Image of the King

INTRODUCTION

“I have raised up…David as king. …From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus.” Acts 13:22-23  

            One of the most widely used images in the Bible is that of the king.  For centuries, the king has symbolized great power, influence and wisdom.  Good kings were cultural icons upholding justice, disarming rebels and represented the will of the people.   He was the figure and position of ultimate authority.  In many circumstances, the king’s subjects came to place their very faith in the king. Some even came to believe that if the king couldn’t do something, that it couldn’t be accomplished.   This, of course, was only true of those who had exalted an earthly king as the supreme figure of dominion and control.  In fact, some had glorified the king to such a high status that he was actually deified as god.[1]

There are then two different types of kings: humanistic and deistic.[2] There are human kings, who operate in authority on earth; and there is God, the King of all kings who delegates supreme authority to all earthly kings (Rom. 13).  The kings of the Bible were not supposed to usurp the position of God in the minds of the people, but were to lead the people into a greater consecration in which God would find pleasure (I Sam. 13:14).   In short, God was to be the ultimate Ruler, and the human kings were to subordinate themselves under the omniscience and omnipotence of Jehovah God.  As this model was upheld, the proper alignment of authority brought the human kings and their constituents blessings and providential prosperity.

MODEL OF THE KING

From the very first mention of a monarchist ruler in the book of Genesis (14:1) and all throughout the Bible, human kings have typified the relationship of man to God.  From the image of the humanistic king, man should have been able to determine what God expected and His ways of operation.  The king was not an elected position like a modern day president.  His kingdom was not a democracy or even a republic—it was a monarchy.  That means one individual was in charge and the people did not have any vote of acceptance.  If the people didn’t like the way the king ran the kingdom, they had two choices: first, they could move to another land; secondly, they could assemble an insurgence against the throne and overthrow the king.  The first option was the most realistic since most kings had vast armies that submitted to the kings every whim and desire.

With this understanding in mind, one can draw several parallels to the way God operates His kingdom.  First, God controls everything (Col. 1:14).  He is the one in charge.  No one voted Him there and no one will impeach Him (John 1:1,2).  He was the King before time itself and He will be the King forever (Ps. 10:16).  Second, God has a massive army of angels that follows His every command (Ps. 68:11,17).  Third, an insurgence to the throne already transpired when the devil (then Lucifer-Isa. 14) tried to influence a takeover of God’s throne—an ill-fated attempt to propagate selfish evil.  And finally, no one has the wisdom or insight to comprehend the infinite workings of God, let alone devise a plan to overtake His throne and operate the universe effectively without creating catastrophe and chaos (Isa. 46:9-10; Ps. 147:5).

Zondervan’s Archeological Study Bible outlines several cultural and historical notes that provide a brief explanation of the role of kings in the ancient Near East (ANE).  It summarizes the primary responsibilities and the commonality of kings in the ANE.

Israel’s plea for a king “such as all the other nations have” (1 Sa 8:5) testifies to how common this form of government was in the ancient Near East.  Discharging judicial, military and sacral responsibilities along with political obligations, the king was the fulcrum of state administration and ideology.  Psalm 45, a royal wedding song, alludes to several aspects of kingship. First, the Israelite king modeled and guaranteed justice and righteousness (vv. 4,7). In comparison, the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi proclaimed the king’s divinely ordained role as legal authority.  Moreover, verses 3-5 describe the king’s role as the military commander-in-chief, a theme amply and ferociously demonstrated by Assyrian rulers who recounted military exploits in artistic reliefs and written annals.  In antiquity religion permeated royal ideology. Rulers were expected to provide offerings, build and maintain temples and participate in ritual feasts…Divine rule and human kingship were also intertwined in Israel (v.6). The Davidic covenant (2Sa 7) and several psalms (e.g., Ps 2; 89) describe a unique father-son relationship between Yahweh and his anointed. Yahweh, however, placed numerous constraints and moral requirements upon the king, and this is quite different from what we see elsewhere in the ancient Near East.[3]   

            According to the Mosaic Law in Deuteronomy 17:14-20, kings had specific regulations that they were to adhere to; among them are: 1) the king was to be chosen only by God; 2) he must be of the Israelites and not of foreign blood; 3) he must not amass horses (not build up military might); 4) he should have only one wife (not multiply wives); 5) he should not accumulate riches (not multiply silver and gold); and 6) he must copy the Law for himself, read it and obey it.

            After careful review of these strict commandments from God, it is simple to see the truth that God was imparting to the rulers of Israel.  He wanted them to trust in HIM alone.  God didn’t want them to build a vast military fleet so that the nations they were to be an example to would think that God had nothing to do with the victories.  One such example of this is Gideon, his tiny army of 300 men and their miraculous victory over the Midianites. If you don’t remember this Old Testament narrative, Gideon started this military conquest with over twenty thousand troops, but God had other plans.  He didn’t want Israel to get the credit for this victory, He wanted it; after all, He wasn’t trying to draw other nations to Israel, He was trying to draw them to Himself.  (Note: Gideon refused to accept kingship when the Israelites asked him to rule over them.  He maintained that God should be their King, keeping the current system of theocratic kingship in place. Judges 8:22-23)

And the LORD said to Gideon, “The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me… Judges 7:2 NKJV 

            Another detriment to godly kingship was having more than one wife (Deut. 17:17).  This was evident when Solomon took enough wives that he could have gone out on dates with two different women each day for a year and never have seen the same woman twice! (That’s seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.) Hear what God’s Word had to say about this:

 …His [Solomon’s] wives turned away his heart.  For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the LORD his God; as was the heart of his father David. I Kings 11:3b & 4 NKJV      

       God was and still is a jealous God (Exo. 20:5).  He does not give or allow us to take part in certain things because He knows that those “things” might draw us away from our trust in Him. Jesus even said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God (Matt. 19:24).  This is precisely why kings were not to accumulate gold and silver.  God didn’t want them to trust in riches—but to trust in Him.  The same is true even today.  Many people love to claim the prosperity[4] part of the Gospel message thinking that God will simply hand over monetary wealth and possessions to them.  What they fail to realize is that most individuals are not at the appropriate level and walk with God where He can trust them completely.  He wants them to come to a level where they understand that their trust is reserved for Him alone and should not be placed in anything temporal; not money, possessions, status, or even another person.  God is not some magic genie in a bottle that Christians (saved folk) can rub to have all their desires answered.  Man’s salvation is 99% for God and 1% for man.  God did not send His Son to be a type of guaranteed lottery ticket that people can cash in as they please.  His purpose is to draw the Christian into a loving relationship with Him by separating us from the “things” that would hinder us from reaching that goal.  Jesus’ primary message was to put away self (Matt 16:24-27).  Once self is out of the way, then God can bless us with abundance to support His kingdom (Matt. 6:33).  One thing is for sure; if your money is already handling you, please don’t expect God to make you a millionaire.  If that’s your view of God, you need to flush it down the drain and re-read the gospels.  God revealed this awesome truth through His expectations and divine standards for godly kingship some 3,400 years ago[5].  The message has been the same all throughout biblical history and it remains true today.     

BIBLICAL USAGE OF THE WORD

The Hebrew word for king is melek.  It is among one of the most widely used words in the Old Testament, appearing more than 2,500 times. Melek is translated as lord, ruler, chief and prince. It is actually a generic noun that describes a variety of leadership positions or rulers.  It can describe a city government official or an emperor.[6]  Even the Egyptian Pharaohs in the book of Exodus were titled as a melek.  The melek play an important part of biblical history and help to fulfill Messianic requirements.

            In the New Testament, the primary Greek word for king is basileus.  It is similar to the Hebrew word melek, as it also denotes various offices and governmental positions.  In Matthew 1:6, it is used to describe King David, and later in I Peter 2:13 it is used in a generic application in reference to all kings.  This word is used over 125 times in the New Testament.   

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF BIBLICAL KINGS

  The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible makes this assertion regarding the significance of kings:

Even though a number of judges were also prophets the judgeship was not an anointed office (I Sam. 15:10), it served no direct Messianic function in the Israelite theocracy.  Samuel acted as a prophet in selecting and anointing Saul as the first king of Israel (11:15).  It is basic to the OT concept of kingship to recognize the necessity of the prophetic office.  The prophet as spokesman for Jehovah assented to the people’s request for a king, determined who should be king, and then marked the pretender to the throne as a person of Messianic character by anointing him.  Therefore no king could claim legitimacy without the prophetic approval and its divine investiture. The impossibility of the royal line being infiltrated by foreigners or compromised from outside the community of Israel was assured.[7] 

            There were three offices or positions in the Old Testament that were anointed by God’s Spirit:  Prophets, priests and kings.  Each office had its own function in fulfilling the Messianic requirements that Jesus came to fulfill (Heb. 8:1-6).  One interesting side note was the fact that the prophet was the one who anointed both the priest (Exo. 29:7) and the king (2 Sam. 12:7); therefore, he had one of the greatest roles.  Without the prophet, the priest and king could not assume their appropriate roles as Israel’s leaders.  As the biblical storyline advances into the New Testament, John the Baptist (a prophet in the likeness of Elijah-Mark 1:6; 2 Kings 1:8) comes on the scene just before Jesus starts His ministry and baptizes Him in the Jordan River (Mark 1:9).  John the Baptizer was fulfilling a Messianic function according to the Law and the prophecies (Mark 1:2). He was the prophet that came to anoint the king.  Not just any king, however, but the King of Kings. One important difference, however, is the fact that God Himself anointed His Son with the Holy Spirit and human hands were never actually apart of this ceremony (Matt. 3:16).  (Recent manners and customs research indicates that the act of baptism in biblical times never involved a baptizer to physically touch the one being baptized.  Not only do hieroglyphics prove this but also the mere ceremony and Mosaic Law itself dictates this position.  The Israelites believed—in accordance with the law—that to touch a person when they were ceremonially unclean would pass that person’s sin to whoever touched them.  This would then make the baptizer unclean in the process and therefore touching was prohibited.)[8]

            Prophets, priests and kings in the Bible were to point to the coming of the Messiah, the One that earthly dictators would call the King of the Jews (Matt. 2:2).  These anointed positions provided a typological pathway for His arrival. They were God’s chosen representatives to subtly reveal His plan in sending His own Son—the King—to take the burden of humanities sins, suffer, die on a cross, and defeat the enemy of death and the grave (Heb. 2:9-10). 

GOD AS KING

            It is essential that the biblical student understand that the concept of God as king is central theme throughout the entirety of Scripture in both the Old and New Testaments.  God has given us this revelation of Himself to convey His attributes. When one understands that the king was the final authority and commanded everyone to subordinate himself or herself under His rule, then a more keen attentiveness of His workings is facilitated.  One of the first Scriptures of God being mentioned as the King is Exodus 15:18, where Moses sings a song of deliverance and honors God as the One reigning forever and ever.  The image of God as king is, in fact, interweaved throughout the entire biblical framework.

The LORD is King forever and ever… Psalm 10:16 NKJV

The LORD is our King; He will save us. Isaiah 33:22 NKJV

Where is He [Jesus] who has been born King of the Jews? Matthew 2:2 NKJV

Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise… I Tim. 1:17

THE ENTRANCE OF THE KING

            Although the first mention of the anointed office of the king was much later than that of the prophet or priest, the idea of kingship did make an early prophetical appearance in the Scriptures.  In the book of Genesis, God promised Abraham that kings would come out of his ancestral line. 

I (God) will make you (Abraham) exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and KINGS shall come from you.  Genesis 17:6 NKJV (Parenthetical insert and emphasis mine)

            Later, the kingship promise was brought to a more narrow focus and was prophesied to come from the tribe of Judah (Gen, 49:8-12).  Eventually, this promise came to realization when David assumed the position of the king several thousand years later as the beginning of a lineage of kings that God told him would never end (2 Sam. 7:11-16). This, of course, has its roots in a Messianic timetable and fulfillment.  Jesus’ genealogical ancestry as given in Matthew and Luke would later be traced to the Davidic monarchy of which His dynasty would never end.

DAVIDIC COVENANT

            The Davidic covenant was actually the fulfilled portion of God’s promise to Abraham that kings would come from his family line (Gen. 17:6).  It was this covenant that essentially conveyed the promise of a Messianic king—Jesus Christ—who would rule over the house and kingdom of David forever and establish a new covenant with the house of Israel.   

When your (David’s) days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I (God) will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom forever.  I will be his father and he will be my son…and your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you.  Your throne shall be established forever.  2 Samuel 7:12-14 & 16 NKJV (Parenthetical inserts mine)

            The spiritual condition of Israel during this time was rapidly declining.  They had all but forgotten the great Exodus from their Egyptian captures and the conquests of Joshua. During this spiritual degradation, God chose a prophet by the name of Samuel to carry out His will.  Although Samuel was a prophet that sought God’s face, he soon became old and senile.  When he felt he could no longer service Israel, he chose his sons as his successors to judge the people.  The Israelites soon realized that the offspring of Samuel were not the answer that everyone had been awaiting.  Samuel’s sons perverted justice and took bribes for their own selfish gain (ref. I Sam. 8).  The Israelites had seen the surrounding nations and the monarchs that ruled them and they decided that it was what they needed as a people. If they were to ever become a solidified nation or kingdom, they felt that they must have a king. 

            One important element of this biblical covenant is that it was, in fact, God’s will to establish a theocratic monarchy for Israel.  It was God’s plan to make Israel a nation and kingdom with kings that would promote the desires of God’s heart (I Sam. 13:14; I Kings 2:3)).  But before God could bring His earthly kingship plan to fruition, the people became impatient and decided to speed up the process.  In doing so, they chose a king that did not have the heart of God.  Moreover, because of their hasty decision, the people of God found themselves enslaved to a wicked king named, Saul. 

Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah, and said to him, “Look, you are old, and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.” But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” So Samuel prayed to the LORD. And the Lord said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I SHOULD NOT REIGN OVER THEM…Now therefore, heed their voice. However you shall solemnly forewarn them, and show them the behavior of the king who shall rule over them.  I Samuel 8:4-7, 9 NKJV (Emphasis mine).

            The Israelites used the occasion of Samuel’s sons corrupt behavior to seek the true desires of their hearts.  God told Samuel that they had not rejected him, but they had rejected God as king.  They were not seeing the tangible evidence of being a fruitful nation quick enough and any faith they had was now severely diminished. They could not understand why the nations around them were flourishing but they were having all types of difficulty.   They were ready to place their hopes in a man that they could see, rather than hanging on to the thread of faith in a God whom they had all but forgotten.   Because they chose this route—rather than waiting on God’s timing for a king—He placed them under a totalitarian style leadership for forty years. 

CONCLUSION

            As humans, we often fail in the area of patience.   In fact, I have interviewed several people and when the question arises as to which Fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22) they are weakest in, it is usually patience.  Modern day society has become a selfish people who want it NOW.  If the local fast food restaurant takes a few extra seconds fulfilling a drive-thru order, one just might drive off without even thinking.  If a cashier is in training at the local convenience store—analyzing every key on the computer—and one has a meeting to get to, he or she may become very boisterous and demand that someone else relieves the clerk to get them out quicker.  That is what society has become—but it is also where it has come from.  There is nothing new under the sun (Ecc. 1:9).   When the Israelites thought that God was taking a vacation from their needs, they conjured up an idea to do it on their own.  It got them nowhere.  In fact, it only made things worse.  If they could have held out for just a short time, God would have given them their desires. 

What the Israelites failed to understand then, and what Christians fail to realize even today, is that God is testing our ability to line up our will with His.  He wants to know if we can put our desires aside in order to meet His.  If we cannot put away our cares for this world and embrace Him wholeheartedly, we are not fit for His kingdom (Luke 9:62). This has been and always will be the simple Gospel message. 

For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  Luke 9:24 NKJV