Nationalism and Patriotism in the Bible

Topics of the Primary Doctrine

Top of page

Preface

A Definition of Terms

The concept of nationalism

Cosmic thinking in today's European Union

Neither Peter nor Paul called for a rebellion against Roman rule

The Christian balancing act

Evangelists living in a foreign country

Some international concepts in Christianity

Any international thinking must be tempered with temporal allegiance to our own nation

A Definition of Terms

Angelic Conflict

Before man was created, God had created angels, and some of these angels sinned against God. This conflict, which we cannot see, is a conflict that we are a part of, and our spiritual lives in particular are directly to the Angelic Conflict. See the Angelic Conflict (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Church Age

The period of time in history where God works through the body of believers, also known as the church. This age began on the Day of Pentecost, following our Lord’s resurrection and ascension, and continues today. See the Three Dispensations: The Age of Israel, the Age of the Hypostatic Union and the Church Age (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Client nation

The client nation is a nation where there are a lot of believers and a lot of mature and growing believers. This nation is known for its evangelization, for its Bible teaching, its Bible scholarship, and missionary activity. The government and leaders may or may not be supportive of such activity. However, generally speaking, such activity is allowed within the national entity. It is this activity which preserves such a national entity. Doctrine of the Client Nation (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Divine institutions

A divine institution is a social structure that God has established for the safety, security, perpetuation and stability of the human race. These are (1) the volitional function of the human soul; (2) work; (3) marriage; (4) family; and (5) human government. Divine Institutions (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Laws of Divine Establishment

These are laws which are devised by God for the human race (for believers and unbelievers alike). The more aligned a country is with these laws, the greater freedom and prosperity that country will enjoy. Furthermore, there will be greater evangelism and Bible teaching which takes place. The further a country strays from these law results in greater tyranny and unhappiness among its population. See the Laws of Divine Establishment (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

Tribulation, The

When the Church Age comes to its completion, and the body of believers is raptures from this earth, there is remain a shortened 7 years which time is known as the Tribulation. This is actually the end of the Jewish Age and has many names in the Bible (like the time of Jacob’s trouble). (Doctrine of the Tribulation—Pastor L.G. Merritt) (The Great Tribulation—Cherreguine Bible Doctrine Ministries) (Tribulation Time line [Chart]—Grace Bible Church of Baytown)

Top of page

Preface

A Definition of Terms

Nationalism and Patriotism in the Bible

Addendum

Kukis Homepage

Doctrines

This is taken directly from the Doctrine of the Divine Institutions (HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

This is an overall view of the divine institutions along with a general description of them.

The Concept of Divine Institutions

1.     The five divine institutions are: (1) The function of the human soul—primarily the function of volition; (2) Work; (3) Marriage; (4) Family; and (5) Human government (nationalism).

2.     A divine institution is that which is created or designed by God in order to preserve and protect the human race, as well as to preserve and protect man’s volition, which is essential to the Angelic Conflict—(HTML) (PDF) (WPD).

3.     A divine institution can be a custom, practice, concept or organization which naturally arises from the activity of man on earth.

4.     Divine institutions are virtually universal and they are designed by God for the people of all nations. Divine institutions are for believers and unbelievers alike. Even though there may be a spiritual dimension for the believer; these are still the same institutions.

5.     Divine institutions provide freedom, stability, orderliness and organization for the human race.

6.     Divine institutions are related to the Angelic Conflict, insofar as, our free will decisions are an integral part of the Angelic Conflict. Therefore, it is important for these institutions to be related to a system of authorities as well as the means by which human volition is preserved.

7.     Not every single person is intimately involved with every single divine institution (for instance, a person may be raised by an unmarried mother and choose not to marry, and so does not directly experience marriage or the ideal family). However, the organizations of marriage and family are designed for the stability of the society in which he lives. In this way, marriage and family impact his day to day life, even though his own personal experience is not ideal. Therefore, every person is affected by and closely associated with all 5 divine institutions.

8.     If the divine institutions are compromised, contaminated or corrupted, a society or nation may collapse because of this.

9.     Man has free will and man has an old sin nature; therefore, men will constantly try to corrupt, compromise or destroy these institutions.

10.   It is very common for those who want to corrupt, compromise and destroy these institutions to go after the youth of a country in order to do so. That is, they attempt to convince the youth that these institutions are old, outmoded, and outdated. How many times have you heard that marriage is old fashioned or some ancient more? Or that gays ought to be able to marry like heterosexuals? Or that nationalism is an outdated paradigm for today’s international community?

11.   Examples of corruption of the divine institutions:

        1)     Corruption of the volition of the human soul might be accomplished by a government with too much power (it coerces the volition of its citizens); by the use of drugs (so that the individual’s life will be devoted to the pursuit of drugs); or by sexual lust (for instance, the constant pursuit of sexual gratification). The government (or a significant movement within a nation) uses the educational system to brainwash our children.

        2)     Work is distorted by retirement, social security, disability insurance, 30-hour work weeks, etc. This does not mean that some percentage of people in society do not work. There will always be those who are legitimately ill, have serious mental problems, have honest-to-goodness medical problems, or are too old to work. When over a third of the population of a country is not working (as is the case for the United States), then that is a serious problem for society. As an aside, the woman who stays at home with her children is legitimately working.

        3)     Marriage is corrupted by divorce, by living together (not making a lifetime commitment), and by gay marriage.

        4)     The family unit is threatened by single-parent families, unwed mothers, and gay marriage that demands the right to adopt children.

        5)     Human government can be distorted by socialism or by anarchy, which are, interestingly enough, at opposite ends of the government continuum. Revolution is a direct affront to human government and to be avoided at any cost.

12.   All divine institutions are associated with free will and a system of authority (or, authorities).

        1)     Even though we have free will, as believers, we have been bought with a price and Bible doctrine is out authority.

        2)     When it comes to work, there is the authority of master/slave or boss/employee today.

        3)     In marriage, the authority is the husband.

        4)     In family the authority is the husband and wife.

        5)     In a nation, there is the government which has the authority; and the extent of governmental authority varies quite a bit from nation to nation.

13.   Although one may argue that there are many additional divine institutions (e.g., the military, a local police force, etc.), the 5 named above are the most fundamental with the most widespread application.

Robert Dean: These divine institutions each carry and authority structure within them, and that authority relates to the fact that within that sphere of operation there is one primary person or entity in the place of responsibility. So that when another authority or entity comes in and supplants that authority that is when there is a conflict. For example, it is not the role of the government to come in and supplant the role of parents when it comes to what goes on inside of the home.

Proverbs 8:14–16 With me is proper counsel and proven success; with me comes discernment and strength. By me, kings reign and rulers properly adjudicate just results; by me, princes, noble, and all those who must judge righteousness, properly exercise their power. This is a reference to the divine institution of human government.

This is taken directly from the Doctrine of the Divine Institutions (HTML) (PDF) (WPD). The ESV; capitalized is primarily used below.

Some of this doctrine was written nearly a decade ago, so some of the applications are dated. I have updated some of it to reflect the change.

The Fifth Divine Institution—Human Government and Nationalism

1.     The divine institution of national governments helps to preserve the freedom of peoples of the earth. It is God’s plan for there to be many nations. When a nation is negative toward the plan of God, it is isolated from other national entities. When there is a lot of positive volition within a nation, that nation protects the freedom of its citizens. Deut. 32:8 Acts 17:26

2.     God’s approach to nationalism is made clear when God judges the Tower of Babel, the first United Nations building, where the descendants of Noah were divided by language in order to get them to separate and to spread out over the earth. Gen. 11:1–9

3.     A national entity protects human volition and allows for man to be evangelized. Acts 17:26–27a “And God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him.”

4.     Divine institutions balance volition and authority. Rom.13:1–7 tells us the importance of the authority of the national entity (and other authorities within the entity): Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing. Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.

        1)     A state or federal government requires funds to make it work; which is why we are not to withhold taxes from them.

        2)     A government simultaneously protects your rights from the incursion of another person’s free will; and vice versa. That is, criminal behavior is contained, so that we can live and function in peace, which in turn allows for evangelization and Bible teaching. Obviously, it is easier to drive to church on Sunday if the roads are well-managed and there is no armed conflict taking place within the nation.

5.     This approach of nationalism also serves to contain evil. We saw many revolutions taking place in the Middle East called the Arab Spring; and there was a blurring of their borders which resulted in increased chaos and lawlessness. When this lawlessness continued, it reduced evangelism and the teaching of Bible doctrine. Some churches were even burned. Evil may grow and expand within a nation, but nationalism, for the most part, constrains this evil geographically. Nationalism similarly protects other sovereign nations from importing evil from another nation.

        1)     Nationalism must protect its own borders, when necessary, and keep out bad influences. I say when necessary, because some borders require an active defense and others do not. The border between the United States and Mexico is no longer respected by those south of us; so that border needs to be defended. The northern border of the United States is respected by both Americans and Canadians, so no border need be defended with vigor.

        2)     Throughout the world, there are dozens of evil Islamic organizations which are looking to expand their influence (even though I wrote much of this in 2015, this is still true today).

        3)     Although these groups may be partially sponsored by this or that nation, they often move outside of the boundaries of that nation.

        4)     However, other national entities can keep these groups out, if they so choose. Obviously, this is the wise thing for a sovereign nation to do.

        5)     The preservation of national entities keeps such organizations out or has a police/military force to keep them under control if they are inside of a nation.

6.     To perpetuate the human race and bring history to its logical conclusion, God has designed the nation to protect the freedom and rights of the people within the nation and to protect the other people on this planet.

        1)     This does not mean that all nations are free.

        2)     Under the concept of nationalism, a people get the government that they deserve, some governments are going to be oppressive, intrusive and over-bearing.

        3)     However, there will be freedom in some nations, which is often where the gospel and Bible doctrine spring from (freedom and the spread of the gospel often occur hand-in-hand).

        4)     Furthermore, people from the outside will be drawn to a nation where there are many believers. Furthermore, it will be drawn to its customs and culture (often, what they are expressing is positive volition toward the gospel). This is why some foreigners move to the United States and become Christians and that nation’s greatest patriots.

        5)     At the same time, we witness a corrupt government in the United States attempting to reduce the influx of productive Christian citizens and to encourage immigration of (1) those who are interested in becoming dependent upon government largesse; or (2) those whose intent is to harm the United States.

7.     Ideally speaking, a nation provides equality under the law and a maximum amount of economic freedom for its citizens. Both of these ideals will result in unequal outcomes.

        1)     There must be a system of common law which prohibits crime and thereby protects the freedom, rights, life, and property of individuals. It must be a system of law which does not overstep the law by using the law to try to solve social problems. Law, therefore, must always be objective. Subjective distortion of the law uses legislation to invade individual rights, to steal personal property, and to erode human freedom; all in the name of the common good.

        2)     A government should not try to favor one group of people over another (although, a government can show preference to true divine institutions over false human institutions, to the point of even outlawing the latter).

        3)     People are not born equal, and it is not up to the government to try to make them equal.

        4)     People use their unequal abilities to work. It is not the government’s job to look at me and Donald Trump, who are in similar businesses, and take from Donald Trump and give to me, because he is slightly better off than I am, as a result of our work.

        5)     A government should protect the freedom of its citizens; and therefore, it should not take money or opportunity from citizen A and given that to citizen B, who has a lower economic standard.

        6)     When a government, political candidate or political party encourages us to disobey the 10^th commandment (we are not to covet the possessions of anyone else, even if they are rich), then we know that person or entity is wrong and they will lead our nation astray.

8.     What about welfare? Isn’t it immoral to reject welfare as a part of the government structure?

        1)     The Old Testament clearly made welfare a part of Israel. They were to look out for the widows and orphans.

        2)     Their welfare was a combination of public and private efforts. Public welfare cost the citizens of Israel 3⅓% per year. Although Israel collected a higher tax rate, most of that money was used to fund spiritual projects.

        3)     Private farmlands were to leave the corners of their farmland unharvested so that the poor could come in and harvest what remained. This was a private decision, but clearly encouraged by the Law of Moses. This indicates that the needs of the poor ought to be a concern of the government and a private concern as well.

        4)     Applying the same standards to today suggests that our welfare ought to be shrunk dramatically; and I would suggest that welfare be done only at the local level (city or county levels).

        5)     Many cities have placed difficult demands on many organizations which privately provided food, clothing and shelter for the poor. These demands need to be lifted or made reasonable.

        6)     This approach, however, would destroy the current Democrat party, which has become the party of free stuff. Every election, they think of something else that they can give away to those who have not earned it, which is bankrupting our country.

9.     God promises blessing to the nation which follows His laws. These would be the laws of divine establishment for all nations. "If you walk in my statutes and observe my commandments and do them, then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit. Your threshing shall last to the time of the grape harvest, and the grape harvest shall last to the time for sowing. And you shall eat your bread to the full and dwell in your land securely. I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. And I will remove harmful beasts from the land, and the sword shall not go through your land.” (Lev. 26:3–6).

10.   Similarly, there is great cursing for the nation which was a client nation to God, but has turned away from God. You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit. Your ox shall be slaughtered before your eyes, but you shall not eat any of it. Your donkey shall be seized before your face, but shall not be restored to you. Your sheep shall be given to your enemies, but there shall be no one to help you. Your sons and your daughters shall be given to another people, while your eyes look on and fail with longing for them all day long, but you shall be helpless. A nation that you have not known shall eat up the fruit of your ground and of all your labors, and you shall be only oppressed and crushed continually, so that you are driven mad by the sights that your eyes see. The LORD will strike you on the knees and on the legs with grievous boils of which you cannot be healed, from the sole of your foot to the crown of your head. "The LORD will bring you and your king whom you set over you to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known. And there you shall serve other gods of wood and stone. And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the LORD will lead you away. You shall carry much seed into the field and shall gather in little, for the locust shall consume it. You shall plant vineyards and dress them, but you shall neither drink of the wine nor gather the grapes, for the worm shall eat them. You shall have olive trees throughout all your territory, but you shall not anoint yourself with the oil, for your olives shall drop off. You shall father sons and daughters, but they shall not be yours, for they shall go into captivity. The cricket shall possess all your trees and the fruit of your ground. The sojourner who is among you shall rise higher and higher above you, and you shall come down lower and lower. He shall lend to you, and you shall not lend to him. He shall be the head, and you shall be the tail. "All these curses shall come upon you and pursue you and overtake you till you are destroyed, because you did not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that he commanded you. They shall be a sign and a wonder against you and your offspring forever. Because you did not serve the LORD your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things, therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness, and lacking everything. And He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you. The LORD will bring a nation against you from far away, from the end of the earth, swooping down like the eagle, a nation whose language you do not understand, a hard-faced nation who shall not respect the old or show mercy to the young (Deut. 28:30–50).

11.   There ought to be a common culture which reflects the spiritual life, morality, esprit de corps, nobility, patriotism, and integrity of a nation through its literature, art, music, and drama. One of the present weaknesses of the United States is, illegal aliens moving into the states and then maintaining their own national identity. Because of their illegal status, they make no attempt to enter into the American society. The same is true of Muslims in European society.

12.   There should be a system of government which functions under its power without abusing its power to destroy freedom and establishment. There should be an administrative body to represent the functions of taxation, law enforcement, honorable jurisprudence, maintenance of the military, and enforcement of law and order without the destruction of human freedom.

13.   Ideally speaking, the economy ought to be based on free enterprise and capitalism. Labor has no right to dictate the policy of management. Smart management always takes good care of its workers. Government, labor, or criminals do not have the right to superimpose their policy on management (in a good economy, management will be fighting over the available workforce). The separation of business and state is an important distinction.

14.   Government ought not to disparage the divine institutions.

        1)     I have heard candidate Barack Obama and a number of Democrats talk about people working hard and yet not advancing in society as much as they think we ought to. Hard work is a good thing, and people who work hard, over time, will generally be successful in a free society (not everyone will be a Donald Trump or a Bill Gates). In any case, it is not the government’s job to evaluate the work that we are putting in and then determine, by means of some bureaucratic set of standards, that we ought to be paid more (and, conversely, that someone should be paid less); and then to redistribute wealth in order to bring that to pass.

        2)     Proposition 8, in California, was a definition of marriage as being the union of one man and one woman. The arrogant Judge Walker overturned this decision of the people. It is up to society to determine, under our form of government, what constitutes marriage and what does not. This judge created a right (the right for homosexuals to get married) out of whole cloth. Studies have shown that there are a variety of factors involved in people choosing to engage in homosexual activity, many of which have nothing to do with genetics (although genetics is a factor, but not a determining factor).

        3)     When government shows a preference to single motherhood by providing a myriad of benefits to single mothers (with a threat to permanently remove such benefits if that mother marries), the government is deciding against the institutions of marriage and family. We have studies which show that single parent homes produce far more criminals than do traditional family homes. By encouraging single-motherhood, a society destroys itself from the inside (by encouraging criminality).

15.   Negative volition and scar tissue of the soul explains why some of those who live in a great nation actually think poorly of their own nation and its history. Not only are their souls blinded, but they have nothing which they can compare their life to (apart from, at best, some trips to foreign countries). Their souls have sucked in false thinking and anti-establishment thinking.

16.   Good government can be easily corrupted when people look to government rather than to themselves or to God to solve their problems.

        1)     Absolute power in the hands of insecure and incompetent rulers, whose power lust feeds on an insecure generation demanding something for nothing, results in a nation selling its heritage of freedom for a mess a pottage.

        2)     In demanding security from government an insecure generation becomes an entitlement generation.

        3)     Insecure politicians offer some form of socialism that is always divorced from establishment principles found in the infallible Word of God.

        4)     If you seek security in any other than God then you are a weak dysfunctional adult.

        5)     The government’s job is to protect freedom, not direct it.

17.   Good government is designed to protect its citizens and their freedom with respect to the divine institutions and to the laws of divine establishment.

        1)     Good government protects the volition, privacy and property of its citizens.

        2)     This requires a proper system of law enforcement, jurisprudence, and a system of law whereby a person is innocent until proved guilty, where only proper testimony is allowed and no hearsay is permitted, and where double jeopardy does not exist.

        3)     Similarly, a good government protects the people from the government itself. That is, the government is not to look to control the volition of others (apart from their criminal activity), nor is the government to rob us of our privacy or property.

        4)     Good government will support the work ethic and will not provide multiple ways for people to live without having to work (as our government does with welfare, section 8 housing and social security—that is, using Social Security to provide subsistence to people who have not retired yet). A government which coerces people not to work through government handouts destroys the souls of those people (even if this is done with the best of intentions).

        5)     Good government is going to support the divine institution of marriage; society may or may not choose to recognize other forms of unions; but none of these other unions (whether polygamous or homosexual) are designed by God.

        6)     Marriage also is a protection for the children which may intentionally or unintentionally be brought into the world. When a government shows preference for, say, single-mother families, that government is making decisions to destroy itself from the inside. Studies have linked all kinds of anti-social and negative behavior to single mother households. More children from a single mother household will be involved in underage drinking, use drugs, get pregnant, commit crimes, go to jail, and/or head their own single-mother household. There are many studies which tell us this; and the book of Samuel teaches us this as well (David’s sons were essentially raised by their mothers on the government’s dime; and they were mostly worthless reprobates).

        7)     It is the simple adage: tax it, and you get less of it; subsidize it, and you get more of it. I write this in 2015 where we are taxing businesses and wealth and profit and capital gains, and our President and a number of economists and newspaper reporters seem to be shocked that more jobs are not being created. At the same time, our government encourages single-motherhood by subsidizing them. Should we be shocked that more and more children are being born to unwed mothers? Tax Graphic from Professor Steve Cunningham’s Econ 219 Course; accessed November 8, 2015.

        8)     Quite obviously, a good government will pass laws which look to encourage obeying the final 6 commandments. A government (or political candidate or party) which encourages it citizenry to covet the wealth which belongs to the rich, will destroy that nation from within.

        9)     The Bible gives us a good idea as to how much a government ought to tax. If my understanding is correct, there were 2 tithes (10% each) to be paid by the people; and another tithe paid every 3 years for the poor. Since much of that was designed to go to the Levites and to the spiritual concerns of nation Israel, an across the board tax of 13⅓% would be ideal for a nation (and churches would not be taxed). 3⅓% per year would be spent on welfare concerns. Private philanthropic organizations would be encouraged, but there must be a clearly high percentage of any collected funds going to actual needs (50–90%) in order for such organizations to be tax exempt (or, in the alternative, unless an arm of a private church, these could also be made taxable). Organizations like the Clinton Foundation (where money is paid for political influence) and various Hollywood foundations, where 4% must go to an actual charity, should be eliminated.

        10)   Quite obviously, no government is ideal; even that of the United States, which is the greatest nation in the history of man. We do not get to disobey our government simply because it is not ideal. Luke 20:25 Rom. 13:1–7

18.   The national entity and the military:

        1)     The exterior protection of freedom comes through a strong, well-prepared military. Although the Bible does not ever give us a list of the great pacifists from this or that era, or the great businessmen; it does give us a list of the great soldiers from David’s time. This is one of the many ways that the Bible indicates great respect for the military. 2Sam. 23 1Chron. 11

        2)     The highest compliment which Jesus paid to a man was a military man because he understood authority and he understood Jesus’ authority. Furthermore, Jesus did not tell this man, “Put down your sword and follow Me.” Matt. 8:5–10

        3)     Wars are a part of human history. There is nothing that we can do to stave off war, apart from having a strong military. Matt 12:29 24:6 Luke 11:21

        4)     God both uses and blesses the military of a client nation. God used the Jews to destroy the great degeneracy of those nations in the land of Canaan. The destruction of all the people in Jericho is one example of many. Joshua 6

        5)     Failure of the military on the battlefield indicates lack of training, lack of self-discipline, poor equipment, but mostly lack of respect for authority and no spiritual motivation or incentive to fight.

        6)     Failure of the military means loss of freedom.

        7)     Therefore, freedom is always related to authority. Freedom without authority is anarchy; authority without freedom is tyranny.

        8)     The military establishment is an index to national character. Successful armies maintain freedom. This is why universal military training is an axiom in the laws of divine establishment. Num 1:2-3 31:3-5 Deut 24:5 Judges 3:1-2 2Sam 22:35 Psalm 18:34 144:1.

        9)     Military training is useless when the men of a nation are reversionistic, apostate, and degenerate. Draft dodgers, slackers, and deserters are sinful in the eyes of God. Num. 32:6–7, 14, 20-23.

        10)   Antagonism toward authority destroys the function of the military as the instrument of freedom.

        11)   Military victory is the means of maintaining peace, not the modus operandi of politicians (Josh 11:23; Psalm 46:7-9). Politicians generally are divorced from reality, too often proclaiming "`Peace, Peace,' when there is no peace" (Jer 6:13-14, 8:11).

19.   A government is a reflection of the souls of its citizens. The amount of positive or negative volition toward the gospel and toward Bible doctrine determine the direction of a nation. The more degenerate a people become, the greater force of government will be necessary to control them.

20.   A client nation will have a significant number of believers with a significant subset of them who are growing spiritually. Their thinking and actions within the nation will determine whether or not that nation is a client nation to God.

21.   Joshua encouraged his own people, the nation Israel: “Be very careful, therefore, to love the LORD your God. For if you turn back and cling to the remnant of these nations remaining among you and make marriages with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, know for certain that the LORD your God will no longer drive out these nations before you, but they shall be a snare and a trap for you, a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good ground that the LORD your God has given you. And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you, if you transgress the covenant of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them. Then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you, and you shall perish quickly from off the good land that he has given to you.” (Joshua 23:11–16). A nation makes corporate decisions; decisions which are based upon thousands and millions of individual decisions. Quite obviously, these things are said to believers in Y^ehowah Elohim.

22.   If we reject His Word (negative volition toward Bible doctrine), God will reject us. Hosea 4:6–9 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge [= Bible doctrine]; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to Me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children. The more they increased, the more they sinned against Me; I will change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of My people; they are greedy for their iniquity. And it will be like people, like priest; I will punish them for their ways and repay them for their deeds.

23.   Good decisions of national leadership result in greater options for greater decisions. Bad decisions by the national leadership destroy freedom options and enslave the nation.

24.   God’s view of internationalism is first made known with His judgment of the original ‘united nations’ at the tower of Babel, where the human race was then divided into nations.

25.   The formation of the Jewish nation set up the perfect standard of what a national entity should be. The Biblical proof that nationalism is authorized by God is found in Gen. 10:5 Deut. 32:8 Acts 17:26-28.

        1)     Interior protection of freedom is provided through a proper system of law enforcement, jurisprudence, and a system of law whereby a person is innocent until proved guilty.

        2)     The exterior protection of freedom comes through a strong, well-designed and well-prepared military.

        3)     A government of whatever category must protect the freedoms and rights of its citizens without interfering with those rights by the illegal use of power.

        4)     An economy must be based on free enterprise and capitalism. Labor has no right to dictate the policy of management.

        5)     There must be a system of common law which prohibits crime and thereby protects the freedom, rights, life, and property of individuals.

        6)     Despite there being an ideal government of sorts, this does not give us the right to rebel against a government which is less than ideal.

26.   Satan is always on the attack against nationalism: Satan attacks nationalism with internationalism, which includes, but is not limited to, the United Nations, communist movements (true communism, in theory, is a worldwide movement), Islamic terrorist groups (also, ideally speaking, a worldwide movement), the so-called Green movement, and attempts by members of our own Supreme Court to appeal to or apply international norms, laws or standards to our government.

        1)     Again, in a Satanic attack, dishonesty is key.

        2)     The Green movement involves large amounts of money and socialism. Some proponents of this movement make millions of dollars on the movement (Al Gore, for example).

        3)     However, socialism has made inroads into the green movement as of late, and cap and trade type legislation and Kyoto agreements are means by which huge sums of money are transferred from the United States to poorer countries, with a large percentage of that being taken off the top by sponsors and heads of state.

        4)     You never hear, “Realistically, we have no idea if these billions of dollars in wealth transfer will have any affect upon global warming or not; we just want the money because we cannot run our own countries.” Or, “We just want to skim off our fair share off the top and pass the rest along.”

27.   Satan attacks nationalism through revolution.

        1)     No government is perfect; flaws with every government can be found.

        2)     No leader, president, prime minister or dictator is without flaws.

        3)     Therefore, it is always possible to find some set of reasons why a people ought to revolt against their government or against this or that leader.

        4)     An imperfect government or leader is not an excuse to rebel against them. In a true democracy, the believer may vote and even advocate for his preferred choice; but he must also accept the will of the people, even if a terrible candidate is elected.

        5)     What the believer does not have permission to do is to enact a violent overthrow of their own government. The believer can disobey the government insofar as evangelism and Bible teaching is concerned; but is subject to all other laws.

        6)     The rare case when a believer may rebel against a nation is similar to the situation of Rahab the prostitute, who aligned herself with a nation clearly led by God, against everyone that she has ever known and against everyone that she was related to. In such a rebellion, the believer is cognizant that everyone in the country which you have rejected is now your enemy. I cannot think of a good example here from contemporary history. Best I can come up with is South Vietnam’s resistence of the North (which forces were bolstered by existing communist regimes).

28.   Islam attacks nationalism.

        1)     Islam is an international movement.

        2)     Islam is not simply a religion; it is a universal system of law and the suppression of individual thinking designed for all mankind.

        3)     Their end game is to establish control over nation after nation, and to destroy all opposition within that nation. However, they start small, establishing small but independent communities within a nation. These are often called no-go zones.

        4)     When Muslim population is low (1–2%), they are seen as a peace-loving minority. The United States, Australian, Canada, China, Italy and Norway all have Muslim populations below 2%. These figures and examples came from a video which has been cleansed at YouTube (it can still be found). These percentages were true around 2015 or so.

        5)     At 2–5%, major recruiting occurs within the jails. Denmark, German, the United Kingdom, Spain and Thailand have Muslim populations between 2–5%.

        6)     At 5% and above, Muslims exert an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. France, the Philippines, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Trinidad & Tobago all have Muslim populations between 5–8%.

        7)     When Muslims reach 20%, expect rioting, jihad militia formation, sporadic killings, as well as the burning of churches and synagogues. Ethiopia has a Muslim population of 33%. Bear in mind, there will be some overlapping in these categories, and some behaviors will be manifest if a particular area within a nation has a higher concentration of Muslims.

        8)     At 40%, there are widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks and ongoing militia warfare. Bosnia, Chad and Lebanon have Muslim populations between 40–60% (in my lifetime, Lebanon was once touted as a nation with a great mixing of religious views.

        9)     At 60% and above, there will be unfettered persecution of non-believers and other religions, as well as ethnic cleansing. Sharia Law is used as a weapon and Jizya, a tax which is placed upon infidels. Albania, Malaysia, Qatar and the Sudan have Muslim populations between 60–80%.

        10)   At 80% and above, there will be state-sponsored ethnic cleansing and genocide. Bangladesh, Egypt, Ezaz, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine, Syrian, Tajikistan, Turkey and the U.A.E. have Muslim populations in the 80 and 90% ranges.

        11)   At 100%, there is supposed to be peace, because everyone is a Muslim. Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and Yemen are nearly at 100%. However, at this point, they kill one another for being of the wrong faction or not being dedicated enough.

29.   My theory is this: Satan is the great counterfeiter and he understands the Tribulation and the Jewish evangelism in the Tribulation (Jews will be scattered throughout the earth at that time). What he would like is, a counterfeit Tribulation, where Muslims are the evangelists during a time of great terror and suffering. This will be a world war, possibly called the Great American-Muslim (or Christian-Muslim) war in the 21^st century. I am not a prophet; this simply seems like a logical conclusion to this conflict. Similarly, I believe that it is very likely that certain European countries will erupt into an all-out rebellion led by the forces of Islam.

30.   When Bob used to speak of the Great Tribulation with the Revived Roman Empire attacking Israel, that made no sense to me (lessons 472 and following of the 1981 Revelation series). At the time, much of Europe was Christian, with little animosity towards the Jewish people. However, Europe in the past 20 years has taken in a great many Muslim refugees. If these nations become major Islamic nations, then this prophecy makes perfect sense.

31.   Revolution is also anti-God and anti-establishment.

        1)     We have the example of Absalom’s revolution against his father David (2Sam. 15). Many of David’s own sons were anti-authoritarian yet desired great power.

        2)     Of course, we have the examples of Dathan and Abiram revolting against Moses in Num. 16.

        3)     More importantly, we have the example of the Jews resisting Roman authority and revolting as Rome; and God allowed them to be put down in a.d. 70. Paul wrote to the believers in Rome: Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience (Rom. 13:1–5). This was written at a time when Rome was not too friendly to Christians.

        4)     The results of the French and Russian revolutions argue against revolution; despite the problems with existing governance.

        5)     The American Revolution was not a true revolution. Our founding fathers did not want to destroy the governing authorities of Britain and take control of Great Britain. They sought at first representation in government with some measure of autonomy; and secondly, when no such representation was forthcoming, independence from Britain. Quite obviously, all of our founding fathers had sin natures, so that some of the things which were said and done were wrong. However, our founding fathers sought not to depose the British government, but to become independent of it. Therefore, the American Revolution is a misnomer and the American War for Independence is more accurate of a designation.

Although much of this doctrine was developed independently, I must acknowledge R. B. Thieme, Jr., who first developed this doctrine, and the related vocabulary. Without that doctrine in my soul in the first place, acquired through many hours of Bible class, this doctrine would have been impossible to assemble. I also freely borrowed from the sources listed below.

Jim Brettell http://www.jimbrettell.org/zzzzzz/Divine%20Establishment.doc.doc (This is a Word document which will open up in Word or WP).

http://www.spokanebiblechurch.com/study/Bible%20Doctrines/Divine%20Institutions%20and%20Establishment.html (which is Tod Kennedy’s work from 1999).

Some points are taken directly, word-for-word, from these 2 documents.

I also used the following:

http://www.phrasearch.com/Trans/DBM/setup/Genesis/Gen026.htm

http://www.egracebiblechurch.org/capunish.htm

There will be some overlap with my own doctrine of the client nation (HTML) (PDF) (WPD) The bibliography there is also pertinent here.

The following article comes from Relevant,  which seems to be a quasi-Christian website (possibly magazine as well?). If I were to guess, it is aimed towards millennial Christians. It is this article which spurred me to put together a doctrine of nationalism and patriotism.

The more a denomination, movement, pastor teacher moves away from traditional teachings and seems to have more intersections with popular liberal, world-view culture, the further they stray from the truth.

Commentary added by me in the lighter shaded boxes. Think of me as wearing the white hat; Relevant as wearing the black hat. :) The title is the title given in Relevant.

Is an America-First Doctrine Actually Biblical?

Editor’s note: A version of this article first appeared in January, but in light of the president’s recent international tour and recent “America-first” comments, we are reposting.

Maybe I am overreacting here, but it is as if the editor thought, “Ohmigosh, Trump said so many crazy things—especially using those words American first—that we had better re-post this article.”

If you tuned in to the news over the last few weeks, you may have a bleak assessment of our country and the world right now.

My comment: This article was published in January of 2017, soon after candidate Donald Trump had been elected president and was sworn in. The only reason to have a bleak assessment of the country and the world right now is if you choose to believe the mainstream media. A sky is falling mentality seemed to affect Hollywood and nearly all of the news media, which then proceeded to publish false story after false story about the newly elected President Trump, every single one of which put the new president in a bad light. About 90–95% of the media coverage of this new president, elected by approximately half the country, has been negative. No president has ever receive this amount of bad coverage before (something not acknowledged in this article).

According to our new president, the rest of the globe has mooched and manhandled the United States, garnering power while “the wealth, strength, and confidence of our country has dissipated over the horizon.” The way out can be found in an utter and unrelenting nationalism. “We assembled here today,” President Trump said in his inauguration speech, “are issuing a new decree to be heard in every city, in every foreign capital, and in every hall of power … From this day forward, it’s going to be only America First.”

For at least half of America, these were very welcome words. We had long endured a president who seemed go all over the world to apologize for America and America’s arrogance. He was not apologizing for himself and his own administration, but for America before Obama. That was the bad America, which a President Obama had hoped to transform.

This is a dangerous call.

It’s not. What President Trump said was not a dangerous call nor was it revolutionary; it was simple common sense, correcting an horrendous imbalance by the previous president.

Whatever we think about the state of our nation or our president, as Christians we must always be cautious around fix-it ideologies that are not rooted in Christ. When the president says “the bedrock of our politics will be a total allegiance to the United States of America,” we must ask ourselves if such a proclamation aligns with the Gospel.

We elect a president to represent us in the world; it ought to be normal to expect a president to be pro-American and think in terms of American first. This would not be the thinking of the previous president.

The gospel, strictly speaking, it the good news that Jesus Christ died for our sins and that, by believing in Him, we can have eternal life. What the president said was unrelated to the gospel.

What the Bible says about nationalism.

The Bible tells us clearly that our “total allegiance” belongs to God alone.

We cannot split our loyalties. We cannot serve two masters. (Matthew 6:24). To be sure, Christians are commanded and privileged to seek the welfare of our cities, to give to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to serve people and respect government. But none of that justifies putting the interests of our own country above all others. Like Paul, we are not out for personal gain. We seek “the good of many” (1Corinthians 10:33).

We as Christians certainly have a higher calling; and our eventual home will be in heaven. However, at this point in time, we live on earth and most of those reading this live in the United States of America. Having a strong allegiance to our country, founded in freedom and Christian principles, is a normal thing for the believer in Jesus Christ. Such a person is not serving two masters.

Just to give you an example of what serving two masters actually is: when communism took over in Russia, thousands of Christians were killed, starved, or sent off to places where they would die. If a believer in Jesus Christ obeyed the mandates of his government and helped kill off other Christians, this would be a person attempting to serve two masters.

When Jesus summed up the law, He told us to love God. He also told us to love our neighbors as ourselves (Mark 12:31).

Christian neighborliness stretches far beyond national borders and ethnic, political or even religious distinctions. The Church in the United States can joyfully love and serve Mexicans and Syrians, Muslims and atheists, immigrants and refugees because all people, created in the image of God, are our neighbors.

An America first policy does not mean that we hate other nations nor does it mean that we hate Mexicans, Syrians, Muslims, atheists, immigrants or refugees. That policy does not mean that President Trump hates any of those people; or that his supporters do; or that somehow, this is supposed to make us hate these other groups of people.

This particular mandate to love God and our neighbors as ourselves comes from the Old Testament; and God had, at various times, directed His people to wholesale slaughter of particularly evil groups of people. This does not violate this principles.

Finally, these mandates are directed toward those who have believed in Jesus Christ; not toward a nation as a whole. The complete wrong way to understand the Bible is to open up all of the borders to the United States and to say to the outside world, “Everyone is welcome; come on in. The only thing you will have to sign as an agreement to accept welfare, if that is what you want.” That would be evil; and that would be anti-American. Joyfully loving and serving Mexicans and Syrians does not mean, our government bends over backwards to give them anything that they want.

In fact, one could argue that, sending in missionaries and those who can teach the tenets of the United States government would be the greatest blessing that we could provide for Mexicans and Syrians.

The United States is involved in providing camps for refugees from war-torn Syria. Do you know what we ought to be providing for them in these camps? The gospel of Jesus Christ and Bible teaching.

Followers of Christ have orders to be humble, sacrificial and self-denying. We must look to the interests of people everywhere, in all countries and in all walks of life. “In humility consider others better than yourselves,” wrote Paul in his letter to the Philippians. He specifically opposed nationalism when he called Jewish Christians to recognize their oneness with Gentiles, to stop thinking of themselves as superior.

For Christians, “there is neither Jew nor Greek” (Galatians 3:28). Likewise, there is neither American nor foreigner in the Kingdom of God.

What this article seems to miss is what the entirety of v. 28: There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. We are all one in Christ Jesus. I am not one with some imam in Syria.

The Dangers of “America First”

Quite simply, granting total allegiance to our country (or any country) and putting our own interests above those of everyone not born on American soil is not biblical.

God doesn’t favor one country or one ethnicity over others. Neither should we. “America First” is a perilous policy because it is rooted in self and selfish egoism. It is built on the premise that our needs are more important than your needs, that we’re right to value our own lives more than yours.

The idea that God does not favor one country over another is ridiculous on its face. Why do we enjoy such prosperity in the United States, which is not enjoyed in Saudi Arabia or in Rhodesia? Even in the Church Age, Israel is one of the greatest nations in human history; and they enjoy great prosperity there, despite having enemies on every side.

God clearly showed a preference for Israel and protected her on many occasions.

Also, a person’s life is rather meaningless if he loses his own soul. That is what happens to the unbeliever; and they will spend eternity under judgment from God.

Furthermore, when we are at war, our lives are not seen as equal to the lives of our enemies. The United States under President Trump has been relentlessly destroying ISIS. This is the right and moral thing to do; and there is no false equality between our lives and theirs.

Ban Muslims. Build a wall. Penalize businesses that move overseas. Duck out of trade deals. Back away from our commitments to alliances and international organizations. There is nothing neighborly or humble in such policies. The logic of protectionist nationalism might lift them up as ultimate goods, but the Gospel tells a different story.

Muslim-majority countries are typically war-torn. There are 40–60 wars and armed conflicts going on in this world, and about 80–90% of those are in Muslim-majority nations; and most of the other conflicts are related to communism. Both Islam and communism are evils in this world. A believer who does not recognize this does not understand anything about the Word of God; or is unable to apply the Word of God to real life.

The nation’s president needs to look our for his people when it comes to protection and the economy and trade. A president is not elected to give away the store out of Christian compassion. Now, if you have a deep-seated need to help the Syrians, by all means, learn their language and go there to evangelize them. That will be the key to our eventual peace with Syria.

The “America First” doctrine is not only dangerous socially and politically; it is dangerous spiritually.

The leaders and ambassadors from Finland ought to be Finland-first people; the same goes for the leaders of Cambodia or Columbia (something which President Trump has said). Leaders who are willing to subordinate the interests of their own country to some world vision (like a califate) are dangerous.

What is dangerous socially, politically and spiritually is to elect an American leader who puts the interests of others over the United States.

Adhering to such an inward-looking brand of American nationalism, for Christians, would betray the multinational and ecumenical character of the Body of Christ.

No, it doesn’t. The United States is not the Body of Christ, or vice versa. The fact that there are believers all over the globe in every country does not mean that nation United States ought to be looking at everything globally and putting America second to some socialist global vision. Furthermore, no matter what nonsense is spewed in articles like this, globalists do not have a globalist Christian vision. Their global visions are communistic, socialistic or Islamic.

If Jesus wants us to imitate the Good Samaritan, who sacrificed for a suffering stranger, we cannot ignore the suffering strangers of our own world. Just as “America First” steals from the grandeur and scope of the Church and the Kingdom, it also robs us of our witness. What credibility can American Christians have with the rest of the world if we say we love them with the love of Christ, but put ourselves first?

The America-first philosophy does not steal from anything; nor does it somehow lessen the church or the kingdom or anything else. Our president has always been an America-first president with one exception (which, apparently, the author of this article still adores).

People all over the world want to come to America. A president who takes the normal America-first approach will not change that. The spiritual nature of the people of the United States will change that.

We send out missionaries all over the world. If you are concerned that somehow, the witness of America is being robbed, then become a missionary and go to another country.

The greatest witness to our faith did not come preaching nationalism. He came preaching mercy, justice, peace, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Jesus put the needs of alien sinners above his own glory, laying down equality with God and humbling himself to save those who were far off (Philippians 2:5-8).

It is a mistake to try to equate the government of the United States with Jesus Christ or with the church. There are spiritual gifts which address these concerns.

By the power of the Spirit, the American Church can follow his example.

The American Church is not the United States of America.

The Way Forward

Scripture is clear that we should not put our trust in chariots or congressmen, but in God. We are to be humble, servant-hearted, and loving toward both neighbors and enemies.

Because we do not place our faith in our congressmen is exactly the reason that Christian evangelism is handled by evangelists and not by the United States government. The writer of this article constantly confounds the United States government with the function of evangelists.

In light of that reality, and acknowledging the dangers of the “America First” creed, how do we proceed?

The same God who speaks of beating our weapons into plowshares also speaks of beating our plowshares into weapons. Israel always had a standing army; and at no time did God say, “You guys are really spending too much on the military; you need to back off of that. Oh, and let’s stop all of this Israel-first nonsense too.” God did not say these things.

First, we can be patriots. Even though we cannot give in to the temptation of nationalism, we can and should support our nation (Jeremiah 29:7). There is nothing wrong with loving our country and wanting great things for it, as long as that desire does not come at the expense of other needy people. We should absolutely work for the prosperity of the United States by electing leaders we can respect, empowering minorities and welcoming foreigners. Just remember that loving our country well does not mean loving others less.

It is not patriotic to put globalism ahead of the United States.

Second, we can be globally-minded. Every person around the globe bears the image of God. The governments of all countries rest on Jesus’ shoulders (Isaiah 9:6). Americans are not better or more valuable than anyone else in God’s eyes. Christians should have the same vision. Let us look beyond our own communities and the borders and oceans that divide us. Let us see people of all cultures and countries as neighbors and friends. Let us seek their good and be compassionate toward them.

It is clear that we live in a global world; and that we are much more closely tied to other nations than at any other time in world history. There is nothing in the America-first doctrine which suggests that we have suddenly become enemies of all other nations. That’s just dumb. Thinking that there is some global solution is also dumb. As we have studied, globalism is Satanic; it is not the divine answer to an American-first president.

Third, we can be Kingdom citizens. Christians are strangers in the world. Our citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Just as prophets and politicians must not be turned into idols, the country itself must never take precedence over God and his Kingdom. Resting in our ultimate citizenship frees us from both the cold chains of nationalism and the postmodern vagueness of globalism. We can love our country and the world, but neither is our true home.

What our nation does and what our representative leaders do is one thing; what are missionaries do is something else entirely.

Our home is a supranational kingdom that knows no classes or borders. Let’s live like it.

We do not, at this time, live in a one-government world. That is evil and proclaimed as evil throughout the history of the Bible.

What this article does is, take certain things which are true of the church and of the universality of union with Jesus Christ and turns it into some sort of a globalist view. Although I have not spent a lot of time at this website, it seems to pander to social-justice warriors, and to (falsely) show just how close Christianity is to liberal socialism today.

I personally read this article as a veiled attack upon President Trump and some of the things which he has said. However, most evangelicals support the President and I believe a higher percentage voted for him than any other Republican candidate in the past.

From https://relevantmagazine.com/reject-apathy/america-first-doctrine-actually-biblical-unbilbical-update accessed January 19, 2018.

The Abbreviated Doctrine of

Top of page

Preface

A Definition of Terms

Nationalism and Patriotism in the Bible

Addendum

Kukis Homepage

Doctrines