The Bible and eligibility issue

Over the last three years I have written many columns explaining the importance of the Constitution's requirements for presidential eligibility.

When we forsake the simple restrictions the Constitution places on what the federal government can and can't do, the consequences for the future of our country are grave indeed.

But is there a spiritual dimension to the issue beyond the disregard and disobedience of the foundational civil law of the land?

America's founders were steeped in the study of the Bible, and it had a great influence on the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. They had their worldly and common-sense reasons for requiring presidents and vice presidents to be "natural born citizens," but I suspect they were also influenced by biblical commands as well.

Like so much of their wisdom, the notion of a foreigner, or someone under the influence of a foreign nation, taking the helm of the presidency was an anathema to them because of a biblical injunction against it for the nation that served, in many respects, as a model for their great experiment in self-government – the nation of Israel.

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Israel, too, had an eligibility test for its kings.

You can find it in Deuteronomy 17:15:

"Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother."

It seems God commanded Israel to choose kings from among the "brethren," and not a "stranger," or foreigner.

I have no doubts this verse was an inspiration for Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution as drafted and ratified by the framers.

Keep in mind, there were "strangers" in the land of Israel. They were foreigners who were welcome to be part of the community as long as they followed the laws of the land. But there were some restrictions on their citizenship – one of them being they could never become king of Israel.

Likewise, our founders welcomed "strangers" or foreigners from all over the world to America. They encouraged them to come and become citizens of the new country. But they also wanted to ensure that the presidency was never compromised by divided loyalties.

It was just that simple – in ancient Israel and in early America.

Today, most of the political and media elite are incapable to comprehending this minimal requirement. Instead, they confuse simple "citizenship" with the concept of "natural born citizenship," which is a higher standard altogether.

As we move closer to another presidential election next year, the country is approaching a very important crossroad.

While many Americans recognize the disaster our country faces from decades of disregard for the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, Washington exceeds the Constitution's strict limitations on its power on a daily basis. Leaders of both parties show contempt for the notion of limited government. It seems there's nothing Washington can't do, as far as most of them are concerned.

If we allow the simple, clear litmus test for presidential eligibility to become yet another casualty of this indifference and arrogance, it will represent one more nail in the coffin of constitutionally limited government in America.

This is not just a controversy about Barack Obama's legitimacy. It has become a question of America's legitimacy as a nation under the rule of law.

Israel paid the price for disregarding God's clear commands about living under His covenant. Likewise, America will pay a price for disregarding the covenant that forms the very basis of our way of life.

In fact, we already are suffering the consequences.