Dt 17:14-20 Fifth Commandment (Part Two): Honor the King



What sort of man should be an elder?

Deuteronomy 17 gives us some answers.

Moses tells us what a king should be like,

This points us finally to Christ, who is our Great King,

but also to the qualifications for those who rule in Christ's church.

because those who would rule in Christ's kingdom,

must be imitators of Christ.



First, what does Moses say about what sort of king Israel should have:

1) How do you choose a king?

One whom God chooses v14-15



In Deuteronomy 7-9 we saw that Israel must not worship the gods of Death,

In chapter 7 God told them not to trust in their own military might

In chapter 8 God told them not to trust in their material wealth

and In chapter 9 God told them not to trust in their own righteousness.

Well, the king is now commanded that he must not worship the gods of death!

the king must not seek after his own military power

the king must not seek to build up his own wealth

the king must not trust in his own righteousness!



2) What the king is not

Not a foreigner--but a brother v15

Not greedy for power v16 (military)

Not selling his people into slavery (Egypt) v16

Not having many wives (idolatry of lust) v17

Not greedy for wealth v17

3) What the king is

one who studies the scriptures daily (v19)

fears the Lord and observes all the words of this law (v19)

heart not lifted up over his brethren (v20)

does what God says--no more and no less (v20)

4) What is the result?

he will prolong his days in his kingdom

he and his children after him



Well, how did this work out in Israel's history?

1) they chose a king--but in the wrong way

I Samuel 8:4-20

they wanted a king to go before them and win their battles for them

that was God's task!

2) Saul was everything a king is not supposed to be

he was greedy for power v11-12

he enslaved his own people v13, 16

he was greedy for wealth v14,15,17

3) Saul did not do what a king is supposed to do

he did not obey the Lord (I Sam 13:13)

4) the result was that Saul's days were numbered--no descendent sat on the throne



But God chose a man after his own heart:

David was the man that God chose

David was humble, relied upon God--did not exalt himself

And God promised him that he would establish his seed forever (II Sam 7:12-16)



Solomon built a temple for God--and Solomon sat on David's throne,

and was declared to be God's Son.

But Solomon did not live forever.

Indeed, after 500 years the throne of David fell empty.

When the Babylonians destroyed the temple in 586 BC,

God did as he had promised, and chastised the seed of David.

And we hear about how far the house of David had fallen in Ezek 34:1-24

But his mercy did not depart from the house of David,

and in that little town of Bethlehem,

the promised Son of David was born!



And so SECOND, we see that the promised king, the promised shepherd,

is none other than Christ himself!

1) How do you choose a king?

Who should rule over you?

Who should go forth before you to fight your battles and defeat your enemies?

The One whom God chooses v14-15

Jesus Christ is the King of God's choosing.

This is more difficult than we often think.

What controls you?

It's easy to let what other people think of you control you:

When you are at work or at school,

are you trying to impress those around you?

If so, then they are your king.

They are controlling you.

You need to stop asking what others think of you,

and start asking what Christ thinks of you.

Because God has chosen Christ to be the king who will go before us to defeat our enemies.

You will never face a situation where Christ is not in control.

You will never face a situation where Christ is not present with you.

And as we go through the qualifications for king,

we will see why.

2) What the king is not

1--Not a foreigner--but a brother v15

Jesus Christ is not distant.

He is your brother.

Do you ever feel like Christ is distant?

Do you ever feel like he's not listening? like he's a foreigner?

Well, stop trusting your feelings and trust in God's promises.

God has chosen a King for you who is a brother.

Hebrews 2:10-12 declares:

"For it was fitting for him, for whom are all things and by whom are all things,

in bringing many sons to glory,

to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.

For both He who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one,

for which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren,

saying, "I will declare your name to my brethren;

in the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to you."

Jesus Christ is not ashamed to call you his brothers and sisters.

Hebrews goes on to say,

"In all things he had to be made like his brethren,

that he might be a merciful and faithful High Priest

in things pertaining to God,

to make propitiation for the sins of the people."

Jesus Christ was made like us,

so that we might be made like him.

We have a King who is our brother!

If you feel like Christ is distant,

then there's only one of two options:

either you are not a Christian,

or else you are simply trusting your feelings rather than Christ.

And in either case,

the solution is to trust in his promises!

the solution is to believe that He has given you the adoption of sons,

that He has made you ONE with himself,

so that all of your sin has been placed upon Christ.

and all of his righteousness and blessings have been placed upon you.



2--Not greedy for power v16 (military)

Jesus himself admitted that he could have used military force

to destroy his enemies.

He could have called upon the hosts of heaven to destroy Pilate & set him free

But that is not why Christ came.

Jesus came to destroy his enemies through his own death.

And anyone who wishes to be his disciple must do the same.

This is why he tells his disciples,

"If anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself,

take up his cross,

and follow me."

The Kingdom of God is an upside down kingdom.

The kings of this world fight and quarrel for power.

But it is not to be so in the church.

Whoever would be great in the kingdom of God,

must be the servant of all.

If Christ, our King, has given his life for his people,

then those who rule in the church must also give their lives as well.

3--Not selling his people into slavery (Egypt) v16

Jesus Christ has not sold us into bondage in order to further his own glory.

No, instead, Jesus Christ has delivered us from bondage,

and in so doing has received a name which is above all names.

4--Not having many wives (idolatry of lust) v17

How many wives does Jesus have?

That may sound odd.

But it is important: Jesus Christ has but one bride--the church.

There is no greater picture of the unity of the church than this.

Jesus has only one wife.

And he is faithful to his bride

--no matter how often we have turned aside

and fallen into the pits of spiritual adultery.

Jesus Christ is faithful.

5--Not greedy for wealth v17

The Son of Man had no place to lay his head while he was on earth.

He travelled about preaching the gospel and doing good to all people.

He sought nothing for himself,

only the glory of God and the salvation of his people.

That was truly the calling of a King.

We think of kings as those who sit in palaces, on golden thrones.

Yet the biblical idea of kingship focuses instead

on using God's authority to serve others.

The King does not serve himself;

The King does not insist that others serve him.

The King himself IS the servant.

If you read II Samuel, in its description of David's kingship,

you will see that David understood this.

He wasn't perfect, but he knew that he was to use God's authority

to serve and encourage others.

But only Jesus Christ did this perfectly.

And that is why He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

3) What the king is

1--one who studies the scriptures daily (v19)

Indeed Christ knew the Scriptures!

He understood them better than anyone--for they all spoke of Him.

When he was tempted, he appealed to Scripture.

When he was challenged by the Pharisees,

he proclaimed the true meaning of the Scriptures.

2--fears the Lord and observes all the words of this law (v19)

And Christ Jesus alone perfectly obeyed the Law.

No other King could ever claim that.

In Christ, the fear of the Lord was made perfect.

3--heart not lifted up over his brethren (v20)

Who would dare to accuse Jesus of pride!

He who was in the form of God,

for us and for our salvation,

humbled himself, and became man,

and for us, he submitted to death--even death on a cross.

4--does what God says--no more and no less (v20)

We see this throughout Christ's life,

but never more than when he wept in Gethsemane,

pleading for the Father to take this cup from him;

Yet declaring, "Not my will, but yours be done!"

Though he trembled at his coming death,

he did not turn aside from the path which his Father had set.

4) What is the result?

he will prolong his days in his kingdom (v20)

he and his children after him

Jesus Christ, because he lived as the faithful King,

who used his authority for the salvation of his people,

God has now raised him to his right hand,

and now He sits on the throne of David forever.

And as Hebrews 2:13 says,

When Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father,

he declared,

"Here am I and the children whom God has given Me!"

Because, you see,

Jesus did not die for himself.

He died for his people--he died for us!

And even so,

he was not raised for himself,

but he was raised for us, and for our justification!

So that we too will now live and reign forever with him.



Jesus Christ is the King who lives and reigns forever

according to the promise God made through Moses.

But how does Christ rule his church?



Paul tells us about this in Ephesians 4:7-16 (read)

When Christ ascended to the Father,

he gave gifts to his church.

What does Paul say that these gifts are?

apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.

The apostles and prophets were spiritual gifts to the church.

Evangelists, pastors, and teachers are also spiritual gifts.

Paul is saying that I am a gift to you from Christ.

And for what task does Christ give these gifts?

v12

for the equipping of the saints

for the work of ministry

and for the edifying of the body of Christ

The purpose is then laid out in v13

so that we might all come to the unity of the faith

and of the knowledge of God,

to a perfect man,

to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;

This is why Christ has given me to you.

And in I Timothy 5:17 Paul explains that these pastors--or teaching elders,

are to be joined by ruling elders as well.



So Christ rules his church through his pastors and teachers,

together with the ruling elders.

But what qualifications has he laid down for these men?

Turn over to I Timothy 3:1-7



Here we come to our THIRD point: the qualifications for elders

Do you see how similar this list is to that of Deuteronomy 17?

1--blameless, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, one who rules his house well

All of these describe someone who does not turn aside from God's law.

Your elders must be men who know the Scriptures,

and who seek to live according to them.

Consider the first requirement: blameless.

Blameless does not mean SINLESS.

It means that no one can make an accusation against them.

It means that when they sin, they repent.

And that there is no obvious sin that anyone could hold against them.

On the first Sunday of January we will announce the nominees for elder.

If you know that some of those men are not blameless,

you will need to speak with me.

2--husband of one wife

This reminds us of the King who was not to multiply wives.

Just as Christ has only one bride, so also elders are to have only one wife.

But what of a man who has been divorced?

Can he serve as an elder?

If he was blameless in the divorce, then yes.

Now again, I don't mean sinless,

but if he was not at fault for the divorce,

then he may still serve as an elder.

3--hospitable

One who seeks to use God's authority to serve his people

4--able to teach, not a novice

knows the Scriptures and meditates on them daily

5--not violent, but gentle, not quarrelsome

Just as the King was not to seek military might and power,

so also the elder must be a gentle man.

6--not greedy, not covetous

Just as the King should not multiply silver and gold for himself,

so also the elder:

Peter makes this clear in I Peter 5:1-5

elders are to "shepherd the flock of God which is among you,

serving as overseers (the word is "bishops"),

not by compulsion, but willingly,

not for dishonest gain, but eagerly,

nor as being lords over those entrusted to you,

but being examples to the flock;

and when the Chief Shepherd appears,

you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away."

Notice two things:

First, the shepherd language.

Just as King David was the shepherd King,

and just as Christ is the Chief Shepherd,

so also elders are to exercise kingly authority in the name of Christ.

Yet with that, notice that they are to imitate David, and indeed Christ,

as examples to the flock of the humility and gentleness of Christ.

And second,

notice that those elders who rule well will receive the crown of glory.

If they model the humility and gentleness of Christ,

using Christ's authority to bring Christ's blessing to the flock,

then they themselves will receive Christ's reward when he returns.

Do you see how important the imitation of Christ is?

Those who share in Christ's sufferings, will also share in his glory!

Those who die to themselves daily,

denying themselves, taking up their cross, and following Christ,

will also be raised with Christ

to share in the glories of his kingdom.

This is true of all believers,

as Peter declares a few verses later in 5:10

"But may the God of all grace,

who called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus,

after you have suffered a while,

perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen!"

You see,

Christ is the image of God

We are the image of Christ.

And elders are to be pictures and examples of Christ to the congregation,

saying with the Apostle Paul, "imitate me, as I imitate Christ."

Just as husbands are to picture Christ in their relationship with their wives,

And just as parents are to picture Christ in their relationship to their children,

So also elders are to picture Christ to the congregation.

7--not given to wine

While not listed in Deuteronomy,

Prov. 31 warns kings that wine and strong drink will affect their judgment,

Of course it is in the same letter that Paul tells Timothy

to drink a little wine for his stomach's sake,

so clearly it is not wrong for an elder to drink with moderation.

But they must not be "given" to wine.

They are to be controlled by Christ--not by alcohol or anything else!

8--having a good testimony to those outside

This is the only new one--due to the changed situation.

No longer do the people of God live in a self-contained kingdom,

now we live in the middle of the kingdoms of this world,

yet our allegiance is to Christ alone.