1 Samuel 21:20 records the conflict between King Ahab and Elijah the prophet. Ahab’s wife, Queen Jezebel, had a man named Naboth murdered because the king wanted Naboth’s vineyard. Having removed the obstacle, Ahab went down to take possession of the vineyard. Seeing Elijah there, Ahab said, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” Elijah responded “I have found you because you have sold yourself to do what is evil in the sight of the Lord” (1 Kings 21:20). Ahab was a king, a ruler of the land. He had power and position. Yet in this moment, Elijah reminded him he, like every man, was under the authority of the Triune God.
Elton Trueblood notes, “This story explains the fundamental basis of our democracy, because it shows the valid sense in which men are equal.”[1] Our Pledge of Allegiance contains the line, “One nation, under God.” The principle, “under God” is essential to the concept of “one nation.” If God is not recognized as the ultimate sovereign, national unity and equality will always be a pipe dream. Why? Because it will be every man for himself.
The First Commandment reminds us no matter how high a man may climb on the ladder of authority, he never rises above God’s authority. Even the king is subject to God’s Law. “Ahab and Naboth were not equal in wealth or power,” Trueblood writes, “but they were equal in that both were subject to the objective moral law.”[2]
The Declaration of Independence states, “all men are created equal.” Modern moralists love the concept of equality, but they despise the notion of authority. Instead, like the pigs in George Orwell’s novel, they are content with the bald assertion, “All animals are equal.”[3]
Apart from the eternal moral law, how do you define equality? Are we supposed to reach an agreement? Or must we blindly accept the definition fed to us by someone who is “more equal” than we are?
Perhaps you see the problem with moral subjectivism. Trueblood argues, “If there is no ultimately valid criterion by which man’s conduct may be judged, who is to say which human tradition is right?”[4] He goes on, “If anyone wishes to uphold the doctrine of ‘white supremacy,’ there is nothing in all the humanist armory of thought to contradict him.”[5]Nothing in thought, but plenty in brute force. Hence the reason Orwell’s story continues, “After that it did not seem strange when next day the pigs who were supervising the work of the farm all carried whips in their trotters.”[6]
Apart from God, there will never be any sort of true human equality. It is only “under God” that men become equal. “The law is no respecter of persons, because God is no respecter of persons. He is the Father of both the humble and the proud.”[7]
Christ taught this principle in his earthly ministry. It is evil to “teach as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9). It is also evil to treat God’s commands as mere traditions. If we are to rebuild a crumbling nation and world, we must, in love to Christ, build upon his perfect Law.
[1] Trueblood, Elton. Foundations for Reconstruction, Revised Edition. New York: Harper & Row, 1961, p. 19.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Orwell, George. Animal Farm. East Delhi: Prabhakar Prakashan Private Limited, 2022, p. 94.
[4] Trueblood, 18.
[5] Ibid.
[6] Orwell, 94-95.
[7] Trueblood, 20.
500 Words 
Leave a comment