Mr. Chellis concludes that the idea of “nation” demands the “corporate conversion of the nations themselves” to obey King Jesus. In both classical and biblical times, kings represented and embodied their nations. As the king went, so went the nation.

The King of kings commissioned the Apostle Paul to “bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” (Acts 9:15). Isaiah prophesied that “kings shall be your foster fathers” (Isa. 49:23). At crucial times in the Church’s journey, kings did support the Church, for example, protecting it from the armies of Islam and sponsoring a definitive statement of Bible truth at the Council of Nicea in 325.

Nations, however, are governed differently today. We Americans defined ourselves as a nation by rejecting kings in favor of a republic with a written constitution. The Bible’s call to witness to kings and its prophecies that kings will support the church don’t seem to apply. Therefore, when we consider how nations must cease their rebellion against God (Ps. 2), we have to know how they are governed. The call of national confession for the nations to obey Christ understands the historical change from king to constitution.

Governments in the ancient world were not always monarchies either. Athens was a democracy for a time. And Israel existed for centuries as a tribal confederacy governed by God’s covenant with Israel after it left Egypt. Psalm 2 calls not just on kings to “kiss the Son,” but also appeals to the nations and their elites (“rulers” [2:2]; “judges” [2:10]) to end their rebellion against God. Nations ruled as the U.S. is, by a constitution, should in it “enter into covenant” with God to be the Lord’s; that is, the constitution should state the nation’s subjection to Christ as revealed in the Scriptures. The Canaanite city-state of Gibeon, through a covenant with Israel, gained the protection of Israel’s God (Josh. 9; 2 Sam. 21), just as the prostitute Rahab in Jericho gained the same protection (Josh. 2). So should all nations and all individuals, whether through king or constitution, declare themselves under the wing of God Almighty and “kiss the Son.” Our flag salute calls us “one nation, under God.” Our official governing document, the Constitution, should do likewise.