It’s vital for Christians to gain a proper, biblical understanding of government. Join Andy as he explores government’s fascinating origins in the Noahic Covenant.
These are only preliminary, unedited outlines and may differ from Andy’s final message.
Our Context: Tremendous concern about the future of human government… politicians making overwhelming rhetorical assertions about the importance of this particular election: “Vote properly or we will lose our country” or “Defend democracy from its gravest threat ever” Etc.
It’s vital for us as Christians to go back to the Bible for a proper understanding of human government… and to gain confidence for this present time
Resource: “The Noahic Covenant’s Importance for Government” by David VanDrunen in Church Matters: A New Christian Authoritarianism
I. Key New Testament Texts on Government
Romans 13:1-7 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4 For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6 This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7 Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
1 Peter 2:13-17 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14 or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17 Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.
Question: “Texts such as Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17 recognize existing governments as divinely authorized. Looking at these texts on their own raises a puzzling question: how are these governments divinely authorized if God never commanded anyone to establish them?”
Author’s answer: “God has commissioned human communities to establish governments intended to do justice under the Noahic covenant.” By this covenant, when communities establish governments… these governments exist with God’s approval. Thus, Paul and Peter can say civil magistrates are “appointed” and “sent” by God… and they are “God’s servants” and bear the sword against the evildoer.
II. Covenants: God’s Manner of Defining His Relationship with People
A. God’s Regular Pattern
· Abrahamic covenant with the house of Abraham
· Mosaic covenant with the nation of Israel
· Davidic covenant with David and his descendants
· New covenant with the church
B. Definition
A covenant is a binding agreement between two or more persons
By covenants, God defines his relationship with people, makes commitments to them, and makes demands from them
C. Author’s Argument: Human governments also are established by a covenant from God… the Noahic covenant after the Flood
D. The Text
Genesis 8:20-22 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done. 22 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”
Genesis 9:1-17 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. 4 “But you must not eat meat that has its lifeblood still in it. 5 And for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal. And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man. 6 “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man. 7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it.”
8Then God said to Noah and to his sons with him: 9 “I now establish my covenant with you and with your descendants after you 10 and with every living creature that was with you– the birds, the livestock and all the wild animals, all those that came out of the ark with you– every living creature on earth. 11 I establish my covenant with you: Never again will all life be cut off by the waters of a flood; never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” 12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” 17 So God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant I have established between me and all life on the earth.”
III. Basic Characteristics of the Noahic Covenant
A. Universal
God established this covenant with Noah and his family and with all future generations… even extending to all animals (9:10), and the earth itself (9:13), and the rhythm of seasons—”seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night” (8:22)
B. Preservative
God promised to sustain the natural order in this present fallen state, but nothing more. Instead of destroying the sinful world again with a universal flood, he would preserve the cycles of nature/seasons, enforce the boundaries between the animal and human realms (9:2-3).
Genesis 9:2-3 The fear and dread of you will fall upon all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air, upon every creature that moves along the ground, and upon all the fish of the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything.
Note that there is no mention at all of redemption or forgiveness of sins, or the coming Messiah or New Covenant, or the New Heaven and New Earth.
The Noahic Covenant administers God’s common grace, not his saving grace.
C. Modest
The Noahic Covenant promotes a modest ethic for the human race. It requires being fruitful, multiplying, filling the earth (9:1, 7), eating both plants and animals with some modest restraints (not eating meat with blood still in it; 9:3-4), and punishing violent people who shed blood. Note again how modest this all is… nothing said about worship. The covenant’s purpose is to preserve what is necessary for the survival of human society: procreation, material provision, and enforcing justice.
D. Temporary
God established this covenant “while the earth remains.” (8:22) From the New Testament’s perspective, this covenant will remain in force only until the Second Coming of Christ. It is called “an everlasting covenant,” but it is not an eternal covenant.
IV. The Obligation to Enforce Justice
A. Civil Government not Clearly/Formally Established… but Authorized
Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.
B. The “Law of Retribution” Established
[Mosaic Covenant would clarify into “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”: Exodus 21:23-25; Leviticus 24:19-20; Deuteronomy 19:21]
Proportional justice… no escalation
C. Key Insights About Government
1. The covenant requires the entire community to enforce justice… God doesn’t appoint particular people to be judges or kings; the general responsibility is handed over to the human race
2. Every perpetrator of violence should be punished, and every victim should be avenged… whether male/female, rich/poor, whatever nationality or religion; Noahic Covenant demands equal justice for all… no one exempt from its protection or penalties
3. Human justice is tempered by patience and a level of graciousness. The worldwide flood was a picture of God’s final wrath and judgment coming on Judgment Day. The promise to never again flood the earth despite man’s ongoing sin means that we have to be patient with sinners and not avenge every last wrong or sin that occurs, God is patient with us, so human judges need to be patient with sinful people. The purpose of human justice is to hold this whole thing together until the end of the world.
D. Foundational to Government: Man is the Image of God
Genesis 9:6 Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed; for in the image of God has God made man.
1. Reason #1: Human life is infinitely valuable, since all humans are in the image of God
James 3:9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness.
The passage in James shows the intrinsic value of all human beings such that we should not curse them verbally. Still less should we shed their blood!
2. Reason #2: Human beings have a God-like role of judging, because we are in the image of God, positionally ruling over the earth.
Genesis 1:26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule…”
Image of God is immediately tied to a God-like position of authority.
V. The Noahic Covenant and the Development of Civil Government
A. Key Question: How Could the Human Community Effectively Enact God’s Words?
B. Insight: Being Fruitful and Multiplying Implies Families
Genesis 9:1 Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth.
Genesis 9:7 As for you, be fruitful and increase in number; multiply on the earth and increase upon it
C. So, Human Justice Implies Government
D. Mystery: Most Human Governments Uphold this Noahic Covenant Without Realizing It… Sustaining Justice
E. Why? [My Answer… Not the Author’s]
Romans 2:14-15 Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.
God has written his moral laws in the hearts of every human being. So, despite their sinfulness, they still have a strong sense of basic justice: you shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, etc. The Second Commandment: Love your neighbor as yourself is burned into people’s hearts and their conscience tells them what is right and wrong.
So “Roman Justice” was actually often right in many points despite the fact that they know nothing of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Key example:
Numbers 35:30 Anyone who kills a person is to be put to death as a murderer only on the testimony of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death on the testimony of only one witness.
Festus (Roman governor) to King Agrippa:
Acts 25:16 I told them that it is not the Roman custom to hand over any man before he has faced his accusers and has had an opportunity to defend himself against their charges.
Acts 25:27 For I think it is unreasonable to send on a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.
Where did this sense of Roman justice come from? Paul would say it was burned into their hearts by God, not by reading Genesis 9 or the Laws of Moses.
VI. Implications of the Noahic Covenant on Civil Government
A. All Governments Are in Covenant With God, Whether They Know It or Not
B. Mosaic Law Was Not Meant for All Governments… Noahic Covenant Was
[Moses to Israel] Deuteronomy 4:7-8 What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to him? 8 And what other nation is so great as to have such righteous decrees and laws as this body of laws I am setting before you today?
C. Civil Governments Are Legitimate
1. Rulers are sent by God, established by God, serving God’s purposes
2. Therefore, all people should submit to their authority
Romans 13:1-2 Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.
This means we must render obedience, honor, and taxes
3. Christians should pray for civil authorities
1 Timothy 2:1-4 I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone– 2 for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3 This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4 who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
Pray for rulers to do their jobs (note Paul’s statement of the effect of enlightened rule: “That we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness”)
Pray for rulers to be saved: God doesn’t rule anyone out because they play this or that role in society… all types of people will be saved! Remember Nebuchadnezzar!!
From this…
Daniel 4:30 [Nebuchadnezzar] said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”
To this…
Daniel 4:34-35 At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?”
D. Civil Governments Are Provisional
1. “While the earth remains” (Gen. 8:22)
2. Only Christ’s kingdom is eternal
Daniel 2:35 Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth.
Daniel 2:44 In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.
3. Christians should not stake too much on civil government; it does not have the role that Christ’s kingdom has
4. “Wise Christians keep politics in perspective”
E. Civil Governments Are Common
1. This is established for the entire world
2. Every person is under it; some persons are part of it; God is over all of it
3. As we’ve said, this includes rich/poor, male/female, Christian/non-Christian
F. Civil Governments Are Accountable
1. Christ will hold every ruler accountable for how he/she rules
2. Christ will hold every citizen accountable for how he/she submits
3. God’s wrath comes on all wrongdoers in this matter
4. The final form of human government will be overtly wicked (the reign of Antichrist) and Christ will return to destroy it
