Tag: Deuteronomy 17

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Kingly Qualifications

Links for today’s readings:

Read: Deuteronomy 17 Listen: (3:24) Read: 2 Corinthians 10 Listen: (2:45)

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 17.16-20

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 Levitical priests. 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 fellow Israelites 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.

Reflection: Kingly Qualifications

By John Tillman

Many places in scripture tell us God considered Israel’s request for a king an idolatrous act, a rejection of him, and a rebellion. (1 Samuel 8.6-9) Yet, knowing the request will one day come, God gave Moses a list of qualifications for kings.

The godly king Moses described is nothing like the ones Israel had and nothing like the ones we ask for today. In a poll released in July of 2024, Americans rated important traits in a president. They don’t compare well with God’s priorities.

God’s first requirement is to not build up expensive military resources. (Deut 17.16) The second requirement is sexual purity in marriage to just one partner. (Deut 17.17) The third requirement is to not enrich himself through his position. (Deut 17.17) Sounds tough already, right? But the last qualification is the kicker and most important.

God wanted kings to be biblical scholars. (Deut 17.18-20) The first task of the king was to write out his own copy of God’s law and to study and read it every day, so as to follow it without turning to the right or the left. As Tim Mackie of the Bible Project says, Israel’s king was supposed to be “a Bible nerd.”

These kingly qualifications aren’t binding on our political systems, however, we can evaluate political leaders or other kinds of leaders using these principles. It’s tempting to look at the list, despair, and complain that there’s no one qualified. We can blame the system and absolve ourselves from guilt over who we choose to support. However, there’s a twist…

In democracies similar to the United States, authority derives from the consent of the governed. You are the king. These principles are for you. The reason our leaders don’t match them is decades of us not matching them.

This is not just a technicality for citizens of democracies. It is a theological reality. With or without political power, we are the body of Christ, our king, on this earth. As regents and ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven, we are the rulers commanded to do these things.

To reign with Christ, develop the qualities of a godly ruler. Love and study the Bible. Do not enrich yourselves through misuse of power. Be sexually pure in marriage or chaste in singleness. Do not trust in violence or its tools but trust in the name of the Lord our God. (Psalm 20.7)

Properly representing Jesus’ kingdom will have effects on earthly ones.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer

Come, let us sing to the Lord; … For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. — Psalm 95.1, 3

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summer
by Phyllis Tickle

Read more: Kings Like Ahab

Victories don’t grant leaders a never-expiring stamp of God’s approval or mean a leader is “God’s man or woman.”

Kings Like Ahab
Read more: To Wicked Kings, Foreign and Domestic

We must abandon Jonah’s sinful wish to weaponize God’s wrath. God will not be our tool of destruction.

To Wicked Kings, Foreign and Domestic

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A Sacrifice of Perfection

Scripture Focus: Deuteronomy 17.1
1 Do not sacrifice to the Lord your God an ox or a sheep that has any defect or flaw in it, for that would be detestable to him.

Reflection: A Sacrifice of Perfection
By Evie Dykhouse

When watching a baking show, it is easy to notice how every contestant wants their pie to be perfectly baked or their chocolate to be perfectly set before they present their creations to the judges. But any person could tell you that things often don’t go as planned. Perfection is impossible for human beings to achieve. Then here comes Deuteronomy.

It’s tempting to dismiss Deuteronomy as a negative set of laws with unrealistic expectations designed solely for ruining the Israelites’ fun. Instead, we should see Deuteronomy as guidelines crafted out of God’s love. Deuteronomy does raise an important question though.

Why does God require a perfect sacrifice from imperfect people?

Sacrifices were a key part of the Israelites’ culture. To atone for their sins, sacrifices were required. Modern readers have the blessing of being able to see the Bible’s full picture. Reading the New Testament, we see the Old Testament come to fruition. Jesus becomes the flawless sacrifice. (1 Peter 1.19)

It was a tremendous act of love for God to sacrifice his one and only Son for sinful people who constantly rejected him. In sacrificing animals without defect, the people in Deuteronomy are pointing to a need for Jesus the perfect Savior.

Christians today know that God is worthy of even more than the best we can offer. We may struggle, wondering what to give God out of love and gratitude, however, God’s sacrifice for his beloved people was blameless Jesus. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, we can sacrifice our best, even though we fall short of perfection.

Thinking back to the story of Cain and Abel, it’s clear that, from the beginning, God has revealed himself to be deserving of perfection. Like Abel, we should sacrifice the best of what we have to give. Through Cain, we learn that, if we do what is right, God will look upon our human sacrifices with favor and grace. (Genesis 4.3-7) 

We are not a perfect people, but we worship a perfect God. Through the redemption of Jesus Christ, we, as his children, can make sacrifices that are holy and pleasing to Him. This means the best of our time, the best of our talents, the best of our attention, and more.


Divine Hours Prayer: The Call to Prayer
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him. — Psalm 96.9

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 17 (Listen 3:24)
2 Corinthians 10 (Listen 2:45)

Read more about The Smell of Our Sacrifices
The smell of sacrifices that pleased God was not pleasing to his stomach, as if God were hungry…So what did it please?

The Smell of Our Sacrifices

Read more about Sacrifice of Self
Ultimately we have been called to imitate our self-sacrificing savior, Jesus, by giving of ourselves to do good for the benefit of others.

Sacrifice of Self
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Recentering on Christ

Psalm 104.1
Praise the Lord, my soul.
Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendor and majesty.

Reflection: Recentering on Christ
By John Tillman

The psalms are more than instructions and more than inspiration. They are not dry diaries or droning histories, but the living, breathing faith of those interacting with the Holy Spirit. 

Their artistry allows us to enter the prayer room and experience both sides of a holy conversation between human artists and the creator of all. Their art is most practical for those who are seeking God in a world connected by technology. Work, news, and ephemera, now know no boundaries and pop into our hand-held devices unbidden.  

Jonathan Edwards, when in difficulty at work, made use of the scripture, of intercession, and of community to recenter himself on Christ. He describes the experience in the following journal entry:

“In the morning my desires seemed to rise, and ascend up freely to God. Was busy most of the day in translating prayers into the language of the Delaware Indians; met with great difficulty… But though I was much discouraged with the extreme difficulty of that work, God supported me; and especially in the evening gave me sweet refreshment.

In prayer my soul was enlarged, and my faith drawn into sensible exercise; was enabled to cry to God for [them]; and though the work of their conversion appeared impossible with man, yet with God I saw all things were possible.

My faith was much strengthened, by observing the wonderful assistance God afforded his servants Nehemiah and Ezra, in reforming his people, and re-establishing his ancient church.

I was much assisted in prayer for dear Christian friends, and for others that I apprehended to be Christ-less… [I] was enabled to be instant in prayer for them; and hoped that God would bow the heavens and come down for their salvation. It seemed to me there could be no impediment sufficient to obstruct that glorious work, seeing the living God, as I strongly hoped, was engaged for it.

I continued in a solemn frame, lifting up my heart to God for assistance and grace, that I might be more mortified to this present world, that my whole soul might be taken up continually in concern for the advancement of Christ’s kingdom: longed that God would purge me more, that I might be as a chosen vessel to bear his name among the heathens. Continued in this frame until I dropped asleep.”

Prayer: The Greeting
My lips will sing with joy when I play to you, and so will my soul, which you have redeemed. — Psalm 71.23

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Summertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Deuteronomy 17 (Listen – 3:24) 
Psalm 104 (Listen – 3:37) 

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