How to Choose A King
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How to Choose A King
Exodus 18:13-27
Psalm 119:105-112
1 Samuel 8
Luke 12:1b-12
The United States of America originated with a government known as a Democratic Republic. It was meant to be a government for the people by the people. A Democratic Republic is a government system that uses principles in both democracy and republic styles of government. A Democracy is defined as “A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives.” A Republic is “a state in which supreme power is held by the people and their elected representatives.” When we mix these two systems together, we have a free society system of balanced powers between the government and the people. However, as time passes it seems the pendulum of power is swinging more to the side of government and less to the side of the people. We can see this to be very evident throughout this global pandemic. I believe I said in a sermon not to long ago that history is very important and by studying history we can learn from those who made the mistakes we are bound to make if we continue the path we are currently going.
In the book of Exodus, we see the first government set up for the people of Israel. In the beginning when it was just the patriarchs the government was simple as the patriarch was the head and would lead his family to follow the Lord. However, fast forward several hundred years and now Israel is a huge nation. Because it is so huge it needs some sort of government to keep order. The government that God designs is a government in which God is king and he speaks through Moses to judge his people wisely. Whenever, there was a problem or a dispute Moses would be the one to mediate and solve the dispute between the two parties. When you have nearly a million people or more to deal with this could take awhile and can be exhausting. Moses’ father-law sees this and suggests to Moses that he cannot possibly keep up with all that is going on. Therefore, he suggests that Moses elects capable officials to share the burden with him and then he will be able to decide the biggest problems. By spreading the load, the Israelites had a truly free and prosperous society with law and order constitutionalized by the creator himself. This system of judges was God’s design for government. It was perfect because there was accountability between the other judges and they would have to answer to Moses who answered to God.
After some time, something different happened among the people that would affect how government would be shaped even today. Israel decided that they wanted a king. They did care that they were having the freest government. They just wanted to be like all the other nations. For years God sent them judges to lead and guide the people and as long as the people obeyed God’s law things were good. However, when the people would disobey God’s law and go their own way then things were bad.
The Prophet Samuel had two sons whom he taught to serve as priests for the people. However, his sons did not follow in his steps and ways and they unfortunately became corrupt. This corruption concerned the people and they knew that Samuel was getting old and that if he died then they would be left with Samuel’s sons as corrupt leaders. Therefore, their solution was to be just like everyone else in the world. They wanted to have a king. They believed that a king would do everything for them. They believed that the king would fight their battles and that the king would take care of them. Essentially, they were willing to give up the freedom they had being governed by God in order to have someone else do everything for them. They wanted the government to take care of them instead of taking care of themselves. This is the natural propensity of people.
Samuel was displeased with this desire because he knew what having a king meant. He took the time to warn the people about all the things that a king would do. He told them that a king will take all their young men and make them soldiers in his army to fight and conquer all whom he desires to conquer. He will take their best land for himself. He will take their young women to be servants in his household. Then probably the most important warning, he will tax them 10% of their production for himself and for his chosen officials. He tells them that they will be like slaves to the king and they will cry out for relief but the Lord will not answer them because they have chosen to give up their freedom in the Lord to be like slaves for their government.
As time has passed since the inception of our government our nation has gradually given up its freedoms just like the people of Israel when they begged for a king. Rather than a government for the people by the people we have slowly allowed ourselves to be conned into having for ourselves a king to lead us. We have granted our government officials power that we ourselves do not have. The result is less freedom. We are like the Israelites claiming that they want the government to take care of them and to fight their battles for them. However, Israel and even we ourselves have failed to see that it is not the government that actually does the fighting. It is our young men and now young women who are out their doing the fighting for us and the government just dictates when and where this fighting will occur without our consent. However, they do not need our consent because we have given them the power to decided for us whatever they see fit. Essentially, we have chosen for ourselves a king. We see this to be ever so true with the executive orders being given by our governors and our president through out this pandemic.
Our last freedom that we really have as a nation is our voting system which even that is under attack these days. However, we have the privilege to choose our king. We the people get to make the choice on who will be leading us as our king. Israel didn’t have that choice. At first God chose the first two kings for Israel and from then on it was decided by a bloodline. What a privilege that we have. It is a decision that we must not take lightly because the decision we make as a nation could drastically change the prosperity and freedoms of this nation. The problem though is that so many people seem to make their choices based on their feelings about the candidates instead of the policies that these candidates stand for. The results of this can be detrimental to our freedoms as a nation.
Jesus us told his disciples to be “on guard against the yeast of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.” The Pharisees of the time were the teachers of the law and were the ones who enforced the law as well. They were a form of government. If things didn’t go their way then it was not good for the people. However, Christ says they should not fear those who can kill the body as they can only do that and nothing more. However, we should fear the one who has authority to throw us into hell. The one who would throw us into hell wants us to make choices based on our feelings instead of making choices based on wisdom.
In our up and coming elections this year it appears that we have two options before us. Each candidate stands for different things and it is reflected in their policies. As Christians I believe it our duty not to vote on our feelings about the candidate but on the policies that our candidates support. The decision we make will decide which policies are going to take effect. As Christ followers and believers in the holy scriptures we should choose a candidate who supports the Christian faith and supports the practice of such faith. As Christians we should support the preservation of life before and after birth as God is the creator of life. Therefore, we should choose a candidate that supports the preservation of life before and after birth. As Christians we should support the preservation of our freedom and less taxation and less regulation means more freedom for us to choose and more freedom to purchase or invest in our economy as well. Therefore, we have a choice to choose a candidate that will either increase our taxes or one who will decrease our taxes. In my opinion we as Christians should choose to decrease our taxes and choose the candidate whose policies reflect the decrease in taxation. We have two different candidates who have very different policies on how to protect our nation from foreign enemies. As Christians we should choose the candidate with the policy that will best protect our nation from foreign attack both through force and through economics.
There are many other things and subjects of policy that we must choose from however either way we must understand that we will really be choosing for ourselves a king. The question is what kind of king will we choose. Will we choose a king that just makes us feel good and feel like we can trust them or are we going to choose a king who will protect our freedoms and our right to worship through the policies that they will put in place. These are the things we need to think about on election day as the choice we make could drastically change our outcome in history. If you are still confused about how you should vote this coming November then I urge you to put this information in perspective for you. I urge you not to vote on your feelings but vote on what that candidate stands for. When the serpent tempted Eve in the garden, he tricked he into deciding by her feelings instead of making her decision based on the commands of God. The result of this sin was a loss of freedom. This election is no different from that time. This is how we must choose our king. Choose the one who has a better policy to support Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. If we do that then I believe that the United States of America may still have a bright future ahead leading the way to freedom. How will you choose your King?