Responding to the Response

In writing this blog post, I think it is important first to be sure that we all understand exactly what Rick Perry has documented as his reasons for this event.  From the event website, we find the following information. 

On August 6, the nation will come together at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas for a solemn gathering of prayer and fasting for our country.

We believe that America is in a state of crisis. Not just politically, financially or morally, but because we are a nation that has not honored God in our successes or humbly called on Him in our struggles.

According to the Bible, the answer to a nation in such crisis is to gather in humility and repentance and ask God to intervene. The Response will be a historic gathering of people from across the nation to pray and fast for America.

In the video message on the home page as well as elsewhere on the site, Perry likens our current political crisis to Israel in the book of Joel.  Let’s look at the statement above carefully from a Biblical context as well as his assertions from the book of Joel, and then examine some of the various responses that we have heard.

Notice on this page, Perry’s exposition of Joel 2.  He also makes reference to Acts 2 and 13 as well as the First and Second Great Awakenings.  To wade through this mishmash of theological and secular references, we should start with a proper exposition of Joel 2, and then proceed to that which Perry asserts.

The large question of the book of Joel asks about Judgment Day.  Joel is one of the Minor Prophets.  It is argued that this book was probably written during the early period after the Second Temple was built.  The first chapter can be viewed in a number of ways, and this leaves open a number of directions for misinterpretation as well.  Are the locusts of chapter one natural events of the past or future?  Or is this allegory for invasion by an army past or future, worldly or eternal?  It would seem that two versions are the most likely.  There has been a literal and natural disaster that has impacted the tithes for the Temple.  And there has been a literal Babylonian army that laid waste to the First Temple, and threatens the Second Temple.  The Large question of Joel 1 is to what is the prophet referring when he says The Day of the Lord is near.

The second chapter has four parts.  The first part would seem to answer the Large question of chapter one concerning the Day of the Lord.  With the mention of Zion and the imagery of the horses, one has a hard time missing the obvious references to Judgment Day, the Last Day.  This certainly appears to be an Apocalyptic passage.  The real question of Joel 2 starts in verse 12: to whom shall God grant the opportunity for repentance.  The call to Zion again, the heavenly mountain, keeps the passage rooted in the Apocalyptic genre, Zion referring to those who will be saved.  Still, there is no clear indication who those people might be.  Through verse 17, the question remains open.  Who are His people?  Starting in verse 18, there is a clear change in tone.  It seems very much a covenant renewal of the Law and the Mosaic type land promise.  But again, Zion is referenced, drawing question on this interpretation.  The allegory of armies and enemies being to the north is perpetuated even through Revelation.  It is not necessary to assume that Joel speaks to Second Temple Israel alone. 

Finally, the imagery of God among us and pouring out His Spirit on all flesh is a clear reference to Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, the Paracletes.  The final verses of chapter 2 are a return to the imagery of the Last Day and Revelations.  Therefore, it is reasonable to extrapolate Joel to a more universal prophesy concerning Salvation and the broader meaning of Israel under Zion.  This is consistent with way in which the Major Prophets handled their discussion of post Second Temple prophecy.  Certainly, Paul universalizes the prophets to have this broader meaning in Christ.

The key to determining whether Rick Perry has exposited Joel 2 correctly perhaps lies within Joel 3.  There is clear geographical reference to a specific land called Eden with known rivers named.  There is no question that dispensationalists will point to this passage as a post-rapture Armageddon scene as much as a discussion of the coming of the messiah, or the coming of Judgment on the Last Day.  Often the OT prophets looking forward into the future see the messiah, and also the Last Day.  But because they are so close to the event of the messiah right in front of them, they cannot see that the Last Day is a separate event far into the future.  It is like coming before a mountain and not seeing the mountain behind the first mountain.  We have the benefit of altitude and we can see that there are two mountains, while the prophet could not discern this clearly.  This is why several passages of prophesy would seem to have duel meaning.  They are describing simultaneously the First and Second Comings of Jesus as if they were one event.

Going back to the beginning of Joel, the prophet reports on a past evil event and warns Israel to repent.  Zion will receive salvation through the Grace of the Lord.  Israel is now all who call on the name of the Lord for salvation, all believers from all nations who believe in the redeeming work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross.  Zion is the Heavenly Kingdom, the heavenly Jerusalem its great city.  The whole of the book is allegorical and prophetic, dovetailing with the other prophets, universalizing the promise through Zion, not Sinai.

Rick Perry makes several assertions that need to be addressed.  He asserts that Joel speaks to “a” nation in crisis.  No, he speaks to Israel, a specific nation.  Even when universalizing the prophesy as I have done, Joel speaks to a newly defined but still distinct group of believers called Israel, containing both native and wild branches from all nations grafted into the family tree.  This is not an arbitrary call for any random political entity to repent.  This is a specific covenantal appeal to those who believe.  The Lutheran distinction of two kingdoms is very important here.  Joel is in every way making a Kingdom of the Right appeal, not a Kingdom of the Left appeal.  As a civil magistrate, Rick Perry, in his office of Governor, has authority in the Kingdom of the Left.  But he is not a priest, pastor or bishop.  He has no authority in the Kingdom of the Right.  We will come back to that point soon.

Perry asserts that the foundational point of the covenantal language is morality and faith.  This is, of course, the Wesleyan, the Roman Catholic and the Pelagian view of Righteousness and Salvation.  It is not surprising that repentance is confused with morality in that context.  But, the standard of the Law is perfection, and we are all guilty.  We all need to repent prior to receiving the gift of faith in the Holy One of Israel and His meritorious work on the Cross.  The Law convicts, the Gospel saves.  The Law tells us how to behave, but it doesn’t give us the ability to do it.  The Gospel offers a free gift of faith to those whom the Holy Spirit chooses.  This alien righteousness through this external gift from God is the basis of our covenantal claim to Abraham, regardless of our national origin.  The basis of this righteousness is faith alone, not morality.

The next issue is that of national salvation in juxtaposition to personal salvation.  The only national covenant ever made in the Bible was with Mosaic Israel.  All other covenants are based upon the individual and his faith.  One of the great confusions of two kingdoms is this assuming some sort of national covenant by extrapolating events of the Pentateuch to the present.  It is wrong when people use this sort of maneuver for various Liberation theologies, and it is wrong when applying this maneuver to nations.  Perry states that God wants people to understand that a lack of morality is the problem.  God views sin as the problem, and this is not the same thing.  Any moral code in a Biblical sense is beyond our ability to comply.  This leaves all of us in sin and in need of God’s intervention.  Perry says that God intervenes as a response to prayer.  Joel and the other prophets say that God intervenes as a result of his Covenant promise to Abraham.

Finally, it is important to realize that Israel was a theocracy.  The United States is not a theocracy.  After Christ, it is clear that there is no longer a single (Christian) theocracy in the world, but a spiritual Israel consisting of believers from all nations of the world.  Therefore, while leaders in Israel were often both King and Priest, though only Jesus was Prophet, Priest and King, no one in the history of this country has been in the authoritative position of both civil magistrate and priest simultaneously in terms of a theocracy.  Not only does the Bible lead us to a two kingdom distinction, but our own Constitution calls for a separation of church and state.  It is noteworthy that Perry does not even attempt to make a Biblical appeal for his church authority.  Instead, he appeals to civic, national precedent.  Never mind that the Constitution is clear on the point.  A precedent of error does not justify his actions.

Now, there have been a list of criticisms of Perry for this event.  Which criticisms hold water either in a civic sense or in a theological sense?  One criticism is that Perry is holding this rally for political gains.  If this is the case, I would suggest that he fire his campaign manager.  Polarizing the electorate and loosing the middle is not the way to win elections.  How many counter assemblies are being held for one reason or another?  If unifying the electorate to his political cause was his goal, then he isn’t very good at it.

Some argue that a national day of prayer and other events such as this are a violation of the separation of church and state.  I would agree.  Think of the point of view of Ben Laden after the First Gulf War.  Islam has no two kingdom distinction and therefore all governments are theocracies.  He viewed an infidel nation placing an infidel army on his Holy Land, the Arab Peninsula.  When our President appeals to God and Christian righteousness, and One Nation Under God, what else would Ben Laden think.  After 9-11, Bush stood in an edifice called the “National Cathedral” and declared that this nation is united by God and prays for justice.  He has both violated the Constitution and violated the doctrine of two Kingdoms.  When Christian leaders stand with a president who makes these sorts of statements, they are failing in their offices as ministers of Christ’s Word.  The truth is that this is a nation of freedoms including religious freedoms.  We have the World’s largest population of Jews outside of Israel.  We have a huge Muslim population.  We are Catholics, Protestants, Wesleyans, Pelagians, Atheists, Buddhists, Shinto, Hindu and other creeds.  We are not a Christian theocracy.  It is not appropriate for civic magistrates to declare days, hours, minutes or seconds of prayer.  It is outside of both their civic and religious authority to do so.

One final aside, Perry refers to the First and Second Great Awakenings as great moments of prayer that resulted in national revival.  That statement leaves me dumbfounded.  He truly needs a history lesson.  The ignominious birth of Protestant Liberalism is not a cause célèbre.  Nothing has done more harm in this country to Christian doctrine than those two philosophical and social movements.

Am I saying that is wrong to pray for the nation?  Absolutely not.  Many churches pray for the civic governments to use wisdom and mercy in exercising their authority.  Jesus and the Apostles gave the stamp of approval on this form of prayer.  The authority for such prayer, though, resides within the church, not within the state.  A protest of misguided brothers and sisters is beside the point.  We do need, however, to educate our brothers and sisters as to the true message of the Gospel.  Rick Perry is not a Gospel authority, and he should not have exercised his civic authority to organize this event.

--Ogre--