By: Donald S. Conkey
The Constitution of the United States of America will be 225 years old on Monday September 17, 2012. It was crafted in controversy during the summer of 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was signed in controversy on September 17, 1787 by only 39 of the 55 men who attended that Constitutional Convention, men whom 21st century Americans honor as theirs Founding Fathers. That Constitution was ratified in controversy during the winter months of 1787 and the spring of 1788. And it is still controversial today – 225 years later. Why?
Because, I believe, it is a Constitution approved of, and sustained by the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and because, again I believe, it was designed to restore those freedoms and liberties found in what the Apostle James referred to as “the perfect law of liberty.” When James made this reference to “the perfect law of liberty” the New Testament had not yet been assembled and approved as scripture so he was referring to a law in the Old Testament. Nearly all of the Founders were well versed in the Bible and when they read this passage by James I believe a spiritual nerve was touched, by the Holy Spirit that urged them to go search the Old Testament more fully to find that perfect law of liberty.
I believe the Founders found that perfect law in both the Lord’s Ten Commandments and in the 59 statutes He gave to Moses on Mt. Sinai anciently and are found scattered throughout the writings of Moses in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Christians and Jews accept the Ten Commandments as the law that governs their relationship with God to gain life after life. But few have taken the time to search out those 59 statutes the Lord gave to Moses to govern the relationship of the Israelites one with another – local government. I believe the Founders knew the Ten Commandments but believed there were more statutes to be found. I believe the Founders found those other 59 and when anyone today makes a concerted effort to search out these statutes they will find a strong correlation between the laws that governed the Israelites until they corrupted themselves and self-destructed and the form of government the Founders established in the Constitution.
The reason there was controversy during the signing of the Constitution on September 17, 1787 was because three men, George Mason, Governor Edmund Randolph, of Virginia, and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts refused to sign that original document because it did not enumerate or protect those freedoms and liberties the colonists had fought and died for. Both Washington and Madison were wise enough to know that ratification of the Constitution wasn’t possible without these three men’s support, thus were America’s Bill of Rights born and became a vital part of the Constitution on December 15, 1791. Think about what America would be today without its Bill of Rights – thirteen enslaved third world nations!
The Constitution was created to protect those unalienable rights first mentioned in Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence but then enumerated in more detail by Madison in the Bill of Rights. It is important to remember after the self-destruction of the Israelites, due to corruption, all attempting to fully restore these laws failed until the Founders attempted it – and they nearly failed.
We learn why there’s controversy over the Constitution by reading the words of John in Revelation 12:7-9. These words read: “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” The key words in these verses are ‘that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world’ because these words identify the Devil and Satan as he who had kept the world in bondage, by deceiving them, until the Spirit of truth rested upon the shoulders of America’s Founding Fathers and began the process of breaking away from the tyranny of George III.
Self-government is not easy – it’s hard, but if America is to remain free they, the people must get involved in this upcoming election, because this election is the election that will determine if the Constitution will continue to remain relevant in America. Happy Birthday Constitution!