The Work of Rulers

The Work of Rulers

Rulers are appointed for justice within the community.

Exodus 22:28

“You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people.”

Acts 23:1-5; Romans 13:5; Titus 3:1

Deuteronomy 16:18-20

“You shall appoint judges and officers in all your towns that the LORD your God is giving you, according to your tribes, and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. You shall not pervert justice. You shall not show partiality, and you shall not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and subverts the cause of the righteous. Justice, and only justice, you shall follow, that you may live and inherit the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

John 7:24; Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5

Rulers in the communities of ancient Israel were “appointed” to their posts; they had to have the approval of the community to serve in this capacity, which meant they had to be trustworthy men, godly in all their ways, and capable of interpreting the Law of the Lord to the people.

Rulers meet in the gates of the city, for both practical and symbolic reasons. Meeting in the gates symbolized their guardianship over what came into the community. Like shepherds, sitting in the entrance to the sheepfold, the rulers judged the people at the gates of the city and guarded the city from sin. But their deliberations would also have been open for all to see (cf. Ruth 4). Thus, the people would learn how to think about the application of God’s Law to their own lives by listening to the rulers and judges of the city as they deliberated various cases and reached decisions. Their charge was to seek justice, the righteous will of God, so that the good purposes of God—love for God and neighbor—could flourish in each community of the land.

We note that Jesus extended the charge given to rulers to the people of God generally in John 7:24. All God’s people must judge righteous judgment in their dealings with one another. Thus we may expect to stimulate one another to love and good works (Heb. 10:24), to deliver one who has fallen into sin (Gal. 6:1), and to exercise our gifts in ministry unto love for God and neighbor and the building-up of the Body of Christ.

God’s promise is that, when His people thus live in justice, according to all His Word, as faithfully taught and judged by the rulers of each community, they will know the fullness of His covenant blessings. Here is all the more reason for every believer to take seriously the Lord’s command to learn, obey, and teach His Law, for the progress of His Kingdom and the glory of His Name (Matt. 5:17-19).

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In the Gates is a devotional series on the Law of God by Rev. T. M. Moore, editor of the Worldview Church. He serves as dean of the Centurions Program of the Wilberforce Forum and principal of The Fellowship of Ailbe, a spiritual fellowship in the Celtic Christian tradition. He is the author or editor of twenty books, and has contributed chapters to four others. His essays, reviews, articles, papers, and poetry have appeared in dozens of national and international journals, and on a wide range of websites. His most recent books are The Ailbe Psalter and The Ground for Christian Ethics (Waxed Tablet).

Scripture quotations in this article are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, (c) copyright 2001, 2007 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.