In the previous Q&A, we explained, among other things, that a Christian is not to get involved in political campaigns or vote in governmental elections, and that he is not to participate or support rebellious uprisings. This fact will be discussed further in this Q&A as well. The question may arise then as to when […]

The short answer to your question is that as true Christians, we should not vote in governmental elections. We must understand what Paul meant with his usage of the words, “God’s ministers,” and the entire passage in Romans 13:1-6, when applying the concept to the political powers to be.

We addressed a related issue in a previous Q&A, discussing Romans 13:3, where we said:

“Today, the world as a whole is cut off from God and is subject to the rule of Satan. God placed Lucifer on the throne of this earth, with responsibility for properly governing it, but he rebelled and became known as Satan. When Satan inspired Adam and Eve to turn against God – to sin by going against what God instructed them – God gave mankind 6,000 years to find out for themselves that they cannot live without God… And for that same 6,000-year duration, God has decreed that Satan would remain on his throne. That 6,000-year period will end at the return of Jesus Christ, Who will come to replace Satan – a failed ruler – and restore the government of God on this earth. In that sense, there is ‘no authority except from God’ (Romans 13:1), and all authority ‘has been given … from above’ (John 19:11). God has not yet replaced Satan and his demons, but they cannot do anything that God does not ALLOW them to do.

The Bible is clear that faith is measured in terms of both quantity and quality.

Before going into detail about what the Bible says about measuring faith, it is important to clarify just what faith is. Hebrews 11:1 says it best: “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” We understand this to mean that faith is an action which treats things that have not yet happened, and things which are not empirically evident, as truth. There is no practical distinction between the object of faith and reality to the believer. Faith is the ability to believe in deed.

The Bible tells us that proper faith is very powerful. Having the right kind of faith allows amazing miracles to become possible. Healings of otherwise incurable illnesses are possible (Mark 5:34). Moving mountains is possible (Matthew 17:20). Causing trees to wither (Matthew 21:19-21) or become uprooted and move is possible (Luke 17:6). Each of these actions and events of similar miraculous stature are possible, but always subject and pursuant to God’s Will, when the right kind of faith works within the life of a Christian.

It was Satan’s goal from the outset to try to kill Christ physically and spiritually. Satan attempted to have Christ killed as a Child, including through Herod’s mass murder of young boys from two years old and under. If he had succeeded, this would have altered or even defeated God’s plan for a Saviour, but Satan’s attempt was thwarted by God, and Christ was protected as a Child in Egypt. We might even recall that Satan tried to wipe out all the Jews to prevent Christ from being born as a Jew from the tribe of Judah, but through Esther’s and Mordecai’s brave conduct, that plan was thwarted as well.

Later, Satan tried to defeat Christ spiritually, by tempting Him to sin. He knew that just one sin would have disqualified Christ from being our Saviour. After His baptism, Christ fasted for forty days and forty nights in the wilderness. Satan thought that that was the moment to strike, and that he had the upper hand. He did not realize that God allowed Satan to tempt Christ for the purpose of defeating Satan. After all, it was God the Father’s Spirit which led Christ into the wilderness to be tempted there by Satan.

In the previous three installments, we discussed the biblical regulations of the Land Sabbath (Exodus 23:10-11; Leviticus 25:1-7, 18-22) and rejected extreme viewpoints which hold that either these regulations must be enforced today, literally and in their entirety, by the Church of God and its members, while others hold that they are no longer applicable today, not even in principle.

We concluded the last installment by pointing out that the correct view has been taught for many years by the Worldwide Church of God, under Herbert W. Armstrong, and is being adhered to today by the Church of the Eternal God in the USA, the Church of God, a Christian Fellowship in Canada, and the Global Church of God in the UK.  We will now explain what this correct view is, and how it relates to us today.

In the last two installments of this series, we discussed the views of numerous commentaries on the issue, and we saw from Scripture that the Sabbatical Year (also referred to as the Land Sabbath and the Year of Release; compare, for example, Exodus 23:10-11; Leviticus 25:1-7, 18-22), as well as the Jubilee Year (compare, for example, Leviticus 25:8-14), were laws for the nation of Israel, which were related to the Land of Canaan. The Year of Release and the Jubilee Year included also the cancellation of personal debts and the restoration of all real estate to its prior owner. Land was not to be sold forever.

We noted that these laws and regulations are of course not enforceable today, on a grand scale, as every nation today has its own laws which may quite differ in regard to cancellation of debts, transactions of real property or even the cultivation of farm land. Still, the Church of God has consistently taught that Christians should apply today certain PRINCIPLES, as much as possible.

In this second installment on the questions raised, we are proceeding with answering whether those Old Testament institutions are still of any validity today. In last week’s first installment, we quoted the relevant biblical passages (mainly Exodus 23:10-11 and Leviticus 25:1-7, 18-22), and we cited numerous commentaries to show their understanding as to what these passages meant for the ancient Israelites. Now, we are beginning to answer the question as to what they mean for us today.

At the end of the previous installment, we alluded to the fact that we had addressed the issue of the ongoing validity of the Land Sabbath or the Sabbatical Year in previous Q&As, which also quote numerous commentaries to the effect that they do not feel that the Land Sabbath only applied to the nation of Israel for the time while in the Promised Land.

As this is a very broad subject, we will provide answers in several Q&As. This Q&A constitutes the first installment, to be continued next week.

The purpose of this first installment is NOT to answer most of the questions about the Land Sabbath and the Jubilee Year. Answers will be provided in future installments. In this installment, we will mainly be quoting from commentaries to show the different positions applied to the issues—which are somewhat reminiscent of SOME opinions and concepts which are occasionally raised by some Church members as well.  In subsequent installments, we will discuss the substantive accuracy or inaccuracy of many of those statements.

Let us first look at the biblical provisions in detail, and analyze what exactly they provide. In that context, we must realize that there are ritual temporary laws (which are not in force for us today), spiritual eternal laws (which are immutable and always effective for man), physical and spiritual laws binding today for individuals, and laws which were given to the nation of Israel in the Promised Land, which were in force while God was their Supreme Ruler, and which may not presently be in force (although underlying spiritual principles might be). We need to ascertain to which category the Sabbatical Year and the Jubilee Year injunctions belong.

In previous Q&A’s, we showed how the survivors of the modern descendants of the houses of Israel and Judah will be brought out of captivity and led to the Promised Land, where they will settle down. We discussed a subsequent invasion of Far Eastern nations into the Promised Land at the beginning of the Millennium, and how God will deal swiftly with these hostile armies.  We also discussed the fact that Christ will come to bring spiritual and physical restoration for all peoples, but He will rule in Jerusalem over—at first–the Israelite nations. How, then, will “Gentile” nations come to and accept the truth?

The Bible makes very clear that after Christ’s return, He will sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem (Luke 1:32) to rule the entire world. But it will be a process—all the nations will not automatically and immediately know and embrace the truth; they will have to be taught and their minds will have to be opened.

Let us look very closely at both passages.

In Psalm 8:4-5, David wonders about the purpose of the creation of man. We read, in the New King James Bible: “What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, and you have crowned him with glory and honor.”

David proceeds in the next verses to show that man has received dominion over the animal world (verses 7-8).

In the margin of the New King James Bible, it is stated that in the Hebrew, the word for “angels” is “Elohim,” which means “God.” (Compare the footnote in the Elberfelder Bible and the Schlachter Bible.) While translations such as the New International Version and the Living Bible render it, “angels,” the Revised Standard Version, the English Revised Version and the American Standard Version say, “little lower than God.” So also the revised Luther Bible (“Gott”) and the Menge Bible (“Gottheit”).