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[T]he law is ignored and justice is never upheld. For the wicked surround the righteous; therefore, justice comes out perverted. (Habakkuk 1:4)

November 19, 2013, was the 150th anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. The speech is iconic, but is it Biblical?

That the Nation Might Live

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

Let’s not overlook that President Lincoln had no thought for Gettysburg’s Confederate dead, who were not at all interested in giving their lives so the corporate United States of America might endure. Moreover, a nation exists not so much by the lives of those lost in her battles, but as a result of Yahweh’s1 predetermined design for His ultimate purpose. This is true even for nations whose leaders (such as Lincoln2) are in rebellion to Yahweh:

[T]he 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)

Consecration

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract.

Webster’s 2000 College Dictionary defines “consecrate” as “to make or declare sacred; dedicate to the service of a deity.”3 The blood of soldiers can no more consecrate the killing fields of Gettysburg than the lives lost in New York’s Twin Towers can hallow Ground Zero.

Numbers 35:33 tells us that “blood it defileth the land.” After Cain killed Abel, in Genesis 4:9-10, Yahweh informed Cain that “the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.” One can only imagine the deafening uproar created by the blood shed just at Gettysburg alone.

An Ungodly Battle in an Ungodly War

The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.

If we’re smart, we will never forget what was done at Gettysburg and vow never to repeat it. (Thus far, Americans have not proven themselves very smart.) It was an ungodly battle in an ungodly war.4

The power to declare war is a serious responsibility. Why were the framers so vague in defining the parameters of war and the conditions under which it could be declared? Article 1, Section 8, Clause 115 is the only place of significance where warfare is mentioned in the Constitution. Little wonder this power has been abused. Luther Martin (one of Maryland’s delegates to the Constitutional Convention) protested:

…the congress have also a power given them to raise and support armies, without any limitation as to numbers, and without any restriction in time of peace. Thus, sir, this plan of government, instead of guarding against a standing army, that engine of arbitrary power, which has so often and so successfully been used for the subversion of freedom, has in its formation given it an express and constitutional sanction….6

John Quincy Adams predicted the consequences of America’s imperialistic military entanglements:

America … has abstained from interference in the concerns of others, even when the conflict has been for principles to which she clings…. Wherever the standard of freedom and independence has been or shall be unfurled, there will her heart, her benedictions, and her prayers be. But she goes not abroad [How much more so within her own borders?]in search of monsters to destroy.… She well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy and ambition, which assume the colors, and usurp the standard of freedom. The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force; the frontlet on her brow would no longer beam with the ineffable splendor of freedom and independence; but in its stead would soon be substituted an imperial diadem, flashing in false and tarnished luster, the murky radiance of dominion and power. She might become [and has] the dictatress of the world: she would be no longer the ruler of her own spirit.7

Because the framers provided no Biblical parameters, unbiblical warfare (including the War of Northern Aggression) has been the rule ever since. Yahweh prescribes strict rules of warfare for His people.8 These Biblical parameters determine the righteousness of a war.

Untold numbers of people have been killed in wars fought in the name of Christianity, but few of these wars were Christian. If a military conflict waged in the name of Christianity is not Biblical, it is not Christian. More often than not, the departure from the Biblical rules of warfare is what is responsible for the unjustified deaths in these “holy” wars.

Only conflicts waged in legitimate defense of one’s homeland are justified and godly. The South had no intentions of attacking their Northern brethren. Consequently, President Lincoln had no Biblical authority to declare war against the Southern states. On the other hand, the Southerners were justified in defending themselves against their invaders.

Abraham Lincoln was wrong. The fields of Gettysburg were not consecrated by the blood shed there. Rather, they were defiled.

 

See Part 3.

 

Related posts:

The Gettysburg Address: Iconic, But is it Biblical?, Part 2

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

 

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. It was unlawfully 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. The Real Lincoln: A New Look at Abraham Lincoln, His Agenda, and an Unnecessary War, Thomas DiLorenzo.

3. Random House Webster’s College Dictionary, s.v. “consecrate” (New York, NY: Random House, 2000) p. 284.

4. In the beginning, Lincoln’s War had nothing to do with abolishing slavery. That slavery became an issue is merely an instance of political opportunism on Lincoln’s part.

5. “[Congress shall have power] To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.” (United States Constitution: Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11)

6. Luther Martin, Jonathan Elliott, ed., The Debates in the Several State Conventions, on the Adoption of the Federal Constitution, 4 vols. (Washington, DC: Jonathan Elliott, 1836) vol. 1, p. 59.

7. John Quincy Adams, quoted in William H. Seward, Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams (New York, NY: C.M. Saxton, Barker & Co., 1860) p. 132.

8. Deuteronomy 20, etc.

  1. Fr. John+ says:

    Another hard hitting, and bibilically astute analysis of the NFKAUSA (Nation Formerly Known as the US of A), as opposed to a godly nation, which was what our Christian forebeard desired, not the mobocracy it has become. Theonomy or Death!

  2. Pieter Jooste says:

    Can we not stop using the false Greek terms: Christian or Christianity and acknowledge those for what they are… the terminology of the Anti – Christ (Anti-Messiah).
    For clarity purposes would it not be better to refer to ourselves as “believers” or “Nazarenes” if we follow the Messiah (Ben YHWH) and not the God of this world, Jesus the Greek / Roman imposter, enabling the likes of Lincoln and hundreds of subsequent Satans?

    • If that’s your conviction, then that’s what YOU should do. But, don’t think that just because that’s your conviction that everyone should follow suit. Furthermore, you’re off point.

      That said, you might want to consider the implications of the following:

      “He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.” (John 1:41)

      “The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things.” (John 4:25)

  3. Pieter Jooste says:

    Thanks Ted,
    I think all truthseekers should follow suit.
    John 1: 41 say in the original Aramaic … “This [one] first saw Shim’on his brother, and said to him, I have found the Messiah” … The rest was added subsequently by the Greeks / Romans.
    Also my translation (from the Aramaic) of John 4: 25 That woman said to Him, I know that the Messiah will come, and when He comes, He will teach us everything. 26 Yeshua said to her: I am He, who is speaking with you.
    Because the POINT being… seek first the KINGDOM.
    The Kingdom is Truth and Truth is TORAH.
    In 1994 I initiated political activity to intervene trying to prevent my own country’s demise… unsuccessfully. Even though the main antagonists were acting for personal and financial gain, some of the obstructors of our quest were false prophets … I am just advising to insist on clarity in the Ambassador Fraternity in the US.
    That said… my son has just recently travelled through the US, and from what he reports and what I read, you are facing your end as a nation.
    The situation I faced was bad, but I was able to take my family out of it…
    I can see very little light for the US and can only sincerely say that my prayers is with you.
    LET US RATHER LISTEN TO YHWH (than to the Lincoln and similar) and be joyful!!!…
    John 9:4 … the night will come, when man will not be able to labor.
    Luke 21: 8 And He said to them: See [that] you are not deceived, for many will come in My Name, and will say, I am the Messiah, and the time draws near, but do not follow them! 9 And when you hear of wars and tumults, do not fear: for these things previously will have to be, but the end has not yet arrived. 10 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, 11 And great earthquakes will occur in various places, and famines, and plagues, and there will be fears and terrors, and great signs from heaven will be seen, and there will be much foul weather. 12 But
    before all these things, they will lay hands upon you, and persecute you, and deliver
    you to the assemblies, and to prison: and they will bring you before kings and governors on account of My Name. 13 But it will be to you, for a testimony. 14 And put in your heart, that you not be taught to make a defense: 15 For I will give to you a mouth, and wisdom, so that all your enemies will not be able to stand against it. 16 And your fathers, and your brothers, and your kinsfolk, and your friends, will betray you, and they will kill some of you. 17 And you will be hated by every man, on account of My
    Name: 18 But a hair from your head will not perish. 19 And by your patience, you will obtain your nefesh. 20 And when you see Yerushalayim, that an army has surrounded it: then know that its destruction draws near. 21 Then let those who are in Y’hudah, flee to the mountain, and let those who are within it flee, and those in the villages not enter it: 22 Because these are the days of vengeance, that all that is written might be
    fulfilled. 23 And woe to those who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing in those days: for there will be great affliction in the land, and wrath upon this people. 24 And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive to every land. And Yerushalayim will be trampled by the Goyim, until the times of the Goyim be fulfilled. 25 And there will be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars, and affliction of the nations upon earth, and anxiety from the astonishing noise of the voice of the sea, 26 And a shaking that drives out the nefeshot of men, from the fear of what is about to come upon the earth, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man, who will come in the clouds, with great power and great glory. 28 And when these things begin to be, take heart, and raise up your heads: because your salvation draws near!

    • Roger Schweikert says:

      The Gettysburg Address is still a masterful wordsmith despite any critical analysis that may challenge how we interpret it today much less what Lincoln and God meant for it to represent when first inspired, written or given. Words always matter which is why God declared we should never add to what He says, and although I agree with much of the sentiment of your articles on this address, I would also maintain that you do make at least one baseless claim within about what Lincoln may have thought or felt about the Confederate dead buried there as well. For in light of your reference to Deut. 20, maybe that is why at some point in our history, the federal War Department was actually renamed the Department of Defense.

      • Roger Schweikert says:

        In the 5,000 Year Leap: Principles of Freedom 101 (p.173), W. Cleo Slousen quotes Lincoln regarding the “sacredness” of property rights as recorded in “The Freeman: Ideas on Liberty, may 1955, p.7. I would be interested in your thoughts on the following quote as well:
        “Property is the fruit of labor. Property is desirable, is a positive good in the world. That some should be rich shows that others may become rich and hence is just encouragement to industry and enterprise. Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently to build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence….I take it that it is best for all to leave each man free to acquire property as fast as he can. Some will get wealthy. I don’t believe in a law to prevent a man from getting rich; it would do more harm than good.”

  4. Chris Karen Walsh says:

    Is there a way I can get copies of these articles. I am an intercessor, presently studying spiritual mapping, and North American Indians, determined to see America come back to Jesus. Writing an article on historic defilements to the land.