Old Testament prophecy: Was Jesus subject to the government?

Was Jesus subject to the government? Yes, He was. Kind of. Sort of. Does Old Testament prophecy say this was going to be the case? Well, we can say yes, in a way. Yet again the Nelson’s Topical Reference we’re using for this Advent study has a New Testament verse for Jesus being subject to the government. Therefore, once again we’ll take the context of that NT verse and see what the Old Testament says about it.

Old Testament prophecy: Was Jesus subject to the government? is article #7 in the series: Advent. Click button to view titles for entire series
Old Testament prophecy: Was Jesus subject to the government?

This particular reference also points back to something we looked at earlier. That is, Jesus came as a man. That’s because the passage Nelson’s refers to was a requirement for all Israelite men (fast forward to Jewish men). Therefore, since Jesus did come as a man, He would be subject to the government in this, and other ways.

There is a catch here. It has to do with how we view government today as opposed to back then. But let’s hold on to that thought until we know more about what the reference verse is. The image might give you a hint.

What is the government?

Before we get into the passage, we need to understand something about the difference between government back then and government for much of the world today.

Today we have things like Democracies, Republics, Oligarchies, Dictatorships, and some Theocracies. I expect the Theocracy is the least understood to most people who don’t live under one.

All the others have a “political” government of some sort, whether it’s elected, by birth, by military takeover, or whatever. The thing they have in common is that they generally don’t say much about religion. Although, I have to say that the U.S. is in the midst of a move by some to make it more about religion. To me, this is not a good move.

Which brings us to the Theocracy. They are generally a system of ruling where the traditional government functions and religious laws are merged into one. Here’s a description of the Theocracy concept in Biblical times.

Theocracy. Form of government which acknowledges God alone as the highest political authority, whether or not he is represented by a human ruler such as a king. Thus Deuteronomy 17:14–20 argues that a human king rules only as one designated for kingship by the Lord.

Footnotes

  • 1
    Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). Theocracy. In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible (Vol. 2, p. 2049). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.
  • 2
    Witthoff, D. (Ed.). (2014). The Lexham Cultural Ontology Glossary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.
  • 3
    Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 49). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
  • 4
    Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., & Harrison, R. K., Thomas Nelson Publishers (Eds.). (1995). In Nelson’s new illustrated Bible dictionary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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