Season 4 - Episode 20
To listen to an audio version of this post, visit www.covenantchurch.ca/podcasts/covenant-weekly.
I’m writing this on Monday, January 20 which is Inauguration Day in the United States of America. It seems as though very few people have neutral feelings about the incoming president. There seem to be equal numbers of people filled with hope and filled with horror - and little in between. In our Canadian context, we are also anticipating a national leadership change and many people have very strong feelings about it, too. Among Christians, it seems as though the levels of antagonism or support for incoming and outgoing leaders parallel the rest of the world. In a short Covenant Weekly, we don’t have time to address all that scripture says about political leaders, but as we face changes in national leaders I would like to offer some thoughts in this Covenant Weekly for January 21, 2025.
When considering what Scripture says about national leaders, it is important to understand that the Old Testament was written within the context of a developing nation-state. It is the story of the Hebrew people as they emerged from generations in slavery, gradually transitioning from a being disparate group of tribal people into an identity as one nation and then continuing to track their fracturing into different groups again.
As they formed as a nation, one of the things they did was look around to see how other nations operated. And as they looked around, they saw that all the nations around them had a king. Up to that point in their developing history, Israel had been guided by prophets and judges working on a temporary basis to teach, guide, and enact God’s work and will among them. No one person had clear power and authority and no one person held what sway they did have in any permanent way.
So they went to the prophet/judge who was currently acting on behalf of God among them (his name was Samuel) and asked for a king, “such as all the other nations have.” They wanted to be like everyone else.
The warning that comes next is significant. Even in the context of God’s people being a nation-state, here is what they are told is going to come with someone being named as king.
“This is what the king who will reign over you will claim as his rights: He will take your sons and make them serve with his chariots and horses, and they will run in front of his chariots. 12 Some he will assign to be commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and others to plow his ground and reap his harvest, and still others to make weapons of war and equipment for his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive groves and give them to his attendants. 15 He will take a tenth of your grain and of your vintage and give it to his officials and attendants. 16 Your male and female servants and the best of your cattle and donkeys he will take for his own use. 17 He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his slaves. 18 When that day comes, you will cry out for relief from the king you have chosen, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”
The warning is that if you want things to be like other nations, you will indeed become like other nations. Their only hope is for a king to save them. Along with a king comes support of that king through an army…that your sons will make up. Your kids will be taken away to fight (and die) for that king. And others will need to work in the administrative function of that king. And others will need to grow the food and make the weapons for the kings army. And then, your daughters will be taken into the kings service to. And he’ll need your land and wine and grain to support the whole thing. And then he’ll need the best of your servants and livestock to work all of that. In the end, rather than the king working for you, your entire existence will become working for and supporting the king. And by the time you realize just how bad it’s going to be, your choice will be complete. You’ll have your king to “save” you instead of the God who already has.
Needless to say, the warning against putting their hope in human rulers was very strong. And yet still they wanted to be like other nations. They wanted a king. And so God gave them a king. And if you read through the book of the Bible we call “Kings,” you see over and over again that the kings failed to embody the ways of God. Even the best kings, didn’t lead the people of God in ways that truly aligned with God’s heart. And in the end, all of the warnings came true.
It is interesting that even Israel’s paradigmatic king, David, wrote the following:
6 Now this I know:
The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
with the victorious power of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
8 They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
9 Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us when we call!
In his honest moments, David knew that he, as the king, wasn’t the answer for the people. Only God was. But at some point in his journey, it seems he forgot that. And his kingship didn’t end well. It was filled with chaos, family conflict, and bloodshed.
And yet, despite the warning of their story, how often do we put our hope in human rulers? I have often heard the cry among Christians, “If we can just get the right person in power…!” I’ve heard this expressed in elections, in pastoral searches, and in church board decisions. And while each of those decisions has an impact, if we are looking to people as the answer we will always be led away from the one in whom our true hope lies.
Before Jesus left us to carry on his mission and ministry in the world, he said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Do we believe that he is where true authority lies? If so, let’s not put our hope in who lives at 24 Sussex Dr. or in the Whitehouse or at 10 Downing St. And let’s not be riddled with despair by who resides there either. Because those residents don’t change the invitation we have to partner with the true servant-king who invites us, in light of his authority, to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”
And as we follow Jesus’ command to love we can be sure that his agenda will never become selfish or self-serving. We can know that he will be “With you always, to the very end of the age.”