Leaving Egypt Ministries, Obadiah D. Morris

Anyone who sees God’s absolute hatred for statism and all forms of idolatry and trust and faith in men in the scriptures knows how popular it is for some undiscerning foe to beat us over the head with “Romans 13.” This scripture is usually dropped as a “gotcha” with no other explanation. Point out that human government is a demonic plunder system and inevitably some idolater comes out of the woodwork to cite “Romans 13” as the supposed end of argument. A handful of verses to supposedly refute the pages and books of anti-statist political theology that come before it. This is very common to hear this among idolatrous Christians, and even atheist detractors, who think they have found a Biblical justification for not repenting of their statolatry. As one Christian libertarian, Laurence Vance, explains,

“Christian apologists for the state, its leaders (when they are Republicans), its military, its spy agencies, and especially its wars (and especially when they are started by Republicans) sometimes refer to the above passage from the Book of Romans as if it somehow justifies their blind nationalism, their cheerleading for the Republican Party, their childish devotion to the military, their acceptance of national-security state, and their support for perpetual war.”

These verses have always been used to try and justify state rule. The Nazis and the false pastors of Nazi Germany frequently invoked it to justify their acts of state violence, and so have politicians in recent years.

Christians who don’t want to repent from their idolatry toward human rulers have long used Paul’s words here to justify their positive, patriotic worship of the State. As Laurence Vance also said:

“Christian apologists for the state’s military ‘defending our freedoms’ and its wars ‘over there so we don’t have to fight them over here’ incessantly quote their ‘obey the powers that be’ mantra derived from Romans 13 in an attempt to justify their blind nationalism, American exceptionalism, flag waving, God and country rhetoric, warmongering, prayers for the troops, illicit affection for the military, and unholy desire to legitimize killing in war – as well as justify the state’s imperialism, militarism, and unjust wars.”

But did you know that the State itself has trained clergy to get people to submit to government tyranny in the event of its own clampdowns on liberty? As one local news agency broke the story a couple years (2007) after Hurricane Katrina, so-called “Clergy Response Teams” were formed to do just this. As the article states,

“Such clergy response teams would walk a tight-rope during martial law between the demands of the government on the one side, versus the wishes of the public on the other. ‘In a lot of cases, these clergy would already be known in the neighborhoods in which they’re helping to diffuse that situation,’ assured Sandy Davis. He serves as the director of the Caddo-Bossier Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness. For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13.”

Here’s a video of the news story. Why would they need these teams? Well, say, to justify soldiers on the streets, home invasions by police, firearms confiscations, punching old ladies in the face and dragging them out of their homes, etc. The false prophets in the institutional church are sent to spin Biblical justifications for the injustices, violence, and downright evils of statism so as to disarm any sense of morality and justice among Christ-followers. They seek to make a case that God morally approves of their evils, when really God knows these rulers are evil and sends them as judgment upon a wicked people who support them with their statist ideology.

When state tyranny comes down on us in the future, and your (false) pastor tells you to obey the edicts of the king who he says rules by divine right, you might want to ask him if he received any training from “Homeland Security.” Of course, such training isn’t strictly necessary. Men are prone to idolatry of human rulers without anyone to propagandize them on the idea. Many false pastors have not been trained by the government to become its apologists, who still evilly hang “thin blue line” flags from their churches and homes. But it is telling that government got involved in these Caesar-approved “churches” to get them to do this. It shows just how much these institutions are really just another arm of the State, part of its ideological propaganda divisions geared toward those seeking spiritual truths.

The role of the false pastors, preaching a false, statist gospel is to make men believe that God wills it for men to live as property of the State, rather than free souls under Him. Their role is to excuse all the plunder and extortion in these societies by men who call themselves the “government” and the “law enforcement” agents who carry it out as doing God’s good work. They are the men spoken of by the prophets, who “whitewash these deeds by false visions and lying divinations, saying, ‘This is what the Lord GOD says,’ when the LORD has not spoken” (Ezekiel 22:28). They are the people who the Lord warned us against, “Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matt 7:15).

While the whole purpose of anyone pastoring a congregation of believers should in large part be to get their flocks prepared for statist tyrannies, repent of their support for these systems, and leave the kingdoms of this world behind, the State itself has stepped in to try and get them prepared for unquestioned obedience! Make sure your pastor isn’t a false one leading you to slaughter. Their actions during the “covid” scamdemic—those who closed down as soon as Caesar said so—might provide some clues.