Governments

There are five places the word government shows up in the Bible. The first is:

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

The second places the same word is used is in:

Isaiah 9:7 Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

The word הרשׂמ misrah is from the primary word הרשׂ sarah translated power and defined contend, have power, contend with, persist, exert oneself, persevere.

It is the same three letters as the word Sarah which also means princes. It is translated remnant in:

Jeremiah 15:11 The LORD said, Verily it shall be well with thy remnant; verily I will cause the enemy to entreat thee [well] in the time of evil and in the time of affliction.

And as it in Job:

Job 37:3 He directeth it under the whole heaven, and his lightning unto the ends of the earth.

The word רשׂ sar without the emphasis letter ה Hey appears more that 400 times in the bible as prince, captain, chief, ruler, even governor etc. It is composed of the Hebrew letters Shem Reish.

ש SHIN is a letter that includes the idea of Eternal Flame of Revelation but also connected to terms like the sun as source or teeth as in consume destroy.

ר REISH is a letter associated with rulers and authority such as the Egyptian AmanRa. It is connected to the ideas of Process of Clarification and the "head" or "beginning" as a person who is the head or highest.

Add the letter ה Hey as we see with הרשׂ sarah and you emphasize something with an Expression--Thought turning Speech into Action which is why we see it mean an exertion of power. It is also associated with both jubilation or celebration but also fence or boundary.

Add the letter Mem which always is connected with the flow of water or power etc So when you see הרשׂמ misrah the flow of power in a rule, dominion or government.

In Isaiah 22:21 we see a different word translated government הלשׁממ memshalah:

Isaiah 22:21 And I will clothe him with thy robe, and strengthen him with thy girdle, and I will commit thy government into his hand: and he shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah.

It is commonly translated dominion or rule, but also government and power.

It is from לשׁממ mimshal a noun meaning dominion and ruler which is from the root word and verb לשׁמ mashal meaning to rule, have dominion, reign or in other words the power to make laws like many governments.

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." - George Washington

Government is about power. But that may not mean power over others.

That power of government may be centralized in a few or distributed in the hands of the many.

In the hands of a few it has a tendency to corrupt and to draw those who seek power.

In the hands of the many it may be individual in nature or it may be collective.

Power as a collective requires a binding agent to hold the many as one.

If the cohesive agent used to bind the many is contractual the corporate body of the collective may be authoritarian. This produces a situation where the many may have power over the few.

But if the collective is bound by common values and virtues the rights and dominion of the individual may remain both intact and secure from the dominion and the will of the many.

In the new testament we see the word government in :

1 Corinthians 12:28 And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.

The word is κυβέρνησις~ kubernesis appears only once in the Bible.<Fed> 2941 ~κυβέρνησις~ kubernesis \@koo-ber’-nay-sis\@ from kubernao (of Latin origin, to steer); TDNT-3:1035,486; n f AV-government 1; 1 1) a governing, government</Ref>

2 Peter 2:10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.

The word government in 2 Peter he is the Greek word κυριότης kuriotes which is normally translated dominion.

Both Peter and Jude are talking about despising dominion using the word ἀθετέω atheteodefined as "to do away with, to set aside, disregard".

Doing away with dominion is what Israelite people did when they moved the right to rule themselves as kings and priests into the hands of a ruler in 1 Samuel 8 when the voice of the people elected a ruler who could exercise authority one over the other. Their setting aside and disregard for the endowed dominion of God was called a rejection of God.

There is no doubt that the right to rule mankind is vested by God into everyman until men reject the ways and will of God and vest those rights in another. It is clear by Samuel 10 and Paul's Romans 13 that the turning of man from Gods way to establish rulers over himself and his neighbor brings punishment to those who reject God's dominion for man's.

“I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” ― Thomas Jefferson

“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” ― Gerald R. Ford

“A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves.” ― Edward R. Murrow

“I am for doing good to the poor, but...I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.” ― Benjamin Franklin

“History, in general, only informs us what bad government is.” ― Thomas Jefferson, Letters of Thomas Jefferson

“If voting made any difference they wouldn't let us do it.” ― Mark Twain

“The government is merely a servant―merely a temporary servant; it cannot be its prerogative to determine what is right and what is wrong, and decide who is a patriot and who isn't. Its function is to obey orders, not originate them.” ― Mark Twain

“The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else.” ― Frédéric Bastiat

== Footnotes ==