As you gather in your group, do not forget to listen to each other, attend to each other’s needs, pray for each other, forgive each other's confessed sins, share with each other how God has answered your prayers and blessed you, commit to help each other, and give thanks, above all, for the Lord Jesus Christ who brings you together to learn of his Holy Word, that you may follow him into his glorious victory.
In the previous lesson, we studied how God made a covenant with his people at Sinai and how this covenant is the form by which Christians worship God in the new covenant of Christ Jesus. This covenant was the first step in healing the four relationships that are the focus of this series of lessons. By means of covenant we have a relationship with God. Through covenant we are in relationship with each other. The laws of the covenant specify how we are to relate to God, to each other, and to the land with its material resources. Under the covenant God does not allow the evil one to triumph over us. In the lessons that follow we will be looking at several aspects of the covenant as first lived by the people of Israel. But first, let us address the five questions of this series of biblical lessons.
From the previous lesson we may address the following questions: Where did we come from? We come from God, and by redemption, we come from Christ. Who are we? We are children of the living God, brothers and sisters under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, bound to him and each other in covenant. Where are we now? We are in the sinful world, yet by the renewal of the covenant, brought into a new relationship with God who speaks and appears to us. Where are we going? We are going to follow the path of that God has given us with our eyes on heaven. What must we do? Worship God and keep the covenant promises.
Before beginning our study of leadership, let us first continue the story of Israel after God made the covenant with Israel at Sinai.
After binding themselves to God and each other in the covenant, the people wandered in the desert and finally entered the land promised to their ancestors. They conquered this land, and once there, God taught them how to establish his Kingdom on earth, a Kingdom that would ensure that his people would be blessed. This Kingdom was based upon the covenant and it had three important characteristics.
1. Israel was to worship the one true God and obey his covenant commands. If Israel worshipped God alone and kept the laws of his covenant, God would protect and bless her. If not, she would fall under God's judgment, lose the land, and be conquered and enslaved.
2. God chose and commissioned prophets, judges, priests, and kings who would proclaim the prophetic Word of the Lord, judge, govern, teach, and offer sacrifices according to the covenant. God expected his people to obey those he had chosen and commissioned, and he expected these leaders to abide by the covenant and to maintain and restore the personal relationships of the covenant.
3. The land conquered by the tribes of Israel was divided according to tribes, clans, and families, and each families' land could not be transferred permanently to other persons. In this way no one would fall into permanent poverty, all would have work by which to supply their needs.
By establishing his Kingdom on earth, God began to set right the four broken relationships we have used to focus our study. The relationship with God was established by covenant, its worship, laws, and sacrifices, including sacrifices for sin. The relationships between persons were set right by the establishment of covenant law which governed personal relationships. The relationship with the land was set right in that each family had its own land and God promised to bless the land if they obeyed his laws. The laws protecting each family’s land was understood as belonging to the covenant. Finally, the evil one could not touch God's people if they walked in his ways and kept his commandments.
The Kingdom of the first covenant differed from other kingdoms in three important ways. First the people of other kingdoms worshipped many gods, including their rulers who were often thought to be gods. This allowed the rulers to lord it over others. Second, rather than ruling justly according to law, leaders often used their power to dominate others and enrich themselves. Third, powerful persons often acquired land and wealth at the expense of others who remained perpetually poor and destitute. These kingdoms were based upon power, power used to deprive others of the means of life.
We may summarize these ideas in this way. There are kingdoms governed by the desires of the powerful, with Egypt being the representative biblical example. There was the Kingdom of Israel, founded by conquest and ordered by covenant. Finally, when we study the Kingdom of God proclaimed by Jesus, we will learn of a third Kingdom, the Kingdom of the new covenant founded in sacrificial love. As described in the book of Exodus, the Egyptian kingdom was a kingdom of lawless power in which the pharaoh enslaved God's people. The kingdom established by God in the land promised to Abraham was a kingdom of conquest and covenant law with a special concern for the poor and powerless. The Kingdom of Jesus was not founded by conquest, but by the sacrifice of his life upon the cross. This was and is a Kingdom of sacrificial love. More will be said on these important matters in future lessons.
We are now going to study Deuteronomy 17:24-20, a passage on leadership. Leadership is vital for establishing God’s Kingdom on earth. Without leadership, it is impossible for God’s people to fulfill their role as a blessing upon earth. In the next lesson, Leviticus 25:8-28, we will investigate how Israel worked to ensure that all her people had access to land and provision. This is equally important.
As we shall see in future lessons, the gift of the land and the giving of the law were not sufficient to create God's Kingdom on earth. God's people and their leaders continued to rebel against him and his good law. God, however, did not give up on his people. He sent his Son who established his Kingdom, a Kingdom that will last forever. This Kingdom fulfills all of God's hopes for the human race. In future lessons we will see how Jesus fulfilled the three passages we are studying here.
We will begin with Deuteronomy 17:8-20.
Deuteronomy 17:8-20
This passage is part of the law that God gave to his people to help them establish God's Kingdom on earth. Please read it aloud once or twice, and then have the group answer the following questions.
1. How were the people expected to respond to the decisions of those in authority over them? What was to happen to those who did not obey those in authority?
2. How did the judges and priests know how to make right decisions?
3. Who chose the person who would become king?
4. Why do you think kings had to be one of the people?
5. Horses were often used in warfare and wives from foreign countries often led kings to worship foreign gods. How were kings to live in regard to wealth and power? How would they be protected if they kept God's law?
6. How were kings to know how to rule justly? How were they to prepare themselves to rule justly?
7. How were kings to consider those they ruled?
8. Jesus is our king, our true leader. How did he fulfill and even do more than what was asked of kings in Deuteronomy 17:8-20?
Questions for Self-Examination
These are some questions that will help us to examine ourselves before God.
1. All of us have leaders over us. Our true leader is Jesus Christ, and we cannot do anything contrary to his will, even if commended to do so by our leaders. Under normal circumstances, we are to obey our leaders as Deuteronomy 17:8-21 makes clear. Are you supporting the leadership of your church? What is the effect of grumbling and complaining about God's leaders? Are any of us guilty of grumbling and complaining? Are we praying daily for the leadership of our church? Have you been led astray by anyone leading you to do something you should not do?
2. Not all of us are leaders, but all of us influence other people. Are we preparing ourselves to influence and lead others by reading and studying the Scriptures daily? What else do we need to do to help us know how to be good to others?
3. Are you using your position, whether it be as a father, or mother, teacher, or leader in any capacity, to gain power or wealth, or are you acting for the sake of others?
4. What do we need to do in order for God to show us who he wants to be our leaders?
5. The church is a kingdom of love, that is, a kingdom where the people forgive, love, and sacrifice themselves for each other and even for those outside the church. In what ways is your church a kingdom of love? How can you help your church to become a kingdom of love?
6. According to 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Christians are to pray for government leaders. Do you and your church pray for your government, that it be a government of law which seeks the welfare of all? This next question is especially important for Christians who are leaders in government. What can you do, as a Christian leader, to see that your government is a government of law rather than lawless power? What laws does your country need to not only protect the citizens from criminal activities, but to protect the people from the powerful that would use and abuse them?
7. In Romans 13:1-7, Paul commands Christians to obey the rulers of government for "rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad" (verse 3). Do you respect your civil rulers and obey the laws of your country? There are, however, times when rulers are not a terror to bad conduct, but to good conduct. Such rulers do evil and incite others to do so. In these extreme cases, God allows his people to oppose evil rulers as was the case when he liberated his people from Pharaoh and led them to conquer the Promised Land. For Christians to rebel against rulers, however, is very, very serious, and should only be undertaken in extreme circumstances and only after much prayer and anguish.
8. The church, however, is not founded by violence, but by Christ who gave up his life rather than create a Kingdom based on violence. What are we to do if our church leaders are committing grave sins and making decisions contrary to God's Word? We will study this question more fully when we study Micah 3:1-12.
9. In light of this lesson, how would answer these questions: Where did we come from? Who are we? Where are we now? Where are we going? What must we do?
Please use this lesson to help each other be good examples and leaders. Do not use this lesson to be critical of those in position of leadership. If someone in leadership is making a mistake, commit yourself to pray for them, and if God leads, when the time is right, speak humbly with them. Let us humble ourselves before each other, confess our errors, ask for forgiveness, pray for each others, and help each other face the difficulties of life. Let us end this lesson with a prayer.
Oh heavenly Father, thank you so much for sending your Son Jesus Christ to be our King. Thank you that he revealed his kingship by dying for our sins. Help each of us, by the power of your Spirit, to live as Jesus lived and to use our influence and resources for the good of others. Let us do this for the honor and the glory of your name. For the sake of your Son, Jesus, we pray. Amen.
The Rev. Robert J. Sanders, Ph.D.
February, 2013
