Musing – Is Our Constitutional Government Biblically Based?

 

Hebraic Musing – Is Our Constitutional Government Biblically Based?

When Isaiah is recognizing the LORD and acknowledging who God really is, he makes a statement that parallels the three branches of government in our constitution!  “For the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; it is he who will save us.”  Isaiah 33:22   Let’s take a closer look.

How does the Bible defines those three key words?

JUDGE – (1^st mention) When Sarai and Abram disagreed, they recognized “…May the LORD judge between you and me.” Gen. 16:5 NIV   So a key role of the LORD is to judge matters.  Definition of a Judge – “a public official authorized to decide questions brought before a court.”   What public official is more qualified to decide questions of right and wrong than our LORD?

LAWGIVER – Judah’s blessing from Jacob was “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor a lawgiver from between his feet, Until Shiloh (the Messiah) comes; And to Him shall be the obedience of the people.”  Gen.49:10 NKJV  This is an early prophesy of the Lord Jesus coming as a clarifier of the Law of Moses.  Moses gets credit for being a Lawgiver, but where did he get the Ten Commandments?  “These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess,”  Deut.6:1 NIV

KING – The word “King” appears about 1,800 times in the  Bible.  Melech (מלך) is the Hebrew word for king, Symbolically the Mem Lamed Khaph means – “Truth Revealed; Prod/Teach; Open Hand” which is an interesting description of a King’s role – Prods & teaches the truth with an open (giving) hand.  

And here is how the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary explains Isa.33:22:
Lord—thrice repeated, as often: the Trinity (Nu 6:24-26).  judge … lawgiver … king—perfect ideal of the theocracy, to be realized under Messiah alone; the judicial, legislative, and administrative functions as king to be exercised by Him in person (Isa 11:4; 32:1; Jas 4:12).

How are the three branches of our Constitutional Government organized?

Legislative—Makes laws (Congress, comprised of the House of Representatives and Senate)

Executive—Enforces or Carries out laws (president, vice president, Cabinet, most federal agencies)

Judicial—Interprets, Evaluates & Applies the laws (Supreme Court and other courts)

James Madison was one of the authors and is considered "The Father of the Constitution."  He realized that no single branch should have complete control.  He said “The accumulation of all powers, legislative, executive, and judiciary, in the same hands, whether of one, a few, or many, and whether hereditary, self-appointed, or elected, may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.”

Remember, the authors of the Constitution lived in a time when powerful autocratic kings, czars, and emperors ruled nearly all the countries of the world.  They had come to this country to avoid such rulers and wanted to avoid the possibility of any one person seeking to have all the power of government in this new land.  

Like our constitutional government, we serve a LORD who makes laws, carries out those laws and judges the obedience to those laws.

Points to ponder

Who is our Advocate when we reach judgement?

Is this “History Lesson” still taught in our schools today?

Does any other country have a government “of the people, by the people, for the people”?

How well do the three branches of our government respect each other’s roles?

 Do these three branches of our Government remind us of the Trinity?  How?

“The law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul. The statutes of the LORD are trustworthy” Psalm 19:7 NIV

Yosef   a.k.a.  Joe Brusherd                                      April 13, 2021
Author: “Hebraic Insights – Messages exploring the Hebrew roots of our faith”
“Biblical Marriage (by Yosef)”  Weekly “Hebraic Musings”   insightsbyyosef.blogspot.com/