I Samuel 8:18-19 “And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us.”
Thomas Paine argues that a monarchy is sinful because it supersedes the authority of God, but is also onerous because it overreaches into the lives of men. Such is the case with a government that exceeds its underlying limited function of security and restraint against our own vices.
An overreaching governor takes our sons and appoints them for himself. He takes our daughters “to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers.” He takes the best of our fields, vineyards, oliveyards, and flocks. Paine reminds the reader that “neither do the characters of the few good kings which have lived since, either sanctify the title, or blot out the sinfulness of the origin.”
Excessive government is onerous, and burdens the people more than it benefits them. Such has been the case since the monarchical foundation, and such is the case today. It prompted our forefathers to revolt, though it has once again ensnared us today by our ignorant acquiescence.
PLEASE PRAY THAT WE WOULD RETURN TO A GOVERNMENT CHARACTERIZED BY BENEFIT AND NOT BURDEN. If we refuse to obey God’s plan for government, then we must expect continued onerousness instead of opportunity.
