Deuteronomy 17:14

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, “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.[16] But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.[17] Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.[18] And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:[19] And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them:[20] That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel.” God would have been their king, but God knew that they were going to eventually choose a human king. So God allowed them to make that decision, and then God told them what they needed to do in order for that to work out successfully. The Lord gives to His believers a tremendous freedom of choice, and then He blesses our choices and tells us how to be successful. He wants His children to be successful.

Any leader will be successful who follows the instructions given in these verses. The first rule is that the leader needs to be God’s choice. We should seek God’s will in everything that we do, and that includes the choosing of leaders. They would have a king, but the people would choose the king. That sounds like democracy. Even in democracies, the leaders are very much like kings. As much as the founders of America tried to have a separation of powers between three branches of government, we have moved closer and closer to having a leader who is in effect a king. Be that as it may, God tells us to see His choice for the king. Many issues are discussed during every election cycle, but not too many talk about seeking and finding God’s choice. They should because that is the first rule that God gave for choosing a leader.

The second rule that God gave for finding the leader of a nation is found in the second part of Deuteronomy 17:15. It says, “one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.” Obviously, the leader of a country should have that country’s interest at heart. That will not happen if he is from another country. The founders of America tried to implement this principle by making it a requirement that a president be born in America. Evidently, the founders assumed that someone who was born here would also have lived here. But in this modern world where people can travel so easily and move from one country to another so easily, this principle is easily breached. And so we have periods of time when we do not have great leadership because we can get into a situation where we have a leader who does not put the country first. There are also people with other agendas such as wanting to advance the goals of a “global” framework of some sort, and thereby ignoring the needs and interests of one’s own country.

In the first part of verse 16 a warning is given about leaders, “But he shall not multiply horses to himself.” One of the abuses of power is when a leader uses his position to enrich himself. If a leader is using his position to increase himself and to look after his own personal interests, then it will not be a priority for him to look after the nation. It will show his true character.

In verse 16 God also said “nor cause the people to return to Egypt.” Of course, the leader of a nation will make tremendous decisions affecting the direction that the entire nation will take. This includes foreign policy, and one’s relationships with other countries. God has a will. The leader of a nation needs to know God’s will and attempt to fulfill it, if that nation is to prosper. God had delivered the nation of Israel from enslavement in Egypt, and God did not want them to go back. Egypt represented the world. There are certain things that most nations of the world are involved in that a godly nation must avoid. The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt. Now the Israelites were free, and God wanted them to retain their freedom. A leader must be ever vigilant to help safeguard the freedoms of the people. That is God’s will. God is the author of freedom. God gives every person free will and God allows every man and woman to make his or her own choices.

In the first part of verse 17 God said about the future king, “Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away.” God’s will for every marriage is one man and one woman for life. We know that from the Old Testament and from the book of Genesis, and from the New Testament such as from First Timothy. But a king can easily go beyond the will of God in this matter just because he can. King Solomon broke this requirement and suffered for it. Of course, when a leader goes after multiple women, it shows another side of his extreme selfishness. Selfishness does not make a good leader.

When someone is that selfish, they will be selfish and self-centered in other ways also. One of the ways that bad leaders can be selfish is to use their power to acquire more for themselves. That is why it says in Deuteronomy 17V17 about the king, “neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.” There should be laws in place that prevent the leaders of a country from becoming filthy rich because of their power and influence. The leader that is chosen in a democracy should come up from the common man, and when his time of leadership is over, he should go back as a common man. These con-artists come in as a common man, but they depart as a multi-millionaire. They conned the country and ripped off the common man.

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 17:18-19 about the leader that God wants for a nation, “And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that which is before the priests the Levites:[19] And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life: that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them.” In other words the leader should be a man of the Word of God. That is true for every human being, and it is doubly true for the leader of a country because he will make so many decisions that will affect everyone’s life. Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word of God.” How will a leader make the right decisions if he does not know God’s Word and thus God’s will? How many leaders have we had including presidents, senators, judges, and congressmen who read the Word of God every day? That is why we have had a lack of good leadership for decades now. They do not have the wisdom of God.

One more bit of instruction is given to the leader of a country in Deuteronomy 17:20, “That his heart be not lifted up above his brethren.” The ruler of a nation is just another person. He is not better than others, but if he thinks he is, the nation is in big trouble. It says in Proverbs 16:18, “Pride goeth before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.”

The Bible says in Deuteronomy 18:1-4, “The priests the Levites, and all the tribe of Levi, shall have no part nor inheritance with Israel: they shall eat the offerings of the LORD made by fire, and his inheritance.[2] Therefore shall they have no inheritance among their brethren: the LORD is their inheritance, as he hath said unto them.[3] And this shall be the priest's due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep; and they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw.[4] The firstfruit also of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him.” Unlike the other children of Israel, the priests and Levites were not given any land in Israel. They were given responsibility to tend to the temple and the animal sacrifices, but they were given no land. Thus, they had no means of supporting themselves or their families. God’s solution to this situation was to command the other children of Israel to realize that when animal sacrifices were performed that some of the meat would be given to the priests and Levites. There is a spiritual aspect to serving God, but there is also a practical aspect.

In the New Testament we do not have priests or Levites. But we do have pastors and missionaries, and evangelists, whose primary function is to feed the flock of Christ with the Word of God, and to spread the gospel of Christ. That is why those who have the gift to being a pastor also have the gift to being a teacher. The two gifts are included in one. It says in Ephesians 4:8-12, “Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.[9] (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?[10] He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)[11] And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;[12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:” The question becomes how do pastors get their material needs met? What is God’s will? There are two answers to this. The first is similar to what was done in the Old Testament: other believers give to the pastors. That is entirely scriptural to have an arrangement of this manner. It says in First Timothy 5:17-18, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.[18] For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer is worthy of his reward.”

But secondly, there may be situations where the preacher decides to bring in his own sustenance through a skill or a money-making ability that he has in addition to teaching the Word of God. It may be that some congregations are too small to meet the financial needs of the pastor. It may be that the pastor is starting a new church and has no congregation at all. There are a few pastors who want to live the same kind of life that the other men in the flock also lead: go to a secular job each day, facing the challenges and difficulties that they all face. If God blesses, such a pastor would pay his own way, and would not rely upon what the congregation gives or does not give. Paul was in a situation in Corinth where he did not want to receive any financial help from the Corinthians, and so he worked as a tent maker while there. It says in Acts 18:1-3, “After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;[2] And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them.[3] And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.” In Second Corinthians 12:14-19 Paul wrote the following, “Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: for the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children.[15] And I will very gladly spend and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved.[16] But be it so, I did not burden you: nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you with guile.[17] Did I make a gain of you by any of them whom I sent unto you?[18] I desired Titus, and with him I sent a brother. Did Titus make a gain of you? walked we not in the same spirit? walked we not in the same steps?[19] Again, think ye that we excuse ourselves unto you? we speak before God in Christ: but we do all things, dearly beloved, for your edifying.” The talk of not being burdensome to the Corinthians and not making a gain from the Corinthians is a reference to the fact that Paul worked as a tentmaker when in Corinth, and Paul did not take money from the Corinthian Christians. Every preacher must make his own choice to be like Paul or not. God gives us a lot of freedom. It does not mean that one situation is better than another, but each must choose according to the grace of God given to each and according to the ministry that Christ has given to each of His servants. Of course, we have different ministries based upon the calling and the mercy that we have each received from Jesus.

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