Are Nation States Legitimate?

Ever wonder why we have nation states in the world, and are they legitimate? Why do nations even bother to maintain borders?

Hi, I’m Rex Rogers and this is episode #177 of Discerning What Is Best, a podcast applying unchanging biblical principles in a rapidly changing world, and a Christian worldview to current issues and everyday life.

In terms of the history of the world, what we know as nation-states have not really been around that long.?

The U.S.A. was born in 1776, not 250 years old just yet, peanuts compared to the Ancient Egyptian empire’s more than 2,500 years.?

But perhaps this is not an apples-to-apples comparison.

·????? Empires justified their rule through conquest and dynasty, while nation-states claim legitimacy largely from the shared identity of their people.

·????? Empires ruled over multiple ethnic and cultural groups, whereas nation-states tend to represent one primary national identity.

·????? Empires focus on expansive control and diverse populations, whereas nation-states focus on political unity and shared cultural identity?within defined borders.

“Some scholars consider the establishment of the?English Commonwealth in 1649 as the earliest instance of nation-state creation. Since the late 18th century, the nation-state has gradually become the dominant vehicle of rule over geographic territories.” This is where the U.S.A. is Exhibit A.

The English recognized popular sovereignty, the right of people to own their own territory and wherein the government is subject to the consent of the governed; national sovereignty, the right of people to govern themselves; and state sovereignty, right of states to govern their territories without external interference.

The impetus to create nation states involved several demographic and political components:

·????? Family, clan, tribe

·????? Common language

·????? Dominant religion or religious worldview

·????? Prevailing customs, mores, and other cultural expressions

·????? Shared traditions and history

·????? Need for protection in the face of nearby enemies

·????? Ethnic or racial or cultural similarity

·????? Borders

·????? Geography: natural geographic boundaries, like oceans or mountain ranges, or environmental quality of life inducements, like fresh water, tillable soil, ample growing seasons

Before the recognition of self-determinism, or consent of the governed, that emerged after the Middle Ages, governments existed as monarchies, theocratic states, and both colonial and ancient empires.?

Scripture repeatedly references nations. The English word is translated from Hebrew or Greek, meaning people groups who might speak the same language, follow the same religion, or live in the same area, a somewhat broader definition than we typically think today.

For example, along with Israel, the Bible mentions Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites as nations.

“Most manuscripts count 70 nations in Gen. 10. The Greek translation lists 72 nations.”

·????? Gen. 22:18:?God promises to bless all nations through Abraham's seed.

·????? 2 Chron. 20:6:?States that the Lord rules over all the kingdoms of the nations.?

·????? Ps. 22:27-28:?States that all the nations will bow down before the Lord.?

·????? Ps. 82:8:?Says all the nations are the Lord's inheritance.

·????? Is. 40:17:?Says the Lord is over all nations and over all people.?

·????? Matt. 28:19: God said, “Go therefore and?make disciples of?all nations.”?

·????? Acts 17:26: Tells us God “marked out our appointed times in history and the boundaries of our lands.”

·????? Rom. 13:1-7: Declares how God created governments, generally referencing a given territory or nation, for maintaining law and order, promoting the good.

·????? Gal. 3:16:?Identifies Jesus Christ as the one through whom the nations are blessed.??

While Scripture says God will work through nations to accomplish his purposes and to bless humanity, he is not limited to nations or governments and is subject to none. That said, the Lord never condemns the idea of nation states, and is not opposed to them as such.

Nationhood involves citizenship, a type of community and sense of belonging. This does not mean, especially in the contemporary context, that everyone is the same ethnicity or race or original nationality, but for a nation to remain strong, the people must be united around common ideals, what historically in the United States we’ve called the American Dream or Americana or even e Pluribus Unum.

For the U.S.A., this means freedom of religion, freedom of speech, equality before the law, freedom of opportunity. It is these common ideals and aspirations which are most under attack these days by members of the political left, some who promote globalism, some who simply live to hate and tear down.

Nations or the people groups that comprise them can, of course, act in highly threatening, negative, even violent ways, including government sponsored racism.

Nazi Germany is probably the best of the worst examples. But the point here is that leaders and perhaps their people can make immoral choices that lead to their nation acting in violent racist ways. They are acting out their worldview. It is not the nation-state as such that is ipso facto racist; it’s their worldview.

For a nation-state to exist is must recognize and maintain territorial boundaries that are recognized by other nation-states. No borders, no nation-state. No nation-state, no common purpose or accomplishments, and likely no security.

So, the oft-stated idea being marketed today by so-called globalists, the idea that nations – especially it seems the U.S.A. – should be borderless, or if it does have borders, then the nation is somehow racist, is a false, ahistorical idea. No, the nation is simply acting in an historically demonstrable common-sense self-preservation in the interest of its self-determination.

This is one of the ironies of the illogic of the globalist left. They argue for identity politics, for every ethnic or whatever demographic group to be able to exercise their self-determination as to where and how they want to live, but when a nation-state does this, even their own country – for example the U.S.A. securing its southern border, not allowing waves of individuals to enter illegally – the globalists call this racist.

They are anti-capitalism, pro-climate alarmism, anti-borders, pro-abortion and population decline, anti-freedom of speech and pro-government control of communications.

The socialist, globalist, left, Marxist people like John Kerry, Bill Gates, Al Gore, Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and the so-called “Squad” in the U.S. Congress, George Soros, the U.N/’s Kofi Anan, and others who’ve drunk the Kool-Aid like King Charles, Oprah Winfrey, and certainly so-called “progressives” are all-in on big, worldwide government, i.e., few or no nation-states.

Now you’d be forgiven if you thought, hey, this sounds like what the Bible calls the End Times, and it may be. Only God knows. Either way, these anti-nation-state trends run along the same track as anti-freedom.

There are numerous Christian intellectuals, scholars, and writers thinking aloud about these trends. Some, like columnist Cal Thomas are writing about what elections mean in this environment. Some, like brilliant Christian apologist Os Guinness are writing books about what these tectonic shifts in our culture mean.

His latest book, Our Civilizational Moment: The Waning of the West and the War of the Worlds, focuses directly on the questions: “Is the civilization in living touch with the ideas, ideals, and inspiration that created it in the first place and that it needs to continue to flourish? Or, with its roots severed, is it destined to decline and die?”?Guinness broadens his discussion beyond America to think about the West, but the U.S.A. is right in the middle of this.

The U.S.A. is not listed in the Bible. We do not know if this means the U.S.A. will not exist when the End Times come, whether it will play a role God chose not to reveal, or whether it will be weaker or in some different circumstance wherein it will not play a role.

But this is not for us to determine, or even to worry about. Our calling and task remain the same: “to do justice, and to love kindness, and to?walk humbly with (our) God” (Micah 6:8), to “not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap,?if we do not give up” (Gal. 6:9).

At some future glorious day, the Scripture describes “a great multitude that no one could number,?from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,?clothed in white robes, with?palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice,?“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Rev. 7:9-10).

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Well, we’ll see you again soon. This podcast is about Discerning What Is Best. If you find this thought-provoking and helpful, follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Download an episode for your friends. For more Christian commentary, check my website, r-e-x-m as in Martin, that’s rexmrogers.com. Or check my YouTube channel @DrRexRogers for more podcasts and video.

And remember, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm.

? Rex M. Rogers – All Rights Reserved, 2024 ?

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