Digest of Biblical Civil Law

Inequality is basic to all of life: in skills, wisdom, dedication, physical attractiveness, and every other area of human existence. This includes wealth. God promised the Israelites great wealth and blessings if they obeyed His law (Deut. 28:1-14). He promised the poverty and cursings if they disobeyed His law (Deut. 28:15-68). Notice that the list of cursings is much longer than the list of blessings. This is also true of the parallel passage in Lev. 26. The Old Testament prophets called the nation and occasionally other nations (e.g., Nineveh) to obey God's law. God's law of inheritance under the Mosaic Covenant was clear: The inheritance was divided up into equal portions, with one more portion than sons. The eldest son then was to be given a double portion (Deut. 21:15-17). There is not a single verse in the Bible, Old Testament or New Testament, that authorizes the civil government to take any fraction of this inheritance. To excuse the estate tax by saying that it affects only the most rich is a violation of the principle of the rule of law, expressed in Exo. 12:49 and Lev. 19:15.
- Gary North, What Biblical Passage Gives Any Share of a Man's Inheritance to the State?, at http://www.garynorth.com/public/1309.cfm.