Chapter 2: Justice and Our ‘Evolving Constitution’

 

It may shock you, but the 2000 presidential election chaos in the U.S. was prophesied in your Bible! The battle between lawyers and judges that raged for weeks and months after the election was prophesied over 2,500 years ago! The nation and the world have largely forgotten that election and gone on with their lives. But there is a tremendous lesson in what happened that you cannot afford to forget!

The Supreme Court of Florida made two significant rulings after the election. This was the result of the Democrats sending in hundreds of lawyers to challenge the results of the vote. The U.S. Supreme Court reversed both its rulings. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said that “it might be in the state’s best interest not to go around changing the law after the election” (emphasis mine). In fact, the Florida Supreme Court changed several laws in those two rulings. It created chaos and confusion all over America.

This is no small problem. The purpose of our courts is to interpret and enforce our laws—not break them! They are supposed to uphold the laws to give us justice.

The fruits reveal what happens when we break laws. The fruits of the Florida Supreme Court’s decisions were chaotic. “[B]y their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20).

We saw the fruits of an “evolving Constitution.” The laws were watered down or broken. Of course the Constitution is not perfect and needs a little fine tuning at times. But if we do more than that, we are tearing down the very foundation of our republic!

The Florida chaos gave us good insight into what will happen all across America if we don’t wake up. We are evolving into anarchy!

The Supreme Court of Florida should not have intervened at all. George Bush won on two machine counts. And the law says you intervene only if there is 1) fraud or 2) malfunctioning machines. There was no fraud, and the machines counted like other machines all over America.

This is where the law was transgressed, plunging the state into a gigantic mess. The state does need better machines, but this problem, if it is going to be corrected, must be corrected before the election. That is the law.

But too many of our people want an evolving Constitution and law.

The Trojan Horse

The Democrats started the whole mess by complaining about “illegal” butterfly ballots—a ridiculous issue that was subsequently rejected by all the courts. But it allowed the lawyers to get involved in the process. And, as most lawyers typically do, they discovered other “crimes” like hanging chads and dimpled ballots.

Lawyers helped to obscure the fact that when voters enter the booth, they are responsible for voting properly.

Florida’s Supreme Court should have slammed the door on the chaos from the very beginning, and this confusion would have ended. But it didn’t.

None of this national damage would have been possible without a biased press. They too favor an “evolving Constitution,” which leads us into rampant injustice. The press made it look like both sides were trying to steal the election, when in fact it was just one side.

The nation was divided 50-50. But the press was more like 80-20 in favor of the Democratic Party.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7 to 2 that there were constitutional problems with the Florida Supreme Court’s rulings. But still we needed a stronger decision. The weakness of the Supreme Court’s decision portends more chaos and even anarchy in the future.

This is where most of our leaders are blind. They like an “evolving Constitution,” which places more trust in human reasoning than law. It is a dangerous recipe for disaster. All close elections of the future are apt to be contested. The chaos will spiral out of control unless we make radical changes.

Our people are being led into more and more lawlessness. Human nature hates law. Events tend toward catastrophe unless law keeps us in check.

Our forefathers understood human nature and law far better than we do today. But you can’t convince our leaders of that vital truth.

Events like the election crisis and human reasoning lead the people to trust our leaders less and less. Such things are causing our people to look only to themselves. “[E]very man did that which was right in his own eyes” (Judges 21:25). This was the condition of our biblical forefathers—just before their nation collapsed and they went into slavery!

This thinking is not a small problem. It is a plague!

‘Babes Shall Rule Over Them’

We don’t see most of our leaders quoting President Abraham Lincoln and our forefathers about the Constitution and law. President Lincoln knew there were some bad laws. But he said we should faithfully obey those laws until they could be changed according to the Constitution. He knew that the law must remain supreme or there would be very little justice.

The prophecies in Isaiah were written in a book for the end time. Notice this end-time prophecy: “For, behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, doth take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the stay and the staff, the whole stay of bread, and the whole stay of water, The mighty man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet, and the prudent, and the ancient, The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator. And I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. And the people shall be oppressed, every one by another, and every one by his neighbour: the child shall behave himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against the honourable” (Isaiah 3:1-5). God has taken away the judge who renders true justice—because of our sins.

All the leaders are like little children in their reasoning. They rule like “babes.” A child has no real history to draw from. Many leaders have rejected the lessons of history—our greatest secular source of guidance. A good understanding of history also gives a leader vision into the future.

Winston Churchill could warn us about Germany in the 1930s because he understood the history of Germany. All of the major European wars since 1870 have been started by Germany!

The most important vision of the future comes from the Bible. No secular source compares to God’s Word.

Children are guided almost solely by emotions—unless they are guided by a wise adult. But here in Isaiah the children rule, guided mainly by their emotions. And children are naturally lawless!

Our leaders have never grown up emotionally! And that is true of all our leaders—not just one political party. And they lead the nations of Israel—including what has been the world’s number one superpower!

House Divided

The late Tim Russert, host of Meet the Press, said the 2000 election was “the worst political war” he had ever seen. The division between parties was terribly bitter. But the worst is still to come.

As Jesus Christ and President Lincoln said, “A house divided against itself cannot stand.” It “cannot stand”! But where is the leader who will, like Mr. Lincoln, step up and say so today?

Mr. Lincoln knew the solution could come only from God!

Seven of the Supreme Court justices said there were constitutional violations by the Florida Supreme Court. But when Al Gore finally conceded the election, he said, “I strongly disagree” with them.

Why did he disagree? Because he believes in an “evolving Constitution.” And his election loss didn’t change his mind. This is the lawless thinking that is dividing and destroying our house. A house so divided against itself cannot stand! But faced with another election like this one, Mr. Gore would act the same way. That is not what we need to unite our American house.

And don’t forget—this is the only house we have!

In his acceptance speech, Mr. Bush said that we must rise above a house divided. But how? A big part of the answer is getting back to the Constitution and law. I see nothing to indicate that we will. In fact, we are moving in the opposite direction. More and more of our people are adopting the philosophy of Mr. Gore and his “evolving Constitution.”

One tv commentator said the election challenge by the Democrats was “unfair.” But it was more than unfair—it was a great injustice. There was collusion between judges, lawyers and politicians attempting to steal an election!

Let’s be honest for a change!

The attempt was made and it almost succeeded. That shows how lawless our people have become. This portends a nightmare future unless we heed God’s message.

Once our political system falls apart, nobody will be able to put it back together again.

How horrifying that we cannot see the coming mega-disaster! The outcome could be changed by heeding God’s message.

Do people really know why Christ came? Did it have anything to do with justice?

Why Christ Came

Christ came the first time for a great purpose. “And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see [or think they see, but are wrong] might be made blind” (John 9:39). Christ came to this world for the purpose of judgment, or justice.

One definition in Thayer’s Lexicon for judgment is “a matter to be judicially decided, a lawsuit, a case in court.”

Christ came to this Earth that we “might see” what true justice is and how we are to be judged.

This world hated His judgment, or system of justice, and killed Him. But the second time He comes, Christ will enforce His justice based on God’s law of love. He will rule according to what is right and wrong.

Why don’t more religions discuss this justice system?

A true Christian is one who follows Christ. If we are Christians, we should seek God’s law and judgment.

Christianity is often the greatest hypocrisy of all. People profess Christianity but don’t believe in Christ’s message of justice. They talk about Christ, but they don’t teach His judgment or justice based on His law, the Ten Commandments.

Men don’t know what true justice is. But Christ knows, and He wants to give sight to the blind. Soon, in your lifetime, Christ will implement His system of justice based on His law, in spite of man’s rebellion.

I didn’t see any of our leaders seeking God’s view of our justice system in the 2000 election.

Samaria Falls

The Prophet Micah was more condemning of our justice system than perhaps any of God’s messengers. And his book is for the end time. (Request our free booklet on Micah to prove this for yourself.)

Let’s look at some of the history of our biblical forefathers and learn an awesome lesson.

“The word of the Lord that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem” (Micah 1:1). The word of the Lord came to Micah as new revelation. This revelation only comes to prophets and apostles (Ephesians 3:5). God speaks to mankind through apostles and prophets.

And so it is today. God has sent a prophet to warn, but God says our people won’t recognize him as a prophet until his terrifying prophecies come to pass (Ezekiel 33:33).

Micah means “who is like God?” Nobody even remotely compares to God. That means we ought to heed His message, because it is 100 percent certain to be fulfilled!

If we are like Micah, we believe God.

God addresses two cities in Micah 1. Samaria was the capital of the northern 10 tribes of Israel. Jerusalem was the capital of Judah (which also included Levi).

Samaria is discussed in verses 6-8. Then in verse 9 we see she has an incurable wound. That leaves only Jerusalem remaining. Later we see only Zion (God’s Church today) and Jerusalem left (Micah 3:10). Even later, there is only one city—undoubtedly Jerusalem—that remains (Micah 6:9).

What happened to Israel, or Samaria? Israel was conquered between 721 and 718 b.c.—about 30 years after Micah delivered his message.

Micah must have seen Israel fall. Why didn’t Judah fall around the same time? That is a critical question.

How to Save a Nation

King Hezekiah was mentioned in the context of Samaria and Jerusalem (Micah 1:1). Notice how this king relates to the story.

“Then rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all the assembly of the people, saying, Micah the Morasthite prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Zion shall be plowed like a field, and Jerusalem shall become heaps, and the mountain of the house as the high places of a forest. Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at all to death? did he not fear the Lord, and besought the Lord, and the Lord repented him of the evil which he had pronounced against them? Thus might we procure great evil against our souls” (Jeremiah 26:17-19). Judah didn’t fall at the same time Samaria did, because Hezekiah led them to repent!

Samaria and Jerusalem split in the first place because they were so deeply divided. That is the way it is in Britain, America and Israel today. These nations have a history of tearing themselves apart, if their enemies don’t do it for them!

Judah did not go into captivity around the time Samaria did because the people responded to Micah! They heeded God’s strong warning.

This is the inspiring and wonderful truth of what God would do today if only we would listen and heed His warning.

Here is a big lesson: Kings and presidents should listen to God’s apostles and prophets! That is how nations are saved!

Nations don’t have to fall. It is not inevitable. There is great hope in this message.

Prophets like Micah tell kings and leaders what to do. The leader should lead in repenting as Hezekiah did.

Is there a modern-day Micah that our leaders should hear? And that you should heed? There absolutely is, and you can prove it.

This message is so important that the whole Earth is commanded to hearken. But God is starting with the nations of Israel. He is against you. That means you individually and the nations of Israel.

This message is about falling empires! That is what happened to Samaria when the people refused to obey Micah’s message from God!

It is an end-time message primarily, and it means nations are about to fall unless they heed Micah’s message!

The Florida election crisis was only one curse among many because God is against America, Britain and Israel.

Today God is warning. It all happens just before His return to Earth: “For, behold, the Lord cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place” (Micah 1:3-4).

That’s right. Believe it or not, our problems today are tied directly to the return of Jesus Christ! This is the best news this world has ever heard!

Do we get it? Do we understand and believe God?

This is not a message for just the U.S. It is a message for the whole world!

Micah Cries for Justice

“And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?” (Micah 3:1). Who are Jacob and Israel in this end time? We have proved for over 80 years that Israel refers primarily to America, Britain and the State of Israel in these prophecies. (Request our free book The United States and Britain in Prophecy, by Herbert W. Armstrong.)

God is addressing the heads of Israel—the rulers. These are people who have a history with God. They of all people ought to understand judgment.

Gesenius’ Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon defines judgment as the sentence of a judgment, according to law. Judges are supposed to interpret and enforce law. Other translations use justice instead of judgment.

This is addressed to the heads—magistrates and government officials responsible for upholding the law. Their responsibility is to give us justice based on law.

The only perfect law is God’s. The framers of America’s Constitution founded much of that document on God’s law as they understood it.

The word judgment means the entire process, or the whole administration of justice. The Hebrew word is mishpat. The same word is used as lawful (Ezekiel 18:5, 21, 27). The point is this: Proper judgment must always include law.

That is why it is so crucial that judges not change the righteous law or reject it.

God holds judges and rulers accountable for their judgment against every institution and each individual. This warning is directed to our rulers.

God wants Britain, America and Israel to be reminded of their history with Him.

God’s own Laodicean Church has a spiritual history with God in this end time, and it has rejected that relationship.

God addresses Jacob first. This was Israel’s name before God began to work with him. So it refers to the physical nations of Israel today. Then God speaks to Israel. God is not repeating Himself. This refers to spiritual Israel, or the Church.

So God warns both carnal and spiritual Israel because they both have a history with God. “Is it not for you to know judgment?” Of all people on this Earth, they should know judgment! They should understand their own history!

They should also know God, but they don’t. Knowing God is the only solution to our problems.

Just how bad is our justice system today?

“Who hate the good, and love the evil; who pluck off their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones; Who also eat the flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them; and they break their bones, and chop them in pieces, as for the pot, and as flesh within the caldron” (Micah 3:2-3). God is speaking figuratively and spiritually. Our justice system rips off the people’s skins, breaks their bones, tears off the flesh, chops them into pieces, throws them into the pot, and then eats them!

This is probably the most grisly metaphor in the Bible. It’s as if they butcher their victims and devour them like wild beasts. Cannibalism!

This is God’s evaluation of our justice system!

But this is not the end of it. “Then shall they cry unto the Lord, but he will not hear them: he will even hide his face from them at that time, as they have behaved themselves ill in their doings” (verse 4). God will literally mutilate those leaders, just as they figuratively mutilated their victims.

The heads, including the judges, ignored the cry of their victims. Soon God will turn from their cries for help in the Great Tribulation. And that includes everybody who operates in that same evil spirit.

Modern-Day Micah

The “sun shall go down over the prophets” (Micah 3:6). This could only apply to God’s own Laodicean Church—spiritual Israel—which had the sun—the light—and then went back into the dark. They no longer have a “vision” or receive God’s revelation.

The Bible is a coded book, and only God can decode it for us. Once He does, we can’t refute His powerful truth.

“But truly I am full of power by the spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin” (verse 8). Micah was full of the Holy Spirit and judgment, or God’s justice.

What was Micah to do with that judgment? Did he retire? No, he was told to declare it specifically to two groups—Jacob and Israel. Jacob has transgressed God’s law, and Israel has sinned (“to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin”—James 4:17). This refers to God’s Church, spiritual Israel. They have been given God’s truth and have rejected it. So their guilt is sin. They are not in ignorance as carnal Israel; the Jacob group has never known God spiritually. But the Laodiceans are being judged now! (Revelation 3:14-21).

So Micah was told to declare this message. That means there has to be a type of Micah today who is declaring this same message. Remember, this warning message is tied directly to Christ’s return (Micah 1:3). It is for the end time!

It is up to you to find the individual who is delivering that message. That is the only way to find God.

Remember, God’s message is about judgment—God’s system of justice. So we declare God’s message to the heads—to politicians, lawyers, judges, educators, media and religion. They must change, or our house will not stand!

They must hear God’s judgment—which, again, refers to that which is just, lawful, or according to law. In this case, God’s law.

“Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity” (Micah 3:9). Our leaders “abhor judgment.” They “pervert all equity.” That means what is straight they make crooked!

That is our system of justice. And God says His messenger is to tell the rulers directly—“hear this”!

All of our people must hear God’s rebuke about justice, or they will suffer more than any nation ever has. Do you “hear this”?

“They build up Zion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity” (verse 10). There will be a bloody end if we don’t heed God’s warning. This verse is about a slaughter. The nations of Israel will have a violent end. They will literally be chopped in pieces, as their victims have been figuratively!

This punishment happens because of our “iniquity,” or lawlessness. The leaders base their judgments on human reasoning, not law.

“The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the Lord, and say, Is not the Lord among us? none evil can come upon us” (verse 11). The religious and secular leaders judge for “reward.” Their judgments are not motivated by love for the law, the Constitution or justice. They do it for personal gain.

This illustrates how urgently we need new leaders. But the good news is, this very chaos we are now experiencing will lead directly into a world of God-fearing leaders who uphold the rule of law and make just judgments. These leaders are now being prepared—as they have been throughout history.

Firstfruits

“Woe is me! for I am as when they have gathered the summer fruits, as the grapegleanings of the vintage: there is no cluster to eat: my soul desired the firstripe fruit” (Micah 7:1). This is about the firstripe, or firstfruit, spiritual harvest. Micah discusses the summer fruit from the first harvest. God is always concerned about His Church first.

Micah had a painful experience that God’s people lived through in this end time. “Woe is me!” He could find no “cluster” of spiritual food to eat from the firstfruit harvest. Anciently, the farmers left gleanings for the poor. But in this picture, there was nothing to glean from the fields.

This makes no sense unless you look at it spiritually. In this end time, God’s very elect Christians have left our mother church and its other dissenting groups. Almost every one of them said, “Woe is me.” They were starving spiritually. You don’t know you are starving spiritually unless you have known God’s truth. They were receiving no revelation about Micah, as we have in our booklets about this prophet and many other major and minor prophets.

This refers to a major crisis in God’s Church that we have lived through. Even our court case over Herbert W. Armstrong’s book Mystery of the Ages is addressed in the context of this verse.

Micah 7:1 is a blanket condemnation of all of God’s Laodicean churches. They have polluted spiritual food. Only the group that declares the Micah revelation does God’s Work. (Request our free book Malachi’s Message. It will explain the whole Laodicean issue.)

“The good man is perished out of the earth: and there is none upright among men: they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net” (verse 2). Good man means “holy one.” That same Hebrew expression refers to Jesus Christ (Psalm 16:10).

Why is this holy man perished from the Earth? These firstfruit saints were good, or holy, and then they rebelled.

The Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible says the word perished “is used to describe the downfall of nations [or churches], the withering away of crops [firstfruit harvest] ….”

Only those who broke away from the sinning Laodicean Church survived spiritually (Micah 2:13). That is explained in our Micah booklet.

“They hunt every man his brother” refers to the God Family. Spiritual brothers are hunting Family members to destroy them!

No tragedy could be worse!

Watchmen

Now we move to society’s problems. “That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up” (Micah 7:3). The prince (politician) and the judge ask for reward. They take the initiative in seeking their reward. How abominable! These leaders render injustice if they can’t get what they want. Their motives are very impure.

“They wrap it up” means they conspire to subvert justice! They weave crooked paths and catch people as a spider catches flies in its web.

The state of California attacked the Church headed by Herbert W. Armstrong in 1979. Lawyers and judges met privately to discuss their attack. It was an unethical meeting. God’s Church was described as “a bowl of spiders.” Eventually, the Church was cleared of all wrongdoing. But there were no apologies.

So who was the “bowl of spiders”?

We lived through that abominable miscarriage of justice!

The whole system of justice is being contaminated more each day. This leads to people disrespecting these institutions.

Why can’t we see what we are doing to ourselves?

“The best of them is as a brier: the most upright is sharper than a thorn hedge: the day of thy watchmen and thy visitation cometh; now shall be their perplexity” (verse 4). In the midst of these briers and thorn hedges are God’s end-time watchmen—“thy [your] watchmen.” They belong to God. God has used two men to watch and warn in this end time. Mr. Armstrong warned for over 50 years that Germany would rise again and destroy us if we don’t repent. And God has used a type of Micah to carry on that same warning.

But look at the good news. The bad news is directly connected to the best news you could ever hear! Christ is about to come and give us true justice! Both men had to watch and warn just before Christ’s Second Coming—your visitation. Christ is about to visit this Earth!

Do you believe Christ? How many people really believe God’s message?

The watchman work is directly tied to Christ’s return. One leads directly to the other.

What wonderful and inspiring news! This is the best news you could ever hear!

Warring Family

Where does our rule by lawless lawyers and judges lead us? Why is it so dangerous?

“Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. For the son dishonoureth the father, the daughter riseth up against her mother, the daughter in law against her mother in law; a man’s enemies are the men of his own house” (Micah 7:5-6). You can’t even trust your friends. That is how treacherous people have become. But it gets even worse. It destroys the family unit.

You have to watch your mouth even when only your spouse is around! The natural family affection is gone. Your mate may get a clever lawyer and strip you of everything.

The son dishonors the father and vice versa. Mother-in-law fights against daughter-in-law. Friendships fail. The family, which is the backbone and strength of our nations, breaks down.

Our failures will be revealed when we face a crisis. Justice, trust, honor and love will not be there to protect us. People will consume each other with treachery and betrayal! They do it even now. But that crime will multiply 100-fold in a crisis.

Anarchy is the end result. The Florida election gave us a little insight of what is going to afflict all the nations of Israel.

This is a very strong warning for our people.

The Solution

Where are these problems ultimately leading?

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8). The first condition God requires is “to do justly”—to give justice, based on God’s law of love, to everyone. Each one of us will be ruled by God’s law, or else we have no future.

But this is not a hard, calculating justice. Secondly, we must “love mercy.”

Thirdly, we are “to walk humbly with thy God.”

“O man” is from the word Adam. Adam was made from the dust of the ground. We too are like Adam—a pile of dust.

Why shouldn’t we walk humbly with our God? Why are men, made from mud, so proud and vain?

God has showed you, O man. Since the time of Adam, God has shown man His truth. Apostles and prophets have been slaughtered for delivering God’s precious truth. Man has had ample opportunity and has failed utterly. Now Christ is about to intervene and bring us His glorious justice.