Hebrews 1

(August 18, 2013)
I was struck as I read this chapter today about the way our understanding of Heaven is influenced by our understanding of mortal governments.  During the days of Paul, the people fully understood the idea of a monarchy – and so the aspect of the Kingdom of God on Earth that people easily identified with was this theocratic monarchy.  Likewise, we in our modern society better understand democracy, and so we have an understanding of the democratic aspects of God’s methods.

All well and good so far, but the problem for us arises when we fail to properly realize the ways that the Kingdom of God differs from a political animal.  While there are democratic elements to the Kingdom of God, it is ultimately a theocratic monarchy – and, through our deficiencies in understanding the mechanisms of a monarchy we risk losing sight of the truths that come with that system of government.  We seek to “vote out” God, not realizing that the democratic elements of the Kingdom of God do not permit us to eliminate Him through a vote.  His laws are absolute, and though He gives us discretion from time to time we are still His subjects and His laws govern our behavior.