🔹 Freedom and Liberty

Our Nation's Founding Fathers were almost all believers in Christ Jesus.

They understood that we should not try to imitate all the other nations of the world, but that we should establish our government, very carefully.

So the roughly, 250 founding fathers that founded the United States of America; decided that we should be a Republic, which should NOT be confused with a Democracy.

We get our 4 levels of government (Federal, State, County, and City) and our 3 branches of government (Executive, Legislative, and Judicial straight out of the Bible.

Exodus 18:21 and Isaiah 33:22, show us this.

Here is a full run down of different Bible verses that are directly applicable to our American form of government.

• 2 Corinthians 3:17 – "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."

  • This was one of the most-quoted verses during the founding era and reflects the belief that liberty is a divine right.

• Galatians 5:1 – "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free..."

  • Emphasized the link between spiritual freedom and civil liberty.

🔹 Natural Rights & Equality

• Genesis 1:27 – "So God created man in his own image..."

  • Key foundation for the idea that all men are created equal and endowed with unalienable rights.

• Acts 10:34 – "God is no respecter of persons."

  • Used to affirm that no class of people (like monarchs or aristocrats) had divine rights over others.

🔹 Rule of Law and Justice

• Isaiah 33:22 – "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king..."

  • Echoed in the separation of powers (judiciary, legislature, executive) in the U.S. Constitution.

• Deuteronomy 16:18–20 – "Judges and officers shalt thou make... that they may judge the people with just judgment."

  • Inspired the establishment of local and just courts.

🔹 Moral Government & Accountability

• Proverbs 14:34 – "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."

  • Quoted in sermons and political writings to support the idea of a moral government.

• Exodus 18:21 – "Provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness..."

  • Frequently cited by founders like John Adams and George Washington as guidance for selecting leaders.

🔹 Covenantal Ideas and National Destiny

• Deuteronomy 28 – The whole chapter on blessings for obedience and curses for rebellion

  • Puritans and early American thinkers saw the new nation in covenant with God, much like Israel.

🔹 Resistance to Tyranny

• Ecclesiastes 3:1, 8 – "A time to keep silence, and a time to speak... a time of war, and a time of peace."

  • Quoted to justify action during revolution.

• Psalm 144:1 – "Blessed be the Lord my strength which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight."

  • Used to sanctify the cause of the Revolutionary War.

🧠 Founders Who Quoted Scripture

• John Adams: Regularly referenced the Ten Commandments and the Gospels in letters and speeches.

• George Washington: Frequently alluded to Proverbs and Psalms in his personal writings and public addresses.

• Thomas Jefferson: Though skeptical of church authority, he quoted from the Gospels and loved Jesus’ moral teachings.

• Benjamin Franklin: Cited the Bible in the Constitutional Convention, e.g., invoking Psalm 127:1 – "Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it."

The Founding Fathers were not just revolutionaries; many were well-read in biblical law, Reformation political theory, and English common law, all of which were steeped in Scripture. While the U.S. Constitution doesn’t cite Bible verses directly, the structure of American government—particularly the three branches of government and the four levels (federal, state, county, and local)—was heavily inspired by biblical principles and patterns found in Scripture.

🏛️ PART I: Three Branches of Government – Biblical Origins

🔹 Isaiah 33:22 (KJV)

"For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us."

This verse was the primary biblical source used by Founders to support the idea of separation of powers, and it was cited by commentators like Montesquieu and by preachers during the colonial period.

• "Judge" = Judicial Branch (Supreme Court)

• "Lawgiver" = Legislative Branch (Congress)

• "King" = Executive Branch (President)

This concept aligns with Enlightenment thought, but many colonial sermons (especially in the 1600s and early 1700s) connected Isaiah 33:22 with the need for a system of checks and balances to restrain human sinfulness—a very biblical concept.

Supporting Concept:

• Jeremiah 17:9 – "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked..."

  • The Founders believed that sinful man must not be trusted with concentrated power (hence separation and balance of power).

🏛️ PART II: Four Levels of Government – Biblical Patterns of Governance

The Bible doesn’t explicitly use the terms “federal,” “state,” “county,” or “local,” but it outlines a tiered model of governance—particularly in the Old Testament—that deeply influenced early American civic structure.

🔹 Exodus 18:21 (KJV)

"Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens."

Here we see four tiers of government established by Moses at the advice of Jethro:

1. Rulers of thousands – Like a federal level

2. Rulers of hundreds – Like a state level

3. Rulers of fifties – Like a county level

4. Rulers of tens – Like a local or municipal level

This structure was aimed at decentralized justice and shared responsibility—concepts embraced by early American colonists, especially Puritans who implemented it in New England townships.

📚 Historical Context – Who Saw It This Way?

• John Winthrop (early governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony) saw Exodus 18 as a divine model for governance.

• Samuel Langdon, in his 1788 sermon "The Republic of the Israelites an Example to the American States", argued that the Israelites’ structure should inform American government.

• James Madison, though more secular, was influenced by the biblical concept of divided power and feared the tyranny that could result from centralized authority.

🧠 Summary Table

Biblical Verse

Government Concept

U.S. Equivalent

Isaiah 33:22

God as Judge, Lawgiver, King

Judicial, Legislative, Executive

Exodus 18:21

Rulers of 1000s, 100s, 50s, 10s

Federal, State, County, Local

Deut. 16:18–20

Judges in every town

Local courts, law enforcement

Romans 13:1–4

Submission to governing authorities

Legitimacy of civil government

Proverbs 11:14

"In the multitude of counsellors..."

Representative governance