`The Theocracy is a government of the state by the immediate direction of God. Jehovah condescended to rule

over Israel in the same direct manner in which an earthly king reigns over his people ... with wisdom worthy of

Himself, He assumed not merely a religious, but a political superiority, over the descendants of Abraham. He

constituted Himself, in the strictest sense of the phrase, King of Israel and the government of Israel became, in

consequence, strictly and literally, a Theocracy'.

While we recognise this, we must never forget that this rule, stated above, is often carried out through created

beings and we shall find this right throughout the Bible as it unfolds the purpose of God.

Adam was placed by the Creator as head and ruler of the earth. Had he not sinned and passed the `virus' of sin

and its consequence, death, to the whole human race, mankind, in its perfection, would have been an outward

manifestation of the kingdom of God. Upon the failure of our first parents, they were deposed from the exalted

position they had been given and because of this, the door was thrown open wide to the activity of the great enemy

of God, namely Satan, who had already ruined the heavenly regions by his fall involving, as far as we can judge,

many of the angels. From this point onwards, the stupendous battle of the ages commenced which tremendously

complicated the outworking of God's will for heaven and earth. This meant nothing less than the need for the

complete eradication righteously, of both sin and death, for God's perfect kingdom is impossible of attainment until

these enemies to His purpose are removed, and only God Himself could undertake so mighty a task.

There was no created being in heaven or earth who could successfully assume such a responsibility. The action

of God then was primarily redemptive, and this necessarily underlies the whole conception of God's kingdom in

earth and heaven and it therefore permeates the whole of the Word of God. To miss this, is to miss everything and

to end up by concocting unattainable dreams which finally lead to hopeless despair.

The first startling evidence of Satan's bitter animosity to God and the redemptive plan that spells out his utter

defeat (Gen. 3:14,15), was in the first born son of Adam and Eve. In Genesis 4:1 Eve says `I have gotten a man

from the Lord' or more literally `I have gotten a man, the Lord' (i.e. Jehovah). She evidently thought that God's

promise of a seed that would crush the serpent (Satan) was now realised, but the New Testament reveals that Cain,

her first born, was `of (ek) the devil' (1 John 3:12). Here is a deep mystery which is not explained, but there is no

doubt that the Word of God clearly teaches that there are two seeds on the earth, one of God and one of the Deceiver

(compare `thy seed' and `her seed' in Genesis 3:15 and note the parable of the tares and the wheat and the Lord's

interpretation of it (Matt. 13:24-30; 36-42).

The obvious aim of Satan was to corrupt the true seed so that the divine promise of Genesis 3 would be ruined

and the birth of Christ impossible of fulfilment. Satan would then be triumphant. The early chapters of Genesis

record the fact that this nearly succeeded. Only one man and his family were free of the evil one's contamination

(Gen. 6:9) and the violence and wickedness that filled the earth (Gen. 6:5,11-13) was so great that there was only

one thing left to do by God and that was to destroy the perverted seed and commence afresh with Noah and his

family. It was like cutting out a gigantic cancer and making a new beginning.

From Noah's time onwards government was clearly placed in the hands of man again by God:

`And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish (fill) the earth.

And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air,

upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered' (Gen.

Noah was, as it were, a second Adam and picks up the kingdom theme once more. In his rule, man must now

take account of human life. This life was given by God and belongs to Him and therefore man is warned that he is

answerable to God for it:

`... and for your lifeblood I will surely demand an accounting. I will demand an accounting from every animal.

And from each man, too, I will demand an accounting for the life of his fellow man' (Gen. 9:5 N.I.V.).

Nothing less than the death penalty is now prescribed by God (verse 6) for murder and the reason given is that

murder blots out the image of God. It was in this image that Adam had been created (Gen. 1:26). Men today

imagine they are progressing by abolishing the death penalty. In their ignorance, this command of God is often