To Be A King

What does it mean to be a king? A king is the chief magistrate, or the sovereign of a nation. It is a certain man invested with supreme authority. Kings are absolute monarch’s having full sovereignty when they possess the powers of a government without control. When their power is limited by fixed laws, they are called limited monarchs! In America we do not call our leader King, but President. He is voted into office, and his powers are limited by fixed laws.

Kings are usually hereditary sovereigns. In other words, they inherit the throne from their fathers, this is called, kingship by right of birth. When raised to the throne by choice, they are known as elective kings. They may be referred to as princes, rulers, or sovereigns.

Cain was the first born of Adam and Eve, and established the first kingdom of man. He had committing the heinous crime of murder against his brother Abel.

After the murder of his brother, God Said to Cain,

Genesis 4:11, “Thou art cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When you till the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shall you be in the earth.”

Cain when driven away by God would remain unsettled, and ever moving. Sustenance was withheld from him by God, and continual disgrace and reproach marked him among men. For his wife he took a sister, or near blood relative for himself, fleeing to an area called Nod.

Cain had many sons and daughters. He established and headed a kingdom filled with false worship, and violence. He and his sons stirred up in men, vile lusts, ambition, covetousness, revenge, and cruelty. Brother divided against brother, their followers were well armed, they divided and filled the earth with death and devastation.

Genesis 6:5, “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Genesis 6:12, “And God looked upon the earth, and behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth.”

Genesis 6:7, “The LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air;” God was displeased with men and their leaders, because they had renounced God. The Holy Spirit strove with men for 120 years after the first warning by God to Noah of this coming disaster. Unrepentant, they continued to indulge in their sins.

Man has forfeited his life because of the violence and pride that is in all of us, also for their rejection of God. God sent rain from heaven; He caused the oceans of water below the ground to erupt. The Water covered the earth and all that lived on the dry land, died.

After the flood, God laid down the law for Noah and his sons.

Genesis 8:5-6, “Surely your blood of your lives will I = (God) require;— Whoso sheds man’s blood (kills, or murders), by men (protectors of the innocent, the law) shall his blood be shed:”

Be it kings, princes, religious leaders, or the people, anyone who willfully murders, will face God’s judgment. The crime of wanton murder must be restrained by the terror or thought of punishment. Leaders of terror groups will be punish in this world, and in the next.

Nimrod is the first king mentioned in Scripture. He was a descendent of Ham, the youngest son of Noah. Soon after the flood, Ham, the father of Nimrod sinned against his father Noah. When Noah found out, concerning the thing his son had done to him, Noah said,

Genesis 9:25, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brothers.”

Canaan was a son of Ham, and it was upon him and his descendant’s that the curse fell. Why was Canaan cursed by Noah, and not his son Ham?

Genesis 9:1, “God blessed Noah and his sons.” This blessing included Ham. What God blesses, no man can curse. Therefore the curse fell upon the descendant’s of Ham.

Nimrods kingdom started in an area called Babylonia. He moved north and became the founder of the city called Nineveh, and the many other cities in the area of Assyria. Nimrod was referred to as, “the mighty one in the earth,” and, “a mighty hunter before the Lord.” His name means, “let us revolt.”

As the kings of the earth go, so also go their people. The very existence of wars, the necessity of always being prepared for war, and the use of armed force for either defense or offence, is proof positive of man’s depravity, as well as Satan’s influence, over those who rule. From this region of Babel, came the kings of the land of Canaan, and these kings would make war against Abraham.

God had promised Abraham and Jacob that kings should be among their descendants.

Genesis 17:6, the LORD is speaking to Abraham, “I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.”

Abimelech was king of a city called Gerar, and was also called the king of the Philistines. There were kings that ruled in the land of Edom, this being modern day Jordan, and Arabia today. Egyptian kings were called Pharaohs. Moses and the Jews in their wandering came in contact with many kings, kings with varying authority and power. Some over a small town, others were kings of cities and states.

About 1400 B.C. in the book of Judges that is referred to as the time of Judges, tells us that Israel had no kings. When people are without God, or without God fearing men to lead them, they do what’s right in their own eyes. God knew the hearts of the Israelites, knowing that they would require and ask for a king, a man to rule over them.

Moses wrote, Deuteronomy 17:14-15, “I (the people) will set a king over me (the Jewish nation) like as all the nations that are about me; you shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: One from among thy brethren (He had to be a Jew) shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger (a foreigner) over thee, which is not thy brother.” Four hundred years pasted before Israel had their first king.

Having a king appears to have been an established principle written into Jewish law. A king was not to be profaned in anyway, regardless of his conduct, mental state, or character.

1 Samuel 2:10, “The LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and He shall give strength unto His king, and exalt the horn (strength) of His anointed (God’s chosen king).”

From Moses to Samuel, 400 years pasted. Than about 1000 B.C., the Israelites requested of the prophet Samuel a king. Samuel called the people together. He reminded them, it was God who saved them from the Egyptians, and the oppression of slavery. Yet the people requested a man to rule over them as king. Question, was God pleased with this request?

The answer is no! The reason is found in,

1 Samuel 10:19. “And ye (the people) have this day rejected your God, who Himself saved you out of all you adversities and your tribulations; and you have said unto Him, Nay (No), but set a king (man) over us.”

The request of this people for a man to be a king over them, was understood by God as a rejection of Himself. For their rejection, they would now be rejected by God.

Saul was selected by God to became Israelis first king. Saul is introduced in, 1 Samuel 9. Saul was a tall man, having great strength. He became soft, weak in authority, and his confidence failed him. At a time of war with the Philistines, Saul led the armies of Israel.

The Philistine army entered Israelis territory. They had a firm position on a hillside opposite the Jewish army. The Philistine warrior Goliath was a gigantic man who is estimated to have been over 9 foot, possibly 11. He challenged anyone from the Jewish side to combat. Saul was overcome by fear, having forgotten that the Lord was with them.

Not only was Saul frozen in fear at the sight of this man Goliath, so also were the men in his army. To gaze upon this gigantic man terrified even the bravest of them. Now, instead of leading his people, he began to look for someone to fill in for him. Here stood Israelis leader, a man chosen to lead this great nation, but now incapacitated by fear. This was not a physical flaw in Saul, but a spiritual flaw. David yet a teenager came forward to challenge and eventually defeat this giant of a man.

After Goliath’s death, the Philistines were routed. Saul’s jealousy of David turned to hatred. David had gained the people’s hearts. His popularity led Saul to many direct and indirect attempts on David’s life. David ran from Saul, but never did he consider Saul anything but his king.

David had the opportunity to kill Saul, yet he spared his life. This on two occasions even thought Saul continued to seek David’s death. David said in,

1 Samuel 24:10, “I will not put forth mine hand against my lord (Saul), for he is the LORD’S (God’s) anointed.”

On the eve of Saul’s final battle, terror again filled him at the sight of the Philistines mighty army. Samuel the prophet had died, and God was no longer with Saul. The king now stood alone, he was without his son, without David, without the prophet Samuel and without God.

In his panic, Saul requested that his servants seek after a woman that could summon up the dead. In doing so, he had broken his own law, for it was he who had cast these witches out of the land. Having turned from God, he was now rejected by God. As a last resort, Saul turned to the occult, devil worshippers. But the LORD would not be denied.

Saul after finding the witch in a place called Endor, requested that she summon up the dead prophet Samuel. This apparently was within her power to do so. Samuel came up from the grave, and appeared to Saul, his two servants, and the witch. Saul required of Samuel, “What shall I do.” Samuel answered, “why do you inquire of me seeing the LORD has departed from you, and is now your enemy?”

He said, “because you have not obeyed the voice of the LORD, He has removed the kingdom from you, and given it to David.”

Samuel told Saul that he would be defeated in the coming battle, on the following day: and that he and his sons would die at the hands of the Philistines. This prediction sadly came to pass.

After the death of Saul, David the youngest of many brothers became Israelis new king. The Lord had rejected Saul years before his death, and had sent Samuel to seek after a new king. He found David, who was the youngest of many brothers. Samuel secretly anointed David as Israelis next king. As a young man David became filled with the Spirit of the Lord. He had been introduced to court life in his service as a musician to Saul. During Saul’s reign as king, David’s reputation grew with the people.

As king, David conquered his enemies, elevated Jerusalem into a religious capital, installed the ark of the covenant in a tent on Mt. Zion, he organized the levitical priests; expanded the borders of Israel; constructed his palace in Jerusalem and proposed a permanent temple for the Lord in Jerusalem.

David was denied the privilege of constructing the Lords house. God called him a man of blood, a man of war.

1 Chronicles 22:8, the word of the Lord came to David saying, “Thou = (David) hast shed blood abundantly, and hast made great wars: thou shalt not build a house unto my name, because thou hast shed much blood upon the earth in my sight.”

After David’s reign, his son Solomon was to construct the Lords house. This established David’s dynasty, one that concluded in the incarnation of the eternal Son, Jesus. The Lord had established His covenant with David, this was to be an everlasting covenant.

Psalms 89:3-4, God said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen (David), I have sworn unto David my servant, they seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.”

Psalms 132:11-12, “The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from it; Of the fruit (David’s generations to Jesus) of thy body will I set upon thy throne. If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore.”

The Davidic covenant establishes Christian salvation for all men, both Jew and Gentile.

Isaiah 55:3-5, “I (God) will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. — Thou shalt call a nation that thou knowest not, and nations (Gentiles) that knew not thee shall run unto thee because of the LORD thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel:”

Revelation 22:16, Jesus said, “I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.”

Genesis 3:15, God said to Satan, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed: it (He, pointing to Jesus) shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”

The Jews never understood the nature of God’s judgment upon the serpent, this covenant including the promise of salvation to all men, through Jesus Christ, who is, “the King of kings.”

Phillip LaSpino www.seekfirstwisdom.com