Monday, September 28, 2009

What Does God Say About Government Health Care?

According to the Hebrew Calendar, today is the Day of Atonement. What better day for Christians to fast and pray for our country? What better day to reflect upon our relationship with God and how we can better serve Him in these last days?

As Christians, we are to live by God's laws. We have been commanded to give what is owed to those in power but we are subjected to a "higher power" and that higher power is the Lord God Almighty. We must remember, above all things, that we are not OF this world. This is not our home. We are simply sojourners. We have been reminded over and over that we should not fixate upon the things of this world.

Some churches today are teaching the opposite. Some churches today have gotten way off track. That is another entirely different subject for another day. But, I will add that there is an entire generation of "Christian" who doesn't read their Bible, doesn't spend time with God and frankly, couldn't tell me what God says about much of anything because they don't take the time. And, the church they attend doesn't bother to use the Bible. Many churches today are making the Bible, the very Word of God, irrelevant.

So, let's take a look at what God tells us about health care, shall we?

Let's take a look at Genesis 14:18-20 and we will see that Abraham paid a tithe (1/10th) to Melchizedek.

When Israel asked for a king in I Samuel 8:11-12, we read:

(And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. 12. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. 13. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. 14. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. 15. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. 16. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. 17. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. 18. 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. 19. Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; 20. That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.)

This sounds a lot like our government today, doesn't it? God warned the Israelites that the government (the king) would take 1/10th of all they owned! Here, God is defining tyranny. Any government that requires as much from you as God requires from you is a tyrannical government and a messianic state (i.e. a government that wants to be god for you by providing all your needs). Of course, it goes without saying that a government that provides all your needs will tax the life blood from you. God's standard of 10% seems like nothing when compared with what we end up paying after we pay taxes on Medicare, social security, FICA, State and Municipal taxes and the infinite miscellaneous taxes. Most Americans end up paying 40-50% of their income when all is said and done.

When we look at the purpose of the government, we see in Romans 13:1-7

(Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the power that be ordained of God. 2. Whosoever therefore resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 5. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. 6. For this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing. 7. Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour;)

The government's purpose is this: reward the righteous and punish the wicked. In other words, leave law-abiding citizens alone and protect us from without and within. Our Founding Fathers recognized this when they created a limited form of government. And, with limited government comes limited taxes.

As you can see, the Bible doesn't give any provision for government to be involved in healthcare. There is no Biblical justification for government healthcare nor is there Biblical justification for taking income from one person and giving to another. Such actions are a violation of the Ten Commandments, Thou Shalt Not Steal.

Economist Thomas Sowell points out in his book Basic Economics that whenever the government tries to help the poor, the actual results harm the poor. Whether we're talking about food price manipulation which often results in higher food prices for all and starvation for the poor, rent control which results in housing shortages, or health care control which results in lengthy waits for surgery, sometimes beyond the point of survival. Sowell references one such occasion in England where a 12 year old was allowed to have breast implants while a woman with cancer was denied surgery until her cancer has spread so far that surgery wouldn't help. As Sowell points out, we must judge such programs on their actual results, not the intentions of their creators.

As Christians, we must get back to living by the laws of God. This means each and every day, for each and every decision of our lives and for our nation. Until we do, our nation, The United States of America, will not continue to be blessed as it once was. We are seeing the moral decay of our nation. This is no accident. Our nation was founded upon biblical principles. No group can unwrite this fact, no matter how hard they may try. We were blessed because of our foundation. We were also blessed because we stood with Israel. We are no longer doing this. Any nation down through history that has been an friend of Israel has been enormously blessed. If the United States of America takes an oppositional stance to the Nation of Israel, it will no longer see blessings. We will no longer be a favored nation among nations. We will no longer be the most powerful nation in the world. And, God will turn His back upon us.

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