Theocracy - Part 2
The Big Question: how many years was Israel under a theocracy? When did they switch to a Monarchy? The Bible tells a fantastic story of Israel's history. What is the major question that the average Christian doesn't even know?
The Big Question
by Pastor Don Elmore
November 9, 2014
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 31:23
What kind of government did Israel operate under when they were freed from Egyptian slavery? Were they under a democracy? Monarchy? Dictatorship? Republic? No, there were under a form of government that no one else ever was under. The seed of the people who were recipients of the covenant made and swore to by God; were under a theocracy.
A theocracy was rule by God. God had made a covenant with Abraham, later confirmed this covenant with his son, Isaac, and then passed it on to Esau. But Esau despised the covenant and sold it to Jacob; the other of Isaac’s twin-sons. This is why many, many times in the Bible, God refers to Himself as being the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” (Exodus 3:6, and many other places).It is nowhere written in the Bible, that God is the “God of Abraham, Isaac and Esau” although that is what most Christians believe! God wasn’t the king of the entire world; He was king of His people.
Why was Israel in Egypt in the first place? God, in his covenant, had said that His people were to go to a nation and serve them. The time that they were to be there was 215 years; 4 generations. The Canaanites, whose land they were promised, had not as yet fulfilled all of the evil that they were to do.