A Walk with the Kings of Israel Wednesday

If you did the Abundant Grace Bible Study with me you took a walk with the kings of Judah. We learned some really neat things from them about our own walks with God. If you would like a free copy of this Bible Study feel free to contact me and I will send it to you.

Starting on Wednesdays we will take a walk with the kings of Israel. God never desired that His people would have a king rule over them. He wanted to be that King and Ruler but in God's all knowing power He knew the people would appoint a man anyway. The people desired to be like those people around them instead. Back in Deuteronomy God lists requirements for the king .

14 When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you and have taken possession of it and settled in it, and you say, "Let us set a king over us like all the nations around us," 15 be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses. He must be from among your own brothers. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite. 16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the LORD has told you, "You are not to go back that way again." 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

18 When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites. 19 It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life so that he may learn to revere the LORD his God and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees 20 and not consider himself better than his brothers and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel (Deuteronomy 17:14-20).

1-First we see God knows his people will say, "Appoint a king over us." God knows our hearts and everything in them before we even know ourselves. God knows what is best for us. It was not until many years later, the time of David and Saul, that the people said these words. How does it effect you that God knows our actions before they even happen?

2-We should never compare ourselves to others around us looking for a better way. God has made each person unique and to serve Him with the gifts they have. We are each unique creations. The only person we can appropriately compare ourselves to is Jesus Christ and that is humbling! When was the last time you compared yourself to someone else and why?

3-We MUST appoint the leader God chooses for us. This is to be taken very seriously. God is the one in control. He wants us to live for Him. He desires a government that rules within His guidelines. This election is vital and we MUST vote for the president that best represents that. If the ruler is appointed that is not for God's ways then that means judgment for us. That should make us tremble. We will see as we go how this judgment was handed down to Israel.
Do you pray for our future leaders? If not then how about starting now?

4-"Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not a brother Israelite." What this verse means is for us to not appoint anyone who is not a Christ follower. God opened salvation up to all of His creation. He desires all of us to come to know Him.
I am so thankful that we are no longer foreigners to God's kingdom. We are His children. Express your thoughts on this.

5-The king must not acquire wealth for himself or be a womanizer. A true leader will be for country and the peoples best interest before self-interest. The leader will be sacrificial and lead like Jesus. Temptations come. Money and sex are at the top of the list of these. They both are good things that God provides for the proper purposes. Unfortunately satan tries to get them twisted for evil. Avoid the temptation of evil. Avoid anything that distracts your heart from a whole-hearted focus on God.
What distractions are keeping your heart from being fully devoted to God?

6-This is the best part! What the king must do as he leads the people.
a-He is write the Bible! Great way to memorize it, huh?
b-He is to keep this Bible with him all his days and read it.
c-Doing this he will learn to revere God, carefully follow His laws, and humility.
Are you doing these things in your walk with God? Do you realize you are part of His royal family? We are His children after all. He requires none less from us. Thoughts on this? How has this helped you?

Now I ask you, as we ponder how to vote-which candidate best reflects these requirements?
Think about it and start praying about the future of our nation-are we heading for blessing or judgment?

Join me next Wednesday as we start this journey. To read ahead check out 1 Kings 11-14. We will see how all these kings started and why the kingdom of Israel split in two starting with Rehaboam.

Copyright 2008-Refresh My Soul Ministries-Angela Parsley