The American church has become complacent, believing that God and government don’t mix. As intercessors for America, we know that this couldn’t be farther from the truth.

This week we have been agreeing with and decreeing statements made by many of America’s past leaders. Their prayers and declarations are not dead, and as we agree with them, power from our past is released into our “now.” Today, I want to give an overview of God’s plan regarding government, one of the most important topics in the Bible.

View Comments (4)

Government’s Origin

The concept of government is first introduced to us in Genesis 1:26-28, when Yahweh assigned the responsibility of managing, ruling, or governing (Hebrew: radah(1-7287) and mashal(2-4910) the earth and all it contains to Adam and his offspring. However, the concept of government did not originate when God created the earth; He didn’t just imagine or dream up the notion for this new endeavor. God is, and always has been, Lord or Ruler over all – HE IS GOVERNMENT. The concept flows from who He is. Obviously then, this makes Him earth’s “Judge, Lawgiver, and King” (Isaiah 33:22), and all government on earth was to flow from Him.

The fact that God is government and rules from who He is, is why “righteousness and justice are the foundations of His throne” (Psalm 89:14). God is also truth and love (John 14:6; 1 John 4:16). His laws, precepts, guidelines, etc., are based on love and truth, righteousness and justice, and flow from His nature. Again, God governs from who He is!

God Releases His Government Through Family 

The Bible is the story of God and his family. He wanted a family, so He began by creating their home, then He created them. God then delegated His governmental rule of this small portion of His Kingdom, earth, to His family (Genesis 1:26-28). This dominion or authority was to be exercised over all the earth and in all elements of society: personal, home and family, cities, and nations. It was intended to release and function according to His nature. God’s intent was that ALL earthly government be a conduit of Him; He would release His will, ways, truth, righteousness, and love on earth through government – at every level – delegated to humans.

That God would delegate this governing authority to Adam shouldn’t be surprising; He had created His family! Every aspect of Adam’s nature was to reflect God’s image and likeness: procreating more eternal beings bearing God’s image; dreaming, imagining, and through this mining earth’s treasure and potential; loving; leading and managing this portion of God’s creation. 

We know this plan was temporarily interrupted at the Fall. Satan stole God’s family, and along with it came the dominion/government of their home. The story of Scripture then became how God would redeem and restore these two things: His family and their dominion. The war on earth is over family and government: Who will own the people? Who will rule the earth?

God’s Solution

Jesus, of course, was God’s solution. He made it possible for all people to become part of God’s family again, and He recovered Adam’s lost authority. Matthew 28:18 tells us all authority on earth is now His, and Colossians 1:13 says He delivered us from the authority of darkness and aligned us once again with Christ and His Kingdom. Matthew 16.18-19 and other passages tell us Christ delegates His authority to us once again.

As Christ’s family, and having been delegated His authority, we are also called and privileged to extend His redemption and freedom to others. We do so not by demanding or dictating, but by proclaiming His gospel, declaring His truth, and binding satanic/demonic schemes, plans, and actions. This opens people’s eyes to the gospel and God’s truth, causing them to believe in Christ. This allows even their land, possessions, livelihoods, cities, and nations to also be freed from satan’s government/authority/rule (see Deuteronomy 28).

The Scriptures Are All About Government

With government being one of the two primary issues on earth, it seems logical that it would be one of Scripture’s dominant themes. It is mentioned extensively throughout the Bible. Earthly “kingdoms” are spoken of 36 times, earthly “kings” are spoken of 108 times, and the words “rule” or “ruler” are mentioned 155 times. God is mentioned by the governmental term “Lord” 1000s of times, and His “kingdom” is referenced more than 80 times. We could give numbers for other governmental terms, such as dominion, authority, govern, leader, etc., which are used dozens of times. Suffice it to say, the issue of government is paramount in Scripture.

AND YET…through the deception of conflating politics and government, many in the church think government should be ignored. “Get people saved,” they say, “but issues of government don’t belong in the church. Well, we should pray for it [which most don’t], but don’t talk about it, make a stand regarding it, or try to influence it.” Persuading a church to take time in a service for more than a perfunctory prayer or mention of government, elections, laws, etc., is like trying to raise the dead. Getting pastors to make a public stand on BIBLICAL issues being ruled on by the government, such as the termination of life, marriage, gender issues, and more, is even harder. The church doesn’t acknowledge the overwhelming amount of Scripture involving government, preferring to ignore it. And it conveniently hides behind manmade laws designed to silence us. Rather than honoring God, many leaders are ruled by the fear of man. Combine that with the fact that many pastors actually disagree with portions of God’s Word, and the result is that most believers are ignorant of God’s Word. The church need not be mean-spirited or condemning to preach and teach truth from Scripture. It can and should be done with grace, mercy, and love. But truth must be taught; it is God’s Word.

America In Crisis

As a result of the church not doing so, America hangs in the balance of life or death. In a March 2023 Fox News interview, Newt Gingrich issued a wake-up call. Referencing meetings between Putin and Xi – while the Biden administration, which he compared to a “situation comedy,” ignored them and downplayed any significance – Gingrich said that, in his opinion, “This is the most dangerous time in our history since Washington crossed the Delaware Christmas night in 1776…This is not a game. The threat to our civilization is so great that we really need a dramatic change.”

In the same interview, Mr. Gingrich also said, “Xi gave four different speeches to his people [the previous] week on preparing for war. People should take him seriously and understand how determined, how aggressive, and how competent Xi is.” He compared Xi and Putin to “The Axis powers of Italy, Germany, and Japan in the 1930s that wanted to take on Democracies. Unlike in the 30s, we have a President who is dedicated to weakness, dedicated to confusion…America is in an enormous crisis, with a news media that doesn’t want to cover the truth. This is the moment when America truly is what Mao called America ‘a paper tiger.’ It’s a very sobering and very frightening moment in American history.”

The church might want to rediscover government and find its voice.

I’ve said before that regardless of the overall church’s abdication, God will save America through a remnant. I still believe this. But I also believe our salvation and turnaround could have occurred much more quickly – and without the coming shaking – had a larger percentage of the church been speaking out, praying, and taking action. The pain we are experiencing and which will increase could have been avoided. To those of you who are praying – thank you, and please persevere. Your prayers WILL save America.

Pray with me:

Father, in Christ’s name, on behalf of the church of America, we ask You to forgive us for not representing You and Your ways as we should. We have been deceived, complacent, willfully ignorant, and fearful of speaking out against the promotion of sin and evil. Thankfully, an awakening is occurring; please breathe on this and cause it to increase. Awaken the church to the fact that we are Your voice, the speakers of Your Word and truth, on the earth. Revive this truth in us.

Send Your fire to the pulpits of America again. Send repentance to preachers in America for watering down Your truth, for ignoring portions of Your Word and for operating under the fear of man. We should have fearless hearts like Joshua, Caleb, Paul, Finney, Wesley, Whitefield, and other warriors from the past. Again, we pray, send Your fire!

And Father, as the dragon and bear [China and Russia] align, led by principalities and world rulers of darkness, thwart their evil plans to rule the world. We must and will reap a great harvest for You. You once told me You HAD to have America in order to reap this harvest. You said in Your Word that we could close the doors to demonic forces, not with human effort, but with the authority of our words. So, in the name of Jesus, we call America back to You. We release Your Kingdom authority and bind demonic, evil plans, releasing the power of Holy Spirit to oppose them. We release Your will for revival and awakening. We call forth Your fire. All that You have promised, we will see and experience. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Our decree:

We decree that lethargy and complacency in the church are being broken and replaced with revival fire!

Share your prayers and scriptures for America and its church below.

This article was originally published at Give Him 15. Photo Credit: Timothy Eberly on Unsplash.