Lesson 13 — The Dispensation of Human Government

1. 1 THE DISPENSATION OF HUMAN GOVERNMENT

The Dispensation of Human Government

Genesis 8:15–12

THE PRESENT AGE Genesis 8:14

THE PRESENT OR POST-DILUVIAN AGE

Genesis 8:15

This age is that period of time from the flood to the Millennium. There are four dispensations in the Present Age:

1. The Dispensation of Human Government—from the flood to Abraham Genesis 8:15–11.

2. The Dispensation of Promise—from Abraham to Moses Genesis 12:1.

3. The Dispensation of Law—from Moses to Christ Exodus 12:38.

4. The Dispensation of Grace—Christ to the Millennium Matthew 3:1.

This dispensation is so-called because God instituted human government by law after the flood and after the long age of freedom. God gave Noah the following laws to govern the race by, and man was held responsible for self-government Genesis 9:1-7.

1. “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth” Genesis 9:1, 7.

2. “Into thine hand are they [animals] delivered” Genesis 9:2.

3. “Every moving thing [clean or unclean] that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things” Genesis 9:3.

4. “The blood thereof [of animals] shall ye not eat” Genesis 9:4.

5. “Whoso sheddeth man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed: for in the image of God made he him” Genesis 9:5-6.

6. “I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with you . . . for perpetual generations . . . the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth” Genesis 9:8-17. These few laws have been the basis of all laws of God and man in every age since the flood. At this time God instituted capital punishment, and He has never revoked it. It will continue an eternal law, and, as revealed in Isa. 11:4-9; 65:20-25, it will be in force in the Millennium. It is plainly reaffirmed in Rom. 13:1-6, in which Paul taught that even in this Age of Grace, law-enforcement officers are ordained of God, and that they are His ministers to bear “not the sword in vain” but that they are supposed to “execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”

It is necessary in human government to punish criminals according to the crimes committed. Without this no human government could long endure. Human governments are part of the moral government of God. The highest good of all creation is the chief aim of God in moral government. Civil and family governments are necessary in securing this end. That God has instituted human governments to help Him secure this end is not only clear in Gen. 9 and Rom. 13, but also in many other passages Daniel 2:21Daniel 4:17-25Daniel 5:211 Peter 2:13-14.

It is the duty of all men to help establish and support human government for the preservation of society. Every person is under moral obligation to use his influence and power to promote good government for the highest good of men that will conform to the law of God. Administrators of human government, when they rule contrary to the law of God and the best good of all, will be punished in due time by God for mismanagement of their authority. God never sanctions selfish and wicked administration, and if such continues long it will be overthrown. Men are under obligation to obey such government when, and as long as, the requirements are not inconsistent with the moral law of God, regardless of the personal character or motive of the ruler. Christians are always to obey “every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men” 1 Peter 2:13-17.

Christians should not leave human government to the management of the ungodly. To uphold and assist good government is not to neglect the salvation of souls. It is for the salvation of souls that it should be done, because promotion of public and private good is one of the greatest means of saving souls. It is foolish to argue that saved men are under obligation to obey human government and at the same time argue that they should have nothing to do with the choice of those who govern.

Christians in general have the wrong ideas about government. They think that they should not resort to law with the ungodly and that they should suffer any and all harm that men want to heap upon them. The Bible does teach that they are not to avenge personally their wrongs, but it also teaches that to avenge such wrongs is the purpose of law and human governments Romans 13:1-61 Timothy 1:8-10. They are not to go to law between themselves but to settle all differences in the church and not before unbelievers (1 Cor. 6), but there is no sin in seeing justice done according to the law.

Many Christians also argue that if everybody would walk in love and be holy, all law could be done away with, but this is wrong. As we have seen in Lesson One, Point VIII and Lesson Seven, Point I, law and government are necessary for holy beings who are filled with love. Love and holiness cannot dispense with the need of moral law, which is the rule of action for free moral agents. Law is the rule of duty regulating right and wrong between moral beings, and without law there could be no holy and loving society with righteousness prevailing in all lives. Law will always continue as the rule of right in all eternal societies. As long as law remains, there must be penalties, because law without them would be mere advice; and it will always be the duty and the right of rulers to enforce law and inflict punishment whenever it is needed.

Christians often argue that it is sinful to partake in politics; that all such participation is contrary to the Bible because of the fact that government is maintained by force, and that force is inconsistent with the spirit of the gospel; and that government by force is not authorized by the Bible. These are also false theories. As we have seen above, human government was instituted by God Himself, and Christians are commanded in the New Testament to pay taxes and otherwise support government Romans 13:1-71 Peter 2:13-17. In popular government, politics should be an important part of religion. No man can be religious or good to the full extent of his moral obligations without concerning himself in some measure with the affairs of government.

It is true that Christians have something better to do than to follow one party exclusively, or to take part in any evil in any party, or to meddle with politics after a selfish and an ungodly manner. But they are obligated to take part in popular government after a godly manner because they are obligated to seek the best good of the society of which they are a part; they are obligated to help bring about the universal good of all men; and human government is one of the departments of human life that materially, morally, and spiritually affect the highest good of all men in the government as well as those who live under it.

If God did not strictly command them, it would still be the duty of Christians to help establish and support human government for the best good of all concerned. It is one of the first principles of Christianity, that whatever is essential to the best public and private good of all moral beings, Christians have the right to pursue, and are morally obligated to bring about, as much as lies within their power, those things that will effect the best good of all. Both reason and experience, as well as the Bible make this obligatory upon all. Since government is established and is necessary for the best good of all, then each citizen is obligated to bring about the best government to secure this end. When Christians fail to do their duty, then let them not complain because government is bad and because the wicked are in control. There are enough church members in America to have the best kind of government in strict conformity to the law of God if they would all do their duty.

Concerning government by force, this is necessary as long as we have wicked men who will not consecrate themselves to the best good of themselves and all others. Just as it was the duty to punish crime before the law, as God commanded in Gen. 9, and as God commanded under the law, it is the duty of human governments today to inflict penalties, when it is for the best public good. It is the duty of family governments to punish wrongdoing. It is the duty of God in His moral government to do the same. Therefore, duty to rulers and to those ruled is clear in all forms of government; and for Christians to take the attitude that Christianity makes them flawless, or that they have no obligation to secure the end to which governments are obligated to bring about, is to be entirely wrong.

Human governments, therefore, are not founded upon the arbitrary will of God, but upon the necessities of human beings in securing the highest good of being and of the universe. If in a small family, law and penalties are needed, how much more are they needed in communities, states, and nations? Christians, instead of destroying human governments, are obligated to support and uphold them. When government becomes corrupt it needs reforming, not abandonment. Their attitude should not be one of doing nothing about reforms, if needed, any more than it should be one of doing nothing when the Church needs reformation.

Christians, therefore, are obligated to support governments when such governments require nothing contrary to the law of God; when they do not require acts that are contrary to moral obligation; when they do not require things that violate the right of conscience; and when they meet the needs of the people that are governed.

Upon these grounds, those governing and those governed should recognize their relation with any responsibility to each other in carrying on good government. If the right to govern is based upon the best public interests, then the right and duty to use any necessary means to attain this end must be recognized by all. It is absurd to believe that rulers have a right to govern, and yet that they have no right to use the necessary means to carry on government. Making the same error, many Christians object to the right of capital punishment, the right to deal with mobs, to suppress rebellions, and to make war. They think that under all circumstances government can be carried on without resorting to any means that would take life. Others go so far as to maintain that government can be carried on without force to sustain the authority of law. But these positions cannot be maintained with any degree of logic and they are not backed by God and Scripture.

It is most absurd to hold that rulers have a right to rule as long as their subjects voluntarily obey, but that when they refuse to obey any longer government should cease to exist. It is impossible for the right to govern to exist when the right to enforce obedience does not exist. This attitude is the denial of the right to have and to maintain government for the best good of all. It denies the right to use force to execute law or to take life in order to maintain government. This theory is based upon the idea that governments should love others too much to use force necessary to secure their best good; or that the whole of society should be loved too much to execute the law upon the few who consecrate themselves to the destruction of all the good. Such a theory overlooks the very foundation of moral obligation which requires that everyone consecrate himself to the best public good. It destroys all morality and religion. It is foolish to think that enlightened benevolence should forbid the necessary execution of the law. It impertinently claims that the commandment, “thou shalt not kill” means that no human life should be taken for any crime. It sets itself against God and His Word under the guise of obedience to God and of being in accord with the Bible.

This commandment, as far as the letter is concerned, forbids the killing of animals or plant life as it does of men. The question is, what kind of killing does it forbid? Certainly not all killing of human beings, for the very next chapter (Exod. 21) commands that human life be taken for certain crimes. Six times in this one chapter and scores of times in other chapters God commanded the death penalty Then, too, many times God commanded Israel to kill in war all the giant races and enemies of God in the promised land. It is certain, therefore, that the commandment against murder cannot be applied to inflicting the death penalty for crimes, or to war.

Governments have an undoubted right to do whatever is necessary to bring about the highest public good of men; and, therefore, nothing could be wrong with the taking of human life when it becomes necessary to accomplish the end of government. The Bible everywhere recognizes this right, and if it did not, this right would still exist. There can be no right in anyone to keep life when he forfeits it by breaking the law that has the death penalty. There can be no such right. Whenever a person sells himself to destroy the public good and it becomes necessary to take his life as the necessary means of securing that good, his life is forfeited, and it is the duty of government to take it.

The same principle applies to mobs, insurrections, rebellions, and all wars that endanger the best good of being and of the universe. It must be both the right and the duty of government, and of all its subjects, to use every possible means to suppress rebellion and war, which are merely crime turned loose on a large scale. That war is necessary under certain circumstances is clear from the fact that moral law permits it and God has commanded it. If it had been wrong, then God would not have been guilty of commanding it. Rulers are God’s ministers to execute wrath upon the ungodly and to preserve moral law and government for the good of all; hence, they are under obligation to make war, if this is the only way the best public good can be attained. Under any other circumstances war is a horrible crime. Selfish war is wholesale murder, and for anyone to take part in it is to be involved in mass murder, unless it becomes the will of God and the best and only way to preserve society.

It is not the duty of Christians to support wars that are unjustly waged. On the other hand, just as sure as individual criminals must be punished, even so, there may come instances in which criminal nations must be punished for the good of society as a whole. Our duty is not to judge when this becomes necessary only in respect to ourselves but in respect to the world as a whole. When organized crime, whether it be a small group or a nation or a number of nations, determines to destroy society, then it is necessary to suppress such crime just as much as it is to control individuals. Nations are bound by the same moral law as are individuals, and they must be punished when they commit crime just as individuals should be.

Thus God, in replenishing the race after the flood, instituted human government and capital punishment for crime; and, as He never changes, this is still His will for men and human governments. God knows how to rule rebellious free moral agents and how to curb crime, and if human governments would be as strict as God has commanded, there would be infinitely less crime.

II. The Length of Human Government Genesis 11:10-32

This dispensation lasted from the flood to the call of Abraham, a period of 427 years, as proven in Gen. 11:10-32 as follows:

1. 1 Shem 2 years after the flood begat Arphaxad Gen. 11:10

1. 1 Arphaxad 35 years and begat Salah Gen. 11:12

1. 1 Salah 30 years and begat Eber Gen. 11:14

1. 1 Eber 34 years and begat Peleg Gen. 11:16

1. 1 Peleg 30 years and begat Reu Gen. 11:18

1. 1 Reu 32 years and begat Serug Gen. 11:20

1. 1 Serug 30 years and begat Nahor Gen. 11:22

1. 1 Nahor 29 years and begat Terah Gen. 11:24

1. 1 Terah 205 years and died at Haran Gen. 11:32

TOTAL: 427 years. Abraham was 75 years old at this time.

Shem was still alive and was about 525 years old when Abraham at 75 years of age was called to leave Ur of the Chaldees and go into the land of Canaan. He lived as a contemporary of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Melchisedec Genesis 11:10-32Genesis 12:4Genesis 25:7, 20.

III. The Favorable Beginning Genesis 8:15–9

Noah was 601 years old and ripe in experience and wisdom. All the family were full grown and were married. They had the warning of the flood behind them, the eternal covenant Genesis 8:20–9, the knowledge of true worship Genesis 8:21-22, the will of God concerning human government and its laws Genesis 9:1-7, the promise of eternal preservation of man and animals on the Earth Genesis 8:21-22Genesis 9:1-17, the full control of the Earth and the responsibility to govern it for God Genesis 9:1-7, and full liberty to govern themselves, and many other favorable conditions under which to prove true to God.

IV. The Test of Man in Human Government Genesis 9:1-7

The test for man in this age was to obey the laws of human government; to prove true to God in executing these laws; to be faithful in his responsibility in governing the race for the highest good of all, and to have faith in God and consecrate his life to the whole will of God according to light received.

The purpose of God in this age was to give man another chance to prove true to his responsibility according to the known will of God. God had tested man while he was in a state of innocence to find out whether he would prove worthy of higher glory, and he had failed. He had tested man in the long age of freedom to see just how he would obey the dictates of his own conscience as to right and wrong and to know whether he would refuse the evil and choose the good, and he had failed. Now God’s purpose was to give man some definite laws that would govern his acts concerning good and evil.

Man had failed to choose the good without law; so now he was to be compelled by law to do the good and to refuse the evil. God purposed that man should have self-government; so He gave him all necessary laws to govern himself. Since He planned for man to know Him in person and to be obedient to His will, He gave him the truth concerning the means of reconciliation to God. He had caused Noah to preserve seven clean animals for sacrifice so that men could manifest their faith in the blood of the coming Redeemer and be reconciled to God. God planned that man should reproduce pure Adamite stock so that the seed of the woman could come into the world to bring about the full redemption of the Earth and all things therein according to the eternal purpose.

VI. The Means of God in Accomplishing This Purpose Genesis 9:1-6

The laws of human government were proposed and government was established so that man could rule himself in righteousness and justice forever. The true worship of God began, and the full revelation of God’s will for this period was made known in order that man could become fully reconciled to God and be eternally redeemed. All the giant races had been destroyed in the flood, and only eight pure Adamites were left, so that the human stock could continue pure until the seed of the woman could come to complete the work of ridding the Earth of all rebellion and to fully restore man’s dominion. Everything necessary to accomplish the will of God and the highest good of man was in man’s control, so that he could prove true to God in this period of probation.

VII. The Failure of Man in Human Government Genesis 9:18–11

1. 1 THE FAILURE OF NOAH Genesis 9:20-24. Noah, a preacher of righteousness 2 Peter 2:5, who before the flood had condemned drunkenness, became drunk himself and was shamefully uncovered within his tent. This perhaps was not a deliberate act on his part, but it happened. Whether a sin is deliberate or not, it is still sin. Noah was old enough and had seen drunkenness enough before the flood to have no excuse for getting in this condition. Regardless of all his good living before the flood and after this drunken incident, the tact remains that he failed God and man on this occasion.

1. 1 THE FAILURE OF HAM Genesis 9:22-27. Ham sinned in revealing the shamefulness of his aged father. He showed lack of honor to parents and broke the law of parental authority, and for this he was cursed to be “a servant of servants” unto his brethren Genesis 9:25.

1. 1 THE FAILURE OF MANKIND IN GENERAL Genesis 9:1-6Genesis 11:1-9. In this first passage we have revealed the definite laws of God for man in this period. In the last passage we have the deliberate rebellion of man against God and His laws. Man disobeyed God’s command to spread abroad on the Earth, to worship Him in the right way, and to live godly and upright in the fear of God. Pride, self-boastfulness and hero-worship became prevalent in this age. Nimrod was the most conspicuous example of this failure of all men Genesis 10:8-9.

Josephus says, “Nimrod persuaded mankind not to ascribe their happiness to God, but to think that his own excellency was the source of it. And he soon changed things into tyranny, thinking there was no other way to wean men from God and fear of Him, than by making them rely upon his own power.”

He was the founder of a kingdom in Shinar with four great cities—Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh Genesis 10:8-10. In those days wild beasts were so numerous that they became a menace to life and property Exodus 23:29Leviticus 23:22. Nimrod became leader of men by hunting down and killing these beasts. He taught men to build walls around cities and dwellings to protect themselves at night from wild beasts. He became the great leader and benefactor of men. This gave him the opportunity to lead men away from God. He inspired men to build a city and a tower to reach Heaven and to make for themselves a great name. He taught them to centralize instead of spreading abroad in the Earth as God had commanded. He defied God to send another flood and taught men that they should take vengeance upon God for sending a flood upon their forefathers.

Nimrod and his queen Semiramis started the “Babylonian Cult,” a new religion that claimed the highest wisdom and ability to reveal the most divine secrets. The purpose of this religion was to rule the world and all men on Earth and keep them in blind and willful obedience to the Supreme Pontiff, the head of this religion. Once admitted as members of this religion, men were no longer Babylonians, Assyrians, or Egyptians, but were members of a mystical brotherhood, over whom was placed a high priest or pontiff whose word was final in all the affairs in the lives of the members of the brotherhood.

The objects of worship were the Supreme Father, the Queen of Heaven, and her Son. The last two were really the only objects of worship, as the Supreme Father was said not to interfere with mortal affairs. Semiramis was a paragon of unbridled lust and licentiousness and was worshipped as “Rhea, the Mother of the Gods.” Prostitution was compulsory in this religion. Semiramis made Babylon the seat of idolatry and sin. The so-called Christian festivals such as Christmas, Lady Day, Easter, and Lent, and many other modern rituals and practices such as the sign of the cross, the Rosary, the order of monks and nuns, rituals in certain churches all came from this Babylonian religion and were observed centuries before Christ. For proof of this see the Encyclopedia Britannica, the book of Nimrod III, page 239; Chronican Paschale Vol. 1, page 65; Hesiod Theogonia, Vol. 36, page 453; Herodotus, book 1, cap. 199, page 92; and Two Babylons by Hyslop.

In the days of Nimrod this cult secured a great hold on the whole race before the confusion of tongues and before men were scattered abroad on the Earth. This explains how the religions of all heathen lands have traditions and practices somewhat alike. Changes in these religions have come through the ages after the tower of Babel and have been made to suit the various peoples after they were scattered. (See our book Revelation Expounded for details concerning this religion.)

This religion was Satan’s attempt to counterfeit the true worship of God and to satisfy the religious nature of men. This effort to rule the world through Nimrod was the first effort of Satan to raise up a universal ruler of men through whom he could have absolute control of the whole race. This failed because God raised up Israel to defeat this plan. There have been many other attempts since to control the race through one absolute ruler, but all have failed. Satan will make one last effort to control the world, and that will be through Antichrist of the future, who will attempt to become a worldwide dictator. He will fail in this, however, because Christ will come from Heaven to defeat him even before he takes all Jerusalem, much less before he takes all the nations of the world, as we shall see in Lessons Thirty-nine through Forty-eight.

There is a Babylonian description of the tower of Babel that was discovered in 1876. According to this description there was a grand court about 900 x 1,156 feet, and a smaller one 450 x 1,056 feet. Around the court were six gates admitting to the temples. After these came a platform with walls around it with four gates on each side. Within this enclosure stood a large building about 200 feet square. Around the base of the tower there were many small shrines or chapels dedicated to various gods. On the East there were sixteen shrines; on the North were two temples; on the South one temple; and on the West the principal buildings. There was a double house with a court between two wings 58 feet wide. The two wings were 34 x 166 feet and 108 x 166 feet. In these western chambers there was the couch of the main god about 7 x 15 feet and a golden throne and other valuable objects. In the center of these groups of buildings stood the tower itself in stages that decreased from the lowest upward, but each was square. The first foundation stage was 300 feet square and 110 feet high. The second stage was 260 feet square by 60 feet high. The third stage was 200 feet square by 20 feet high. The fourth was 170 feet square by 20 feet high. The fifth was 140 feet square by 20 feet high. The sixth 110 feet square by 20 feet high. The seventh stage was 80 feet long, 60 feet wide, and 50 feet high; on it was made a sanctuary for the God Bel-Merodach. The total height of the tower was 300 feet, the same as the breadth of its base.

The tower was evidently completed, for the Scripture does not mention any work stoppage on it as it does the work on the city Genesis 11:4, 8. The phrase “reach unto heaven” literally means a high tower. It would be impossible to build any tower on Earth that could literally reach the planet Heaven, which is millions of miles away. The sun is 93 million miles away and the planet Heaven is above that.

The tower and city were Nimrod’s project, and it was stopped because of the confusion of tongues. One ancient Babylonian tablet reads, “The building of this illustrious tower offended the gods. In a night they threw down what they had built. They scattered them abroad, and made strange their speech. Their progress was impeded. They wept hot tears for Babylon.”

The Second Eruption of the Sons of God

As we have seen in Lesson Eleven, Point VII, 6, there were two eruptions of fallen angels among men who married the daughters of men and produced two races of giants upon the Earth—one before the flood and the other after the flood. This is what is plainly stated in Gen. 6:4, “and also after that,” that is, after the flood, the sons of God married the daughters of men and they bare children to them who were giants. The second eruption took place in this dispensation, for when Abraham entered the land at the beginning of the next age, it is said that “the Canaanite was then [already] in the land” Genesis 12:6Genesis 13:7.

The Canaanites were the offspring of the sons of God and the daughters of men after the flood, as seen in Lesson Eleven. This second eruption took place soon after the flood, as seems clear from the record of Satan’s quick work to always defeat God if possible. The giant couch that was made in the temple that Nimrod made suggests that giants were already in the Earth at the time of Nimrod, which was about 100 years after the flood, or in the second generation according to Gen. 10:6-10. The second generation in Shem’s line was Salah, who was born 37 years after the flood. If Nimrod was born about this time, he became a great one at least 100 years after the flood. This explains how the whole race was so deep in sin by the time of Abraham, 427 years after the flood. This period as well as the Age of Conscience is referred to in Rom. 1:17-32.

God had promised not to send another flood; so Satan attempted a second time to corrupt pure Adamite stock so that the seed of the woman, Christ, could not come into the world to destroy Satan’s hold on the race. Since God could not kill the giants by a flood, He had to do this by other means. God’s plan was to raise up a strong nation through Abraham to kill the second race of giants as the flood had destroyed the first one. Thus the race as a whole became sinful and idolatrous, setting the stage for the next part of God’s program, as will be studied in the next two lessons.

VIII. The Judgment of God upon Man in Human Government

In Gen. 11:1-9 we learn that God sent confusion of tongues upon men and scattered them abroad on the face of the Earth. This was the first judgment upon men in this age for failure to carry out the divine will and purpose. God by doing this, broke up the united effort of men in their rebellion against Him, and fulfilled His original purpose of causing men to spread abroad in the Earth. The second judgment in this period was in the days of Peleg, who died 340 years after the flood. This judgment was the division of the Earth into islands and continents, as already explained in Supplement One, Question 10.

This dividing the Earth into continents took place after the confusion of tongues and the scattering of men abroad upon the face of the Earth Genesis 11:9. Before this the whole race of men were of one language and were centralized in one place on the Earth Genesis 11:1. After they were scattered abroad on the Earth the continents were divided; this explains how different branches of the race are found on the various continents and islands of the vast oceans. One can take a map of the world and take the Atlantic Ocean out, and the eastern part of the two Americas and the western part of Europe and Africa will fit perfectly together. Just when during the life of Peleg the Earth was divided is not known, and this does not matter. The fact is, it was done in his days, and this explains how the Indians got over to the Americas and how other men got on various parts of the divided Earth.

God, seeing that He could not deal with men as a whole, gave them up and turned to Abraham and his seed and dealt almost exclusively with them during the next two ages. This abandonment of mankind in general to help Him further His plan was the worst judgment that could have come to the human race. This is the way in which this age ended. This is how the stage was set for the next phase of God’s dealings with the human race through the chosen family.

IX. God’s Provision of Redemption Genesis 8:20Genesis 12:8

God’s provision of redemption was the same as in the previous dispensations. It was salvation to all who would believe in the blood of Christ that was to be shed, and animal sacrifices were tokens of faith on the part of those who conformed to the redeeming will of God.