Worrying about forgetting should be the concern of all of us, not just the elderly. We are constantly assaulted by arguments and claims that are untethered to Biblical history as understood by Seventh-day Adventists and Christians in general.
Regent University School of Law plays a major role in teaching the next generation of lawyers about the true foundation of American law. That is one reason why I love being part of the faculty. We teach that the laws of the United States, the jurisprudential high point of Western civilization, find their genesis in the Bible. One of my dear friends and a fellow faculty member, Jeff Brauch, is the author of Foundations of the Law, the textbook used for a required first year class for law students at Regent.
This link between the Bible and the most fundamental rules of U.S. law is not obvious to the average American, especially those who are unfamiliar with, or forgetful of, the Bible’s content. For example, the rule protecting Americans against government inquisitions is based on the bedrock principle that a citizen cannot be required to answer self-incriminating questions.
Did you know that this right, found in the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, is based on Jewish law? Did you know that Jesus, when hauled before the Sanhedrin, the high Jewish court, exercised His right against self-incrimination? (Mark 14:60-61).
Many Americans are concerned about money and debt. The idea that debt should not become a perpetual life sentence, and that the law must provide a formal release, is grounded in the Bible. These are merely two quick examples of how American law is tied to the law given to the Hebrews by God. Let’s go deeper into history to refresh memories that may be fading.
Western Civilization Started with the Jews. Recall what you know about the way the Bible describes God’s relationship with the humans He created. We find in the first chapters of Genesis that Adam and Eve failed God by mistrusting Him. One of their children murdered the other over a matter of disobedience. In Genesis chapters 6-8 humans are so uniformly evil and hostile to their Creator that God destroys all of them in a worldwide flood, save Noah and his immediate family.
Although God has now restarted human civilization, almost immediately, in Genesis 11, humans again distrust God and construct a tower of hope to save them from the next flood brought by God. Genesis 11:7-9 reports that God reacted in two ways to the tower. First, He “confused the language,” apparently making several languages, and second, He “dispersed them over the face of all the earth.”
This reveals that God dispersed different people-groups with different languages around the world. But God selected Shem (a son of Noah), then Terah, and finally Abram for special consideration. In Genesis 12:7 we find that God has now chosen Abram’s future descendants, the Jewish people, to have a special relationship with Him (Genesis 17:7-8) and a special homeland (Genesis 15:18-21) which describes an area in which modern Israel is located.
What the Bible reveals is a God looking to have a special relationship with a people who will reflect His values. The rest of humans have rejected a relationship with God, and they find themselves relegated to various places around the world. But the Hebrews, the Jewish people who are the descendants of Abram, now have an exclusive relationship with God in a specific place on earth designated by Him.
The Promulgation of Fundamental Principles of Western Civilization Through the Jews.
Western civilization, and particularly the United States, stands apart from the rest of the world because of the adoption of fundamental rules linked to God’s revelation to the Jewish people, a people divinely appointed to be in communion with God. Consider the following seven rules that set Western civilization apart from the rest of the world.
The right of private property among citizens. One of the most important principles of individual freedom is the right to private property. The law God gave to the Hebrews states “You shall not steal.” Exodus 20:15. That command assumes that one person’s property is distinct from another’s and must be respected. Exodus 20:17 commands “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house … or anything that is your neighbor’s.” This goes beyond theft and protects the moral legitimacy of private ownership itself. Deuteronomy 19:14 provides “You shall not move your neighbor’s landmark.” This protects real-property boundaries.
The protection of private property against government takings. 1 Samuel 8:14-18 warns that a monarchy will “take the best of your fields and vineyards,” along with other property and labor. The passage presents such takings as a mark of oppressive rule, not Bible-inspired justice. Micah 2:1-2 condemns elites who use power to seize houses and inheritance and 1 Kings 21 shows that even a king may not rightfully seize a subject’s inherited land. Ahab’s taking is treated as murder plus confiscation.
The resolution of property disputes through the rule of law rather than force. Exodus 22:8-9 provides that when there is a dispute over property, “both parties” must come before God and the judges. That is the rule of law; it is due process. Property disputes are not resolved by raw power, but by principled adjudication.
The individual right to liberty. The ability of government to deprive an individual of his freedom is limited. Numbers 35:24-25 provides that “the assembly must judge between the accused and the avenger of blood.” The accused was entitled, even in the face of a homicide accusation, to a formal judgment before the deprivation of liberty or life. That reflects a broader Biblical commitment to the formal adjudication of rights.
The right to a fair trial. Leviticus 19:15 prohibits a judicial officer from either favoring the poor or the great. Deuteronomy 1:16-17 provides for a hearing for both the small and great alike. Deuteronomy 19:15 provides that a disputed fact must be established by two or three witnesses. Exodus 20:16 requires honesty in the presentation of evidence. “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 23:1–3, 6–8 prohibits false reports, malicious witnesses, the perversion of justice and the giving and taking of bribes. False testimony is severely punished. Deuteronomy 19:16–21 requires that a false witness receive the penalty he sought to inflict. Most tellingly, even the king is under the rule of law (Deuteronomy 17:14-20).
The right to debt relief. The U.S. Constitution provides for bankruptcy. U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 4. Under American law a bankruptcy discharge releases the debtor from personal liability for certain debts. This discharge of debts finds its antecedent in Hebrew law. Deuteronomy 15:1–2 provides that at the end of seven years there shall be a general release of debts. Leviticus 25:35–41, 47–55 provides measures to ensure that poor Israelites are not to be trapped permanently in debt-servitude. Release and restoration are built into the system. Every fifty years, according to Leviticus 25:10, the Jubilee requires the return of property to the original owner.
The value of the individual. Genesis 1:26-27 proclaims that humanity is made in the image of God. Indeed, in Genesis 2:7 we find the individual human being was personally formed by God. Therefore, human life is to be protected (Genesis 9:6). Hebrew law provided protection even for those who had little or no power in society. Exodus 22:21-27 (protection for strangers, widows, orphans, and the poor). This included help for the poor who were willing to work (Leviticus 19:9-10).
These seven principles that are essential to Western civilization come to us directly from God through the Jews. Although the New Testament provides that non-Jews can be grafted into this special relationship between God and the Hebrews (Romans 11:17-18), it also warns Gentiles not to forget the Jewish “natural branches” or become proud that they have been added (Romans 11:24, 18-20). We dare not forget or become arrogant.
Anyone who believes the Bible should be able to see that these fundamentals of Western civilization were given directly by God to the Jews, rather than to the rest of humanity, which had rejected a relationship with Him. The founders of the United States wisely adopted these fundamentals given to the Jews. As a result, no nation on earth is as powerful as the United States, and no people on earth enjoy greater freedom.
Neither the Jewish people nor the citizens of the United States have kept these basic civilization rules perfectly. But the United States has the distinction of repenting and restoring those broken principles. Over half a million Americans died in the conflict to set right the stain of slavery. Since the end of the Civil War the official policy of the United States, as expressed in the U.S. Constitution and federal statutes, has been to end discrimination and to bring us into agreement with the civilizational principles given to us as our heritage through the Jewish people.
Seventh-day Adventists believe in the great controversy between Jesus and Satan. We should understand that the repeated attacks on the Jewish people, the repository of the underpinnings of Western civilization, have one source, and it is demonic.
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Bruce N. Cameron is the Reed Larson Professor of Labor Law at Regent University School of Law and has been on the litigation staff of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation for fifty years. He is currently aiding Jewish students and employees who wish to stand apart from antisemitic labor unions that claim a right to compel their support.