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The Futility of Kings:

The past few weeks of my study through the bible has been spent going through the repeated cycle of a new king that is either “doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord“, or walking in the ways of the Lord except for: always at least one failing. Then I recalled that this was all foretold by Moses back in Deuteronomy chapter 17.

To paraphrase, when you come into the land you will want to appoint a king over you like the other nations. You can do it, but it must be one chosen by the Lord. He must not acquire a lot of horses or wives, and he must keep a copy of the law and read it all the days of his life. Then in Deuteronomy chapter 28, we are given the consequences of not doing it God’s way but instead, doing it man‘s way. Looks a lot like 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles etc. doesn’t it?

**King Solomon greets the Queen of Sheba** – image courtesy of bibleing.com

Rejecting GOD as King

We were warned again in 1 Samuel chapter 8, when the people rejected God as their King and insisted on a human king like all the other nations. It’s quite a list, a tenth of everything you have, your sons taken into his army, some to plow his ground… and you shall be his slaves. 1Sam. 8:18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves; but the Lord will not answer you in that day. “Whom you have chosen for yourselves”: struck me how few were actually anointed by God.

So the books of Kings are just like God said it would be, should be no surprise, he calls the shots and makes them every time. Over and over again the Lord gives us examples of how unwise it is to trust in earthly masters. Now here we are thousands of years later, and yet we still do the same things. We don’t call them kings, but we rely on them for more and more of our earthly existence. Again we reject God as our King and rely on one fallen human king/president and 535 want to be kings.

1 Samuel 8:11

¹¹And he said, “This will be the practice of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and put them in his chariots for himself and among his horsemen, and they will run before his chariots.

The Bible Our Instruction Manual

The Bible is full of God’s directions for life. Not just for life 3000 years ago, but our lives right now! The Bible is God’s Text Book. It’s here for our instruction, and if we will follow his directions we won’t have to go down that path that leads to destruction. We need only read, learn and then, most importantly, apply what we learn. The Books of Kings are very graphic illustrations of just how futile it is to place your dependence and trust on other fallen human beings, and thereby rejecting the Lord as your King.

Obedience or Rebellion

With all due apologies to the “Calvinists” out there, we have a choice to make: obedience or rebellion. Just like the Israelites when they spied out the land and were afraid of the “giants”. One leads to blessings the other to discipline. Don’t think it applies today? I wouldn’t want to bet to heavily on that. My guess is we could write a book of 3 Kings, and it would sound a lot like what we’ve just studied. Remember, it’s about God’s will, plan, purpose and Glory. If we follow him, he promises to take care of everything, even the bad things, and he delivers on his promises.

Philippians 2:8

⁸And being found in the form of a man,
    He humbled Himself
    and became obedient to death,
        even death on a cross.

Choose Now Who You Will Follow

Who will we follow? We can continue to do it our way, and God will stand back and let us have at it. Doesn’t seem to work out to well, but again, our choice. Let me just leave you with Joshua 24:15 (my paraphrase) Choose this day who you will follow, your idols, your favorite past times, your president/congress, your way; or God’s way. For me and my household it’s a work in progress, but we will follow the Lord.