THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD
In this end time, just prior to the return of Jesus Christ and the setting up of God's Kingdom on Earth, there are specific and crucial areas of doctrine that have been seriously misinterpreted and misapplied by some sections of the true Church of God.
These doctrines represent long-cherished beliefs of the Church, but are, upon closer examination, not backed up by the Scriptures.
One of the most significant of these is the concept of "the Government of God".
It is the intent of the author to prove beyond doubt that "one man government", which was employed by God in various ways over physical Israel, has under the New Covenant been superseded by "one God government" over spiritual Israel, i.e. Jesus Christ as Head of the Church.
The Origin of One Man Church Government
In this end time, much has been made of the "government of God" that Herbert Armstrong (HWA) is said to have "restored" to the Church. This form of government is commonly referred to as "one man rule". Admittedly, some Churches of God (COG) have not employed this form of government since HWA's death, but they will still state that there is nothing wrong with it in principle.
However, below is a quote from HWA's booklet "Who or What is the Prophetic Beast?" (p26, 1985 version), showing that HWA himself strongly criticised this form of government.
The bracketed writing within Herbert Armstrong's text is mine, as is the underlining of his text.
"Where, then, did human church government derive its present form? "The first pope, in the real sense of the word, was Leo I (440-461 A.D.)," says the Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature, volume 7, page 629. To him the form of government of the Roman Empire (one man rule, i.e. the emperor) was the most marvelous thing on earth. He applied its principles to the church, organized the church into a government, forming the papacy (one man rule, i.e. the Pope). This church government or organization is the image of the beast. Says Myers' Ancient History: "During the reign of Leo I, the Church set up, within the Roman Empire, an ecclesiastical state [government] which, in its constitution and its administrative system, was shaping itself upon the imperial model." This church government, then, according to this historical authority, is in fact a model, a counterpart, an image of the beast which is the Roman Empire government. The Britannica calls it an ecclesiastical world empire! This image, man-designed and man-ruled (one man ruled) church government, compelled people to worship the church (worship the Pope, just like the emperor was worshipped)! And since the church was organized into a worldly government (identical to that of the Beast powers), this was worship of the image, false worship (of the one man at the top, rather than God), idolatry!".
Herbert Armstrong here says that the office of the Roman Emperor embodied the ultimate form of government to Leo I, and that Leo created the office of the Papacy in its image. As Herbert Armstrong says, by doing this and by introducing this office into the Roman Catholic Church, Leo became "the first pope, in the real sense of the word".
How utterly amazing then that Herbert Armstrong himself established this same "image of the Beast" office, calling it "Pastor-General", in the Church of God!
The whole concept of a "universal bishop", or pope, is a Catholic invention. "Pastor-general of the Worldwide Church of God" is exactly the same office. A good example of how leadership actually used to be applied in the early Church is that of Polycarp, who lived in the second century AD. He was the "Bishop of Smyrna", that is, just the region of the city of Smyrna. He was a leader in the true Church, but similarly, every city where Christians dwelt had its bishop (or overseer). No particular bishop had the pre-eminence. The fact that Polycarp is specifically designated as bishop "of Smyrna" shows the limitation of his territory.
There is no Biblical record of an office of "universal bishop" ever having been created by God for a man. It is certainly not the New Testament equivalent of high priest, for that office today belongs to Christ (Heb 4:14).
Moses, Aaron and Joshua as Types of Christ
The first leader of the nation of Israel was Moses, whom God used as mediator between Himself and His people. Moses led Israel out of Egypt, a type of sin, and he led Israel out of the reach of Pharaoh, a type of Satan. He taught God's law at Mt Sinai, and he judged disputes between the people.
In all these roles, Moses was a type of Jesus Christ in His role as Head of State (Acts 3:19-24, Heb 3:1-6).
We see this in Dt 18:15 where Moses is compared to "a Prophet" who was to appear at a future time, and who is described by Moses as "like unto me". John 6:14 confirms this to be Jesus Christ.
Moses' brother Aaron was high priest as well as Moses' spokesman. The book of Hebrews leaves no doubt that Jesus Christ is now the spiritual High Priest (Heb 5:1-10) and, as "the Word" (Jn 1:1), He is also the Spokesman of the God Family in its dealings with, and education of mankind.
Aaron therefore was a type of Jesus Christ in His role as Head of Religion.
After Moses’ death his role was filled by Joshua, while after Aaron’s death his role was filled by Eleazar and then Phinehas.
God does everything with order and planning. He first created and organised the nation of Israel under the leadership of Moses and Aaron. Under these men, in Old Covenant Israel, there were twelve leaders, one each from the twelve tribes, as seen in Num 1 and 10, where these twelve are twice mentioned by name.
In addition, look at the meticulous way in which God instructed Moses to organise and encamp the twelve tribes of Israel in Num 2 and 3, and the way that they travelled, as described in Num 10 and 33. Also notice the organised way that Moses and Joshua directed the twelve tribes to occupy their land, as detailed in Num 34 to 36 and Josh 13 to 21. This was no haphazard, accidental development of a nation.
Notice how the number twelve is interwoven throughout the Scriptures and is obviously related to government structure under God. Study that number using Strong's Concordance. Here are just a few examples:
Twelve sons of Israel and their descendant tribes
Twelve stones in Aaron's ephod
Twelve pillars at Mount Sinai
Twelve spies who went into Canaan, one from each tribe
Twelve stones set up by Joshua at the crossing of the Jordan
Twelve Judges in the Judges period, almost certainly one from each tribe
Twelve stones in Elijah's altar over which he poured twelve buckets of water
Twelve oxen under the "molten sea" in the Temple
Twelve cakes on the golden table in the Temple
Twelve gates in New Jerusalem
Twelve months in a regular year
Twelve stars on the crown worn by the woman in Rev 12:1 picturing the Church
No leader like Moses or Joshua was appointed after Joshua's death. Even while Joshua was still alive, the account in Josh 22 shows that the twelve tribal leaders were soon governing the country, under, and in consultation with, the high priest (a type of Christ).
At that time, a serious misunderstanding almost led to civil war, but Joshua did not get involved in solving the problem. Rather, the leaders of the ten tribes living west of the Jordan (very likely those named in Num 34:16-29), in cooperation with the high priest's son and representative, Phinehas, defused a stand-off with the leaders of the tribes on the east of the Jordan. Note that it was Phinehas who had the final word on the dispute in Josh 22:30-33.
As stated, after Joshua's death no single ruler was appointed. If Israel had not strayed from God during the Judges period, the raising up of the Judges would not have been necessary; government of the state would have remained with the twelve tribal leaders of Israel under the high priest.
It makes sense that Christ's role as High Priest retained a physical counterpart in Israel, but not His role as Head of State, because the high priest's role pointed forward to the one that Christ was yet to fulfil as atoning sacrifice to reconcile God and man. Meanwhile, the invisible Christ, as Head of State over Israel, would provide for them, protect them, and bless them.
God’s Government Rejected by God's People
However, over time Israel rejected Christ as Head of State and His form of government with its twelve tribal rulers under a high priest, and requested instead to be ruled by a human king, like the nations around them.
It was 350 years after Joshua divided up the land of Israel among the twelve tribes that King Saul began to reign. After some time, however, Saul disobeyed God and became demon possessed. This placed the nation in a very difficult position, having someone with an unsound mind in charge of the country. In a system where twelve govern and one goes astray, the other eleven can deal with the bad apple. This is what happened in the case of Judas Iscariot. This is also what happened to the tribe of Benjamin, as shown in Judges 19 and 20, when they were severely punished by the other eleven tribes for doing great evil. This form of government is a safeguard to the truth and to those who are governed.
When one man ruling as sovereign goes astray, the consequences are enormous.
Had the Worldwide Church of God not had one man government when Herbert Armstrong died, and his successor, Joe Tkach Sr, had instead been one of a group of twelve leaders, he could never have led the Church to throw out many of its major doctrines. His abominable agenda would have been rejected by the other eleven.
Herbert Armstrong's "restoration of the government of God" actually brought the Church he presided over to the brink of destruction after his death.
One man government is not the government of God under the New Covenant. One man government is what the Church adopted in the Laodicea era when it rejected the government of God. Just like Israel in the days of Samuel, they said, "We don't want to be ruled by God, we want to be ruled by a man".
Jesus Christ is Head of the Church
In the same way that there were twelve sons of Israel and twelve leaders of the twelve tribes, Christ appointed twelve apostles in establishing His Church. He could have chosen one apostle and eleven evangelists, or one apostle and eleven pastors or perhaps one apostle and eleven deacons, but He didn't.
Nothing was as destructive to the Worldwide Church of God as the adoption of "image of the Beast" government. This happened in the late 1950's. Over time, this led to the alienation of God's people from Him and His law, looking as they did first and foremost to a man and depending on that man for direction rather than having a personal, close relationship with God. See the page "TEN BROKEN COMMANDMENTS" for more on this.
This was followed, after the death of that man, by the total fragmentation of the Church, with a number of men each now claiming to be "some special one" (Acts 8) and seeking to draw believers after themselves. The damage done to the longsuffering people of God is incalculable.
If ever there has been a time in history when believers once again say "I am of Paul" or "I am of Apollos" or "I am of Cephas" (I Cor 1:12 and I Cor 3:4), then this must be it. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun.
Some of the end-time Churches today believe that if only all the "Laodiceans" would unite behind their "one man" all would be fine in the Church of God. This is total nonsense. The Catholics are all united around their Pope, but what does that achieve? All the people in the world uniting behind a man will not solve our problems.
The real problem is that we are transgressing God's law, i.e. His Ten Commandments.
As already mentioned, there have been many instances of God using one man for a particular job in Old Covenant times. Noah, Moses, Joshua and the Judges are some examples. All these men were types of Jesus Christ, as a lawgiver, provider, protector, deliverer, mediator, prophet etc. None of these men, however, were permanently set up by God as a one man government that was to have ongoing successors. That permanency only became a reality when Christ overcame Satan, founded His Church and became its one and only permanent Head.
Successive "one man rule" was not found in Israel until it became a kingdom, which God states was a rejection of His government and brought punishment on the nation. Under the New Covenant, God gave the Church "one God" government under Jesus Christ. In the Laodicea era, however, many people in God's Church have once again rejected Jesus Christ as King and instead accepted a man as king. The Philadelphia era message is referring to this when it warns, "let no man take your crown" (Rev 3:11 - KJV). See the page "THE TRUE CHURCH ERAS" for more on this.
Physical succession was also found in the physical priesthood, but it has been replaced by a spirit-led priesthood, comprised of all believers (I Pet 2:5,9). The physical high priesthood was symbolic of the position now occupied by Jesus Christ. The book of Hebrews confirms this (Heb 4:14-15); He is the High Priest, while the place of regular priests is now occupied by Church members. Notice that the priests were anciently organised in 24 courses (2 x 12) to carry out their times of Temple service (I Chron 24:1-5). Again, we find Biblical organisation involving the number twelve, or a multiple thereof.
Israel, as a physical nation, was organised as twelve tribes with twelve leaders working in consultation with, and under direction of, the physical high priest. Likewise, the Church was organised with twelve apostles working with, and under the direction of, their spiritual High Priest.
The Apostle Peter
It is true that the apostle Peter sometimes took a leading role among the twelve, as some others did also (Acts 15:13-21, Gal 2:9). In Peter's case this can be seen in his address to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, his confrontation with the Jewish leaders in Acts 4, his role in handling the affair concerning Ananias and Sapphira in Acts 5, as well as his part in the calling of the first Gentile, Cornelius, in Acts 10. However, such examples do not justify the one man government doctrine which the Catholic Church calls "the Primacy of Peter". At no time did the responsibility that Christ gave Peter translate into domination of the other eleven. All the apostles were of the same rank, not "one man" lording it over eleven others of a lower rank. Peter was sanctified for his particular role among the twelve, according to his abilities, but not elevated over the others. If so, he would have received a higher office than the other apostles.
A good comparison would be a sporting team. Think of the apostles as being a team of twelve players. One is the captain of the team. He makes calls on the field, whenever situations arise requiring special guidance. Christ, however, is the manager of the team. He is the one in charge of play overall. He is the one who leads the training, directs the team and determines its playing style. Ultimately however, as manager of the team, Christ is accountable to the owner of the team, God the Father.
At no time do any of Peter's words or actions give the impression that he believes he is above the other eleven apostles. He doesn't take any titles, certainly not God's titles, and he does not speak of any prophecy as pertaining to himself.
Matthew 16:19 is often cited by those who allege that Peter alone had the authority to "bind and loose", setting him high above the others. However, only two chapters later in Mt 18:18, all twelve apostles collectively are told the same thing, i.e. that they have the authority to "bind and loose". This explains the cooperation so evident between them at the Acts 15 Church conference.
In Mark 10:35-45, James and John ask Jesus to grant that they might sit next to Him in His Kingdom, one on His right hand and one on His left. However, if Peter had been given a higher rank than the other disciples, surely the two brothers would have expected that Peter would occupy one of the places next to Christ in the Kingdom?
Some Special One
Where did one man government over the Church, under the New Covenant, originate? Look at Acts 8. The sorcerer Simon Magus came claiming to be "some special one". He was possessed and inspired by Satan the Devil, who also claims to be some special one.
Can you imagine Satan having the humility to sit down as one of twelve, like the Apostles in Acts 15, and willingly submit to the consensus of the overall group as guided by Christ? Simon Magus went on to lay the foundation of the ultimate "one man church government", i.e. the Papacy. See the page "THE MAN OF SIN" for more about Simon.
Herbert Armstrong was stripped of his ministerial credentials by the Church of God (7th Day) (COG7) in 1937, but not because of doctrines that he believed and that others wouldn't accept. The COG7 permitted ministers and members to have personal views on Biblical matters, and even to publish these. A number of ministers had their own publications, just as HWA did when from 1934 he published the Plain Truth for years whilst still continuing as a COG7 minister. Rather, he had his ministerial licence revoked because he wouldn't cooperate or work with other ministers. He wanted to be the "one man". Many matters have been left out of Herbert Armstrong's Autobiography, but his ambition to be "some special one" is evident from beginning to end. You would have to erase the whole book to hide that fact.
Sometimes a Church leader will point to Eph 3:5 or Eph 4:11-13 and claim to be an apostle or prophet, and therefore profess to exclusively represent God's government on Earth.
These Scriptures, however, prove the exact opposite.
Ephesians 3:5 states, "which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His holy apostles and prophets". This speaks of apostles (plural) and prophets (plural), not one man government. The same applies to the roles listed in Eph 4:11-13.
In addition to the core leadership group of twelve, the New Testament mentions at least eight other apostles by name. It also mentions many prophets (people who speak God's word); I Cor 14:29-32 lays down some basic principles for how they are to conduct their speaking in an orderly fashion in each congregation.
On the other hand, look at what the apostle John wrote about a Church member seeking to elevate himself above others: "I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, prating against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church" (III Jn 9-10).
In the Church era messages, we see Christ commending this Ephesus era for withstanding the overtures of persuasive men seeking pre-eminence: "how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars" (Rev 2:2).
Paul indeed warned about "grievous wolves" and men speaking "perverse things" seeking to acquire a personal following from among God's people (Acts 20:29-30).
The Pergamos era is when the Papacy came to the fore, and so we find that era being warned about this domineering form of church government, labelling it "Satan's seat" (Rev 2:13). It would appear that in some areas the true Church had begun to follow the Papal model.
The bottom line is that God's people are God's people; Christ is their Head (Eph 1:22) and Chief Apostle (Heb 3:1), and it is not for any man to put himself in the place of Christ.
Not a Pope or a Pastor General.
Summary
Satan the Devil is the current sole ruler of this world, who doesn't want to share power with anyone. He has been permitted to set up kings, emperors and tyrants in his own image throughout his almost 6000 years of rule. The terrible results of this satanic form of government fill the pages of history.
God the Father and Jesus Christ are two God beings in a family relationship. They live in perfect harmony with each other. They are loving and giving (Jn 3:16) and desire all men to become part of their Family (I Tim 2:4, Jn 1:12).
Human beings have been created physically in the image of God and Christ, with the potential of being transformed into their spiritual image as well. As part of the process by which this Family building plan is being worked out, the nation of Israel was created. Israel the physical nation was a type of Israel the spiritual nation, the ultimate Family that God and Christ are creating.
Israel the physical nation was brought out of Egypt, a type of sin, by a man (Moses) who was a type of Christ. Israel the spiritual nation is brought out of sin by Christ Himself.
Physical Israel in general did not have the spirit of God and so could not see things from God's spiritual point of view. Moses, however, was given the holy spirit so that he could be an intermediary between the people of Israel and God.
This physical leader, Moses, was a type of Jesus Christ in His role as Head of State, i.e. lawgiver, provider and protector. Aaron the high priest served alongside him. The high priest was a type of Christ's other role as Head of Religion. This role pictured Christ as spokesman for the God Family, as well as the one who made atonement for the sins of the people.
Therefore, physical Israel was given Moses and Aaron, and after them, Joshua and Eleazar, to picture these two roles. Even when Israel rejected God's direct form of government and demanded a king, the picture continued through the reigns of the kings alongside the high priests.
However, when Christ became a man, he was born into the bloodline descended from King David (Lk 1:32-33, Jn 18:37), and through His perfect sacrifice He was made a High Priest in the order of Melchisedec (Heb 7:17).
Therefore, Jesus Christ is now Head of State (King of kings) and Head of Religion (Lord of lords) over the spiritual nation of Israel - the Church.
These roles have ceased to be filled by human beings. Fittingly, the last physical high priest died in the Roman destruction of the Temple in 70AD.
Dictators love to be worshipped, just as Satan wants to be worshipped (Matt 4:9, Rev 13:4). History records few better examples of this than the Roman Emperors whose statues the people were forced to worship and make offerings to. The penalty for non-compliance was death. The Roman Empire is pictured in the Scriptures as a component of the "Beast", i.e. the powers that controlled Jerusalem for 2520 years. The great false church imitated the form of government of this "Beast" power and created what Rev 13:15 refers to as the "image of the Beast", which in this case meant the Papacy in the image of the Roman emperor. See the page "REVELATION 13 - THE BEAST" for a full explanation of the term "image of the Beast", and its application to all Beast powers.
For God's Church to have such one man government is simply idolatry. As explained above, Jesus Christ fills both leadership roles under the New Covenant. No such roles remain for a human being to fill, as types of Christ, in New Covenant times.
What do remain are the roles Christ created, those of twelve apostles, which correspond to the twelve tribal leaders of Israel, and the twelve tribes themselves, which are now the twelve spiritual tribes, i.e. the Church (Jas 1:1, Rev 7:1-8, 12:1).
For any man to take on a "one man" leadership role in the Church under the New Covenant, and thus usurp a role that belongs to Jesus Christ, is for him to adopt the "image of the Beast". Such a man "as God, sits in the Temple of God, showing himself that he is God" (II Thes 2:4). Herbert W Armstrong introduced this office of the "man of sin" into his branch of God's Church in its final era.
Closing Comments
It is noteworthy that during the 2520 years of Israel and Judah being deprived of their blessings, they suffered under dictators and tyrants. Most historical persecution of Christians also occurred under this form of rulership. However, as soon as Israel's time of punishment was over and they started to receive their blessings, they also began receiving representative governance as one of those blessings!!
This by its nature involved dialogue, and people being humble enough to think and work together for the good of a nation. This happened with the northern European nations, Great Britain, the United States of America and also the State of Israel in 1948. In the case of Israel, with its 120 member Knesset, this again involved a multiple of the number 12.
Nations of Israelite origin led by a body of God fearing men, have been the most blessed and prosperous of all nations. It is only since their leaders have distanced themselves from God that their nations have begun to suffer mounting curses. See the page "BABYLON IS FALLEN" for more on this.
"Without counsel purposes are disappointed, but in the multitude of counselors they are established" (Pr 15:22).
"When the righteous (plural) are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked (singular) bears rule, the people mourn" (Pr 29:2).