# Synodical Conference Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1890_S7
# AI translation — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

of the Ev. Luth. Synodical Conference of North America. 1890. 7

Ezek. 29:20: "But the land of Egypt I will give to him (Nebuchadnezzar) for his labor which he did there; for they (Nebuchadnezzar and his army) served me (in that I carried out through them my righteous judgment upon the city of Tyre), says the Lord GOD." Civil government exercises especially God's office of judge:

2 Chron. 19:6: "And (Jehoshaphat) said to the judges: Take heed what you do; for you hold judgment not for men, but for the Lord; and he is with you in judgment." God will also alone abolish it:

1 Cor. 15:24: "Then comes the end (of the world and of all worldly dominion), when he shall deliver up the kingdom to God and the Father, when he shall abolish all rule and authority and power." God alone may abolish civil government. He has established it only for this present time; it will cease with time. But this proves that he himself will abolish it, and proves also that it is a divine institution.

It is a divine ordinance. True, 1 Pet. 2:13 says: "Be subject to every human ordinance, for the Lord's sake." Κτίσις ἀνθρωπίνη [human creation] it is nevertheless not called because it was founded by men, but because it relates to the order among men, ordering and regulating human affairs. Hos. 8:4 does say: "They make kings, but without me; they set up princes, and I must not know of it." By this, however, God does not condemn the installation of kings and princes in general, but that the kings have come into office in a manner displeasing to God.

The same is attested by the Augsburg Confession, Art. 16: "Concerning civil affairs and temporal government it is taught that all authority in the world, and ordered governments and laws, good order, are created and instituted by God." By "Polizei" [civil administration] the Augsburg Confession, like the Fathers generally, understands the whole constitution of the state, as can be seen from πολιτία, from which it is derived; so it uses the word in a wider sense, and not, as we now do, for a particular activity of government.

That government is from God and therefore a divine order also follows from the fact that all men by nature are impelled by conscience to obey the government. This shows itself not only among the Jewish people, who were known for their disobedience and stubbornness, but yet always bowed in the end when matters became serious, but also among other peoples: there is not one, and never has been one, that did not have a leader or a government. Conscience teaches the heathen to obey the government and tells him, if you do not do it, there is still One above the government who takes note of your disobedience, even if your government knows nothing of it or overlooks it. It has, in fact, a piece of divine majesty about it and is, without doubt, a development of paternal authority.