God’s Instructions for Kings June 28, 2018
15 be sure to appoint over you a king the Lord your God chooses…. 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. Deuteronomy 17:15-17
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This week, I read a story about a young boy who wished he could be a cell phone. This was because his father loves his cell phone very much, holding it all of the time and never putting it down. This father plays games on his phone, even though he doesn’t have time to play with his son. The boy came to envy his father’s phone as he watched his father with it. He expressed envious feelings towards the phone. He really wanted to be a cell phone in order to be with his father all of the time.
What about us? Do we have a strong desire to be with our Father God all of the time? Does our Father God feel that way toward us? Is He too busy to spend time with us? Or, have we been too busy with our cell phones to be with our Father? Today, our Father God, who gave His breathing life and His Image to His people as Father, and takes care of their earthly lives as the governing King, knew that His people needed an earthly King (president). He chose a king for Israel (means people of God) and gave certain instructions to the candidates and the people, and to us in these days.
The people must remember that the king must be chosen by God. Even though a throne was inherited by God’s chosen king, such as King Saul and David, governors and politicians of today are elected by the people’s vote. However, those must be chosen by God as well, and we need to pray for God’s involvement in an election. We need to pray for this process and believe and expect God’s decision through our voting. We also need to pray more God’s chosen one to be instructed by Him and to be His faithful leader, as they are representing God to His people on God’s behalf.
Whenever I read 1 and 2 Kings, I noticed that at the end of each king’s reign, God’s word of the evaluation of the king was either, “He reigned for such years and did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,” or “He reigned such years and did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord.” How do we want to be evaluated at the end of our lives? Am I a good mother, a good father, or a good Christian servant of God? Who will evaluate our lives, and who will read our life stories and judge them by how well we obeyed and followed the word of the Lord? May our children, our friends, and the people of God we served in the place God had called us, read our stories and evaluate us for who we have been after we are gone.
The king must not acquire great numbers of horses, take many wives, and accumulate large amounts of silver and gold. Horses, in the ancient time, were the military power for war. Acquiring great numbers of horses meant that the king wanted to acquire his own power over the surrounding nations and be honored by them, and to become a deity to be worshiped by his people over God.
At the beginning of Solomon’s reign, he asked God for God’s wisdom and power, and he relied on Him and His word as his father David had. However, he later depended on the strength of horses and chariots imported from Egypt. Possessing such a great number of horses indicated the nation’s wealth and military power; it also showed the king’s common greed and desire to reign over the whole world, like God. That desire is directly born out of humans’ sinful nature, since Adam and Eve wanted to be like God in the garden.
Even Jesus, as the true human, was tempted by the devil after fasting for 40 days in the wilderness as He prepared for His salvation ministry on earth. The devil showed Him, in an instant, all of the kingdoms of the world, and said, “I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So, if you worship me (honor me), and it will all be yours.” (Luke 4:6-7) If the devil tried to tempt the Lord Jesus Christ, us human beings must be easily tempted to fall.
Isaiah scorned and lamented for those in Judah who relied upon the strength of Egypt’s horses and chariots but did not look to the Holy One of Israel or seek help from the Lord. He asked God to not forgive those kings. (Isaiah 31:1) Isaiah also said that they were full of silver and gold, full of horses, and full of idols; they bowed down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. So, man will be brought low and mankind humbled-do not forgive them.” (Isaiah 2:7-9)
God knew that the kings had greed for military power as they acquired more horses from Egypt. God disliked for His people to be associated with Egypt because of their idol-worshiping culture. God didn’t want His people to go back to Egypt and take any idols as their gods in their hearts. We must carefully avoid everything that would divert us from God and our faith. Riches, honors, and pleasures are the three great hindrances of a godly life through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and pridefulness, like King Solomon. Amen.
Shalom
Insook Do
