Principles for a King

"Why do we always seem to appoint leaders and put them on pedestals?" It would be comforting to think that this problem happens only in the political realm, national denominations, or religious organizations, but it is within our midst; it permeates all the way down to the local church and the way we interact as brothers and sisters of Christ in our churches.

Principles For A King

In dealing with this topic, I have examined the story of Israel and her king. It begins in Deuteronomy.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20
14 When you enter the land the Lord your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us," 15 be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, "You are not to go back that way again." 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. 18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel.

Just because the law contains what to do when his people have a king does not mean that God desired for his people to have a king. There are many laws that deal with what to do when wrong actions are committed, so I do not think we can conclude that God desired for Israel to have an earthly king just because he made some stipulations for the actions of a king.

God knew the human tendency for people to have a king over them, so he made some regulations that His people and the king were to follow when they would stray from His kingship.

1. Be sure to appoint the king God chooses for you.

2. Make sure the king is one of your brothers.

3. The king was to not acquire a large military might. That is what the horses represented.

4. He must not take many wives.

5. He must not accumulate wealth.

6. He was supposed to make his own copy of the law, read it all the days of his life, and follow carefully all the laws and the decrees.

7. He is to revere the Lord.

8. He is not to consider himself better than others. The laws that apply to others should also apply to him.

As with most of the commandments of God, this one ends with a blessing. If the king would do this, then he and his descendants would reign a long time over the kingdom of Israel.

This is Part 1. Part 2 (Ignoring the Principles is posted here.