Then a herald cried aloud: "To you it is commanded... you shall fall down and worship the gold image that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up; and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace." (Daniel 3:4-6)
Where we find the union of state and religion we most often find force used to violate human conscience. The portrayal of Babylon in the Old Testament is a case in point. The babylonian monarch Nebuchadnezzar had jurisdiction over the political and religious rights of his subjects. In Daniel 3 we find the king setting a decree that his subjects had to bow down before a golden image he had constructed. Death was the punishment for non-compliance. There were three Hebrew captives who refused to violate the second commandment and give worship to anyone or anything other than the true God. This infuriated the king who ordered their death. By God’s grace however they were delivered.
Liberty of conscience is a right given by God. No monarch, no government, no state, no magistrate or other individual, should have jurisdiction over religious conscience. Jesus well expressed this in the New Testament when he said, “Render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and render unto God what is God’s” (Luke 20:25). Caesar has the right to make laws for the good of the state and to protect its inhabitants, but he has no right to make laws that violate an individual’s religious conscience. Worship is in the sole domain of God and individual liberty.
When church and state combine fear and intimidation tends to be used to accomplish its goals. We see this in the medieval age, after the Christian Church had apostatized. The church, lacking the power of God, sought the power of the state to conform others to its practice and beliefs. This led to great persecution, even the slaughter of millions. We see the same in our day, when governments or potentates demand conformity to the religion of the land. Invariably the minorities, which worship otherwise, are persecuted. The American government was established to protect the minority from the tyranny of the majority. The separation of church and state was pronounced, in that one could freely worship or not worship as they are so led. The government would not establish a state religion and would not dictate or coerce any to follow a prescribed worship or religion.
The book of Revelation forecasts a time when the church will again fall away from biblical truth and God’s ways. It will use the state to enforce worship, as it deems proper. We find in Revelation 17:3 a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, denoting a church and state configuration. In bible prophecy a woman symbolizes God’s people, a harlot his church in apostasy (Ezekiel 16:15, 16). Likewise a beast symbolizes a power that rules (Daniel 7:23). This babylonian like entity enforces its religious decrees under the might of economic boycott, persecution and even death (Revelation 13). Its goal is not true worship of God, which springs from the soul, but a worship of itself springing from the dictates of its church-state construct.
God’s way is not so! God operates under the persuasion of love and does not compromise free will. He reveals himself to us and gives us reconciliation and forgiveness through the gospel of Christ’s redemption. God asks for entrance into our lives, but does not force it (Revelation 3:20). Love demands free will and choice, and God is love (1John 4:8).
We too have fallen for the devil’s ploy if we try to manipulate or coerce the conscience of others. Rather we are to woo others through love and reason. The actions of Babylon showed they opposed God and the liberty of individual conscience. Let our attitude and actions reveal otherwise.
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