©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 8:1-9 (ESV) - Who is like the wise?
And who knows the interpretation of a thing?
A man's wisdom makes his face shine,
and the hardness of his face is changed.
I say: Keep the king's command, because of God's oath to him. Be not hasty to go from his presence. Do not take your stand in an evil cause, for he does whatever he pleases. For the word of the king is supreme, and who may say to him, “What are you doing?” Whoever keeps a command will know no evil thing, and the wise heart will know the proper time and the just way. For there is a time and a way for everything, although man's trouble lies heavy on him. For he does not know what is to be, for who can tell him how it will be? No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. All this I observed while applying my heart to all that is done under the sun, when man had power over man to his hurt.
Question to consider: To what oath of God does Solomon refer?
In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses instructed the generation which had grown up in the wilderness and was about to inherit the land by faith. He gave the following warning concerning their future desire to set a king over themselves like the surrounding nations, “...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.’ And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.” (Deuteronomy 17:16-17)
At the time in which Samuel was judge over Israel, the people asked for this king, and Samuel gave the following warning, “These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his chariots and to be his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants. He will take the tenth of your grain and of your vineyards and give it to his officers and to his servants. He will take your male servants and female servants and the best of your young men and your donkeys, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your flocks, and you shall be his slaves. And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.” (1 Samuel 8:11-17)
Despite these warnings, Israel insisted on having a human king like that of the nations, and the LORD answered their prayer. Rather than choose a man after God’s own heart, they chose Saul from the tribe of Benjamin because he was handsome and tall and looked like the type of person that should be king of Israel. Of course, he was a disaster, and the LORD replaced him with David, an unassuming shepherd from the tribe of Judah whose grandmother was a Moabite convert. It was to this king God took an oath, and the writer of today’s passage was his son.
As long as we have governments run by sinful humans, we will be tempted to revolt against them. Personally, because of the nature of people, I see the best way to promote peace and freedom is to decentralize power and maintain strict checks and balances to limit the spread of corruption. With that said, the biblical mandate to be a good citizen and follow the laws of the land hasn’t changed.
The apostle Peter wrote, “Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.” (1 Peter 2:13-17) At the time in which he wrote this, Israel was a vassal kingdom to Rome so the emperor (caesar) was viewed by Peter as king. Given his recognition of the emperor as supreme, I assume Peter had today’s passage in mind when he wrote. In case we want to proclaim that rulers today are more wicked, the emperor at the time in which he wrote was Nero.
Peter knew that the oath of God was fulfilled in Jesus who had ascended to heaven and was seated above all kingdoms as King of kings and Lord of lords. As we strive to be good citizens, we can put our hope and trust in the One who is king of all.
Dear Lord, may Your kingdom come, and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. May Your name be holy on our lips and reflected in our lives as we seek to do Your will in the world. Amen.