Deuteronomy 17:14-17 English Standard Version

Laws Concerning Israel’s Kings

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,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.”

At this point in our walk we may have already read passages that indicate that the Kings of Israel did not obey these commandments.

We will probably think about King Solomon, if for no other reason than to recall the number of wives and concubines that this one king married and possessed.

1 Kings 4:21 Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms from the Euphrates to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt. They brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.

King Solomon was said to be the richest king ever, legend went further into the land of fantasy as we know from movies like King Solomon’s Mines. But that is fiction and we do not deal in fiction. While Solomon might be the most famous, he was not the only king of Israel to fail at keeping God’s commandments.

Over and over again the bible documents those kings violating God’s commandments. The most egregious being following other gods. There is a common expression that history is written by the victors. History is questioned and rewritten to serve the ruling party’s demands. In light of that it is with all respect for the authenticity of the bible that the mistakes and sinful behaviors of the kings of Israel were not rewritten to honor the title and ignore their sins.

Now we have a King that sits on the throne of heaven that never sinned, lived in poverty and always put the needs of His people first. The only King that obeyed the King’s Law. He alone is worthy.

• Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
• Revelation 5:12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”