In the first part of this two-part series, we began our review of Deuteronomy, chapter 17:14-20, where we read about an instruction that was to be given to a king showing that he was not to look after his own personal interests as being foremost in his activities, but to learn to fear God and to observe His law and statutes. We read in verse 14:
“When you come to the land that the LORD your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me’…”
But why did God talk about a future king when Israel was a theocratic institution? We read in 1 Samuel 8 that Israel demanded a king. In verses 1-4, we read that Samuel was old and that his sons didn’t walk in the ways required of them. Then in verse 4, we see how this affected the nation:
“Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, ‘Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.’ But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, ‘Give us a king to judge us.’ So Samuel prayed to the LORD.”
Samuel knew that this was not the right course of action—that it was a SIN to ask for a king—but it had come about because his own sons had set such a bad example. Continuing with verses 7-10:
“And the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt, even to this day—with which they have forsaken Me and served other gods—so they are doing to you also. Now therefore, heed their voice. However, you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behaviour of the king who will reign over them.’ So Samuel told all the words of the LORD to the people who asked him for a king.”
In verses 11-18, he clearly set out the consequences of their request but they would have none of it, and in verses 19-22 is their response and that of God and the prophet Samuel:
“Nevertheless, the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, ‘No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles.’And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he repeated them in the hearing of the LORD. So the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Heed their voice, and make them a king.’ And Samuel said to the men of Israel, ‘Every man go to his city.’”
Then, as we read in 1 Samuel 9 and 10, Saul was the chosen one and anointed and proclaimed king.
There appears to be no record of an Israelite king actually writing out the entire Law of the LORD as was instructed by Moses. However, that does not invalidate its value in any way, nor does it prove, that it never happened. It is clear, of course, that David KNEW the Law of God, meditating in it day and night, and we should not assume that he himself did not actually write the Law himself in a personal book, as instructed by God in Deuteronomy 17:18.
While the Scripture says specifically that the king had to write his own copy, with his own hand, some feel that it was sufficient that it was written for him, upon his command, and being handed to him. This interpretation seems to defeat the purpose of God’s explicit command. There is great value in writing down the Scriptures yourself, as this also serves to retain them to memory. This practice, which had been recommended in the past by the Church of God, might have fallen into neglect by many. But to write at least key Scriptures down in a personal notebook—especially when you are still young in the faith—can be of great lasting importance. We are told to write God’s Law into our minds. In order to do this, we might be well advised to write it down first quite literally in a book, and to read in it day and night.
An excellent admonition is found in Proverbs 29:2: “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.” That backs up what this admonition would achieve if followed through as instructed.
Knowing about, and keeping the Law of God, was an important function that the future kings of Israel were required to do so that they were kept in mind of the way that they should act for their own benefit and that of their subjects. Unfortunately, there were good kings and bad kings in Israel and Judah. The seeming resultant neglect showed that so many kings wanted to just do their own thing.
And so, what can WE learn from the requirements given to kings thousands of years ago? The same approach by the people of God to honour our Creator and live by His Law, is of paramount importance. Let us look at this passage of Scripture in Deuteronomy 17 and see what was required. Verse 16 states: “…he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall not return that way again.’”
The Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary makes these interesting observations:
“…he (the king) shall not multiply horses to himself—The use of these animals was not absolutely prohibited, nor is there any reason to conclude that they might not be employed as part of the state equipage. But the multiplication of horses would inevitably lead to many evils, to increased intercourse with foreign nations, especially with Egypt, to the importation of an animal to which the character of the country was not suited, to the establishment of an Oriental military despotism, to proud and pompous parade in peace, to a dependence upon Egypt in time of war, and a consequent withdrawal of trust and confidence in God (2 [Samuel] 8:4; 1 [Kings] 10:26; 2 [Chronicles] 1:16; 9:28; [Isaiah] 31:3).”
Barnes Notes on the Bible states:
“The spirit of the prohibition therefore is that the king of Israel must not, like other earthly potentates, put his trust in costly and formidable preparations for war (compare Hosea 1:7).
“Egypt was the principal source from where the nations of western Asia drew their supplies of this animal (compare Exodus 14:5 ff; 1 Kings 10:28-29; 2 Kings 7:6); but contact, traffic, or alliance which would ‘cause the people to return to Egypt’ would be to reverse that great and beneficent wonderwork of God which inaugurated the Mosaic covenant, the deliverance from the bondage of Egypt; and to bring about of set purpose that which God threatened Deuteronomy 28:68 as the most severe punishment for Israel’s sin.”
We can learn from this that, for us, such distraction and reliance on outside sources can lead us into areas that will probably not be conducive to our Christian Way of Life. In Matthew 19, we read the account of Jesus and the rich young ruler. Wealth can be a way that can be more important to some than the Way that God has shown His people, and in verse 23 we read: “Then Jesus said to His disciples, ‘Assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.’ We must not be distracted from our chosen path.
Deuteronomy 17:17 says: “Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away; nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself.”
A classic example of this problem can be found with King Solomon’s departure from God in 1 Kings 11. Verse 3 shows the extent of the problem: “And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.” Solomon’s actions with foreign princesses were in part for political ends, but introduced heathen cults into Israel. He was not content with just one wife as is the instruction from God (cf Genesis 2:20-24; 1 Corinthians 7:2; 1 Timothy 3:2). Although there are examples in the Old Testament where having multiple wives was extant, but this never occurred with the approval of God, and the outcomes were not good. Again, distractions from our Godly calling can arise when the Way that is best for us is not adhered to.
“Multiplying gold and silver for himself” is a case of wealth being pursued as an end in itself, thus distracting from the much more important things in life. It can be self-serving and we read in Matthew Poole’s Commentary: “Neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold, lest this should lift up his heart in confidence and pride, which God abhors, and beget in him a contempt of his people; and lest it should incline, or engage, or enable him to burden his people with immoderate exactions. They are not simply forbidden to be rich, if God made them so either by the voluntary gifts of their subjects, or by the spoils of their enemies, which was the case of David, and Solomon, and Jehoshaphat [etc.], but they are forbidden either inordinately to desire, or irregularly to procure, great riches by grinding the faces of their poor people, or by other wicked arts and courses, as the manner of their neighbouring kings was.”
Deuteronomy 17:18-19 continues: “…so it shall be, when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a book, from the one before the priests, the Levites. And 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 and be careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes…“
Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary reads as follows (our emphasis underlined): “He must carefully avoid everything that would turn him from God and religion. Riches, honours, and pleasures, are three great hinderances of godliness, (the lusts of the flesh, the lusts of the eye, and the pride of life,) especially to those in high stations; against these the king is here warned. The king must carefully study the law of God, and make that his rule; and having a copy of the Scriptures of his own writing, must read therein all the days of his life. It is not enough to have Bibles, but we must use them, use them daily, as long as we live. The king’s writing and reading were as nothing, if he did not practise what he wrote and read. And those who fear God and keep his commandments, will fare the better for it even in this world.”
Deuteronomy 17:20 continues: “…that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children in the midst of Israel.”
The Benson Commentary states “that his heart be not lifted up — He intimates, that the Scriptures, diligently read, are a powerful means to keep a person humble, because they show him that, though a king, he is subject to a higher monarch, to whom he must give an account of all his administrations, and receive from him his sentence, agreeably to their quality, which is sufficient to abate the pride of the haughtiest person in the world.”
We read earlier that the king must read God’s law (or Word) every day of his life. Not only must he read it, but he must develop the skill to interpret and apply it rightly and fairly. We can take from that, that we must also read God’s Word daily as part of our Christian Way of Life. If it was good enough for the king, it would certainly be deemed to be good enough for us!
A godly leader must be a humble person, serving always with humility. The Israelite king was told “that his heart may not be lifted above his brethren.” He may have had a far superior position; nevertheless, he was, like his brethren, still a servant of God.
We are to be kings and priests in the Kingdom of God, as we read in Revelation 5:10: “And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.” This is the time when the Law of God will be the Way that people will live in the Kingdom of God during the 1,000 millennial rule of Jesus Christ.
Learning these lessons today from this passage of Scripture will help us to see what will be required of us when we become a member of the Family of God at the return of Jesus Christ.
Lead Writer: Brian Gale (United Kingdom)
