As a nation without land, the Church is a “pilgrim nation,” submitting to the rebellious nations of the earth that God has sovereignly instituted and allowed to exist (cf. Mt. 17:27; Rom. 13:1ff; 1 Tim. 2:2; Tit. 3:1; 1 Pe. 2:13; etc.), until their judgment and the church’s allotted inheritance (cf. Heb. 9:15; 1 Pe. 2:11).  - John P. Harrigan