus, Nebuchadnezzar, King David, or Nehemiah?

I couldn’t begin to tell you how many times this past year I heard someone compare Trump to King Cyrus, King Nebuchadnezzar, King David, or Nehemiah. Predominantly, it was Cyrus, King of Persia:

Thus saith Yahweh,¹ thy redeemer, and he that formed thee from the womb, I am Yahweh that maketh all things; that stretcheth forth the heavens alone; that spreadeth abroad the earth by myself; that frustrateth the tokens of the liars, and maketh diviners mad; that turneth wise men backward, and maketh their knowledge foolish; that confirmeth the word of his servant, and performeth the counsel of his messengers; that saith to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, ye shall be built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof…. That saith of Cyrus, He is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, thou shalt be built; and to the temple, thy foundation shall be laid. (Isaiah 44:24-28)

Isaiah’s prophecy was written approximately 100 years before Cyrus was born, demonstrating that Yahweh is sovereign over His entire creation, including kings, princes, and presidents. This is true whether they are God-ordained authorities (depicted in Romans 13:1-7² as a blessing to nations that look to Yahweh as their Sovereign) or God-established powers (depicted in Daniel 4:17³ as part of His judgment upon nations that reject Him as their God and King).⁴

Whether Trump is a modern-day Cyrus, Nimrod, or someone else, he was put in the position he’s in as President of the United States by God. And he was chosen to be President at this time to do God’s will and pleasure, whatever that is. The is true for all of us:

For it is God which worketh in you to both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Philippians 2:13)

Yahweh’s good pleasure for King Cyrus was to use him to bless the Judahites returning from their seventy-year Babylonian captivity by helping—even financing—them in rebuilding Jerusalem and His temple:

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia … Yahweh stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, … Yahweh God of heaven … hath charged me to build him an house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? Yahweh his God be with him, and let him go up. (2 Chronicles 36:22-23)⁵

In short, God used Cyrus to make the house of Judah great again. Thus, the comparison many have made between Cyrus and Trump, believing God has called Trump to be America’s Cyrus. They believe God will use Trump to lead America back from the precipice of moral depravity and destruction she’s presently teetering on—in Trump’s words: make America great again.

Utterly Impossible!

Many believe Trump’s the man. I hope he is such a man.

Believing it when it’s yet to be seen isn’t going to make it so and will likely blind us to the reality of who Trump is presently. This has already been demonstrated in that many Christians were euphoric over Trump’s inaugural speech when they should have instead lamented.

With things as they are presently, it’s utterly impossible for Trump to make America great again. Might he make some things better than they were under Obama? (Which shouldn’t be difficult!) Of course, and it would seem he already has. It could thus be argued he’s already shown himself a Cyrus to America. Nevertheless, regardless what good he accomplishes as President, it remains impossible for him to make America great again.

America’s former greatness

The case can certainly be made that America was once a great nation and consequently one that was exemplary in her testimony to the rest of the world. But the reason most people believe she was great is a classic case of Isaiah 5:20, calling evil good and good evil.

Ultimately only Yahweh as sovereign Creator determines what it is that constitutes greatness, and only He can make nations great. With this in mind, according to Deuteronomy 28:1-14, Yahweh blesses nations that look to Him as their sovereign and His moral law⁶ as supreme. America’s early greatness and prosperity was the result of 17th-century Christian Colonial America’s governments of, by, and for God, established upon His unchanging moral law as the law of the land:

Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 1835

[The 17th-century Colonials] exercised the rights of sovereignty; they named their magistrates, concluded peace or declared war, made police regulations, and enacted laws as if their allegiance was due only to God. Nothing can be more curious and, at the same time more instructive, than the legislation of that period; it is there that the solution of the great social problem which the United States now presents to the world is to be found [in perfect fulfillment of Deuteronomy 4:5-8, demonstrating the continuing veracity of Yahweh’s law and its accompanying blessings, per Deuteronomy 28:1-14].

Amongst these documents we shall notice, as especially characteristic, the code of laws promulgated by the little State of Connecticut in 1650. The legislators of Connecticut begin with the penal laws, and … they borrow their provisions from the text of Holy Writ … copied verbatim from the books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy.…⁷

America was great because God made her great, and He made her great because she looked to Him as her sovereign, demonstrated in that she initially established government and society upon His immutable, unchanging, and perfect law.⁸

On the other hand, according to Deuteronomy 28:15-68, Yahweh curses nations that reject His sovereignty and replace His law with man-made surrogates. Thus, America became cursed—only incrementally at first, thanks to God’s long suffering—when the 18th-century founding fathers replaced the 17th-century Colonial governments with their own humanistic government of, by, and for the people, based upon capricious Enlightenment and Masonic traditions.⁹ Without repentance for our complicity in this sedition against Yahweh, it was inevitable that America would find herself where she is today.

Which is Trump restoring?

Just as Yahweh was true to His word in blessing early America for their obedience, He has likewise been true to His word in cursing present-day America for her mutiny.¹⁰ The only thing that can change America’s suicidal course is a return to her righteous 17th-century foundations:

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? (Psalm 11:3)

Restore the foundations!

The obvious question regarding Trump is: Is he restoring America’s righteous foundations—that is, government of, by, and for God, established upon His moral law? Or is he merely rearranging the deck chairs on what’s presently a sinking Titanic—a government of, by, and for the people based upon capricious man-made traditions?

If you’ve listened to any of his speeches—including and especially his inaugural speech—the answer to this question should be apparent and should help us determine whether Trump is currently a modern-day Cyrus, a modern-day Nimrod, or a little of both.

See Part 2, in which we’ll begin to biblically examine Trump’s inaugural speech.

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 1 (audio sermon)

Donald J. Trump: Cyrus or Nimrod? Pt. 2 (audio sermon)

America’s Greatest Constitution

Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government, Part 3

Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant

A Biblical Constitution: A Scriptural Replacement for Secular Government

2. “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God…. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil…. [T]hey are God’s ministers, attending continually upon this very thing….” (Romans 13:1-7)

3. “This matter is by the decree of the watchers, and the demand by the word of the holy ones: to the intent that the living may know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will, and setteth up over it the basest of men.” (Daniel 4:17)

4. For more regarding God-ordained authorities versus God-established powers, see blog article “Ten Reasons Why Romans 13 is Not About Secular Government, Part 3.”

5. See also the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.

6. Yahweh’s moral law is comprised of three integral components: the Ten Commandments and their respective statutes and judgments, per Deuteronomy 6:1, etc. For how God’s triune law applies today under the New Covenant, see free online book Law and Kingdom: Their Relevance Under the New Covenant.

7. Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 2 vols. (New York: NY: The Colonial Press, 1899) vol. 1, pp. 36-37.

8. “The law of Yahweh is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of Yahweh is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of Yahweh are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of Yahweh is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of Yahweh are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.” (Psalm 19:7-11)

9. Bible Law vs. the United States Constitution: The Christian Perspective

10. “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good.” (Numbers 23:19)

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