[This is part 6 in a series on “anarcho-theocracy.” See part one, two, three, four, five]

Leaving Egypt Ministries, Obadiah D. Morris

Those who hate God often blame the problems of our world on “theocracy,” which they think of as a sort of Christian-influenced State. They accept this conception of theocracy because many who support the American empire’s bombing of children in its overseas military adventures, or the stomping of its own people in the domestic police state, are men who take the Lord’s name in vain. Because many state-worshipers claim to be servants of the Lord, despite that a man cannot do both, people have believed that true theocracy is political. To them, a pseudo-Christian State is the problem, and a “secular” government that is supposedly free from being religious in nature is the solution. The problem, in their eyes, is not statism itself but only the (contradictory) idea that some people (the so-called “religious right”) attempt to bring Christ into the governments of the world. If only we would keep religion and government separate and allow the secular state to fulfill its duties of civil governance, then we wouldn’t have this problem of “theocracy.”

Our thesis is more or less the opposite from those who think that theocracy (wrongly understood) is the problem. Rather, the problems in our world—the political charades, tax plunder, price inflation, economic cycles, wars, poverty, cultural degeneration, etc—stem from our rejection of theocracy, ie., the rule by God, which is necessarily stateless. It is not that we have sought true theocracy—which is never the case when men set up human rulers in the place of God’s rule—that our world is facing problems, but precisely that men have turned it down for the false “theocracy” of statism, whether “secular” or pseudo-Christian.

Man’s rejection of theocracy

Men go into political bondage and come under divine judgment in the form of state tyranny when they abandon God (theocracy), not when they embrace Him. This was always the Biblical explanation for a people living in captivity to political gods:

“So all the nations will ask, ‘Why has the LORD done such a thing to this land? Why this great outburst of anger? And the people will answer, It is because they abandoned the covenant of the LORD, the God of their fathers, which He made with them when He brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went and served other gods, and they worshiped gods they had not known—gods that the LORD had not given to them. Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against this land, and He brought upon it every curse written in this book. The LORD uprooted them from their land in His anger, rage, and great wrath, and He cast them into another land, where they are today’” (Deuteronomy 29:24-28).

Contrary to the hundreds of millions of ungodly men who tell us that we would be dominated without a State to “protect” us, Biblical wisdom has it that statism comes to a people who reject God. Men go into captivity and get conquered by statists for refusing to be ruled by God. Going into political bondage is always explained by forsaking the instruction of the Lord for the sinful and violent ways of the kingdoms of men.

“All this happened because the people of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. They had worshiped other gods and walked in the customs of the nations that the LORD had driven out before the Israelites, as well as in the practices introduced by the kings of Israel” (2 Kings 17:7-8).

God tells us to avoid the ways of the people of this world, ie., to not adopt their practices of political violence as a means of organizing society, and yet men refuse to listen.

“Through all His prophets and seers, the LORD warned Israel and Judah, saying, ‘Turn from your wicked ways and keep My commandments and statutes, according to the entire Law that I commanded your fathers and delivered to you through My servants the prophets.’ But they would not listen, and they stiffened their necks like their fathers, who did not believe the LORD their God. They rejected His statutes and the covenant He had made with their fathers, as well as the decrees He had given them. They pursued worthless idols and became worthless themselves, going after the surrounding nations that the LORD had commanded them not to imitate. They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God” (2 Kings 17:13-16).

The problem is that men have refused to make God their ruler, who would give us the freedom and prosperity they vainly seek to obtain through the false gods of political systems, and have sought after human kings to stand over them instead, who bring the very slavery they thought they were avoiding by having a “government” rule over them. Despite all God’s warnings against the bondage that comes to those who reject Him for man-gods,

“They and our fathers became arrogant and stiff-necked and did not obey Your commandments. They refused to listen and failed to remember the wonders You performed among them. They stiffened their necks and appointed a leader to return them to their bondage in Egypt” (Nehemiah 9:6-7).

God offers to be our ruler, but men turn it down for human rulers (statism) instead.

“This is what I commanded them: Obey Me, and I will be your God, and you will be My people. You must walk in all the ways I have commanded you, so that it may go well with you. Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but they followed the stubborn inclinations of their own evil hearts. They went backward and not forward” (Jeremiah 7:23-24).

It is not that men have embraced God that we live under a tyrannical statist system today. Statism is always an abandonment of God’s rule for the rule by men. Rather, it is precisely that “they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt” (Acts 7:39). It is that “they failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law” (Psalm 78:10).

Theocracy, true and false

As we have already addressed, much of the issue with analyzing the problems in our world stem from a failure to properly understand and conceive of different social systems. For instance, the pseudo-Christian statism is called “theocracy” when it’s a perversion of God’s rule, “secular” statism is thought to be exempt from any “religious” nature whatsoever, and anarcho-theocracy is for the most part entirely off the table in anyone’s mind.

To say the problem in our world today is “theocracy” without any explanation isn’t very helpful. They’re not wrong in the sense that all social systems are necessarily theocratic in some sense of the term and that we cannot escape theocracy. Statism itself, even in its supposedly “secular” variation, is a false god system that represents a “religion.”

However, it doesn’t make sense to group genuine theocracy (rule by God) in with the statist systems of the world. We must differentiate between the two. Those who accept statism, in fact, oppose the theocracy of God. And tyranny is instituted in opposition to this theocracy, not in its acceptance. 

Contrary to the understanding of our world as being plagued by theocracy (understood here as the pseudo-Christian or even the secular political systems of our world), our world is better understood as a rebellion against genuine theocratic rule under God. Rather than embracing true theocracy, men have instead pursued false, statist forms of theocracy. Rejecting submission to God’s sovereignty, men have instead elevated the “law” systems of men, a narrative tracing back through scripture from Cain and Nimrod to other state-builders and false deities — all of which have culminated in tyrannical, statist regimes.

The idea that we live under an endless cycle of theocratic tyranny doesn’t help us to explain the vast differences in various social systems, all which may well be called “theocratic” in some sense of the term. It makes all the difference in the world whether we are seeking the true theocracy of a stateless divine rule, or the false theocracies of institutionalized religio-political orders. The true problem lies not in theocracy per se, but in the repeated embrace of false god systems of men.

Choosing the wrong theocracy

Since we may well call all social systems “theocratic” in that men cannot escape being religious, it doesn’t help to suggest that the problem with our world is “theocracy.” The real problem is that men have turned away from true theocracy—the anarchistic rule by God—and instead accepted a false theocracy, the statist rule by men.

The issue is not that men have sought theocracy, but that they have rejected God’s rule in favor of the flawed, man-made alternatives. This false theocracy—the “law” systems of men—stands in contrast to a true theocratic order. Statism makes men into kings, judges, and lawmakers instead of the Lord (Isa 33:22). Terminology aside, the essential issue is that men have turned away from God’s rule and chosen the opposite path.

Our statist world of democracy, socialism, or man-kings in some form or another, has been a rebellion against God. They are “theocratic” only in the sense that statism is a religion. However, they are also anti-theocratic because they reject God’s rule for man’s. If by “theocracy” we mean social organization as formed under the rulership of God, we would have to exclude the statist systems of men. 

Indeed, state-seeking is precisely what characterizes man’s rebellion against God. The Israelites rebelled by abandoning true (anarchist) theocracy. They replaced it with monarchist systems that made man-sovereigns their kings (1 Samuel 8). This pursuit of human kings was a rebellion against the true theocracy of regarding God as King. As the Lord made clear, “they have cast me away, that I should not reign over them” (1 Samuel 8:7).

The false theocracy of statism—whether pseudo-religious or supposedly secular—represents a “theocracy” that opposes the true theocracy of God. As much as we might concede that all social systems are necessarily theocratic, the issue remains that ours problems come from shunning God’s rule for the false theocracy of statism.

The choice

As we have argued in another article, the choice is not theocracy or no theocracy. It is which theocracy are we to have? We can choose Godarchy, with the Lord as our ruler. Or we can have Manarchy, with men as the “lords” and “kings.” These are the only two options. But there can be no greater difference between the two. We cannot lump together (1) the true theocracy of God with (2) the false theocracies of both pseudo-Christian statism or the illusory “secular” statism.

“Christian” attempts to achieve the Kingdom of God through the State are not truly “theocratic.” They are a departure from true theocracy, which is anarchistic (i.e., anti-statist). Thus, we should not consider any statist attempts at peaceful social order to be “theocratic” in the genuine sense of the term. This includes both the non-existent “secular” variety and the supposedly “Christian” version. These are both false theocracies. And they’re both tyrannical.  

Statism is a false theocracy

There is good reason to concede that there is a “theocratic” element to all statist systems. However, the “theocracies” of men are disobedient to God. Properly speaking, it is illegitimate to call them theocracies when such a term is defined as a rule by God. Hence why the prophets were always exhorting men to obey God and stop their violent deviation that was exemplified in setting up man-made kingdoms. “Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!” (Isaiah 1:10). 

Though we may well point them out as religious orders, those who set up man-made kingdoms are not true theocrats. In fact, they are opposed to God’s social order. As one prophet says, 

“These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to obey the LORD’s instruction” (Isaiah 30:9).

The systems of men are not true (anarchistic) theocracies, but the opposite. They are set out against God’s rule and law. 

“The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant” (Isaiah 24:5). 

The statists of the world are doing the opposite of what God’s theocratic order calls for.

“[They] carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin” (Isaiah 30:1). 

Endless theocratic tyranny?

Though we may say all social systems are theocratic in some sense, there is no reason to act as if we are trapped in a theocratic tyranny no matter which way we turn. We cannot act as if true theocracy brings the same results as false theocracy, that every “theocracy” (so to speak) leads to authoritarian rule. Anarcho-theocracy is a non-authoritarian society where God is the only archist. This is much unlike the “theocracy” of human archists, where men rule over each other and bring tyranny to society.

The essential question we face is why our world has descended into tyranny. Some even concede that theocracy is unavoidable, but argue that it matters little whether one pursues a truly godly (anarchistic) theocracy or the religio-statist orders of men, assuming that both lead to the same tyrannical outcome.

This just isn’t true, though. And it doesn’t explain why we are in such a mess today. Obviously, men have not chosen the theocracy that we understand as the rule by God. If they did, they wouldn’t be ruled by a State. The existence of a State is all the evidence one needs that men have rejected true theocracy — that they oppose being ruled by God and prefer to be the slaves of men. The tyranny of our world cannot then be explained by theocracy under this definition. We do not have true (anarchist) theocracy.

Abandoning theocracy

“Endless theocracy” is then not a good explanation of our troubles. The scriptures do not teach that the problem with our world is “theocracy,” but precisely that men have shunned God’s rule for the rule by men — that men are endlessly chasing after the false gods of man’s political systems.

The problem isn’t that men seek theocracy—it isn’t possible after all that they can do anything but seek one “theocratic” system or the other—but that men are chasing after the false theocracy of human rule. They are not following the true theocracy of God, which has nothing to do with the kingdoms of men. 

Contrary to those who point to “theocracy” as the problem, very problem with our world is that men have forsaken theocracy. The problem with our world is that men have forsaken God’s anarcho-theocracy — a society where God is the sole ruler. They have sought to be like the statist systems of the world (1 Sam 8:20). This is the way it’s always been. Men did not obey God and instead wanted to live under the false theocracy of statism, where political gods rule over men.

The problem with our world (ie., the reason for our statist slavery) is that men failed to get under godly theocracy (ie., the rule by God). It is not that they became theocrats in some general sense of the term. God doesn’t say that it’s that men have embraced Him that we live under political systems, which is perhaps the main form of turning away from God, but that “the people have transgressed My covenant and rebelled against My law” (Hosea 8:1). The problem isn’t that men sought God in some pejorative use of the term theocracy. The issue lies precisely in their refusal of theocracy. God showed us how to live—glorifying Him as our King and loving our neighbors—but men turned their noses at this divine counsel.

“Though I wrote for them the great things of My law, they regarded them as something strange” (Hosea 8:12).

Men refuse the theocracy of God by adopting the mutually-exclusive, false theocracy of man’s rule (statism). Political tyranny is explained by an abandonment of true theocracy. The State arises when men reject God. It is born in the very actions God commands men not to do: seeking other gods, idolizing men, stealing, coveting your neighbor’s property through democratic/socialist systems, and murder.

The real problem of our world is not “endless theocracy,” then, but endless avoidance of true theocracy. We arrived at this tyrannical society by forsaking theocracy. Or rather, we got here by embracing a false theocracy. 

The tyranny of false theocracies

The statist regimes that men have always lived under are not a result of godly theocracy, but of substituting man-gods for God. William Penn expressed this major lesson in the scriptures perfectly when he stated that “those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants.” Amen. Political tyranny is the result of rejecting God’s rule, not of seeking God, which is never done through the political means.

This is what God tried to teach us all along. Abandoning God as the Sovereign leads to the tyrannical kingdoms of men. Leaving behind true theocracy means to turn toward the “isms” and “ocracies” of men, whether fascism, communism, socialism, republicanism, democracy, etc. That’s how we got those systems: By forsaking theocracy, i.e., the rule by God. 

Statism is the opposite of rule by God. It produces tyranny, while a rule by God leads to liberty. As much as can agree that statism must be considered a “theocracy” of sorts, being that it is indeed a false religion of false gods, in strict terms statism defies God. It goes against His socio-political commandments for our lives. Statism is precisely at odds with Biblical theocracy. There is all the difference in the world—liberty or bondage—between God’s anarcho-theocracy and the “theocratic” (loosely called) regimes of men.

It’s fair to consider statism a (secular) religion. However, the true religion or theocracy of God involves living under the Lord as our lawgiver and king. This does not bring tyranny. Speaking more precisely, it has been the religion of statism that has brought great tyrannies to our world. And this was a departure from God and replacement with the “theocracy” of men. Tyranny comes when men abandon God and trust in human rulers, not when they seek theocracy in its true sense. Indeed, seeking a true theocracy is the way out of statist slavery. This is done by making God our only God, as commanded.

Our problems came because men refuse to listen to God and ask for kings instead (1 Sam 8:19). It thus makes little sense to explain the tyrannies of our world as a problem of “theocracy” without explaining the very different types of theocratic orders — that one is true and the others are false. We do not have true theocracy today, just as we do not have a “free” or “market” society, although people call it so. This is a statist and socialist society. It is a false theocracy where men rule as gods. It came about because men trusted in men to be their lawmakers and rulers. Our world today—the statist Babylonian system—is the result of denying God’s rule and embracing rule by men. It is a world where the statist philosophies and ideas of men serve as the foundation of ideas and social order, rather than the precepts of God.

While we may call every social system a “theocracy” of sorts, we cannot do so under the assumption that they all bring about the same tyrannical result. This would mean there’s no way out. The idea that we’re just plagued by endless, equally-tyrannical theocracies provides no solutions to our problems and makes no distinctions between choosing to serve God or men and the outcomes of either choice.

Following God instead

Though we may say theocracy is inescapable, this doesn’t mean that the choice in which theocracy doesn’t matter. It doesn’t mean that there is no difference between the rule by God and the rule by false god-men who pretend to be lords and kings. Their outcomes are the difference between peace and freedom, or hell on earth.

While we might agree in some sense that everything is a “theocracy” (not defining this as God’s order alone), we cannot agree that they’re all tyrannical. God gave us His law so we could avoid the tyrannical “theocracies” of men, which He allows to come upon us precisely when we forsake the Lord. There is a right path and a wrong path, and only one of them leads to destruction. 

“Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved: but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once” (Proverbs 28:18). 

God didn’t give us a world where we fail no matter what steps we take, but one where we fail only when we abandon His true theocracy. 

“Keep My statutes and My judgments, for the man who does these things will live by them. I am the LORD” (Leviticus 18:5). 

The theocracy of God—obeying His commandments and pursuing them—is the path to life. A true theocracy, which many have lumped in with the statist regimes of men, is indeed the path to life, liberty, and prosperity. 

“Keep His statutes and commandments, which I am giving you today, so that you and your children after you may prosper, and that you may live long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you for all time” (Deuteronomy 4:40). 

God didn’t just leave us hanging, He instructed us on how to live. 

“And I gave them My statutes and made known to them My ordinances— for the man who does these things will live by them” (Ezekiel 20:11). 

As we have already stated, though, the problem is not “endless theocracy” but that men didn’t want to obey God and seek His theocracy. As one prophet expressed it, 

“Yet the house of Israel rebelled against Me in the wilderness. They did not follow My statutes and they rejected My ordinances—though the man who does these things will live by them—and they utterly profaned My Sabbaths. Then I resolved to pour out My wrath upon them and put an end to them in the wilderness” (Ezekiel 20:13). 

Judgment has come upon our society for its rejection of the theocracy of God’s rule, not “endless theocracy” (though here again, we may well say that statist societies are not godless but merely have traded out God for the false god of the State). Political slavery is what men get when they refuse to be ruled by God in an anarcho-theocratic society.

To see the tyrannies of our world as a result of “theocracy,” when true (anarcho) theocracy is not the norm, could only lead us away from the great truth in the scriptures: That the way out of the false god systems of men is the true theocracy of God, which, for lack of a better term, is “anarchist” (better “Godarchist”) and requires that we make God our God rather than men. 

Our problem is not “endless theocracy,” but that men consistently try to avoid true theocracy (i.e., a society that has God as its Sovereign) and set up false religions or the false theocracy of men. It doesn’t make sense to call the statist regimes of old “religious theocracies,” as contrasted to the secular humanist regimes of today. Those were statist systems as any other, albeit maybe less far-reaching than the systems of today. At any rate, they weren’t a true theocracy or the theocracy offered to us by God. They still represented a rebellion against God, which is where our problems started.

A true theocracy is where God governs, which is never the case in a statist society, where man-gods are set up as the rulers. The way out of the bondage of human government—the false theocracy of man’s rule—is precisely to accept the true theocracy of rulership by God, which necessarily implies an abolition of the State.