Taxation is Slavery: A Biblical Case

Over the past centuries, many have looked to the Bible in an attempt to provide justification for the so-called divine right of kings. As far back as Constantine, theologians have tried earnestly to mount a biblical defense for the existence of human empires and rulers. Unfortunately for them these efforts have often been in vain. It turns out that the Bible has very few good things to say about empires, and its authors spend considerable time condemning the actions of kings. One of the most potent indictments of human kingship is recorded in 1 Samuel 8:

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.”… And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them….Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” So Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people who were asking for a king from him. He said, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots…He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants….He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

1 Samuel 8:1

Christians who advocate for human rulers today tend to assume that God is only opposed to unjust rulers. But notably, the possibility of injustice is not the reason God gives for rejecting the Israelite’s request. Rather, God warns them about actions that are common to all kings, such as taxation. Most strikingly, God says they will become the king’s slaves. God is not saying that they might become his slaves if he is unjust. God is saying that slavery is inherent whenever there is a king. To be ruled and taxed is to be a slave.

This idea seems shocking to us in our modern context, but it is generally taken for granted by the biblical authors. To understand this, we need to keep in mind that kings in those days used taxes primarily to enrich themselves and the nobility, rather than as a means of redistributing wealth. Over the centuries, rulers began to distribute some of their riches to the peasantry as a way of legitimizing the practice, until eventually, we arrived at the systems we have today. Yet while it’s true that God instructed his people to take care of the poor, he never intended to use socialized services and governments to that end. It was man’s initiative in 1 Samuel 8 to set up a ruling class, “to be like the other nations”, even though they were called to be set apart. Like every other empire throughout history, the Israelites established a system of coercion used to fund wars and exalt humans. Thus, despite its modern structure, our system now is not so different from theirs. While we may have good intentions for helping the poor, the fact is that a significant amount of our taxes are used in opposition to God’s will. The words of Samuel apply to all empires and rulers no matter their policies.

Some examples from the Bible will help to illustrate this paradigm regarding slavery and government.

To begin, foreign nations would often become slaves when they were conquered, and this was demonstrated by the fact that they would send tribute to the conquering king (2 Samuel 8.2, 2 Samuel 8.6, 2 Kings 17.3). Being forced to send tribute was an act of enslavement because they were no longer working for themselves.

Even within the nation of Israel, it was understood that taxpayers were under a form of slavery. In the story of David and Goliath, the men of Israel speak of the rewards that will be given to the one who slays Goliath.

And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.

1 Samuel 17.25

The “father’s house” is a cultural reference to their extended family unit. What is intriguing about this verse is the Hebrew word translated as “free”, which is “chophshiy”. In most of its other occurrences, this word is used to denote being freed from slavery (Exodus 21.2, Jeremiah 34.9). In this verse, however, many translators rightly render it as “exempt from taxes”. Thus, the usage of this word in this context shows us that there is an understood equivalence between being set free from slavery and being exempt from taxes. And if we were paying attention in 1 Samuel 8, this understanding should not come as a surprise. The king will take your possessions by force, and thus you will be his slaves.

This paradigm is further revealed in 1 Kings 12, where we read about the tax revolt that divided the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. After the death of King Solomon, Rehoboam his son was made king, and he was immediately presented with a request from the people.

Your father made our yoke heavy. Now therefore lighten the hard service of your father and his heavy yoke on us, and we will serve you.

1 Kings 12.4

The image of a yoke is a common biblical picture for slavery (Lev.26.13, Ez.34.27), but it is also used to refer to tribute exacted by kings (1 Kings 12.4, Jer.30.8). In this case, it was completely natural for the people to talk about high taxes as a heavy yoke, because the idea of taxes being a burden was common knowledge. In light of this observation, we should carefully consider the implications of these words from Isaiah.

Is not this the fast that I choose. To loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?

Isaiah 58.6

It’s easy for us to assume that this exhortation is only related to slavery. But is it possible that “every yoke” includes the yoke related to taxes? And what do we mean by “slavery” anyways?

Here a brief discussion of the text Hebrew is necessary. In English, we have the words “servant” and “slave”, and these have vastly different connotations. In Hebrew, however, there is only one word for this concept, which is the word “avad”. The best English translation I can think of is “subservience”. As a result of this difficulty in translation, it is easy to accidentally equivocate on the terms. The important thing to understand is that in the Hebrew mind there is no distinction between a servant and a slave. In that culture there were not two categories of subservience, one being voluntary employment and the other being involuntary servitude. The word “avad” is used to discuss slavery in Egypt (Ex.1.14), vassal empires paying tribute to conquer other empires (1 Kings 4.21), and voluntary arrangements (Gen.29.18). Notably, this same word is used in 1 Kings 12, when the people say to the king “we will serve you”. This is analogous to the verse in 1 Samuel 8, “you will be his slaves”.

Thus, although it is impossible to conclude with certainty whether the word “avad” by itself denotes voluntary or involuntary subservience, the context often provides a reasonable basis for establishing the correct interpretation. Suffice it to say, there are many clear biblical examples of involuntary subservience to governments by means of taxation or forced labor (which is referred to as a yoke) such as the slavery in Egypt (Lev.26.13) and exile to Babylon (Jer.27.12). Thus, to the extent that taxation is involuntary (space does not allow a full discussion of social contract theory), there is a strong biblical precedent for calling it an act of enslavement.

The New Testament also discusses the issue of taxation in the context of slavery. For example, consider the words of Jesus in Matthew 17.

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free.”

Matthew 17.24

The Greek word translated as “free” is “eleutheros”. This word is almost exclusively used in contrast with being enslaved (John 8.33, Galatians 3.28). In fact, the most straightforward definition of this word is literally “not a slave”. However, unlike all the other contexts where this word is used to mean freedom from slavery, here Jesus uses it to mean being free from taxation. The implication is unmistakable. According to Jesus, those who don’t pay taxes are not slaves, and those who do pay taxes are not free.

Nehemiah also commented on the oppressive taxation of Israel under the rule of foreign kings.

And there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards. Now our flesh is as the flesh of our brothers, our children are as their children. Yet we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters have already been enslaved, but it is not in our power to help it, for other men have our fields and our vineyards.”

Nehemiah 5.4

The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God.

Nehemiah 5.15

Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people.

Nehemiah 5.18

The people of Israel had been stripped of their independence and forced to pay heavy taxes, so much so that Nehemiah refused to receive his benefits as a governor. In his mind, it was not right to receive a share of what was taken from his people. A few chapters later, the connection between taxation and slavery is made explicitly.

Behold, we are slaves this day; in the land that you gave to our fathers to enjoy its fruit and its good gifts, behold, we are slaves. And its rich yield goes to the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They rule over our bodies and over our livestock as they please, and we are in great distress

Nehemiah 9.36

Presumably, one could make the argument that this was only slavery because they were being ruled by foreign kings and that it would not be slavery if they could rule themselves. However, this argument has a few difficulties. First, the line between neighbors and foreigners is quite arbitrary. Many empires are so large that almost all of their subjects are ruled by people living far away. More importantly, as Christians, we are supposed to view ourselves as being foreigners and exiles of all worldly nations (1 Peter 2.11). We are “citizens” (Phil.3.20) of the kingdom of heaven and “ambassadors” (2 Cor.5.20) for Christ because we have a foreign allegiance (Rom 10.9, Acts 17.7). Thus, we understand that we always live under alien powers that are opposed to the kingdom of God (Luke 4.6, Psalm 2.2, 1 Corinthians 15.24). When they tax us we have every reason to identify with the Israelites in Nehemiah.

After reminding us of the reality that we are living in exile, Peter goes on to talk about what that should look like. Let’s look at this passage in more depth.

Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

1 Peter 2.13

Peter begins by admonishing us to be subject to human institutions. Immediately, he is pointing out that these institutions were established by man and not by God. The examples he gives are government and slavery, which are purposefully mentioned sequentially to highlight how we have the same response of submission for both.

Some may be eager to point out that the governors are “sent by God”. But that does not mean God approves of their actions. Remember, the emperors at the time this was written were actively persecuting Christians, as referenced in other parts of the same letter (1 Peter 4.16). So it would be improper to read this as an endorsement of government action. Rather, God is using fallible humans to carry out his purposes and enforce justice. This is drawing on a significant theme from the prophets where God often uses wicked empires to punish those who do evil (Romans 13.4, Isaiah 10.5, Jeremiah 25.9, Isaiah 45.1)

In the context of submitting to human governments, Peter now encourages us to “live as people who are free”. That word “free” is the same Greek word that Jesus used in Matthew 17, which means “not a slave”. But here, like Jesus, Peter uses the word in the context of obedience to governments and rulers. He understands that kings seek to make slaves of their subjects. But as Christians, we know that we are actually “slaves” (similar to the Hebrew “avad”, the Greek word here can mean slaves or servants) of God, who is our only rightful ruler. Thus, we submit to human rulers, we pay taxes, out of obedience to God, because that is what he commands.

Peter continues,

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

1 Peter 2.18:

Peter now addresses slaves with the same command he issued regarding government: be subject to the human institution. He even uses the example of Christ to show how slaves should suffer under unjust masters. But was Christ a slave? No, and yes. Though he had no direct master, Christ was subject to the governing authorities, and Peter saw this as being a close enough equivalent to slavery that he could use Christ’s submission as an example for slaves to emulate.

The point is, our response to human institutions is always to submit to unjust authority, whether that is by serving a master, walking an extra mile, turning the other cheek, or paying taxes. None of these commands is an endorsement of the authority’s actions. Rather, they are a profound acknowledgment that all man-made authorities belong in the same category, whether they are masters, rulers, or governments. All such institutions are illegitimate in God’s eyes (Judges 8.23, 1 Samuel 8.7).

The rulers of this age use taxes to fund wars, imprison the innocent and oppress the poor. They make slaves of their people. But Christ has come to set us free (Isaiah 58.6, Isaiah 61.1). Free from slavery, free from oppression, free from government. He did not come to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20.25). He did not come to coercively exact tribute, but to give.

So if Christ is our model and our king, why do we continue to make slaves of our neighbors? Why do we advocate for a foreign ruler to take a fraction of their income? Why do we continue to support a human institution that God consistently condemns? Maybe it’s time to rethink our unquestioned approval of the “divine right” of politicians.

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About the Author

Patrick Carroll has a degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Waterloo and is an Editorial Fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education.

You can follow him on Twitter @PatrickC1995 or on his Facebook page The Prudent Navigator.

The United States of East Germany

How is the United States like East Germany?

We have to go back to about 1984 to the time I first learned there was an East Germany and a West Germany. This was also the year Epix released the video game “1984” for the Commodore 64, which my best friend had a copy of. The game was epic to my eleven-year-old self.  You could compete across a number of Summer Olympic events as different countries, and this is when I noticed there were two Germanys (and probably two Koreas, but I do not recall noticing them).

I later learned East Germany was “Communist”! Back in the 1980s, there was nothing worse than being a Communist...or so I thought at the time. What were some of the things that made Communists so bad? East Germany kept its people in and kept others out with a concrete wall lined with concertinaed wire, much like that found on our Southern border with Mexico. I also learned they had “secret police” and a nation of informants who would “swat” their neighbor’s in a heartbeat, especially in exchange for freedom from a charge levied against themselves. I learned they tapped all the forms of communication people used and they watched their citizens 24 hours a day/365 days a year, lest anyone exhibit anti-German rhetoric or beliefs, like our NSA and Facebook Machine overlords are doing. Does this sound familiar to what our FBI, ATF, and local police forces do? 

While I cannot say for certain, I believe this is when I began to loathe communism and its concepts. I can say for certain that the more I learned about what is necessary to maintain a government in any form, the less I wanted to experience any form of government control. Unfortunately, my disdain, and probably yours as well, for the government's increasing control over our lives has not stopped every single facet of East German rule from being implemented in the United States during our lifetime. Every single one of them! Go ahead, look at the prior paragraph again, because each of those East German programs is in full effect in the United States and to an even greater degree because of our accessibility to more effective and advanced technology. 

To make us good little East Germans, and prevent us from being Bad Romans, the United States implemented a vast empire of schools to indoctrinate its residents and misinform our understanding of history. Freedom, to any real extent, is not allowed in the United States, instead only compliance with the State is authorized. Take for example the fact that most of our possessions must be licensed, taxed, registered, and paid for through fees. If you have to ask for permission to have it and pay a fee - it is not free.

To achieve these results, vast sums of money are spent to seize and control the minds of almost all residents. The combined expenditures for this empire fall around $720 billion/year, which works out to around $15,000 per student. With the exception of those who can afford private education or to do homeschooling, the majority of Americans spent 12 years inside the halls of those indoctrination camps, complete with a daily pledge of allegiance. This is how the United States makes sure Americans learn exactly what the State needs them to be in order to keep the empire going. Certainly, there must be a bulwark in the Church against this kind of thinking, right?

I wish the goals of the church were different than those of the State (as they should be). Unfortunately, I know most of my fellow “saints” like to pretend the United States is a Christian nation; one founded on Christian values, and with a Christian manifest destiny. I know my fellow saints have drunk the sugary drinks and swallowed the lies necessary to believe this. Look at the church on any holiday and you can see right through the reverence on display. Look at the dais, look at the flags on display, and you will understand who many churches have chosen to place first.

Fallen Heroes

Let us be serious about this for a moment. It makes Americans feel good to think about apple pie, pacifying the land, and spreading from “sea to shining sea” on-premises of Christian values. I mean, who does not like hotdogs, baseball, fireworks, and “freedom”? We mistakenly allow ourselves to believe this has all been done in the name of God, crafted under the guise of Jesus, to obfuscate the actions that have enabled the United States to exist through violence and terror. 

Unfortunately, my fellow saints are just as guilty of thinking the United States eradicated slavery, saved the world from Nazi Germany, the Emperor’s Japan, and communist Russia all without realizing every sin of our “enemies” is on full display and practice here. I know my fellow saints like to think they defeated slavery, the ”Savage Indian”, and the USSR through peace, trade, the Church (not to mention our large nuclear arsenal), but it just is not true. It has been violence, coercion, and endless threats of more violence disguised as diplomacy that got us here. We must ask, would this be sanctioned by God? Not in the least bit - if He were ever consulted.

Saints should not be so foolish. The United States committed genocide on the original inhabitants of North America. European settlers did not discover anything; they invaded a foreign territory and used every means possible to take it from its rightful inhabitants, which was then justified through biblical interpretive malfeasance. An outright war against the “Indian” was always on the table when they could not be suckered. The shooting and killing of Indian tribes pushed them further and further West until there was nowhere left to push them. The United States wanted those lands for white settlers who could use the land “properly” and be taxed for it—end of the story. The few survivors of this state-sanctioned genocide on Native Americans were housed on reservations in desolate areas the government did not see itself needing, as far away from “civilized” folks as possible.

The atrocities against the original residents of North America began in full force in the early 1600s and did not end until the early 1900s. Yes, only 100 years ago! And, it only gets worse from there. Borrowing from Wikipedia we read this:

During the early 19th century, the federal government was under pressure by settlers in many regions to expel Indians from their areas. The Indian Removal Act of 1830 offered Indians the choices of assimilating and giving up tribal membership, relocation to an Indian reservation with an exchange or payment for lands, or moving west.

This was a policy of genocide for an entire people group. We wanted to end their way of life and eradicate them from history. This, arguably, is worse than East Germany (but, shhh, don’t dare mention that in schools)!

Do you know who was president during most of the Indian genocide? The same men that are now revered as heroes of the State even have their faces carved into mountains on sacred lands(looking at you Mt. Rushmore). So, let us just look at a handful of these heroes who have schools and streets named after them in every town and county across North America:

1. Thomas Jefferson

   • Tommy boy led a multi-pronged policy against the “savages” of North America. He wanted to move them West because he wanted their land for settlers, but he wanted them to remain peaceful and not allied with the British. For the Native people who survived relocation, Jefferson wanted them to be civilized and incorporated into the European model of a citizen through assimilation. Jefferson was so successful in turning the Native Americans into the dead, the absent, or the near-white, that a number of tribes built “regular” towns and even began owning slaves like their white schooler’s taught them. Those who would not bend the knee to Jefferson would die in the War of 1812. American politicians and their supporters have always been comprised of violent men carrying a giant boom stick. 

2. Abraham Lincoln 

   • “Honest” Abe was a great murderer loved and known by almost all. Lincoln cashed in on the killing of Indians and taking of their lands, in fact this how he accumulated political connections. As a member of the Illinois House, Lincoln took up arms against Indians in the Blackhawk Wars,  though history says he never killed anyone during the brief conflict, it was his new resume bullet, Captain in the militia, fighting to protect the lands of Illinois from the Indian owners, that propelled him forward to the presidency. Once president, Lincoln would prosecute a genocide against the South and the Indians out west. Yet he is held up as a hero today.

I will not continue describing the rampant abuses perpetrated against the native inhabitants of North America, but every single president during that period is guilty of their deaths. In their time, each of these men claimed Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Jesus would never sanction their actions, but this has not stopped the Department of Education from claiming otherwise. The schoolers’ couch expansionist imperialism in the most colorful manner. It is always the other guy and his nation that are compromised by hateful warmongers. The US is always on the right side of history and there to help the oppressed; it says so in the schoolers’ history books!

After this brief history lesson, how does this make the United States a modern East Germany? Our universities are beginning to make Covid-19 vaccines mandatory for attendance, and, while only a few have done this so far, it is likely to spread, much like a virus, to all of them. This is a totalitarian requirement pushed by the schoolers’ of the State to not allow their professors, or students, back on to campus without proof of vaccination. We have already seen members of the State promoting injections to attend concerts and sporting events—the natural expressions of East German totalitarianism, right here in the good ol’ USofA.

However, it is not just public institutions or policies that amplify our descent into totalitarianism. How many of our churches spent Sunday, July 4th this year honoring the flag for the Fourth of July and singing nationalistic hymns at the same time? This is a common practice across churches in the United States, on any state-sanctioned holiday, many of our churches practice State worship over the King of all kings. 

Our American Saints have embraced a polluted form of Ameranity. They combine their love of the State with their love of Jesus, failing to see that this is foreign to the Jesus of the Bible they aim to worship. This entanglement with the way of the State and the way of Christ only supports and ushers in an East German-style totalitarianism. Americanity fully supported slavery and the Wars against Native Americans. Americanity supported the genocide in the Philippines and against the Vietnamese. Americanity inserted itself into European wars when it did not have to. Americanity supports everything the State wants, no matter what the Bible says or Jesus would do. The United States is anything but a Christian nation. The United States is everything Jesus rejected on the cross and everything East Germany stood for.

Being a faithful Christian (a Bad Roman) is only going to become more difficult as the United States moves forward, but it has always been harder to live as a citizen of heaven. The mistake is when we believe we are able to remain faithful citizens to a finite man-made State while also living out the Gospel. So I ask you this, are you ready to be a bad East Germans? Will you join me and follow no king, but Christ?

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About the Author

Ian Minielly is a full-time vocational pastor. He considers himself an “oddball” in ministry for his peaceful understanding of the Kingdom of God and how limited of a role Christians should have with the State.

Regarding how he came to this stance, he says:

God spared me and showed great mercy in opening my eyes to love, and against war and the State. To see the great work God did in me, previously I spent more than seven years as an intelligence analyst for the Defense Intelligence Agency, focused on Counter-Proliferation of WMD material and systems.

Prior to that, I spent more than nine years in the infantry and Special Forces (I was a Green Beret). Once I became a believer, I found the biblical expectations of God were in opposition to my profession in the military and my nationalism. God slowly peeled this understanding back and I left the army and nationalism.

Ian has published three books, Emily's Tears, Revoked Consent, and The Genetic God, which are available on Amazon.

He also has a YouTube channel if you would like to see him in action!

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