Excuse me, Deuteronomy 17. Open up your Bibles to Deuteronomy chapter 17. And it's an election year, which means that everyone is losing their minds completely. And I think it may do us well perhaps to look at the Scriptures and say, well, do the Scriptures say anything at all about this subject? Hint, hint, spoiler alert, they do. I know you probably already knew that. So let's see if perhaps the Scriptures tell us anything having to do with this subject, and perhaps what we should look for in a ruler, and perhaps our responsibility as citizens. So, Deuteronomy chapter 17, beginning in verse number 14, and we're going to read down to verse 20. Verse 14, When you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you, and possess it, and dwell in it, and say, I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me, you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, and one from among your brethren you shall set as king over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother. but 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. Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. Also 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, and 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. 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." Let's pray once more for God's blessing on the preaching of the Word of God. Pray with me. O Lord, with eyes like that of a fire, we do ask that You would set Your burning gaze and powerful hand upon us this morning. And however weak my work may be before the children of men, and however weak it may actually be, we pray that in Your hand it would be a light to guide a hammer to crush idols, and a sword to strike the nations. Amen. Amen. In the year 1660, when the monarchy was restored in England under the reign of Charles II, the British Parliament ordered many of our covenanting spiritual ancestors from Scotland to be hanged. And when the summons arrived at one particular home in 1661, a gentleman was already on his deathbed, and in true Covenanter fashion, he was not at a loss of words, of something clever to say. And this was his response as they approached his house to call him to be hanged for treason. Tell them I have got a summons already before a superior judge and judicatory, and I behoove to answer my first summons, and before your day arrive, I will be where few kings and great folks come. Well, these memorable words are from Samuel Rutherford, that great Scottish covenanter. And he was in particular danger because of a work that he wrote, which was entitled with only two Latin words, Lex, Rex, or in English, the law and the king. But see, Rutherford had struck at the very heart of the issue. You either believed in Lex, Rex, or as the kings would have it, many of the kings anyway, you believed in Rex, Lex. It was either the law and the king or it was the king and the law, which one came first? Was the king under the law or did the king have the divine right to issue whatever laws he desired and demand submission from the people? Or was the law itself to govern over the king? And this is the subject of our text this morning in Deuteronomy 17. So we're gonna look at an exposition of the text, then we're gonna draw some applications out of the text, and then we're gonna close with a few pitfalls that we need to avoid when we talk about things like this. So, in the text, verse 14, let me give you a little outline. Verse 14, we have the historical setting. Verse 15, we have the responsibilities of the people. In verse 16 through 19, we have the responsibilities of the king. And then in verse 20, we have the fruit of an obedient kingdom. What's the historical setting? Well, when you come to the land which the Lord your God is giving you to possess. Remember, Israel has just been redeemed. They've just been brought out of Egypt by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Israel has just seen the mighty acts of God. And that ought to remind us that the law was never intended to save anyone. God did not give Israel law, watch them follow it, and then rescue them. God brought salvation to them, then brought them out, and then said, here's the law, here's how you live as My covenant people. The law was never ever intended to show us a way of salvation. One of the purposes of the law is to show us how to live as God's covenant people. And Israel is about to go into the Promised Land. God had set apart the people of Israel as a uniquely holy and special nation to live as His people. And the book of Deuteronomy in particular is somewhat of a blueprint for how to build a Christian civilization. So with reference to the civil and judicial laws, because oftentimes these things get kind of funny, don't they? You ever read some of those laws in Deuteronomy and think, what in the world is that doing in the Bible? Well, one thing we need to understand, we can't go into all the nitpicky details of this, but if you read the Westminster Confession of Faith, what the divine said is that, I don't believe this because the Westminster Divine said it. What the Bible teaches is that many of those laws in their particular exact form are no longer binding on us except for in their general equity. General equity is the phrase that the Confession uses, meaning, what was the intent of the law? What was the law trying to accomplish? And therein we find what is still binding on us today. We're not required to build parapets or little fence walls around the roof of our house. But the only reason for that is because we don't have parties on the top of our houses today. Although in some places they do. In some places in New York, a couple places downtown, or in Los Angeles, there are many houses that still do that. Why? Well, it's for safety. Well, it's not required of us to build that parapet, but it is required of us to build safe homes and to love our neighbors. That's a brief excursus on the general equity of the law. So we're going to look at the principles that we can draw out of these that are still binding on us today, that teach us how to live as Christians. And in verse 15 we have the responsibility of the people. And He says, "...you shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses." And the first thing we normally see, anytime I've asked someone, what is that verse? What do you get from that verse? They say, well, the Lord your God chooses. The Lord's going to choose a king. But it's interesting what is said. We often skip over many of the words in this verse. He says, You shall surely set a king over you whom the Lord your God chooses, one from among your brethren. You shall set as king over you. You may not set a foreigner over you who is not your brother. While it is true that in some cases in the Old Testament, God did give them a particular man. Here's Saul, here's David, or Solomon. That was true. Before that though, that's not what He tells them. We ought not to expect, as a nation, God to give us the name on golden tablets floating down from heaven. We have responsibility as citizens in a nation to set over ourselves a ruler. The Hebrew people, the nation of Israel, was to be a republic. That means that the people were to elect their own leaders to be heads of state and rulers and things like that. They had the responsibility to set over themselves. They were not passive. in this endeavor. But how does this fit with the other phrase? How is it that they are to set up a king, but that at the same time that God is to choose a king, and yet we don't have golden tablets floating down from heaven today or anything like that? Well, maybe something that we're a little more familiar with may help us to understand this. When we choose pastors, elders, or deacons, this is always done, or is supposed to be done, by election by the congregations. However, that's not to the exclusion of the call of God. So when someone is called into the ministry, they do have that internal call of God, and they believe that God has called them to that particular service. However, that doesn't mean that there aren't a list of qualifications given in the New Testament, right? We know that from 1 Timothy 3, that there are a list of qualifications that the congregation is supposed to be very familiar with, so they might know how to elect those men. So that's kind of the rubric that we have for elders and deacons, those lists of qualifications. And so that is whom God has chosen. God chooses men and gives them that internal call, and at the same time, the congregation is supposed to examine those men in the light of the qualifications given in Scripture, and that's how those things fit together, and it was the same way with the kings under the Old Testament, or what we might call, in our legal vernacular, the executive power, or more simply, the commander of the armed forces. So what is the profile by which the people are to judge? The requirement is given three times in one verse. He is to be a native-born Israelite. And as you know, you're not supposed to be able to be the president if you're not a native-born citizen of the United States. Why is that? Why in the world would God require that and why would the United States require that? Well, someone who is going to lead these people must be of the people and must care about the people. Someone who is going to lead the people of God must be a faithful member of the covenant of God, he must care about the God of the people, he must care about the people, and he must care about the law that is supposed to govern that people. And not only that, if you are raised in that and born in that, you have skin in the game, as Mr. Jimmy said Thursday night, you're going to care a little bit more about it. And so this is a requirement, that you be a faithful member of the covenant people of God, because you care about God, you care about the people, and you care about that law. These are some of the last words on King David's deathbed. Listen to what he says. The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spoke to me. He who rules over men... Notice he didn't say, he who rules in Israel, or he who rules just here in our nation. He says, he who rules over men must be just ruling in the fear of God. You need to ask yourself anytime there is a candidate up for election, number one, is he just? And number two, is he going to rule in the fear of God? Those are the responsibilities of the people. Let's look at the responsibility of the king in verses 16 through 19. And by my count, there are eight responsibilities or requirements of the one who's going to lead the military of Israel. Number one, he shall not multiply horses for himself. What are horses in the ancient world? Well, remember, in these days, you may not have known this, but they didn't have Humvees with 50 cows and they didn't have tanks. In the ancient world, horses were the war machines. Horses were what led the chariots. These were the tanks and the Humvees in the day. Well, why in the world is the king who is supposed to be the leader of the military, prohibited from racking up a bunch of war machines to himself. How much sense does that make? Well, I want you to think about our Constitution and think about the First Amendment. The First Amendment begins with these words, Congress shall make no law dot, dot, dot, dot. OK, who can break that law? Only Congress can break that. The point I'm trying to make is, even in our Bill of Rights, we see that the laws were intended to restrict those who are in power, not the people. Why? Because when you restrict those in power, it gives liberty to the people. Those who are in power tend to get more and more and more power, right? Well, why is the leader of the military restricted? No man needs to have an entire world-crushing military at his disposal to be used at his command. And that's why in our nation it's supposed to be that Congress is the entity that is supposed to be the one to declare war. Why? Well, the same reason you've got it here in Deuteronomy 17. It's to restrict this man from just going and sending are the sons of the covenant people of God to shed their blood for something that may be completely useless or some hobby of his. And if we think that's silly, a simple reading of a history book can show all the unnecessary bloodshed that has happened with wars. And no godly nation should be in the business of war, should treat war as if it's a business, but only should endeavor to go to war when it's absolutely necessary, if the borders are threatened. And this is why, as I said, in our nation, only Congress, it was intended, at least originally, that Congress should be the ones who declare war. So not multiply horses for himself. Secondly, he shall not cause the people to return to Egypt for horses. Also in verse 16. What's this all about? Ask yourself this question. Do you think it would be a wise idea if we got all of our weapons for warfare from China? Or if all of our weapons for warfare were from North Korea, those nations that we have some pretty tense relationships with at times. Do you think that would be wise? Why in the world would that be unwise? building their money. You're giving them money. You're letting the enemies of God... You're making them stronger by trading with them weapons of war. And besides that, who in the world knows what you're getting in the long run? And the last thing that you want to be doing to your enemies or someone who may potentially be your enemy that you're not really sure about is eating out of their hand when... when things get a little hairy with other nations. This is a sure plan of failure. So the king is supposed to prohibit the weapons of war being taken too much from your enemies because this is a very dangerous spot for a nation to be in, is it not? So the third qualification, he shall not multiply wives to himself. Yes, polygamy is wrong in any case. I totally readily agree, admit that. And by the way, if anyone ever says, well, if you think polygamy is wrong, there's a lot of polygamy in the Bible. All you have to do is say, yeah, there is and stealing and theft and murder and idolatry, but it never condones it. It's always, it's commanded against and it's a bad situation every time. So polygamy is wrong. Just get that on the record. I believe polygamy is wrong. But I don't think that's really what the Lord's getting at in this particular command, because it has reference to Kings. What he's getting at here, oftentimes when you wanted to make a peace treaty, instead of just saying, yeah, we promise we're not going to kill any of your guys, we really like you. What they would often do is they would, King Billy Bob would send his daughter to marry King Jimmy John. as a way of making a peace treaty, and then you've got skin in the game. It's almost like collateral so that it's taken more seriously. It's not just words on a paper. So these marriages that he's getting at here are political marriages and treaties, intimate treaties with other nations. Well, what's wrong with treaties? What's having What's wrong with having friends? Well, we don't need to make a bunch of promises and treaties with a whole bunch of other nations that we can't keep, particularly with non-Christian nations, because what this eventually is going to lead to is corruption of our devotion to God. Consider Solomon and how his many wives turned him away from the Lord. But eventually, if you have these sort of treaties going on, you're going to have to send the people of God Christian citizens to go die for some demon god of paganism. What a waste of those who are made in the image of God to send them to fight for a cause that you don't even believe in, but you've committed to help protecting some other nation that has differing views. Alright? Fourthly, He shall not greatly multiply silver and gold to himself." Now, please carefully note the wording here. It is not forbidden for the king to be wealthy. Solomon was very wealthy, and God was the one who personally made sure of that. Remember, God was the one who promised Solomon all sorts of wealth. What is forbidden here is that he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. What this is referring to, remember we're talking about kings, this is talking about taxes. Now I'm not opposed completely to taxes, I'm just opposed completely to most taxes. But what he's getting at here is that the king should not be able to just get a blank check to require every tax as much as he wants to build up his own private military. The king should get what he needs to run the military effectively. That is biblical, to have that sort of tax. But he should not get some sort of blank check to run the military in any way that he wants to oppress the people with too many taxes. So he shall not greatly multiply silver and gold to himself. Fifthly, he must write a copy of God's law under the supervision of the Levites, the king, the leader of the military required to by hand write out a copy word for word of the law of God. Could you imagine a president of the United States on TV, sitting down with maybe some pastors and elders around him, writing out, having to come face to face with every single word in the law of God in order to take office and rule in this nation. Nevertheless, that is a requirement given by God. Sixthly, Look at verse 19. I don't want you guys to think I'm making this up. Verse 19 says, "...and it shall be with him." One of the copies, or excuse me, one of the requirements is not merely to copy the law of God, but to have it with him in his possession. Now, don't skip over those words lightly. I want you to think about this. What symbols do you often think of when you think of a king? You think of a throne. You think of a crown. You think of a scepter. Why is that? Well, because all of those symbols communicate something of the honor and dignity and responsibility belonging to that office. But could you imagine if instead of those things, you saw whenever the president comes out, to give a State of the Union address and carries with him a big old copy of the Law of God and then sets it on the podium and opens it and begins to read the Law of God to the people of God. What kind of effect do you think that would have on the people instead of reading something off of a teleprompter? that someone else had written. What do you think that would communicate to the people of God? The gravity and the weight of God's law. So he is to have that with him. Seventhly, he must of course read the law of God, the executive power is to be a man that is a diligent student of the law of God. He must seek to apply it to every facet of his responsibilities. If he's going to govern God's people in God's way, then he must be an expert in God's law. Eighthly, finally, of course, he must Obey the law of God. These are not just symbols or exercises. It really matters that the people actually see Him ruling in a way that demonstrates obedience to God's law. Let me ask you this. How many of these eight do you take seriously? How many of these are negotiable according to God? Well, very quickly in verse 20, listen to this. It says, Here's the fruit of an obedient kingdom. It says 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. humility in the king, recognizing that he is under the law of God, means of necessity, liberty for the people, because he knows he cannot just do whatever he wishes, but that he himself is a man under God, not a god-king like many of the other kings in this time. This results in liberty for the people. An obedience of the king usually results in obedience of the people as well. If you read the history of the Old Testament, you know that oftentimes if the kings were obedient to the Lord, often the people themselves would follow in suit to some extent. And then listen to the blessing God gives. It says, "...and that He may prolong His days in His kingdom, He and His children in the midst of Israel. Long live the King and the people." Why? Because God blesses the obedience of the nation that honors the Lord. Alright, so let's look at some applications we can draw from this text. I'm going to give you... How many? Three. Three applications. Number one, rulers, and particularly kings, are to be elected by the people under the profile given by God. God makes qualified men to lead, and the people have the responsibility to choose those men based on the criteria that God Himself gives. So let me ask you this question, congregation, how do you vote? What is your criteria when you go into the voting booth? Do you vote based on promises? Oh, well, he said he's going to do this, or he said he's going to do that. Do you vote based on fear? Man, I'm really afraid of what the other guy is going to do if I don't vote for this guy. Do you vote based on pragmatism? Well, I think this guy is going to help the economy better, and even though he doesn't meet God's criteria, that's going to help me out. Do you vote based on merely a party because someone has an R or a D next to their name? Well, I would suggest that if he doesn't meet the criteria required by God, then you vote for someone who is a faithful member of God's covenant people, that he is just, and that he has ruled in the fear of God. Ask yourself these questions. Is this man a faithful member of God's covenant people? Is this man a just man? Does this man fear God? Those are our criteria. Number two, the people of God are to render loyal obedience to their rulers under the law of God. We are told over and over again in the scriptures to submit to the governing authorities. First Peter 2.17, honor all people. Love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the King. Do you, as a Christian citizen, obey your rulers even if it's the ones that you don't like? If there is a just law, a just cause, a just principle, even if it's the guy that I don't like making it, if it's a good law, we ought to support it, we ought to obey it, But also we're told to pray for our leaders in 1 Timothy 2. We're told that intercessions and prayers and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings, and all who are in authority that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence. We talk often about those eroding freedoms that we have as Christians and how they seem to be lessening and lessening on a larger scale, and yet I would ask you this question, Christian, do you spend more time complaining about your rulers than you do praying for them? Please note that I had to repent of this sin as well this week. I am not throwing this at you having not been drug through it myself already. But how much time do you spend praying for the president, the governor, the mayor, your sheriff? How many of these men do you spend time praying for in your week? How could we How could we possibly expect for God to bless us with a righteous ruler if we're not doing our bare minimum responsibilities of simply praying for these men, as we are? This does not mean, though, that the civil magistrate is not subject to criticism. Somebody told me one time that they appreciated Billy Graham so much because when he was in an interview, this is when the Clinton Lewinsky scandal was going on, that when Bill, excuse me, that when Billy Graham was in an interview, that they asked him what he thought about Bill Clinton, and he didn't say anything negative about him, and they thought, how Christ-like is this man to not say anything negative about, that was the pinnacle of Christ-likeness, and yet, Jesus said in Mark 8.15, take heed, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod. You beware of that hypocritical, ungodly ruler, Herod. That's what Christ said. Not only that, Jesus engaged in godly name-calling of the civil magistrate. This is one of my favorite verses in all the Bible. Listen to this. So some people come to Jesus and tell Him that Herod wants to kill Him, and He says, Go tell that fox, Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I shall be perfected, or resurrected. Calling someone a fox would sort of be like the equivalent today of saying, You go tell that snake, I'm curing diseases and I'm going to be raised again from the dead on the third day. That's just so you know, that's one of my favorite verses in the Bible. But that doesn't mean again, that doesn't mean that we're not to render loyal obedience and respect and the honor and duty that that is required. But we can name call sometimes. All right. Number three, rulers, particularly kings, are to do everything in their power to keep the nation respectfully to itself. So those ties with other nations often corrupt morality. And they often lead to the oppression of citizens. And then furthermore, they often lead to unnecessary bloodshed. All right. So last thing, let's close with a few pitfalls we need to avoid. And I've taken some rhetorical liberties here in hopes that this will help you remember some of these pitfalls I think we need to avoid. So the first one is the Easy peasy lemon squeezy pitfall. Okay? Alright. Everything is not easy peasy lemon squeezy just because we read the scriptures and because it is our standard. Now, I saw something on Facebook this week that said, It's not always easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy. Sometimes it's difficult, difficult, lemon-difficult. So sometimes there are difficult, difficult things that happen in Scripture just even though we have the Scriptures as our standard. Listen to verse number 8 in the same chapter. Deuteronomy 17 verse 8 says, "...if a matter arises which is too hard for you to judge between decrees of guilt for bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, then you shall arise and go up to the place which the Lord your God chooses." Listen to what he says. And you shall come to the priests, the Levites, and to the judge there in those days, and inquire of them. They shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. You shall do according to the sentence which they pronounce upon you in the place which the Lord chooses. I'm not giving a detailed explanation of that. I'm simply saying that even in the law of God, there is a recognition that godly judges who are elected, who are wise men, who are experts in the law of God, there are still going to be difficult situations that we might have to hash out and debate and argue and say, I'm not exactly sure exactly how we're going to apply the law of God in this situation. So beware of the easy peasy lemon squeezy pitfall. Number two. Beware of the, all I need is a Bible verse, pitfall. We have a tendency sometimes to think, okay, I've got a biblical law, I'm rightly applying it to our day, therefore, let's go implement it tomorrow. And that sounds like it would be the right thing to do, but that's not always the best course of action. Think about this for just a second. for helping the poor. I think we should help those who are in need. I think we should help the poor. I think we should help widows and orphans. However, I am opposed to the federal government stealing our money to do that and redistributing it very poorly, I might add. I'm opposed to the welfare system. I don't think it's biblical. I'm not saying that I'm opposed to helping the poor. I'm saying that I'm opposed to the welfare system. However, If someone said tomorrow we're going to obliterate the welfare system and we're going to stop taking that money away from you guys and nobody's going to get another welfare check and everybody who's a part of the welfare system that works for the government is not going to have a job, I would be opposed to that. Why? Well, there's thousands and thousands and thousands of people who are drawing those checks. Thousands and thousands and thousands of people. Let's talk about the people who work for the system that aren't necessarily even under the check. Thousands of people would lose their jobs instantly and be out of income. We need wisdom is something that we need when we're talking about implementing these things. That's the point that I'm getting at. We can't just say, I've got a Bible verse, let's go do it tomorrow. Let's get this law passed. Boom, boom, boom. No, we need wisdom. We need to carefully consider how we're going to carry these things out. as we apply these laws. Number three, this is my favorite one. Number three, the orange man good, orange man bad pitfall. Now I want you to think about this for a second. Last week, or maybe it was the week before, the General Soleimani was killed by the drone strike. And very few people, very, very few people before that happened really knew who he was. Before a couple days later, you know It took a couple days for all the details to come out of what happened on what all he had done And everything like that before anybody knew much about it at all There were a few people who understood the situation who understand Iranian military leaders and things like that. I understand that but But for the most part, nobody really knew much about that situation. And yet, there were people on one side of the aisle who said, orange man bad, no matter what he does, it's bad. And then there were people on the other side of the aisle who say, orange man good, no matter what he does, he's good, he's right, it doesn't matter. Before we knew anything about it, we were already saying, if Trump did it, it's good, or if Trump did it, it's bad. Folks, that is not a Christian way of thinking. You have got to examine everything in light of Scripture. It doesn't matter what it is. My point is not to say whether or not that action was good or bad. Please don't get hung up on that. I'm simply saying we cannot be the ones who are so devoted to a person that we don't think through biblical lenses. Fourth pitfall, finally, that deliver us from evil pitfall. There is a danger of seeking too much from an earthly king or civil justice system. The best earthly king and the most biblically The faithful law system will not cure, it will never cure the wickedness in a man's heart. The best that it can do is serve to help restrain evil in a society. Listen to Psalm 20 verse 7. Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. We are not trusting in those war machines, we are trusting in the Lord. Isaiah 31. Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help and rely on horses, who trust in chariots because they are many, and in horsemen because they are strong, but who do not look to the Holy One of Israel, nor seek the Lord." The pitfall is essentially idolatry. It is only Christ who can truly bring peace, liberty, and justice for all. Even if we had a great system and we could get it implemented tomorrow, the best that you can do for people who hate God, that is only going to produce more and more chaos and rebellion. So what we ought to seek chiefly, chiefly, is that God would give a revival of gospel preaching to change the hearts of men so that they receive the Lordship of Christ. Nothing good will come if the Gospel is not central in our preaching. We need the Spirit of God to blow through this land with mighty Gospel preachers who proclaim the Lordship of Christ over all things. What our nation needs is Christ. What our nation needs is the Gospel. Then and only then will these principles bear any lasting fruit. And remember that these are not going to always be easy truths to live by. But also remember your elder, covenanting brother, Samuel Rutherford. Remember that one day you are going to be summoned to a higher judge, and you're going to have to give an answer for how you dealt with your business as a Christian citizen. So fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. Amen? Amen. Please take a moment to prepare yourselves for the Lord's Supper.