Since humanity’s fall from the beginning of time, God established a police force. After disobedience to God’s law, which prohibited Adam and Eve from partaking of the tree of good and evil, they were banished from the Garden of Eden, and God placed a Cherubim with “a flaming sword flashing back and forth” to keep them from returning. (Gen. 3:24). You might say that was the very first police force.
Throughout the Old Testament, we read about the Watchmen (Ezekiel 33:6), Armed Guards (Nehemiah 4:13), Gatekeepers (Nehemiah 7:1-3), and the Judges (the entire book of Judges). These were like the police of their day. Cupbearers for King Solomon were a kind of Secret Service (I Kings 10:5).
In the New Testament, the police are a part of the governing authorities that the apostle Paul said in Romans 13:1-7 “have been established by God.” Police Departments, Sheriffs, and Deputies, Detectives, etc. are ministers of God, says Paul, to restrain evil. The apostle adds, “and they do not bear the sword for nothing” (Romans 13:4).
The wise King Solomon once said, “When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but a terror to evildoers” (Proverbs 21:5). Cops are supposed to enforce peace and justice, and most do. They’re supposed to strike fear in the hearts of lawbreakers.
Sometimes we forget that the police and their role in society is established, sanctioned, and ordained of God and if you eliminate that, our society will collapse into anarchy, and every single one of humanity’s worst instincts will run rampant. But it’s also true that sin is the cause of a few officers turning bad along the way. Sin is inescapable in every profession.
What we need is a Savior who can redeem us from the power and consequences of sin. Only Jesus Christ, God’s Son, can supply that answer. Do you know Him? Have you turned away from your sins and asked Him to forgive and save you?
If our hearts would first be policed by Christ, then and only then, might we need less police in the world.