Deuteronomy 17:14 – 20 “When you enter the land that 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,” you are to appoint over yourselves the king whom the LORD your God shall choose. Appoint a king from among your brothers; you are not to set over yourselves a foreigner who is not one of your brothers.
But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’ He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It is to remain with him, and he is to read from it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by carefully observing all the words of this instruction and these statutes. Then his heart will not be exalted above his countrymen, and he will not turn aside from the commandment, to the right or to the left, in order that he and his sons may reign many years over his kingdom in Israel.
This passage is one of the saddest ones in the Bible. Why? Because NONE of the kings of Israel or Judah EVER actually followed these instructions! God recognizes the fact that the Israelites are going to want a king and only advises them to select a fellow Israelite and not a foreigner. This king is to be the ruler of God’s choosing, not merely selected by a popularity contest. So far, so good. But now come the tough parts.
But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’ He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.
Read the accounts of King Solomon’s wealth and the number of his wives and concubines and you realize that Solomon totally blew it as far as these commands are concerned. King Solomon was actively trading in horses, including importing them from Egypt. Solomon took many wives from different nations who worshiped a host of pagan gods and these women turned Solomon’s heart away from God. Solomon accumulated so much silver and gold that silver was counted as nothing in his day.
Even though Solomon was renowned for his wisdom and composed parables and wrote on so many different subjects, there is never any record of his having made a written copy of God’s statutes. In the end, Solomon vented his boredom and his frustrations by pronouncing that all the things he had treasured most turned out to be mere vanity.
“So if a man lives many years, let him rejoice in them all; but let him remember the days of darkness, for they will be many. Everything to come is futile.” (Ecclesiastes11:8)
Why would God order the king to write his own copy of God’s laws? It is a proven fact that when students take notes by hand, they seem to remember things better than when they use keyboards. God wanted the kings to have their own personal copies so that they could continue to study His Word and so that they would rule wisely. God also wanted the kings to remain humble and to teach their sons to honor His Word also, so that their sons would rule wisely as well. Sadly, that never happened. Even King Hezekiah, who was considered a very righteous king, was the father of King Manasseh, one of the most evil kings ever to rule Judah.
APPLICATION: It’s highly unlikely that any of us are going to become kings or queens, but we may very well find ourselves in positions of leadership. God’s pattern for leaders is that they remain humble and study His Word thoroughly and repeatedly. Godly leaders serve and do not lord it over others.
Here in Ghana, when a young person is given a position of leadership before he/she is able to handle it well, if that person begins throwing his/her weight around, people will say that person has “grown horns.” Jesus gave us a perfect example of Godly leadership; He was inspired, hard working, caring, and compassionate. But most of all, Jesus remained close to His Heavenly Father through prayer and the study of God’s Word. Those of us in leadership would do well to follow that example.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Help us to remember Your instructions for leaders. Help us to study Your Word and to become close to You through prayer. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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