Thought from today’s Bible reading from Deuteronomy 17-20.
God knew the nation of Israel would one day be ruled by kings. Even though God saw this as a rejection of His sovereignty over the people (1 Samuel 8:7), He gave instructions here in the law for these future kings.
“Moreover, he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never again return that way.’ He shall not multiply wives for himself, or else his heart will turn away; nor shall he greatly increase silver and gold for himself.
“Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It shall be with him and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel” (Deuteronomy 17:16-20).
Notice briefly some of the rules God established for one in this position of civil authority:
- He was not to lead the people into sin (v. 16).
- He was not to enrich himself through his position (v. 16-17).
- He was to know and follow the commandments of God (v. 18-19).
- He was not to be arrogant, but recognize that he and his fellow countrymen were equals (v. 20).
Tomorrow’s reading: Deuteronomy 21-23
[I’m using the Chronological reading plan on the Bible Gateway website if you’d like to follow along, too.]
Daily Notes & Observations contains all 365 articles from this series and is available in paperback from Gospel Armory.
