The man who would be King

Read Deuteronomy 17.

In this second giving of the law, practically every situation of national and personal life is covered.  Many how to's and what to do's are specifically listed.  Among them were statutes concerning the possibility that one day the nation might want a king. 

That did take place until a few hundred years 1 Samuel 8.  The LORD was their king.  But human nature is prone to want what others have and so here in chapter 17 God gave His permission (v.15).  The allowance for a future king came with some very specific qualifications.

1. "...whom the LORD your God will choose."

The number one concern in selecting their national leader would be the person God wants.  This would require the nation to go to prayer and do their diligence to be confident that this is the person of God's will for them.  Having such assurance would result in a national trust of that person's leadership.  Decisions and directions then could be viewed through a God-directed leader.

You can read the selection process of Israel's first king in 1 Samuel 9.

2. "One among your brothers..." 

A foreigner could not be a candidate for king.  The person would need to be born into one of the twelve tribal families.

Saul was chosen from the tribe of Benjamin.  But after some time God rejected him because of his repeated disobedience.  God chose David as the second king from the tribe of Judah.  Then the LORD made a covenant with David and his descendants forever.  This is one of the important features of the family lineage of Jesus in Matthew 1.  Jesus' human birth was in the tribe of Judah and He has the birthright to the throne as King.

3. "Only he must not acquire many horses..."

David's son, Solomon, became the third king of Israel.  He did exactly what this verse warns against.

1 Kings 4:26 tells us that he had 40,000 stalls of horses.

4. "And he shall not acquire many wives for himself..."

Marriage among royals has long been used to seal alliances.  These were often political pacts between nations.  Here the warning was spelled out clearly: "lest his heart turn away."  With the marriage of foreign women would come their false gods and belief systems.

Solomon had a thousand wives and concubines.  He built places of worship for false gods for some of these wives and they indeed, at times, turned his heart away from the LORD.

5. "...nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold."

Solomon became the wealthiest man in the world.  This was achieved, not only through God's promised blessing upon him (1 Kings 3:11), but as he made alliances with surrounding nations they paid tribute (taxes) to him.

6. "...he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law..."

This meant the king would take the time to not just read the word of God but produce a personal, handwritten copy for himself.

7. "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..."

It was not a one and done.  He was to have his copy handy so he could review it and know how to live, how to lead, and how to govern the people.  It was a lifelong commitment to God and His word.