Follow the Leader
Most of the time
Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 17:14-18
When Israel longed for and asked for a king to rule over them, it was after a long period of the Judges. When we read the account of the eventual ascension of Saul to the throne, it appears that God gave them their desire while stating it was in opposition to His revealed will. We might read that account as an indication Israel was never meant to have a king. We would be wrong.
Deuteronomy 17 makes it clear that God anticipated a king for his people. The error of the Israelites was not in establishing the throne and in making a king. The mistake they made was they desired a king instead of God and not a king under God. God’s design was for the king to be an undershepherd of sorts. God was to rule through the king. You can see that in the reading of Deuteronomy 17. The first order of business for the king was to write a personal copy of the Law of God which then had to be approved by the Levitical priests. He was to then make a habit of daily reading the Law. This was done so that the king would rule under God. He wasn’t an absolute sovereign. His book of the Law needed the approval of the priests. His rule was to be rule based on the Law of God, not his ideas of right and wrong.
While we are not Israel, the principles of leadership we see here are invaluable. Authority is not absolute. It is never absolute. There is one Sovereign, and that is God. No president, or pastor, or parent is an absolute sovereign over those they lead. Ideally, they lead as undershepherds – leading according to divine truth and God’s will. When that isn’t the kind of leadership they are providing, and particularly when leaders attempt to lead those under them away from Christ, followers have an obligation and duty to resist.
Authority is not absolute and neither is submission. Submission to authority is a biblical principle. It is taught and commended. Rebellion is condemned. But that doesn’t suggest that resistance to authority is always wrong. At times, it is necessary and righteous to say, “no.” Righteous rebellion, I believe, is the exception rather than the rule. Nevertheless, we may face moments in life where we have to say, “We must obey God rather than men,” (Acts 5:29).