7/01/03
FOLLOWING THE PROPHETIC COUNSEL OF THE GODLY JEREMIAH
By J. Parnell McCarter
The prophet Jeremiah lived in a day not so unlike our own. There was a wicked Babylonian Empire that controlled many states and required excessive tribute from those states, just as a wicked United States federal government controls many states and requires excessive tribute from those states. Just as the Babylonian Empire was predicated on a false humanistic religion, so the United States federal government is predicated on a false humanistic religion. And just as Judah had backslidden from true religion, so many states in the United States have backslidden from the true reformed Protestant faith of their colonial past. Just as false worship was tolerated in Judah, so it is tolerated in these backslidden states.
In the face of these circumstances, false prophets in Jeremiah’s day called for Judah to revolt and secede from the Babylonian Empire. They proclaimed that would solve Judah’s problems. And they could rightly point out the faults of the Babylonian Empire. But the false prophets failed to proclaim how the state of Judah should enforce the Ten Commandments and protect its rightful established church. Similarly, during the history of the United States, there has been a loud outcry for state secession from the federal United States. The independence movement and revolution especially reached its fever pitch during the days before the Civil War. The Romish Vatican supported this secession movement during the Civil War (it was the only foreign state officially to recognize the Confederacy as a sovereign state), yet failed to proclaim how the states should enforce the Ten Commandments and protect the rightful reformed established church.
But the godly prophet Jeremiah counseled a different course. He argued that the state of Judah should enforce the Ten Commandments and protect the rightful reformed established church. He proclaimed that idolators and Sabbath desecrators should be suppressed, and that false religion should be extirpated from the realm of Judah. And he also exhorted Judah not to pursue a course of secession and revolution. He asserted that Judah should continue to pay tribute and respect to the Babylonian Empire. But Judah did not heed Jeremiah’s counsel, and Judah was devastated in the course of its revolution.
Similarly, the states in the South did not heed the word of divine counsel in the book of Jeremiah. They refused to enforce the Ten Commandments. They rejected the Establishment Principle found in scripture, which called them to recognize, defend and protect the rightful reformed Christian church. They did not suppress heresy (like the Baptist heresy) and idolatry (like the idolatrous Romish Mass) like they ought. And they chose to pursue a course of secession from the federal United States government, and to withhold tribute money from it. So God destroyed the Confederacy and devastated the states of the South, just as He had done to Judah centuries before.
But we should follow the path of Jeremiah. We should proclaim to the states in the Union that the Ten Commandments are a higher law than the humanist US Constitution. We should proclaim God’s word is to be obeyed above the word of nine judges on the United States Supreme Court. We should proclaim that it is the duty of all magistrates to obey and enforce the Ten Commandments within the realm of their authority. We should proclaim that they ought to suppress heresy, idolatry, Sabbath desecration, adultery, abortion, sodomy, and the like. We should proclaim the duty of the magistrate to recognize and protect the rightful reformed establish church. Yet, we should also proclaim that the states obey and respect the authority of the United States federal government insofar as it does not demand actions contrary to scripture. And we should proclaim that they ought to continue to pay tribute money to the federal government, even if that tribute money is unfair and excessive. In a word, we should heed the prophetic counsel of the godly Jeremiah.
Footnote A: People often confuse the term ‘suppression’ for the term ‘death penalty’. The death penalty is only one form of suppression available for the state to discourage heresy, schism, and apostasy. Other forms include withholding the right to vote and hold public office, charging special taxes or penalties, and educating people against certain opinions. Rightly understood this way, we can see how the United States currently suppresses reformed Christianity by such means as teaching evolution in public schools and by requiring all those who hold public office to deny the Establishment Principle.
Footnote B: I received certain emails concerning the
article above, which suggest I need to clarify what was written. It was never my intention
to suggest in the article above that secession of one state from another is universally
forbidden. The article considered the circumstances as presented, and
indicated under **those circumstances**
secession was not the right policy. I was comparing the circumstances at the beginning of the Civil War in the US
to the circumstances when Judah sought to
secede from the Babylonian empire. Similarly, if South Carolina sought to secede today as is, it would be wrong,
as well as foolish.
Secession almost inevitably means war. Therefore, it is the
option of last resort, and
it should only be done under conditions which would justify such a
war.
Let
me give you an historical example of justified secession: Protestant
Netherlands from Roman Catholic Spain. The
Netherlands had sought to live at peace under
Spain, but Spain made it clear that unless she abandoned her Reformed Protestantism, there would be no peace.
Under such circumstances, Protestant
Netherlands had no choice but to seek secession.
Now
compare that with the ante-bellum South. The states there were not
constitutionally Protestant. At that time they
would have probably been allowed to establish
Protestantism in their states and remain peacefully in the Union. The 14th Amendment was not yet passed. But the
southern states did not want to establish the
Protestant Biblical faith in their states. They did not even adopt Thornwell's watered down Christian
confessionalism in their constitution.
Judaists, Romanists, etc were allowed to vote and hold office in the South. In that sense, they were wicked just like the
Northern states.
Here
are some principles I would submit:
1.
If the lower magistrate can uphold the Ten Commandments and peacefully
remain under the higher magistrate, then in order to
maintain peace, the lower
magistrate
should not seek secession. (By "lower magistrate" I mean a
state within a larger state.)
2.
Unless a lower magistrate is Biblical Protestant, they should not even
consider secession. Before we try to take the
plank (or mote) out of our neighbor's eye, we
must first take it out of our own.
3.
The first duty of a lower magistrate is to God. The state must glorify
God. And it glorifies God by upholding the Ten
Commandments. **Both** tables. It must
be Protestant.
4.
The second duty of a lower magistrate is to man. The state must guard the
Commandments. **Both** tables. It must be
Protestant.
5.
So long as a lower magistrate can do his duty, he should not seek secession. Paying
more taxes to the higher magistrate than one would like is not grounds
for secession, because one can pay taxes without
violating the Ten Commandments. Yet
tribute money was a main factor ancient Judah sought to free itself of ancient Babylon.
Unlike
then, I am doubtful now the federal govt would allow a state to remain
peacefully in the Union yet establish Reformed
Protestantism. So **if** Michigan were
to establish Reformed Protestantism (as it should), it may find ultimately that it had to secede. **But**, before
secession, it should vigorously try every
other option first. And until a state establishes Reformed Protestantism, the option of secession should be
out of the question.