The King and the Law – Law Matters: The Law and the King (2)

The King and the Law

Law Matters: The Law and the King (2)

God’s King must be a man of the Law.

“And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left….” Deuteronomy 17:18-20

We learn more about the kings God intends to put over His people and, by inference, about the coming King, Shiloh, Who will extend the rule of God to all the peoples of the world. To summarize, the kings God approves are students and servants of His Law.

Each new king of Israel was to make a copy of the Law—perhaps the Book of Deuteronomy—in his own hand. That copy was to be reviewed by the Levitical priests to make sure it was accurate and complete. Then the king was to make himself a student of the Law, reading from it every day. The goal of this endeavor was that the king should learn to fear God so that he might be a faithful servant to the people of God.

The kings of Israel were to be men of God’s Law; and Shiloh, the coming King, would be no exception. Jesus hinted at His Kingship early on in His ministry when He declared that He had not come to do away with the Law and the prophets (as interpreters of the Law). Rather, He had come to fulfill these and to ensure that in the Kingdom He was bringing His citizens would do and teach this Law as well (Matt. 5:17-19).

If we acknowledge Jesus as our King, therefore, we must accept that He calls us to dwell within His Kingdom according to the holy and righteous and good Law of God, the same Law He, Shiloh, fulfilled and now commends to all His followers. Just as the people of ancient Israel could hope to flourish and be blessed under the rule of kings who adhered to and enforced the standards of justice encoded in the Law of God, so we today, who are a Kingdom of priests unto the Lord, can only expect to know the promised blessings of God’s Kingdom as we submit to the counsel of His Law, and all His Word.

Order your copy of The Law of God from our online store, and begin daily reading and meditation in the commandments, statutes, and precepts of God’s Law. Subscribe to Crosfigell, the thrice-weekly devotional newsletter of The Fellowship of Ailbe. The Ailbe Seminary now offers online training courses to improve your walk with the Lord and ministry in His Name.

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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.