The Bible and the Constitution
Over 200 years ago, America’s forefathers gathered to create a new nation—a nation for and ruled by the people, but a nation under God, as Abraham Lincoln said. This great president rebuked America during the Civil War for forsaking God!
Some of the greatest minds ever—George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, Gouverneur Morris, and others—met at the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and talked about this special document impacting the whole human race. America soon rose to the greatest heights of any nation on Earth, largely because of the Constitution.
U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren wrote in 1954: “I believe the entire Bill of Rights came into being because of the knowledge our forefathers had of the Bible, and their belief in it.” Our forefathers believed the Bible! They worked to raise up a nation led by God Himself! This undertaking truly is unique in this world.
There is a strong connection between the United States Constitution and the Holy Bible.
Abolishing Slavery
Thousands of years ago, “slavery” wasn’t an evil word. In ancient Israel, slavery served as a welfare program. The Year of Jubilee—also known as the Year of Liberty or the Year of Freedom—took place every 50 years, and was a time in which all slaves were let loose. Every class of servant—those who sold themselves to provide for their families, those who were sold to pay off their debt, and those who were enslaved as punishment for crime—experienced the joy of real freedom.
Such a system favored the poor without abusing the rich, and it tended to abolish slavery, as the Smith Dictionary points out. “The effect of this law was at once to lift from the heart the terrible lifelong bondage, that sense of hopeless doom, which knows no relief till death,” it says.
Once released, former slaves were hired as workers. “For in this year, every kind of oppression was to cease, and every member of the covenant people to find his redeemer in the Lord, who brought him back to his possession and family,” the Unger Bible Dictionary writes. Families remained united, unlike in the evil kind of slavery during the early days of America’s history.
Many of America’s forefathers owned slaves, but they loved them and developed good working relationships because they looked to the positive example of slavery outlined in the Bible.
The practice of slavery quickly degenerated in America, which is why Abraham Lincoln determined to emancipate the slaves. The Civil War cost 600,000 lives! What other country in history has ever gone to war to put a stop to evil within its borders? Early American blacks had difficulty integrating into society, but the country recently had a black two-term president. There have been some big, good changes in this land.
Dying for the Cause
The famous British historian Paul Johnson wrote an article titled “No Law Without Order, No Freedom Without Law,” in the Dec. 26, 1999, edition of the Sunday Telegraph. He explained how the rule of law holds kings, emperors, priests and the state itself to the same standard—without exception, or else it begins to collapse. There’s a battle going on in Washington, right now, over this very issue. Some people are not subject to the law because of their positions of power.
Johnson also wrote that masses of individuals must be prepared to die to uphold the rule of law. That’s the only security a free nation can have. Our forefathers fought a war to establish this kind of freedom! Many of them died.
Benjamin Franklin said that we have a republic—if we can keep it. Too many people today hate the Constitution, one of the most noble documents ever, because it contains principles of God’s law. What other constitution provides so much freedom and dignity?
Many early immigrants to America fled religious persecution in their homelands. They prioritized political and religious freedom ahead of riches. How many people think that way today?
“This was an experiment designed to establish the rule of God on Earth,” Johnson wrote. That relates to the Ten Commandments, the foundational law of the Bible. Divine law saturates the Constitution.
The politicians who established our republic were more spiritually focused than any of today’s so-called religious leaders! Politicians were once extremely religious men. Many of them died to establish one nation under God.
Trending Toward Lawlessness
America’s founders didn’t get everything right. They weren’t Sabbath keepers, but they were far more biblically oriented than Americans today. They probably knew that the Bible interprets itself. The Constitution they formed does the same thing in many ways.
Supreme court justices and other judges are charged to interpret the Constitution—not to change it or to become activist dictators fighting against the executive and legislative branches. These are unelected officials, accountable only to the principles of the supreme law of the land. They must make sure the law is binding on everybody.
Some of America’s judges have forgotten their job description. A similar lawless attitude prevailed during the time of the judges, just before ancient Israel went into captivity. “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). The more corrupt the government becomes, the more the people decide for themselves what is right and wrong.
The book of Judges is a part of the former prophets—Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings—and is a message mainly for the end time. We must learn from history, even though many colleges today neglect this subject entirely.
Without the Constitution, there would be anarchy. Here’s a quote from that precious document: “This Constitution and the laws of the United States, which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made of which shall be made under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law of the land.” The Constitution reigns supreme!
Jesus Christ came to Earth to fulfill the law. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17-18). Christ promised to dot every ‘i’ and cross every ‘t.’ How many religious people believe instead that He abolished the law? That’s not biblical at all!
As we forsake the Bible, we forsake the Constitution! How many people really believe the Bible like the Founding Fathers did?
The Bible talks about the mystery of iniquity, also translated as the mystery of lawlessness. Who is the source of lawlessness? “Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till [lawlessness] was found in thee” (Ezekiel 28:15). God created the archangel Lucifer to be perfect, but he rebelled and now rules this world (2 Corinthians 4:4).
If we don’t like our national laws, we can change them. But we ought to keep the laws we have! Otherwise, we’re just following after Satan! That’s what your Bible says. He’s the father of liars and murderers (John 8:44). He has deceived the whole world (Revelation 12:9).
Pillars of Human Happiness
The Founding Fathers believed in two fundamental building blocks of any successful society: religion and morality. In his book Our Sacred Honor, William Bennett wrote, “What made this country different from all others was a prevalent belief that God played a direct and active hand in founding a people.” God had a hand in founding America!
Bennet continued: “Without God’s blessings, many of the Founders, especially Washington, believed that this country would never have come into being.” At the end of his oath of office, Washington said, “So help me, God,” then kissed the Bible. He showed deep respect for the Bible, which had a deep impact on the Constitution!
“In vain that man claimed tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness,” Washington said. The pillars of human happiness are religion and morality! America’s second president, John Adams, also believed that.
“Unless the great God who assisted President Washington shall be with me and aid me, I must fail,” Lincoln said. He knew better to rely on himself. He trusted God to deliver the nation from the devastating Civil War.
Americans once revered the institution of marriage, perhaps like no people ever have. Divorces numbered in the low hundreds during the 1800s. There are a plethora of divorces today! What is happening to America? (Request our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy to find out.) Americans today are ashamed to talk about character—about not lying and committing adultery, for example.
America was great because of its biblical, constitutional beginnings. That’s something we need to understand.
