KING OF KINGS

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to faithhopegodlove@aol.com In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

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," 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. 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." He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

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. 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 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. Deuteronomy 17:14-20

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

As Israel gets set to enter Canaan, they are not under the rule of the king but this doesn’t mean they won’t at a later date. In fact, God knew well in advance that Israel would co-exist among other nations who were led by kings and it would only be a matter of time before they would want to follow suit. So guidance was provided on the matter well before Israel asked.

As we read our passage, we see certain requirements placed on the future king of Israel:

First, the king was to be an Israelite. No foreigner was to rule Israel.

Secondly, the king was also supposed to remain modest in the things he possessed. He was to “not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them”. They were to “not take many wives” which would lead to the king’s “heart (being) led astray”. He also wasn’t supposed to “accumulate large amounts of silver and gold”. Why? Because the Lord said so. In other words, the king answered to a higher power.

And this leads to the final requirement. For the king was commanded to “write for himself on a scroll a copy of (the) law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites”. The kings were to do this when they took the throne of the kingdom and were to keep the scroll with them, reading 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…decrees”. This would result in the king not considering “himself better than his brothers” and keep him from turning “from the law to the right or to the left”. No one would question the fact that a king held a most powerful place of power and authority over their people. However, the human king’s power paled in comparison to their master, the King of Kings. He and He alone set the standards by which all other kings would rule by and did it because He expected them to rule as He wanted them to rule…in justice and fairness.

What an awesome assurance this offers us today as we find ourselves under human, worldly rule. For we know who truly is in charge…the Almighty, Infinite, Creator God…the “one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live”. (1 Corinthians 8:6) We never need to get down and forlorn because we know that God is in control…He always has been and always will be. My prayer is that we all can proclaim as Timothy did when he saw God as:

“…the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever.” 1 Timothy 6:15

Amen

In Christ,

Mark

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