Gifts of Heaven · Volume 2 · Chapter 310

Kingship and popular rule

7th October 1843

O Lord! Can the Greek people, in agreement with the military, be allowed to wake up their king at night and impose a constitution on him? – Will this extremely surprising fact not have dire consequences for this otherwise heroic people?

[1] You know the right norm how a state should be organized! See under what conditions the Jews once had a king, so it should be everywhere. But nothing of a "constitution" appears anywhere in Scripture. Therefore it should not appear anywhere in life.

[2] The king was only appointed by me to humiliate the inflated Jews and to suppress their mutual lust for domination over Israel when it became dissatisfied with my government! – But if a people now only allows one title king to exist among them, who is not allowed to do anything or give orders without the will of the people – what kind of king is that afterwards ?! – A free state under elected judges is incomparably better than such a kingship, where the king depends on the people, but not the people according to My order on the king!

[3] The right king should have wise counselors from among the people around him, with whom he can consult about just administration. But the execution of the council should fall solely to the will of the king and not even to the will of the councils as being active. Because the councils are only there for the wise council, but not also because of the domain. My dear apostle Paul made it clear after all, and that under the government of a tyrant of all tyrants, under the Emperor Nero – that one should obey the worldly authorities in worldly matters, whether they are good or bad. Because one and the other have their power from above.

[4] The king of Greece was far from being Nero, why did the people depose him afterwards? – The people should only leave the appointment and deposition of kings to me, then it will be better off than domineering willful!

[5] If I will make a people free, I will do it, when the people have turned to me. But I will not give freedom to a proud and only domineering people for a long time yet!

[6] For it is better to be a servant in the world than an everlasting slave in spirit. – But whoever wants to go the way of the spirit, him I will know how to protect under every government as long as he does not publicly presume any dominion. But if he does so without my express command, he must also put up with being chastened by the world!

[7] So too will the Greeks sooner or later! – See, so things stand! But think about it yourself carefully, and you will find that it has to be so to humiliate the world! – So understand! Amen.