No Kings!
On independence, the monarchy, and anarchy...what does the Bible say about governance?
A few weeks ago, cities across the United States hosted protests against Donald Trump and his administration. Without going into all the political issues at stake, the protests were branded “No Kings!” asserting that the United States exists as a democratic republic which will not suffer a monarchy to rule over the people. Americans (citizens of the United States) have a particular affinity for the individual and an intolerance of anything that smacks of collectivism. In contrast to many cultures in the East, the freedoms of the individual are everything; the shame, honor, or values of the community (or family) matter little. This obsession with the individual has been reflected in our media from the Lone Ranger, gunslingers who single handedly bring about justice to the oft-repeated Tupac lyric, “only God can judge me now.” But what is the Bible’s perspective on kingship? Are we right to assert “no kings” from George to the present?
Up until the American Revolution in 1776, a single monarch ruling over a territory was the normal government for most of the world. A notable exception to this was the nation of Israel. God brought his people, Israel, out from under the Egyptian King (Pharoah) and set up a government ruled by God, Himself, and administrated by judges and priests. Of course, even with a perfect ruler, the people found fault with the system. The repeatedly failed to trust God or obey His commandments. They grumbled and revolted wanting to return to their slavery in Egypt. They refused to take the promised land (“the people look like giants!”) and turned a forty-day walk into a forty-year death march. So, the first attempt to have “no kings” failed due to the people’s disobedience.
Even in the establishment of the law, God knew that the people would desire a king to rule over them. In Deuteronomy 17 God gave Moses provisions for when Israel would look to their neighbors and want a king like every other country. The king was to be an Israelite. He was not to accumulate great wealth, wives, or horses. He was also to copy the rules for kingship each year so that he wouldn’t fail to obey God. The actual time of a king was a way off, but already we see that centralizing power is going to be a dangerous endeavor.
The narrative of taking the promised land, with Joshua leading the people, follows the overthrow of the kings of Canaan. Many of the “towns” mentioned were more like military outposts but Joshua 12 serves as a scorecard of the thirty-one kings who fell before the power of Israel. Lest the reader think that the theocratic government insured the people’s continued worship of God, the book of Judges provides plenty of evidence to the contrary. Judges 2 tells us that the people followed God as long as Joshua and the elders lived, but once they passed the people quickly turned to other gods. The book of Judges (perhaps more aptly translated “governors”) relates the repeated cycle of disobedience, judgement at the hands of their neighbors, repentance, and finally deliverance by the appointed “judge”. This pattern doesn’t just swing back and forth like a pendulum, it descends further and further away from the obedience of the Joshua generation. Four times at the end of Judges the author highlights that “Now Israel had no king.” The first and forth times this occurs, it is appended with “each man did what he considered to be right.” In the absence of a human ruler guiding the people, they each take matters into their own hands. The result is that Israel descends into the exact same behavior that drove the Canaanites from the land. The story of the Levite and his concubine that visit the territory of the Benjamites is a near replay of the story of Lot and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. This event leads to the tribe of Benjamin nearly being eradicated and brother slaughtering brother amongst the people of God.
Now come the kings…that’s the solution, right? The priesthood of Eli is corrupted and Samuel arises to guide the people. But no, the people want a king and God provides Saul to lead them. The usual Sunday School perspective is to rate the kings: Saul-bad, David – good (except for that one incident with Bathsheeba), Solomon – good…then not so good, etc.. The text, though, tells a radically different story. In seeking a king, the people have rejected not Samuel as their leader, but God, Himself. 1 Samuel 8:8-9 states that “it is me that they have rejected as their king. Just as they have done from the day I brought them up from Egypt until this very day, they have rejected me and have served other gods. This is what they are also doing to you.”God warns the people that a human king will take advantage of them and oppress them. He will take the best of the people and crops to serve himself. He will tax the people and they will become his servants. The people wouldn’t listen, though, and insist on a human king to rule them and lead them into battle. In Samuel’s speech, God confirms the error of their choice by sending thunder and rain, showing the people that they have chosen evil by choosing a human king.
What follows is a series of rulers who repeatedly disobey God and worship idols. Many historians will refer to Israel’s golden era as the time of David and Solomon, when Israel ruled over their neighbors and acquired great amounts of gold through tribute. This accumulation of wealth, though, was in direct disobedience to God’s commands. Saul disobeyed, assumed the role of priest, and was possessed by evil spirits. David committed adultery, ignored his role as the leader of his army, failed to discipline his evil children, numbered the soldiers (in direct disobedience), and allowed the nation to suffer the consequences for his actions. Solomon defied all of the instructions for kings, amassing wealth and horses, returning to Egypt, marrying foreigners, and leading the nation is outright idol worship. The kings that followed the division of the kingdom largely followed the same pattern. Some were better, some were worse but almost none of them truly led the people. The few exceptions were moments when the king recognized his own inability to lead and asked God to save the people. Those moments resulted in Israel routing much larger armies as the result of God’s intervention. In short, the people were best served by a king who recognized that God was the real king.
So where does that leave us? As we approach the Fourth of July, do we celebrate our independence and the breaking free from the monarchy or should we lament our isolation and the cult of the individual? I think the trends of human government have shown that people should have a voice in their government. Equally, though, replacing a human king with the self as king is the road to disaster. The anarchy that results from elevating the self is clearly shown in Judges, as in Sodom and Gomorrah, an example that hits far too close to home. Whatever form of human government we may live under, it is key to recognize that we are truly ruled by one King: Jesus Christ. Our very life is literally dependent upon Him. Paul says that “all things have been created through him and for him.” And that, “in him all things hold together” (Colossian 1:16-17).” To exchange earthly kings for self-rule is simply to exchange one tyrant for another. Jude writes of “ungodly men who have turned the grace of God into a license for evil and who deny our only Sovereign and Lord, Jesus Christ.” Sadly, this description is all too common, not only of those in today’s culture who would deny any moral constraints, but in our own self-serving hearts. It’s tempting to look at all the other people who choose sin over worship. Wisdom shows me that I am one of them. If I live with myself as the arbiter of what is right and good, I will always find a way to justify my desires. Like the kings of old, I can only rightly live underneath the rule and reign of God. The solution to abuses of power or shifting political alliances isn’t to have “no king”, but to submit to the only true king, Jesus Christ.