Why God no longer works through nation-states
The Old Testament has a lot of appeal to Christian nationalism.
God chose a nation and made it His own. He gave it His law as the law of the land. He led them into territory that they conquered by force. He raised up judges and kings.
And so, there are some who say today, we should be like them.
Or, at least, sort of.
We should legislate God’s law — or, at least, “Christian principles.” We should establish a government that honors Christ as Lord — or, at least, protects those who do. We should elect leaders who are godly — or, at least, are friendly to those who are.
That’s a lot of “or, at least”s, which brings me to my first point — what many seek to build today can’t possibly replicate the theocratic, levitical monarchy of Old Testament Israel. Even those who claim that America has a unique covenant relationship with God (it doesn’t) would admit that.
So if Old Testament Israel is not the model for us, then what is?
The failure of Israel
Here’s the thing: There is nowhere else in the Bible to go for an example of a “Christian nation.” Israel is it; nothing else in Scripture comes remotely close, either by example or doctrine.
Israel was what many want America to be. How did that work out?
The Old Testament is a testament of failure. Israel failed spectacularly. Enforcing the law of God and having the godliest kings the world has ever seen did not keep Israel from apostasy, division, and defeat.
Failure is the point of the Old Testament. The message it screams is, this is what not to do. Ancient Israel was never meant to become God’s victorious kingdom on earth, ruled by His law, governed by His king. Its fall was inevitable and ordained.
Why in the world, then, would American Christians want to emulate Biblical Israel? Why would we think their ways should be our ways? What would make us succeed where God’s chosen nation failed?
Some Christian nationalists think they have an answer to that question. We, the church, have the Holy Spirit in a way that Israel didn’t, they say.
Yes, we do. And that’s the whole point of this article.
We all have His power now
In the New Testament, God poured out His Spirit on all the church. But what we see in those Scriptures is not the church succeeding where Israel failed — but God working in an entirely new way.
The Old Testament is filled with stories of kings and nations, armies and battles. God moved through violence, both for and against Israel. He wielded His power through the sword.
The soldiers in those armies needed those weapons because they were not filled with the Holy Spirit. Only prophets, priests and kings were. Swords and spears were the only weapons they had, and therefore military force was the way of advance in the Old Testament.
Not anymore.
When Jesus promised the imminent outpouring of the Holy Spirit, He used the word power (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:8). This is the power of God Himself, infinitely greater than all of the earth’s armies combined.
Ephesians 1:19-21 calls this “the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”
This is the power that dwells within every single Christian.
Therefore, we don’t need kings or armies or governments. The weapons of God’s people are no longer worldly (2 Corinthians 10:4-6, Ephesians 6:12-18). The world’s scariest nuclear bombs are children’s toys next to what empowers every single believer.
Not only have the keepers of this power drastically changed between the Old and New Testaments, but so has the way God uses it.
The power of words
As the church, the body of Christ, we don’t kill. We don’t conquer. We persuade.
This dead-raising, world-changing, soul-saving power that has been bestowed on us is exercised through words.
Look at what God’s word says about itself:
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). The message IS the power of God.
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes …” (Romans 1:16). The gospel, the good news, IS the power of God.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword …” (Hebrews 4:12). God’s word is more powerful than any weapon on earth.
We see this power at work throughout the book of Acts, where the early church, hunted by the greatest empire on earth, with no help from the government, turned the world upside-down (Acts 17:6) through nothing but preaching the death and resurrection of Christ. Nothing but Spirit-empowered persuasion.
They never took up arms. They never sought political relevance. They didn’t target powerful or influential people (1 Corinthians 1:26-30). They never fought back against brutal persecution. And in the Scriptures, they never instructed future Christians to do any of that.
Theirs was a power that had nothing to do with geopolitical nation-states. They never even set foot in the halls of government unless they were under arrest. Caesar came last on Paul’s itinerary.
Through their grassroots preaching, Christ’s church and kingdom grew soul by soul. People’s standing before God was no longer on a national scale, no longer through their leaders, but was direct and individual. Their blessing was no longer about whether their country honored God, but only through their own repentance and faith in Christ for the forgiveness of sins.
Our priority today
We today are in the same age, and we have the same power that they do. We’re preaching the One who has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18), and He sent us in that power to disciple all peoples (see this explanation for why “nations” in the great commission doesn’t mean countries). Therefore, we don’t need the world’s power, which is a massive downgrade.
Christians today who strive for victory through the world’s might and politics want to take us back to the Old Testament and the obsolete covenant. They seek to be like the unholy nations and leaders, relying on the modern equivalent of chariots and horses. They crave political power like the Israelites who demanded a king in 1 Samuel 8. God was not pleased with that way of thinking; read more on that here.
Also remember that God determined the outcome of all of Israel’s battles anyway, whether they won or lost. The size and strength of any nation’s army meant nothing to Him; in Judges 7, He reduced Israel’s troops from 32,000 to 300 and gave them a victory in which they never used any weapons! “Nothing restrains the LORD from saving by many or by few,” Jonathan said in 1 Samuel 14:6, right before God delivered a Philistine garrison into his hands. It’s ironic, therefore, when we look to the Old Testament for examples of political strength, because all the power was God’s then, too.
When it comes to God using kings and nations, you could say I’m a cessationist. God has all power at all times in all nations, and He wields it as He pleases. That has never changed, but the way He uses it clearly has. In the New Testament — our covenant — He has taken us off the battlefields and put us in the mission field. The only sword we have now is the sword of the Spirit, the word of God.
The church’s commission to advance the kingdom is to just preach the gospel. Thus says the Lord.
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