Bible Questions Answered:
“What kind of government did they have in bible days?”
Bonnie/ London, United Kingdom
Bible Answer:
There are some four forms of government mentioned.
THEOCRACY:
God, the ruler of His people.
Genesis 3:8 KJV
And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day..."
Adam and Eve and their descendents, were under the rule of God, until the Patriarchal period.
PATRIARCHAL:
Paternal rights. The family unit, father, mother and children. The father (or eldest male) was the ruler of his home. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and his sons were patriarchs.
Acts 7:8 KJV
And He gave him the covenant of circumcision: and so Abraham begat Isaac, and circumcised him the eighth day; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat the twelve patriarchs.
Job 1:1-5 KJV
1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.
2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
THE PATRIARCHS:
A time believed to be from 1900 B.C. To 1500 B.C.
The patriarchs were, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and his sons.
The patriarchs, nomads with flocks and herds, were in groups of families or clans, who prayed and sacrificed to God.
A complete list of patriarchs, Usher, Hales & Calmet, is as follows.
Adam
Seth
Enos
Cainan
Mahalaleel
Jared
Enoch
Methuselah
Lamech
Noah
Shem
Time of the flood:
Arphaxad
Salah
Eber
Peleg
Reu
Serug
Nahor
Terah
Abram
Isaac
Jacob, and his sons
Jacob's sons:
Reuben (Genesis 29:32),
Simeon (Genesis 29:33),
Levi (Genesis 29:34), (Had no inheritance for land, as God, Himself was their inheritance.)
Judah (Genesis 29:35),
Dan (Genesis 30:5),
Naphtali (Genesis 30:7),
Gad (Genesis 30:10),
Asher (Genesis 30:12),
Issachar (Genesis 30:17),
Zebulun (Genesis 30:19),
Joseph (Genesis 30:23) (Joseph's sons take his place, Mannasseh and Ephraim.)
Benjamin (Genesis 35:18).
THEOCRACY:
God, the ruler of His people:
Exodus 19:3-8 KJV
3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto Myself.
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine:
6 And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
7 And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the LORD commanded him.
8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD.
Numbers 9:18 KJV
At the commandment of the LORD the children of Israel journeyed..."
JUDGES:
Moses, leading his people,Israel, in the desert, for some time had been the judge in all matters. When the task became too great because of the increasing size of God's people, Moses' father in law, Jethro suggested that Godly rulers be appointed.
Exodus 18:17-26 KJV
17 And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.
18 Thou wilt surely wear away, both thou, and this people that is with thee: for this thing is too heavy for thee; thou art not able to perform it thyself alone.
19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward, that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:
20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.
21 Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:
22 And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.
23 If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.
24 So Moses hearkened to the voice of his father in law, and did all that he had said.
25 And Moses chose able men out of all Israel, and made them heads over the people, rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens.
26 And they judged the people at all seasons: the hard causes they brought unto Moses, but every small matter they judged themselves.
Deuteronomy 1:15,16 KJV
15 So I took the chief of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, and captains over fifties, and captains over tens, and officers among your tribes.
16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between every man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him.
Deep reverence was shown to the rulers of God's people.
Psalm 82:1,6 KJV (Exodus 21:6) (The Almighty Judge, speaks to earthly judges.) Read the whole chapter.
1 God standeth in the congregation of the mighty; He judgeth among the gods*.
6 I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the Most High.
*Gods:-Hebrew-Elohiym-(El-o-heem): Plural, the Supreme God/ occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates.
Abingodn's Strong's Concordance of the Bible
Much, could be said at this point about the awesome responsibility of God's magistrates, be they spiritual or worldly, but such is not the topic of discussion here.
Once in Canaan, judges, again ruled over God's people.
Deuteronomy 16:18 KJV
Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the LORD thy God giveth thee, throughout thy tribes: and they shall judge the people with just judgment.
JUDGES OF ISRAEL:
Othniel (Judges 3:9)
Ehud (Judges 3:15)
Shamgar (Judges 3:31)
Deborah (Judges 4:5)
Gideon (Judges 6:36)
Abimelech (Judges (9:1)
Tola (Judges 10:1)
Jair (Judges 10:3)
Jephthah (Judges 11:11)
Ibzan (Judges 12:8)
Elon (Judges 12:11)
Abdon (Judges 12:13)
Samson (Judges 16:30)
Eli (I Samuel 4:18)
Samuel (I Samuel 7:15)
The time of the judges saw an endless cycle from God's blessing to spiritual lethargy, to open sin, to judgment, to repentance, back to God's blessing, over and over again. What was that saying?
“The only thing we learn from history is that we learn nothing from history.”
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)
Alas, so it was for Israel, and we today?
MONARCHY:
The people demanded of Samuel, a King to rule over them.
I Samuel 8:4-7 KJV
4 Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
5 And said unto him (Samuel), Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
I Samuel 10:24 KJV
And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him (Saul the son of Kish.) whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.
KINGS OF ISRAEL:
Jeroboam (I Kings 11:28)
Nadab (I Kings 14:20)
Baasha (I Kings 15:16)
Elah (I Kings 16:8)
Zimri (I Kings 16:15)
Omri (I Kings (16:16)
Ahab (I Kings 16:29)
Ahaziah (I Kings 22:40)
Jehoram (Joram) (II Kings 1:17)
Jehu (I Kings 19:16)
Jehoahaz (II Kings 10:35)
Jehoash (II Kings 13:10)
Jeroboam (II Kings 14:23)
Zachariah (II Kings 14:29)
Shallum (II Kings 15:10)
Menahem (II Kings 15:14)
Pekahiah (II Kings 15:23)
Pekah (II Kings 15:25)
Hoshea (II Kings 15:30)
KINGS OF JUDAH:
Rehoboam (I Kings 11:43)
Abijam (Abijah) (I Kings 14:31)
Asa (I Kings 15:8)
Jehoshaphat (II Kings 15:24)
Jehoram (II Chronicles 21:1)
Ahaziah (II Kiings 8:25)
Athaliah (II Kings 8:26)
Joash (Jehoash) (II Kings 11:2)
Amaziah (II Kings 14:1)
Uzziah (Azariah) (II Kiings 14:21)
Jotham (II Kings 15:5)
Ahaz (II Kings 15:38)
Hezekiah (II Kings 16:20)
Manasseh ( II Kings 21:2)
Amon (II Kings 21:19)
Josiah (I Kings 13:2)
Jehoahaz (Shallum) (II Kings 23:30)
Jehoiakim (II Kings 23:34)
Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) (II Kings 24:6)
Zedekiah (Mattaniah) (II Kings 24:17)
What shall be the government in the millennium, or when there will be a new heaven and a new earth?
Answer: As it was in the beginning, so forever it shall be.....
THEOCRACY:
God, the ruler of His people.
Revelation 22:1-5 KJV
1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb.
2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
3 And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve Him:
4 And they shall see His face; and His name shall be in their foreheads.
5 And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
