General Articles

Stupidocrisy: Read the Constitution Before You Shout :: By Bill Wilson

Published on: by RR10

There are a lot of people declaring that the recent strike on Iran was illegal and unconstitutional. That makes for a sharp sound bite. It just doesn’t make for solid constitutional analysis. Before anyone rushes to social media court, it helps to actually read the governing documents.

The U.S. Constitution divides war authority between Congress and the President. Article I, Section 8 gives Congress the power to declare war. Article II names the President Commander in Chief. That tension is not new. It has existed since 1787. The question is not whether Congress can declare war. It can. The question is whether every military strike equals a declared war under constitutional law. History says otherwise.

Congress attempted to clarify this tension after Vietnam with the War Powers Resolution of 1973. It requires a president to notify Congress within 48 hours of introducing forces into hostilities and withdraw them within 60 days unless Congress authorizes continued action.

Every president since its passage has filed reports “consistent with” the Resolution while often disputing its constitutionality. More importantly, nearly every modern president has initiated military strikes without a formal declaration of war. Truman in Korea. Carter in Iran. Reagan in Grenada and Libya. Clinton in Kosovo. Obama in Libya. Trump in Syria. Biden in Syria and Iraq. The United States has not formally declared war since 1942, yet it has conducted dozens of military operations.

Consider Libya in 2011. President Obama ordered U.S. participation in NATO air operations without an Authorization for Use of Military Force. When the 60-day War Powers clock expired, the administration argued that U.S. forces were not engaged in “hostilities” as defined by the Resolution because there were no ground troops and limited exposure to enemy fire. Congress objected loudly. Then it did nothing. No funding cutoff. No binding enforcement action. No impeachment. The operation continued.

If critics today claim that any strike absent a declaration of war is automatically unconstitutional, then they must indict a long line of presidents from both parties. Selective outrage is not constitutional scholarship. It is politics dressed up as principle.

Here is the bottom line. Congress holds the power to declare war and the power of the purse. Presidents command the armed forces. The system was designed with friction built in. If Congress truly believes a president has exceeded authority, it can refuse funding or pass binding legislation. When it does not, that silence carries weight.

Throwing around the word “unconstitutional” without reading the Constitution, the War Powers Resolution, or the historical record is not civic virtue. It is noise.

Proverbs 14:15 reminds us, “The simple believes every word, but the prudent considers well his steps.”

Spouting off when you do not know the facts, and simply believing what you are told because it fits your narrative, is not only the height of ignorance. It is the heart of, say it with me, stupidocrisy.

Sources

U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-1/section-8/

U.S. Constitution, Article II, Section 2
https://constitution.congress.gov/browse/article-2/section-2/

War Powers Resolution of 1973 (50 U.S.C. §§ 1541–1548)
https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title50/chapter33&edition=prelim

Congressional Research Service, Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad
https://sgp.fas.org/crs/natsec/R42738.pdf

 

The Amazing Millennium from A to Z, Part 2 :: By Robert Asher Mandel

Published on: by RR10

Editor’s note: Seth Burkhart is the co-writer with Asher of the book from which this series is presented.

This article is the second in a series I have titled “The Amazing Millennium from A to Z.” The first article was up on RR about 7-10 days ago. Sorry for the gap; I hope to get the third in the series up by middle of next week. This article covers the letters C through F.

“C” is for Christ-centered

Isaiah 9:6-7

“A child has been born to us; God has given a son to us. He will be responsible for leading the people. His name will be Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace. Power and peace will be in his kingdom and will continue to grow forever. He will rule as king on David’s throne and over David’s kingdom. He will make it strong by ruling with justice and goodness from now on and forever.”

Isaiah 11:1-5

“A new branch will grow from a stump of a tree; so a new king will come from the family of Jesse. The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon that king. The Spirit will give him wisdom and understanding, guidance and power. The Spirit will teach him to know and respect the Lord. This king will be glad to obey the Lord. He will not judge by the way things look or decide by what he hears. But he will judge the poor honestly; he will be fair in his decisions for the poor people of the land. At his command, evil people will be punished, and by his words the wicked will be put to death. Goodness and fairness will give him strength, like a belt around his waist.”

Psalm 89:23-28

“I will crush his enemies in front of him; I will defeat those who hate him. My loyalty and love will be with him. Through me he will be strong. I will give him power over the sea and control over the rivers. He will say to me, ‘You are my father, my God, the Rock, my Savior.’ I will make him my firstborn son, the greatest king on earth. My love will watch over him forever, and my agreement with him will never end.”

Asher: On this page are three scriptural portraits of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. There are many such others, just as thrilling! The most important single theme of the Millennial Age will be the greatness and the glory of the King. His beauty, power and love will captivate the hearts of all peoples. Above all, the Millennium will be “Christ-centered”!

Seth:  Looking back through history, it is staggering to study the total adoration that cultures have given to their rulers. Whether we are talking about Alexander the Great, Caesar or Hitler, mere men are wretched substitutes for the only true ruler, Jesus Christ. After destroying the final false world leader (the coming Anti-Christ), Jesus will finally take back the earth from those forces of evil that usurped his throne. Imagine the pomp and circumstance that will be at the first millennial Kingdom political rally! There will finally only be one candidate for the ultimate office, and he will be infinitely just. The main attraction of Christ’s Kingdom will be Jesus himself.

“D” is for Devil-free

Revelation 20:1-3

“Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward, he must be released for a little while.”

Revelation 20:7-10

“When the thousand years come to an end, Satan will be let out of his prison. He will go out to deceive the nations—called Gog and Magog—in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle—a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore. And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God’s people and the beloved city. But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them. Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of burning sulfur, joining the beast and the false prophet. There they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Asher:  As a child, my dear mother read many wonderful stories to my sister and me. Our favorite one was “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett. I think its timeless appeal lies in the desire of every human heart to see the Garden of Eden restored (“he has set eternity in the heart of every man”). The Millennial Age will exceed even that dream, because this time, men everywhere will be restored to the garden, and the serpent will be banished!

Seth:  The Devil and his minions will be bound for the 1,000 years of the Kingdom. After this, he will have to be let out for a little while, but God and Jesus will defeat him again. We will be on the winning side forever. During the Millennium, people will still have a natural tendency to sin, but they will be living in a just world. This will cause them to control their sin nature or face punishment. No longer will they be able to let their evil run wild like they do in the present days.

“Wolves in sheep’s clothing” are people who pretend to have good intentions. Right now, God allows them to deceive the nations, but in the Kingdom, these people will be found out and silenced before they can ever do serious damage to the people. Satan will be able to lead the people astray one final time when he is let out of the bottomless pit, but we don’t have to be concerned about him. It is so certain that he is ruined that God speaks about it like it has already happened!

“E” is for Enlightened

Jeremiah 31:33,34a

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord.”

Habakkuk 2:14

“For as the waters fill the sea, the earth will be filled with an awareness of the glory of the LORD.”

Isaiah 11:9 

“Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the Lord.”

Asher:  Growing up in the Jewish faith, one of my favorite songs to sing in the synagogue went like this: “Ba yom ha-hoo, ba yom ha-hoo, yee-yeh Adonai echad, oo-shmo, oo-shmo, oo-shmo echad!” This Hebrew prayer we sang comes from Zechariah 14:9, which declares:

“And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.”

When the earth becomes filled with the knowledge of God, everyone will know his name. Without any more disagreements about God, there will be no more wars of religion. All men everywhere will worship the one true God, the God of Israel, and his Messiah-King, Yeshua!

Seth:  Now we know Christ by how he works in our lives, and what we read about him in the Word (after all, he is the Word made flesh!). In his Kingdom, we will be able to see Christ and touch him. We will know him in a real sense. Total authority will finally be given to Jesus to be our righteous and perfect king. Atonement will be understood visually, by the restoration of animal sacrifices in a newly built temple (Ezekiel chap. 40-46). The true meanings of the sacrifices will be fully explained by the Lord himself. We will never be able to forget what he did for us on the Cross. As it explains in Ezekiel 37:28…

“And when my Temple is among them forever, the nations will know that I am the Lord, who makes Israel holy!”

“F” is for Favored

Isaiah 61:1-2a

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the broken-hearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come…”

Psalm 102:13

“Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favor her, yea, the set time, is come.” (KJV)

Luke 2:14

“Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (NIV)

Asher:  What was the real message of the angels to the shepherds on that first Christmas night so long ago? If it truly was “… on earth peace, good will toward men,” then why does the world still search for peace 2,000 years later?! Looking at the NIV translation above, we may have an answer to our question! Most Greek scholars admit that the translators of the New International Version had access to earlier, more accurate texts than did the translators of the King James Version in 1611. In the NIV translation of Luke 2:14 (above), God’s peace was promised only “to those upon whom his favor rests.” The favored people of God can only be those who have been “born again by the Spirit of God” (John 3:3).

The Millennium is the time of God’s favor resting upon the earth because the earth will be overwhelmingly populated with born-again believers! “The year of the Lord’s favor” will last for 1,000 years and will include the fulfillment of the four-fold ministry which King Yeshua said he came to perform: proclaiming good news to the poor… binding up the brokenhearted…freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners! Hallelujah!

Seth:  In Luke 4:18, Jesus stands up and reads Isaiah 61:1-3a. He then tells the people that He is the one who will fulfill these glorious promises. The Jews in those days would have immediately recognized this as a messianic passage. They understood he was claiming to be the promised king from the line of David, the root of Jesse! The scripture he read that day explained some of the miraculous things that Messiah would do through God’s good favor.

Whether it is freeing the captives or restoring sight to the blind, Jesus’ miracles always have both a literal and a spiritual meaning. He opens the eyes of the favored by calling us into his family and making us able to really see him for who he is, the savior of the world! He frees us from our enslavement to our own sinful nature that was born out of our rebellion at Eden.

Finally, he proclaims the gospel (good news) to us! We were dead in our sins, and yet, because he lives, we can live. We were spiritually bankrupt, but are now promised untold riches in Messiah! Because of his graceful favor, we can now have a loving relationship with God in this age and the next! As the kids today say…AWESOME!!

***

This series will continue with part 3.