Deuteronomy 17:14-15 "When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; (15) Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother."
This portion of the law was written hundreds of years before Saul was set to be
king over Israel. Notice the wording of this passage, "When thou art come
unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and
shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the
nations that are about me." As you read this, notice whose idea it
would be that Israel take on the image of "all the nations that are about
me." This was not God commanding them to appoint a king; rather, He
was making provision for them to at least have His guidance on what to look for
and how their own appointment of king should conduct himself.
God understands the frame of man, "For he knoweth our frame; he
remembereth that we are dust" (Psalm 103:14). Because He understands our
weaknesses, He has made provision for guidance that we will be able to enjoy
His blessings in spite of them. His instructions to Israel concerning
their appointed king contained several different restrictions for the king. He
was not to multiply horses to himself, which was a sign of wealth. He was not
to take the people back to Israel. He was not to take unto himself
multiple wives. As he sat upon the throne, he was to write a copy of the book
of the law unto himself. As you look through history, I'm not certain that any
future king of Israel paid heed to all of these directions.
My point for today is found in the thought that Israel would want to be
"like all the nations" around them. We saw a few days ago that
God had separated the nation Israel to be a "peculiar people" unto
Himself. We saw that He looked upon them as His children and designed for them
to look upon Him as being their "Father." His words to them
were these, "Ye are the children of the LORD your God" (Deuteronomy
14:1). Why would they ever want to look like the world, when the Lord had
bestowed such wonderful favor upon them? Yet they did.
The deeper question this morning is this, "Why would the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ ever want to try to resemble the world?" We have
been called to be a peculiar people showing forth the light of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That is our one and only purpose. Show the glory of God's grace in our
lives. When we look like the world, we show the glory of the world (which
is nothing). May God bless His people to come back to the simplicity that
is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. To quote some who I do not know to
give the credit, I want to be like the little girl who said, "The Lord is
my Shepherd and that's all I want." I want to get back to the
simplistic message that "Jesus loves me, this I know." This is
the message of unconditional grace and mercy to which the world is seeking and
longing. We have that message. May we tell it loud and clear.