In Deuteronomy 17, God outlines His
law regarding judgements amongst His people. The people wanted kings to rule
over them and God allows this but there are very strict rules that any king
must follow if he is to “rule a long time over his kingdom in Israel ” (verse 20). We sometimes
complain about the laws of our country but we need to remember that most of
them are based on God’s laws. In many countries of the world, corruption is
rife and ordinary citizens have to pay bribes to people in authority in order
to escape fines or imprisonment. We can be thankful that this is not the case
in our country and should pray regularly for judges, police and people in
authority such as the men and women in Government. In verses 16 and 17, God warns any king
against accumulating great wealth and possessions or he will lose sight of God
and, as it says in verse 17 “....his heart will be led astray”. In our current
materialistic society, there is a lesson for us here as well.
(written by member of a
homegroup)