"You shall have no other gods
[including political rulers, governments, or earthly laws] before Me [or My commandments]."
[Exodus 20:3, Bible, NKJV]
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“Then all the elders
of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel [the priest in a
Theocracy] at Ramah, and said to
him, ‘Look, you [the priest within a theocracy] are old, and your
sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king [or
political ruler] to judge us
like all the nations [and be OVER them]’.
“But the thing
displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king [or
political ruler] to judge
us.’ So Samuel prayed to the Lord. And the Lord said
to Samuel, ‘Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to
you; for they have rejected Me [God], that I should not reign over them.
According to all the works which they have done since the day that I
brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they
have forsaken Me [God as their ONLY KIng, Lawgiver, and Judge] and served other gods—so they are doing to you also [government or political rulers becoming the object of
idolatry].”
[1
Sam. 8:4-8, Bible, NKJV]
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"Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers
[the heathens], nor observe their judgments, nor defile yourselves with their idols. I am the LORD your God: Walk in
My statutes, keep My judgments, and do them; hallow My Sabbaths, and they will be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I am the LORD your God."
[Ezekial 20:10-20, Bible, NKJV]
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“You shall make no covenant
[contract or franchise] with them [foreigners, pagans], nor
with their [pagan government] gods [laws or judges]. They shall
not dwell in your land [and you shall not dwell in theirs
by becoming a “resident” in the
process of contracting with them], lest they make you sin
against Me [God]. For if you serve their gods [under contract or
agreement or franchise],
it will surely be a snare to you.”
[Exodus
23:32-33, Bible, NKJV]
_________________________________________
"Has the LORD as great delight in burnt
offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected
the Word [and Law] of the LORD,
He also has rejected you from being king [and sovereign over
your government and your public servants]."
[1
Sam. 15:22-23, Bible, NKJV]
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“For this is
the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will
put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will
be their God, and they shall be My people.”
[Heb. 8:10, Bible, NKJV]
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“Therefore, my brethren, you also have
become dead to the law [man's law] through the body of Christ [by shifting
your legal domicile to the God's Kingdom], that you may be
married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we
should bear fruit [as
agents, fiduciaries, and trustees] to God. For
when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by
the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. But now
we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were
held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit [and
newness of the law, God’s law] and not
in the oldness of the
letter.”
[Rom. 7:4-6, Bible, NKJV]
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“The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all
the nations [and peoples] that forget [or disobey] God [or His commandments].”
[Psalms 9:17, Bible, NKJV]
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"Do you not know that friendship with the world
is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend
[“citizen”, “resident”, “taxpayer”, “inhabitant”, or "subject" under
a king or political ruler] of the world [or
any man-made kingdom other than God's Kingdom] makes himself
an enemy of God. "
[James 4:4, Bible, NKJV]
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"Above all, you must live as citizens of
heaven [INSTEAD of citizens of earth.
You can only be a
citizen of ONE place at a time because you can only have a domicile
in one place at a time], conducting yourselves
in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I
come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you
are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting
together for the faith, which is the Good News."
[Philippians 1:27, Bible, NLT]
_________________________________________
“And when you saw that Nahash king of the
Ammonites came against you, you said to me, ‘No, but a king
shall reign over us,’ when the Lord your God was your king.
[. . .]
And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for
your servants to the Lord your God, that we may not die; for
we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king [or
political ruler above us] for ourselves.”
[1 Sam. 12:12, 19, Bible, NKJV]
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“For whoever
does the will of
God is My brother and My sister and mother.”
[Jesus, in
Mark 3:35, NKJV]
