The End Time Church: From the Cathedrals to the Catacombs

By Dan L. White

Copyright ©2018 by Dan L. White, all rights reserved.
Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB) which is in the public domain.

Chapter 41

The King Rules His Kingdom

There was no doubt that Yahweh governed Israel personally. Look what He did.

1. He rescued Israel from Pharaoh and finished him off with ten plagues and a wall of wobbly water.
2. He gave Israel the ten rules of life with an earthquaking in-person sermon and a granite handwritten letter.
3. He helped the Hebrew grasshoppers run the eight foot tall giants out of the Promised Land.
4. He raised up judges like Gideon and Samson to lead Israel out of oppression by their surrounding enemies.

Yes, Yahweh as Yeshua did lead Israel personally. In spite of all that, what happened?

Israel decided that God could not govern them directly!

1Sam 8:5
5) …now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.”

It’s no surprise then that Yeshua, as He did with the Hebrews, governs His new covenant flock directly.

First of all, He began His flock at Pentecost — on His timing — making the disciples wait.

Acts 1
4) Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me.

He personally picked Judas’ replacement.

Acts 1
23) They put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.
24) They prayed, and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen
25) to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place.”
26) They drew lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

When some of the early disciples lied to the spirit of the Lord or Master, He personally booted them to Boot Hill.

Acts 5
1) But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira, his wife, sold a possession,
2) and kept back part of the price, his wife also being aware of it, and brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
3) But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4) While you kept it, didn’t it remain your own? After it was sold, wasn’t it in your power? How is it that you have conceived this thing in your heart? You haven’t lied to men, but to God.”
5) Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and died. Great fear came on all who heard these things.
6) The young men arose and wrapped him up, and they carried him out and buried him.
7) About three hours later, his wife, not knowing what had happened, came in.
8) Peter answered her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” She said, “Yes, for so much.”
9) But Peter asked her, “How is it that you have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.”
10) She fell down immediately at his feet, and died. The young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her by her husband.

When Stephen was murdered, Yeshua was right there with him.

Acts 7
55) But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Yeshua standing on the right hand of God,
56) and said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”
57) But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord.
58) They threw him out of the city, and stoned him. The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59) They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, “Lord Yeshua, receive my spirit!”
60) He kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

Christ had Philip walk into the desert to meet with an Ethiopian high official, and then, to save Philip the walk back, gave him a supersonic return flight.

Acts 8
26) But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying, “Arise, and go toward the south to the way that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert.”
27) He arose and went; and behold, there was a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was over all her treasure, who had come to Jerusalem to worship.
28) He was returning and sitting in his chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah.
29) The Spirit said to Philip, “Go near, and join yourself to this chariot.”
30) Philip ran to him, and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31) He said, “How can I, unless someone explains it to me?” He begged Philip to come up and sit with him.

34) The eunuch answered Philip, “Who is the prophet talking about? About himself, or about someone else?”
35) Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him Yeshua.
36) As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?”

38) He commanded the chariot to stand still, and they both went down into the water, both Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.
39) When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, and the eunuch didn’t see him any more, for he went on his way rejoicing.
40) But Philip was found at Azotus. Passing through, he preached the Good News to all the cities, until he came to Caesarea.

Yeshua personally picked His apostle to the Gentiles, which was somewhat of a surprise to the Christianos, to the Jews — and to that apostle himself.

Acts 9
1) But Saul, still breathing threats and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest,
2) and asked for letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus, that if he found any who were of the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.
3) As he traveled, it happened that he got close to Damascus, and suddenly a light from the sky shone around him.
4) He fell on the earth, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5) He said, “Who are you, Lord?” The Lord said, “I am Yeshua, whom you are persecuting.
6) But rise up, and enter into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7) The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the sound, but seeing no one.
8) Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. They led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.
9) He was without sight for three days, and neither ate nor drank.
10) Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias!” He said, “Behold, it’s me, Lord.”
11) The Lord said to him, “Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying,
12) and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in, and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight.”
13) But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem.
14) Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”
15) But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel.
16) For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

We notice in all those examples that there was no church government bureaucracy that Yeshua went through. He did not check what He did with the “church government.”

Why not?

He is the church government.

What if there had been layers of bureaucratic church government in place? What would they have done in each of those instances?

In picking a disciple to replace Judas, they would not have chosen by looking at the hearts of the men. They couldn’t. So they inevitably would have chosen based on outward appearance, education, flattering words, and men pleasing ability. But that’s not what happened. “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen.” And He did choose, as only He could.

When Ananias and Saphira, who had probably seen the miraculous scene on Pentecost and miraculous healings, decided to pretend they had given more than they had, no church government would have condemned them to Boot Hill. After all, they did give a substantial amount to the church! Nevertheless, Christ sent them to Boot Hill, so called from the old west, where gunfighters were buried because they died “with their boots on” and not a bed-ridden death. Ananias and Saphira died with their sandals on and were not even given a formal burial. The young men just dug a hole and in they went.

Again, no church government would have or could have done it that way.

No church government would have picked Saul/Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles. First of all, he was not a Gentile but a Hebrew from the little tribe of Benjamin that was almost wiped out because of their perversion. Wouldn’t a Gentile have been better for the apostle to the Gentiles? Or if an Israelite, wouldn’t someone from Judah or even Ephraim have seemed more appropriate?

Besides, Paul was the most avid persecutor of the Christianos. Even Ananias, the one who was used to restore Paul’s sight, was surprised by Christ’s thinking. “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem. Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” Ananias was surely a great guy — but he was just a guy.

Repeat — no church government would have picked a Benjamite, the prime persecutor of the flock, to be the apostle to the Gentiles. But Christ did.

Worked out pretty good.

A church government probably would not have sent Philip hiking into the Negev just to chase down one Ethiopian chariot. How illogical is that? Jerusalem was full of people, so why go off into the desert to meet with one Ethiopian? The disciples were prone to such logical thinking as that, as we all are.

Matt 26
6) Now when Yeshua was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper,
7) a woman came to him having an alabaster jar of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table.
8) But when his disciples saw this, they were indignant, saying, “Why this waste?
9) For this ointment might have been sold for much, and given to the poor.”

Doesn’t that sound like normal church government thinking there? So most church bureaucracies would have negated sending Philip to the Negev.

This is such an important lesson, so obvious yet so difficult to accept. Christ the King rules His flock as if He is King. Christians are quick to agree that Christ is King, but very slow to admit that He rules as King.

As He did with Cornelius and Peter.

Acts 10
1) Now there was a certain man in Caesarea, Cornelius by name, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment,
2) a devout man, and one who feared God with all his house, who gave gifts for the needy generously to the people, and always prayed to God.
3) At about the ninth hour of the day, he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God coming to him, and saying to him, “Cornelius!”
4) He, fastening his eyes on him, and being frightened, said, “What is it, Lord?” He said to him, “Your prayers and your gifts to the needy have gone up for a memorial before God.
5) Now send men to Joppa, and get Simon, who is surnamed Peter.

19) While Peter was pondering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men seek you.
20) But arise, get down, and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them.”
21) Peter went down to the men, and said, “Behold, I am he whom you seek. Why have you come?”
22) They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, a righteous man and one who fears God, and well spoken of by all the nation of the Jews, was directed by a holy angel to invite you to his house, and to listen to what you say.”

Yeshua personally directed all that. And He personally assigned Paul and Barnabas their jobs.

Acts 13
1) Now in the assembly that was at Antioch there were some prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen the foster brother of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.
2) As they served the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Separate Barnabas and Saul for me, for the work to which I have called them.”

Paul was even told exactly where to go.

Or where not to go, as in ‘Don’t go to Asia.’

Acts 16
6) When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
7) When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn’t allow them.
8) Passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9) A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him, and saying, “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”
10) When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the Good News to them.

Paul was told to stay in Corinth for a while.

Acts 18
5) But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.
6) When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”
7) He departed there, and went into the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue.
8) Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized.
9) The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Don’t be afraid, but speak and don’t be silent;
10) for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”
11) He lived there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Paul was told to go to Rome.

Acts 19
21) Now after these things had ended, Paul determined in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.”
22) Having sent into Macedonia two of those who served him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.

Acts 23
10) When a great argument arose, the commanding officer, fearing that Paul would be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks.
11) The following night, the Lord stood by him, and said, “Cheer up, Paul, for as you have testified about me at Jerusalem, so you must testify also at Rome.”

Acts 27
23) For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve,
24) saying, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’

Church governments often do what Christ did in all those examples there — tell their men where to go and what to do.

Church governments can be a form of socialism, where elitist central planners — those who are supposed to know better — replace individual choice. Paul did go to Jerusalem to check with the apostles, elders and the whole assembly about circumcision, but that was the whole assembly and not just an elitist corps. And after that Paul looked directly to Christ for his personal direction. He did not look to other men to tell him where to go and what to do.

If Yeshua is the King of His flock, and He is, this means each individual in the flock must look directly to Christ for his guidance and not to a denominational government. When people look to governments of men first, the servant is not above his master. Speakers tend to check what they say with their church or denomination first, rather than checking with Christ first, and that is then the source of their inspiration, more inspired by men than by God.

It is not enough just to have the knowledge that Christ is King. In each personal life we must acknowledge that He is my King. This is not just a theological position but a personal conversion.

John 20:28
…”My Lord and my God!”

This is learning not to be like Israel with their go-between, get-in-the way kings.

Does Christ use church bureaucracies then? Does He imitate Rome, the epitome of human governments?

Yeshua personally led Israel through the wilderness as their Rock. He even told them where to go and when to leave, as the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. They moved only when He told them to. They went only where He led them. Originally there was no human king under Him, and no government bureaucracy under Him, to take Israel’s children, their property, their taxes and their devotion. The King personally governed Israel as only He can.

Then — no surprise! — the same King governs new covenant Israel the same way.

Personally.

No pyramid of power.

No sprawling government bureaucracy.

The Roman emperor was not God. He had to have a pyramid of power to govern his kingdom, simply because he was human. He could only see across the room, until he got older and then he couldn’t even clearly see that far. Even if he had used glasses, he could still only see people’s appearance and not their hearts. With his pyramid of soldiers and magistrates and Herods and Pilates, he could only control people by force, not by spirit.

Yeshua is God, the Son of God. He can see not only across the room, but all across the world. He not only sees the outside of people but also their hearts. He leads his people by spirit, not by force. Since Yeshua is God, He does not need a pyramid of power — a human bureaucratic government — to control His flock. He has enough power to do that Himself.

Yeshua was the opposite of Roman emperors such as Augustus and Tiberius, so we would naturally expect Him to govern in an opposite way from those guys. No — Christ’s flock is not governed like the Roman empire with a pyramid of power and a smothering government bureaucracy.

However, old covenant Israel rejected this personal King for a Roman type human bureaucracy. Would new covenant Israel do the same thing?

The End Time Church: From the Cathedrals to the Catacombs

By Dan L. White

Copyright ©2017 by Dan L. White, all rights reserved.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB) which is in the public domain.

Chapter 40

Two Kingdoms

Two kingdoms, in continuous conflict, each trying to eliminate the other.

One is the Kingdom of God. Christ spoke often about that kingdom.

Mark 1:14-15
14) Now after John was taken into custody, Yeshua came into Galilee, preaching the Good News of the Kingdom of God,
15) and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand! Repent, and believe in the Good News.”

Luke 8:1
1) It happened soon afterwards, that he went about through cities and villages, preaching and bringing the good news of the Kingdom of God. With him were the twelve,

Christ had good reason to teach about the Kingdom of God. After all, that’s why He was sent.

Luke 4:43
43) But he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the Kingdom of God to the other cities also. For this reason I have been sent.”

The Kingdom of God, also called the Kingdom of Heaven, is not of this world, not of this present age.

John 18:36
36) Yeshua answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my Kingdom is not from here.”

Paul wrote that the Kingdom of God is not a fleshly kingdom.

1Cor 15:50
50) Now I say this, brothers, that flesh and blood can’t inherit the Kingdom of God; neither does corruption inherit incorruption.

The Kingdom of God has its beginning in its King and his redeemed, but the fullness of it is still to come.

Luke 21:5-7, 28-31
5) As some were talking about the temple and how it was decorated with beautiful stones and gifts, he said,
6) “As for these things which you see, the days will come, in which there will not be left here one stone on another that will not be thrown down.”
7) They asked him, “Teacher, so when will these things be? What is the sign that these things are about to happen?”

28) But when these things begin to happen, look up, and lift up your heads, because your redemption is near.”
29) He told them a parable. “See the fig tree, and all the trees.
30) When they are already budding, you see it and know by your own selves that the summer is already near.
31) Even so you also, when you see these things happening, know that the Kingdom of God is near.

So the fullness of the kingdom is yet to come. The Messiah’s followers who will be in the Kingdom of God are often described as a flock. Yahweh, or Yeshua, led Israel through the wilderness like a flock of sheep.

Ps 77:20
20) You led your people like a flock, by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

Ps 78:52
52) But he led forth his own people like sheep, and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.

However, Israel acted more like goats than sheep, leading to a new flock.

Isa 40:10-11
10) Behold, the Lord Yahweh will come as a mighty one, and his arm will rule for him. Behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.
11) He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom. He will gently lead those who have their young.

Ezek 34:22-23
22) therefore will I save my flock, and they shall no more be a prey; and I will judge between sheep and sheep.
23) I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.

In his earthly years, Yeshua often referred to his followers as His flock.

Luke 12:32
32) Don’t be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.

John 10:1-16
1) “Most certainly, I tell you, one who doesn’t enter by the door into the sheep fold, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
2) But one who enters in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
3) The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name, and leads them out.
4) Whenever he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.
5) They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him; for they don’t know the voice of strangers.”
6) Yeshua spoke this parable to them, but they didn’t understand what he was telling them.
7) Yeshua therefore said to them again, “Most certainly, I tell you, I am the sheep’s door.
8) All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them.
9) I am the door. If anyone enters in by me, he will be saved, and will go in and go out, and will find pasture.
10) The thief only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.
11) I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12) He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who doesn’t own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep, and flees. The wolf snatches the sheep, and scatters them.
13) The hired hand flees because he is a hired hand, and doesn’t care for the sheep.
14) I am the good shepherd. I know my own, and I’m known by my own;
15) even as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I lay down my life for the sheep.
16) I have other sheep, which are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will hear my voice. They will become one flock with one shepherd.

That flock is the beginning of the Kingdom of God —

One of the two conflicting kingdoms.

The other kingdom is of this world.

1John 5:19
19) We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

When Satan offered Christ the kingdoms of this world if Yeshua would worship him, those were Satan’s to give.

Matt 4:8-9
8) Again, the devil took him to an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world, and their glory.
9) He said to him, “I will give you all of these things, if you will fall down and worship me.”

The kingdoms of this world are Satan’s kingdom.

During Christ’s earthly life, the seat of this world’s kingdom was Rome, the apex of worldly kingdoms. Even to this day Rome is widely praised for its efficient government administration.

So how did Rome — this world’s kingdom, Satan’s kingdom — govern?

The hallmark of the Roman Empire was its extensive system of imperial administration, which included a hierarchy of magistrates and provincial governors.[1]

Which is to say, the prime mark of the Roman Empire was its smothering government bureaucracy, the penultimate pyramid of power.

At the top of the pyramid was the emperor, Augustus being the first.

Augustus built a foundation for his rule by consolidating political power in himself. At the same time, he maintained the veneer of the old republican political institutions by preserving the Senate, popular assemblies, and magisterial offices, though over time these bodies became more ceremonial than functional, merely rubber-stamping the decrees of the emperor. Augustus also reshaped the Senate, reducing its number from over one thousand to six hundred by weeding out senators he considered unworthy and handpicking its membership.[2]

Rome governed – and Satan governs – by centralizing power in a person. The first emperor Augustus kept the Roman Senate, giving the appearance of still having the Republic. However, the Senate was reduced in number, then the senators were handpicked by the emperor and therefore controlled by the emperor. It was no longer a Republic Senate, just a Rubber Stamp. They were not a check on the power of the emperor. They were just a part of the emperor’s pyramid of power.

Augustus and his successors built a system of imperial government to administer the empire’s vast territories and link them to the capital. This system, which allowed the provinces some measure of independence while being subject to Roman taxation and military control—functions crucial for the maintenance of the empire—proved quite efficient. Augustus settled former soldiers in the provinces, thus spreading Roman political and cultural influence and securing his power in distant lands…[3]

The emperor controlled Roman administration as he had done with the Senate. Every government position was an extension of the emperor’s power — just a piece of the pyramid.

The period of peace and prosperity inaugurated by Augustus persisted until the end of the second century, the high-water mark of the Roman Empire. By this time, the empire had attained an unprecedented degree of organization and unity—a remarkable achievement for such a large and diverse set of territories. This unity was attributed directly to the emperor: whereas under the Republic Romans’ chief loyalty had been to the state and its institutions, under the empire the emperor himself became their primary allegiance. Throughout the empire, cults were formed to worship the emperor and his family.[4]

Notice that the focus was placed on one powerful person, so much so that the person in power was even worshiped.

The emperors from Augustus through Marcus Aurelius (121–180) continued to strengthen their position and prerogatives. Many emperors came up through the military, and they used the power of the army to secure their rule. By the second century the emperor was named in public documents as dominus noster (Our Master), and his decrees were legally binding—indeed, all laws came from the emperor in the form of edicts, judgments, and mandates…[5]

All laws came from the emperor. His word was law. Naturally then, it was unlawful to disagree with the dictator who made the laws. After all, he was dominus noster, “Our Master.”

The emperor was known as the princeps (first citizen) during the first two centuries of the empire. Under this system, called the principate, the emperor consolidated the political power of several offices that had existed under the Republic: He took on the executive functions and imperium (absolute authority) of the consul (chief magistrate) and the religious authority of the pontifex maximus (high priest). Additionally, the emperor was invested with two other types of absolute authority: imperium proconsulare, governorship and command of the provinces, and imperium proconsulare maius, the power to trump any magistrate anywhere in the empire. Over time, the emperor took on all lawmaking authority…[6]

The emperor was imperium consul, pontifex maximus, imperium proconsulare, and imperium proconsulare maius. In other words, he was it. The government of Rome that is so praised for efficiency was that way because it bulldozed over individual freedoms.

That was how Rome governed – an extensive system of imperial administration under the emperor.

That’s how Satan governs.

Satan’s kingdom has power centralized in a person. That person is evil to whatever degree before they receive that power, then their evil is magnified by that power. Roman emperors are without exception signets of unchained human nature, the evil embodied in the human heart allowed free rein by royal reign.

Under that powerful person are political appointees who serve the centralized power. This pyramid of power is upheld by force of arms, soldiers whose sole purpose is not to uphold right and wrong but only to uphold the centralized power. The emperor or king or party chairman or fuhrer is right and it is wrong to even question whether he is right.

For example, in 30 CE the Roman emperor Tiberius had Herod in Galilee and Pilate in Judea. They were appointed by Rome and sought to serve Rome. Pilate knew that killing an innocent and righteous man was wrong, yet when the Jews threatened him with not being a friend of Caesar, he did what he knew was wrong because of Rome. The Jews themselves condemned Yeshua to death, to solidify their position with Rome. The Roman soldiers tortured and executed a man they didn’t even know, because they served Rome. They never questioned whether Rome was right because Rome itself was right. The soldiers were merely pawns of Roman power.

Those enslaved under such a government are indoctrinated not to individually evaluate right and wrong because the power itself is said to be right. You do not question whether or not the pharaoh, king, Caesar, Fuhrer or party chairman is right, simply because he cannot be wrong. To question whether or not the Fuhrer is right is itself wrong. You’re being disloyal to the Fuhrer.

This is extremely important to understand. This causes people to not individually judge what is right and wrong. They simply have someone else tell them what is right and wrong. When people are told to do wrong, they think they are doing right, because their leader told them it is right, and the leader is always right.

Why did so many Germans fight to the bitter end in World War II? After the imbecilic invasion of the Soviet Union, Germany had no chance of winning a war on multiple fronts, yet the Germans fought on, even to the last block around Hitler’s bunker in Berlin. Why? Why did Germans accept attacking so many nations who had not attacked Germany? Why did Germans participate in crimes against humanity seldom heard of in human history? Why did Germans give up their own lives and well being in a futile and fatal cause?

They did that because they thought they were doing right, because serving the Fuhrer was right.

Heil, Hitler.

This happens over and over in history, as in Rome, Socialist Germany, and Communist China, etc. The focus is subtly shifted from what is right to who is right. People then stop judging what is right and wrong, and simply accept their leader as being right. This is Satan’s prime tool of deception, giving up free will to follow the leader’s will.

This type of government is said to be from the top down. It is not. It is government from the bottom up, because somebody on the bottom gets in front of God. In this government, God does not set right and wrong. The human leader does. And when Satan centralizes human government in such a leader, all he has to do then is control that one person and he controls everybody who follows that person.

As can be seen today in most accounts of the Roman Empire, this type of government is often praised because of its ability to control the people. How does it control the people? By not allowing them the freedom to disagree. They are not unified by the spirit but by force. Unify or die.

The Roman Republic had been founded on the premise of rejecting this type of total government control. But after years of civil war in Rome, an all controlling government was accepted and embraced by the Romans because of its peace keeping ability. Most were content to follow and even worship the emperor, and any who actively disagreed were inactivated.

When this type of government is combined with a charismatic messianic leader, it is viewed as the epitomical human government. Its subjects are emotionally inspired while they’re spiritually numbed. When Hitler became chancellor of Germany in January 1933, a million Germans joyfully took to the streets to celebrate. They no longer had to judge right and wrong. It was right for the National Socialists to outlaw all other political parties because the Fuhrer said so. It was right to hate and kill Jews because the Fuhrer said so. It was right to invade Czechoslovakia and Poland and Belgium and Holland and France and Russia because the Fuhrer said so. Germany would win an impossible war because the Fuhrer said so. They knew the Fuhrer was right so all they had to do was follow the Fuhrer.

Because of their maniacal messianic support of the Fuhrer, sixty million people died, including many of those on that march.

When Yeshua began His new covenant flock, two parallel kingdoms were in continuous conflict, each trying to eliminate the other. One is the Kingdom of God, with Christ and His flock. The other is the kingdom of Satan, typified by Rome, with territories conquered by war, an economy supported by slavery, peace enforced by soldiers and a pyramid of power that spread a blanket of suffocating government control.

And that’s how Satan’s kingdom is governed.

How is the other kingdom governed? How does a Shepherd lead a flock? Does He have a human messianic leader with his own personal pyramid of power, like Rome?

Endnotes

[1] “Roman Empire”, Gale Encyclopedia of World History: Governments http://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcriptand-maps/roman-empire

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.