Angelic Government Before the Cross
As our previous papers
labored to prove, social organization was both maintained and
inhibited by angelic beings. True Godly development and
the flowering of culture was arrested by the
desire for Humanistic kingship (cf. I Samuel 8), yet
downward regression into chaos and fragmentation was also
restrained by the top-down rigors imposed by guardians
(Galatians 3:24 - 4:11) which were ordered by God (Romans
13:1). This was true of the nations around Israel, but it
was also true of Israel herself. Let us look at Israel's
angelic government in more detail.
Hebrews chapters 1 and 2 draw striking contrasts between
Christian government and Old Testament structures of discipline
which were designed for the Spiritually immature.
Verses 1-4 (chap. 1) speak of the Revelation of the Word in
the Son, enthroned at the right hand of God (v.3) which has come
to us "in these last days" (v. 2). This Spiritual
Kingship has radically transformed the character of the world,
and of the government of societies. In the Old Testament,
rightly-governed society was dependent upon God's ministers, the
angels (vv. 4, 7, 14).
Chapter 2 expands on this thought: the entire structure of law
in Old Testament jurisprudence came at the hand of the angels
(v. 2). Elsewhere in the New Testament we are told of the role
of the angels in the buttressing
of a crippled Abrahamic
Patriarchy (Galatians 3:19; Acts 7:53).
Hebrews 2 also hints at this Patriarchal theme, which we explore
in other essays. Man was created in the Garden, in a Family.
This patriarchal government ought to have continued, but man's
rebellion led to impotence and bondage. Abraham exemplified in
large degree the power of decentralized, self-governing
patriarchy, rooted and grounded in God's Law (Genesis 18:19;
26:5). We have explored the incredible work of evangelism
(Genesis 12:5) and domestic apprenticeship (Genesis 14:14) which
still stands as a model for New Testament house-churches (Romans
4:12). Thus, Jesus did not take the form of the angels, he took
the form of a son of Abraham (Hebrews 2:16), for man was to be
lower than the angels only for a little while (2:7). Redeemed
man is to be made equal to the angels (Luke 20:36), and even to judge
the angels (1 Corinthians 6:3).
This promise is thoroughly confusing to those who have not
considered the role of angelic forces in political or social
concerns, nor the power of the redemptive government which we
have in Christ. How can man judge the angels?
Autarchy and Anarchy
In the Old Testament, the rebelliousness of unSpiritual men
both required and was incited by angelic beings. The tempter
sought to destroy God's plans, and God's angels battle against
the evil princes (Daniel 10). In the New Covenant Jesus is our
"Archist," our captain, and He is perfecting Godly
government in His People (Hebrews 2:10; 7:19; 11:33).
We have called this system of government "Christian
(or 'Creationist') Anarcho-Socialism":
"Socialism": Christian community
based on mutual
sharing and burden-bearing (unlike competitive, individualist
economic thought ("capitalism"));
"Anarchism": which is empowered by
regeneration, the Power of the Spirit, and stems from the heart
of kingly
believer-priests, not "the State."
If the name "anarcho-socialism" sounds offensive, let
us nevertheless try to understand its goals and motivation (1
Corinthians 13:6-7).
"Anarchy" speaks primarily with reference to the
State: no longer should Christians fall back on Babylonian
power-politics (1 Samuel 8). No
longer should Christians require the forms and disciplinary
rituals needed to regulate
the lives of Old Covenent people (Galatians 3:24 - 4:11). No
longer should Christians have to be governed by the elementary
spirits which maintained the Old Economy (Galatians 4:3,9;
Colossians 2:8,20; cf. Hebrews 5:12).
In his discussion of Hospitality,
R.J. Rushdoony attempts to distinguish a non-Christian anarchism
from a Christian one, and shows us how "anarchism"
(Christian self-government; Christian society ordered from the
bottom up) is rooted in "socialism" (decentralized
burden-bearing and economic liberalism
[in the original sense of that word {Proverbs 11:25}]:
The anarchist or autarkist believes in a stateless society
built upon the natural goodness of man, an illusion. The
Christian believes in original sin as a fact in a fallen
world; he connot be an anarchist. He is, however, given a
vision in all of Scripture of the triumph of covenant man on
earth. This triumph requires the Law of God to be obeyed by
redeemed men. This means . . . generous giving and
hospitality. St. Paul's word, sufficiency, recalls the
Greek cynics' anarchism, as well as the Stoic ideal. Sufficiency
is in the Greek autarkeia (auto, self; arkeo,
sufficient). We are told emphatically: "God is able to
make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all
sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work"
(2 Cor. 9:8). We gain sufficiency, autarcheia,
not by planning for ourselves primarily, but by sowing
bountifully, i.e., giving bountifully to the needs of God's
people and Kingdom, above and beyond the tithe (2 Cor. 9:6).
We are called to be cheerful (in the Greek, hilarious)
givers (2 Cor. 9:6) and thereby to gain God's blessing. The
state of autarchiea comes, not by self-seeking,
self-advancement, and self-protection, but by a hilarious or
cheerful, joyous service to God and the people of God. (Law
and Society, 707)
This "autarchy" must, to repeat, be distinguished
from the non-Christian "autarchy" or
"anarchy." Rushdoony adds that
Man the sinner has no capacity for autarcheia. The
careful, niggardly Christian who finds generosity and
hospitality painful and costly, also has no capacity for autarcheia.
Those who lay up treasures for themselves, and are not rich
toward God and His people, are called fools by our Lord
(Luke 12:13-21).
Autarcheia is gained by men and society as they seek first
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Then all the
material blessings men seek shall be added to them
(Matthew 6:31-34). When property is over-valued and made our
main source of security, like manna, it will not keep. (pp.
707-708)
Is Christian autarchy or "anarcho-socialism" utopian?
Is it a revolutionary scheme of impossible idealism? Is it perfectionist?
Of course it is!
What could be more utopian than expecting God Himself to visit
man and save him?
What could be more revolutionary than restoring the
image of God in man and empowering him to resist worshipping
the gods of the State?
What could be more impossible than a rich man putting God before
gold? (Matthew 19:26)
What could be more idealistic than man being made perfect?
And yet what could be more Biblical! Jesus commands us to be
perfect (Matthew 5:48) and tells us how (Matthew 19:21): through
charity (Colossians 3:14). Hospitality and love of the brethren
come through the power of the Spirit, Who is perfecting
us (1 John 2:5; 3:9; 4:12) and keeping us from the demonic army
(1 John 5:18). The Christian's goal is perfection (2
Corinthians 6:14 - 7:1; Ephesians 4:12-13; Colossians 4:12; 2
Timothy 3:17; Hebrews 5:12 - 6:1; 13:21; James 1:4).
Of course, whoever says he has no sin is deceiving himself (1
John 1:8). What is in view here is a separation from the old age
and the world and a "fanatical"
commitment to the New Age, the Kingdom of Christ. The purpose of
Jesus' exaltation was not only so that the fallen powers would
bend the knee (Philippians 2:10) but that His Church "may
be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in
the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine
as lights in the world" (2:15). Thus, as the Old Covenant
was fading away, Paul encouraged his readers to be perfect, to
commit themselves wholeheartedly and unreservedly
to the pursuit of holiness:
Not as though I had already obtained all this, or have
already been made perfect; but I press on to take hold of that
for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brethren, I count not
myself to have taken hold of it; but this one thing I do,
forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth
-- straining -- unto those things which are before, I press
toward the goal for the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, have
this perspective. . . . (Philippians 3:12-15)
Are you perfect? Or are you living in the old age? Are you
pressing toward the prize in Christ, or are you seeking the
rewards of the fallen angels and their political henchmen? Are
you abounding in God's Grace, hospitable to all men (and
especially the household of faith), "always having all
sufficiency in all things," or are you individualistically
and ruthlessly competing for the plastic rewards of the City of
Tinsel and Glitter? God is shaking the kingdoms of man; only the
Kingdom of God will stand (Hebrews 12:22ff.). Will you stand?
Will your grandchildren?
Economic mutualism is only the tip of a mountainous iceberg
of Christian community, interdependence, and voluntary
association which the Bible sets before us. But, as we have
seen in previous essays, the Bible anticipates the days when
Christians shall more and more obey God's Law, be hospitable,
and imitate the Stateless society which even Abraham in the Old
Economy temporarily sustained. Christ is perfecting His
saints; through His Spirit, "autarchy" will
increasingly be realized.
This promise astounds the angels.
Angels Watching Over Me
The Gospel announced by the Apostles was a Total Gospel; it
announced Christ's Lordship over every area of life. Christ's
Lordship was most notably announced to extend over the
principalities and powers (Ephesians 1:21; 3:10; Colossians
2:15; I Peter 3:22), the fallen angelic forces which held sway
over the nations and warred against God's plans and Godly angels
(Daniel 10).
The Gospel comes thus to those who are perfect, and it is
witnessed by the angels.
Triumph over the State
"Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are
perfect: yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the
rulers of this age (Ephesians 6:12) who are coming to
nought (1 Corinthians 15:24): But we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery (Romans 16:25-26; I Timothy 3:16;
Ephesians 1:9-10, 18-23), even the hidden wisdom, which God
ordained before the ages unto our glory: which none of the
rulers of this age has known, for had they known it, they
would not have crucified the Lord of Glory" (1
Corinthians 2).
"For I think that God hath set forth us the last
apostles, as it were appointed to death, for we are made a
spectacle unto the world, both to angels and to men. (1
Corinthians 4:9).
The principalities and powers which dominated the Old Age
have been conquered; Satan
has been bound (Matthew 12:28-29; Luke 10:18); we are no
longer under the elemental spirits (Galatians 4:3). Christ
through His Spirit is putting down all last vestiges of
Humanistic "archism" (1
Corinthians 15:24). Now the mystery of the Church,
victorious over the State, can be unveiled. Christ
overcomes Caesar through
Christian Self-Government
In the Old Age the Gentile nations were under the sway of the
fallen powers. God's People were perpetually at war with the
nations. Reconciliation was impossible (2 Corinthians 6:15 + OT
context; Revelation 18:2-4). But God declared His Gospel-Mystery
through the Apostles and prophets; this mystery was not known in
the age of Satan's dominion over the nations (Ephesians 3:3-6).
But now Paul's task is
to enlighten all concerning the koinonia of the mystery,
which from the ages hath been hid in God, Who created all by
Jesus Christ: His intent was that now, by the Church, the
manifold Wisdom of God might be known to the principalities
and powers in heavenly places. (Ephesians 3:9-10).
The self-governing Church unites peoples previously under the
sway of demonic empires, and makes them obedient to the whole
counsel of God, and thus displays God's Plan and Power to the
frustrated principalities and powers, who watch the progressive
world-wide prosperity of the Gospel, helpless to stay its growth
(Matthew 28:18-20; Revelation 20:2-3).
For by Him were all things created, that are in heaven, and
that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all
things were created by Him and for Him: And He is before all
things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the Head
of the Body, the Church. . . . And ye are complete in
Him, Who is the Head of every principality and power. .
. . (Colossians 1:16-18; 2:10)
The Church is God's Society. It is not part of the State; it
is separated from the Old Age, the world of sin and darkness. It
is an alternative culture, living and growing alongside a dying,
decaying system which still tries to persuade us that it is
alive.
(We are obviously not talking about the bulk of
"mainstream" ecclesiasticism when we refer to
"the Church." Such are only part of the beast
(Revelation 13:11ff.). We are talking about a subculture of
Christians who are taking God's Word seriously, exercising
dominion under God in all areas, wrestling against the
rulers of the empires of darkness (Ephesians 6:12), and
persuading other regenerate men and women to defect and serve
the King.)
Christ's Church is not dependent upon the structures
established by the powers. Christians resolve legal matters
among themselves, without
recourse to secular courts (1 Corinthians 6). Even as the
Gentile nations were brought into God's Household,
reconciliation is central to the Gospel (Ephesians 2:16);
judgment is given to the Church (1 Corinthians 6:2). The angels
are watching (cf. I Corinthians 6:3).
The Church's Witness to the Angels
Our witness is not just to the fallen angels (1 Corinthians
4:9, above). All the heavenly host is watching the Church,
marvelling at the Grace of God which it displays and glorifies.
Whereas God had ordained the powers over the nations and
structured Israel by the hand of angels, now the Family is again
restored to its place of preeminence -- among both Israel and
the Nations! Patriarchy
is possible. (1 Corinthians 16:15, 19; Ephesians 3:15).
The
household churches of the New Testament were the centers of
hospitality and evangelism.
Even a cursory reading of the New Testament reveals the
Patriarchal backbone of the Christian Church. From the beginning
the Christians met in homes (Acts 2:46; 5:42; 20:20).
The texts on household baptism and others mentioning
believers and their households may be problematic on the
question of infant baptism, but they are indisputable evidence
of the Family-centeredness of New Testament evangelism (Acts 10;
16; 18:8; I Corinthians 1:11; etc. (The Biblical doctrine of
baptism is not "infant" baptism, but household
baptism)).
Families which took in the homeless, and shared their skills
and character with singles through apprenticeship, became the
first churches. Those who gave of themselves for the kingdom did
it through the homes, and were the leaders of the Apostolic
church (Acts 18:2-4 + Romans 16:3 and I Corinthians 16:19;
Romans 16::5,10,11; I Corinthians 1:11,16; Colossians 4:15; 2
Timothy 4:19; Philemon 2; 2 John 10).
Patriarchy grounded in charity and hospitality is calculated
to overthrow statism and economic oppression (Revelation 17-22)
by the implementation of contented lifestyles.
The Open Home is the key to the restoration of the torn
fabric of life (cf. Acts 3:21, 24f.).
The Church is an alternative, rival society. Its government
competes with the structures generated by the powers. It will
overcome them, providing Salvation (a reversal
of the Curse; Edenic
restoration and wholeness) in every area of life. Not
surprisingly, the State is at war with the Church. But the
Church is promised victory; Babylon is fallen (Revelation
17-22). Thus, this message is received with great interest by
the angels (Revelation 1:20; chs. 2, 3.).
This amazing Salvation of God's
creation, in which God's original plans for man come to
fruition, was anticipated by the Prophets. They waited for
"the
last days" in which the Messiah would come and spread a
social order of peace, justice, and compassion from shore to
shore (1saiah 11; Micah 4; etc. etc.). This Salvation, this
wholeness, this restoration of harmony, was ready to begin to be
unfolded as Peter wrote his first epistle (1:5); Peter's readers
were the object of the Salvation spoken of by the Prophets
(verse 10). This Salvation comes through suffering (not imperialism
or cut-throat entrepreneurial cunning), but then sees glory (not
paper profits)(v.11). That we would be made a kingly priesthood
(2:9) to live righteous lives (2:24) stands in stark contrast to
the people under the Old Covenant (2:10). That a people in the
midst of Babylon (5:13) could begin to live as Abraham did (ch.
3) is a Salvation that the angels are watching unfold, and they
are watching with amazement (1:12).
"Patriarchy," as we have pointed out in previous
essays, is not to be equated with male domination. The man needs
the woman (Genesis 2:18). The mutual submission of the Church is
most clearly seen in Marriage (Ephesians 5:21-31 -- or is it the
other way around? -- verse 32). Family-centered
"autarchy" is our present possession.
Vital in this respect is the Christian mother. Empire would
love to see Christian mothers separated from their children and
consecrated to the State as worker-drones. Take the mother away
from her children and you destroy Patriarchal society. Russia
has known this for some time, and fears the effect grandmothers
have by telling their descendants stories from a previous age of
freedom. Rushdoony writes,
In the Marxist scheme, the transfer of authority from the
family to the state makes any talk of the family as an
institution ridiculous. The family is for all practical intent
abolished whenever the state determines the education, vocation,
religion, and the discipline of the child. The only function
remaining then to the parents is procreation, and ... 0this too
is subject now to a diminishing role. The family in such a
society is simply a relic of the old order. (Institutes,
p. 164)
Is it very much different in our society? Is the result a
Christian one when parents "delegate" their authority
to the schools, the TV, Seventeen magazine, or Rick Dees?
Such a family is a relic; a shadow of the Abrahamic model.
Christians who are separated from the "cosmocrats"
and consecrated to the service of Jesus Lord of the Powers are
raising children who are characterized by compassion and a
passion for justice. A Christian mother who is freed from the
pressures of power, status, glamour, and social acceptability is
a women whose children are free from the peer pressure of
budding emperors or slumbering puppets.
Christian self-government means freedom from the powers (exousiai).
This is seen in the fellowship of the saints, as they share
their meals in the koinonia-assemblies.
For this cause ought the woman to have power (exousia)
on her head because of the angels. (1 Corinthians 11:10
Tragically, this verse is not understood, and not
surprisingly, is therefore neglected. It is just as well,
perhaps; it would be more appropriate for most "christian"
women to have their heads covered only when they watch "Real
Housewives." There is no church in their home, and they
are in bondage to the elements of the world.
Before making this verse (and, indeed, our understanding of
any of the verses which speak of the angels and their
relationship to the Church) a test of fellowship, we must begin
to understand the fellowship we have in Christ (Matthew 18:20;
Ephesians 2:6), the Total Salvation which the Spirit is working
out on earth (Revelation 21:23 - 22:6), and the responsibilities
we have as followers of Jesus and beneficiaries of His Grace
(Romans 12).
It is the purpose of these essays
on PATRIARCHY to help the Church wipe the sleep from her
eyes and behold the glorious rising of the Sun (Romans 13:11-12;
Luke 1:77-79): I Thessalonians 5:25.