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[0:00] Sunday morning I said there were no accusers who rose up against Jesus in his trial. You read today in Matthew and you read of two who make an accusation, right? So it seems like I contradict myself.

[0:12] And in a way, I guess you'd say I did. When you read the other gospel accounts, you'll see that those two were not even in agreement. So that's why I don't count those two, okay? Because witnesses who are not in agreement are considered false witnesses.

[0:26] So the verdict that was passed on Jesus was blasphemy. And that was based upon what he records in that same chapter there in Matthew. That quotation from Daniel chapter 7, you'll see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky.

[0:40] And they definitely see that as a declaration of being the Ancient of Days or being one with God. So that's the first one.

[0:51] The second one is I completely messed up Sunday night. When I got to speaking about the division of the nation of Israel after Solomon's death.

[1:04] And I'm sure every one of you caught that. Because Solomon's son is Rehoboam, not Jeroboam. Jeroboam is the guy who took the ten northern tribes who asked Rehoboam. I said Jeroboam is actually Rehoboam.

[1:16] Okay, there you go. I own it. Just in case you ever fail to remember your pastor is just as human as anyone else. And please don't ever try to put me on anything that would make me fall too far.

[1:28] And because I fall enough on my own. So Rehoboam, Jeroboam was the other guy who came and asked him would he be nice or not. So I don't know about you, but I get confused in all the bones.

[1:40] Okay? They're like the ites. They catch me every now and then. So there we are. We're in Deuteronomy chapter 17. Deuteronomy 17 verses 14 through 20 will be our text this evening.

[1:52] Deuteronomy 17 verses 14 through 20. As we just continue to make our way through the Old Testament. We're making our way in particular through the book of Deuteronomy.

[2:05] Moses teaching great truths here for the nation of Israel is to go into the promised land. We began looking at this Sunday night. This is how we opened that discussion. Moses now is dealing with particulars.

[2:17] We think he's kind of dealing with things that really don't have much application to us. Hopefully you'll see the application tonight from this passage. But he's dealing with what we would refer to as the leaders of the nation.

[2:29] The first one that he dealt with was the appointment of judges. In Deuteronomy 17 there he speaks of the judges that they would have. And I want you to pay attention to that because in that text it says you shall select judges from among your people.

[2:45] In each of the towns in which you dwell. So the gates is literally what it means. The judges were to be local. They were to be accessible. They were to be seeking righteousness and righteousness only.

[2:55] They were to judge fairly. They weren't to be tempted by bribery. Or swayed by personal favoritism. And there was to be this absolute dependency upon righteous judgment that really flowed from the presence of God among his people.

[3:13] So there's judges. Tonight we'll look at kings. We'll see that in just a moment. Then there's the Levites. And then the prophets. So there's all these different, I don't want to call them offices, but leaders among the nation.

[3:25] Which was so important because the nation has rested really and relied upon a sole leader who is Moses. The one delivering this to them. In Deuteronomy 18 Moses speaks of a prophet that would arise like unto him.

[3:41] Or one that would hold his office. Or one that would be like him among the people of God. That would be both prophet and king and leader and all these things, right? But until that one comes, now we ultimately know who that one is.

[3:55] That one is Jesus Christ. Until that one comes, then the responsibility would be divided up. Even immediately following the death of Moses, there is this division of labor.

[4:07] Because if you remember, Moses was the ultimate judge. He judged everything. I mean, sure, he appointed leaders and people who would hear the cases. But if anything was too hard, it would always come back to him.

[4:17] I mean, Moses was the one who would go into the presence of God and speak with God as face to face. And commune with God and then bring the word back. Moses was the one who made all the political decisions.

[4:28] He was the one who trusted God and followed. And when they were getting ready to fight, he was the one that sent the soldiers in. You know, he was the leader politically. He was the leader religiously.

[4:39] He was the leader in all things. After his death, that gets broken up. Joshua becomes a political leader. The descendants of Aaron take on the sole responsibility for the religious side of things and the spiritual side of things.

[4:53] And it's no longer rested in one person. So, now all that to say this. God is concerned about order and detail. Right? He's concerned.

[5:04] God is a God of order. That's when things are in chaos, we know we're not walking in righteousness. Right? God is a God of order.

[5:14] He's a God of detail. Things work together in harmony. That's not saying that it's always going to be in control. Because sometimes what seems out of control to us is in absolute control to him.

[5:25] And he is working things out for his good purposes, according to his good pleasure. But he is a God of order. And he's concerned that things work together in harmony. So, we're in Deuteronomy 17, verses 14 through 20.

[5:39] We'll read the text. And then we'll pray together. Moses making the transition from Judges now. He says, He says, He says,

[6:47] Let's pray. Let's pray. Let's pray. would resonate within us. Lord, that they would show us more of who you are and we would grow in that understanding of you and your character and your truth. Lord, that it would have a direct impact on our lives for your glory. We ask it all in Jesus' name. Amen. As Moses here shifts into the discussion of the king, he is moving from judges now to the king, still dealing with what we would refer to as a secular society or the political realm of things. He would deal with

[7:56] Levites and prophets later. That deals with the spiritual side or the religious side of the community. But here he is still dealing with the political leaders of the nation. Now, if you remember, when we discussed the presence of the judges, we said when we look at the nation of Israel, we have to look at it different than we do any other society around us. They are not a bureaucracy.

[8:23] They are not a monarchy. They are a theocracy. The nation of Israel was originally set up with a theocratic government. Theo means God. So God is the leader. He is God the king. God is their king. He is their leader. He is their ruler. And as a theocracy, God dictates every aspect of society. It's not even like a monarchy where it's going to be passed down from generation to generation. It's not a bureaucracy where we're going to have elections and votes. And it's definitely not the will of the people. This is the will of God and the will of God alone. So he has the right and reserves the right to establish what his people should expect and how they should operate. Now, before we discount that and say that has no application to us, and before we cast that aside and say, oh, well, I'm glad I don't live in the old nation of Israel, and I'm glad I'm not a part of the Old Testament saints, and I'm glad I'm not a part of that theocratic union. What we need to understand is, yes, we are. Because as the people of God, we belong to a theocracy, that is, we are subject to a king who is over us, and that king is God.

[9:39] And he has the absolute right to dictate every aspect of our lives. Now, as Westerners, and more in particular as Americans, we tend to cringe at that reality, right? We tend to cringe at that thought.

[9:56] I mean, that's why there is an America, right? To get out from under this suppressive rule of a monarchy, and to get out from under all these different things, and we're going to be independent, do our own matters. Well, what we understand is in the government of God, when God is the ultimate and only ruler, then all things work together for the good of his people, according to his purposes, and his plans, and his desires. And he has set the nation of Israel up that way, so that it would be on display among the nations, that the nation may know not only what it looks like when a people live in communion with a holy God, but also what it looks like when holy God rules over his people.

[10:37] What it looks like when God is your king. That your king has the right to bless you. Your king has the right and the possibility and the power to multiply you and to increase you and to cause your livestock to always give birth and your crops to always grow and to bring the rain when it is due.

[10:57] And he not only rules over you, but he rules over everything. And God has set his people up that way. Now, the reality is, even as Moses foretells here, or foretells because he is speaking what God is commanding him to speak. So this is not necessarily a, it is prophecy, but it's foretelling, not foretelling.

[11:18] He's not telling the future. He is declaring to them what God sees is going to happen in the future. Big difference, right? So he is foretelling. And God says, when you get into that land that I'm giving you, and you settle in it, and you live in it. Now, a lot of things happen when they get there.

[11:35] We just stop right there and understand that. They get comfortable. They get kind of sedentary. They settle down a little bit. They get ease in their relationship with God. But they also begin to look around. And so he begins to speak of this reality that they're going to notice their difference.

[11:59] They're going to notice how they're different than everybody else. And that's going to kind of bother them a little bit. And so he begins to introduce this idea of a king reigning over them.

[12:10] And what God does through Moses is he declares the ideal king for his people. So what we have is this declaration of the ideal king for the people of God. And what he would be, and who he would be, and how he would be, and all these things. It's exactly what it is they need, and what God declares to them will be. And we see that this ideal king, first of all, comes as a fulfillment of the desire of the people. Because he says, when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, and when you possess in it, and you live in it, and you say, now it's amazing to me, maybe we catch it a little bit, but it is, after God has done everything he said he was going to do, and after God made the impossible possible, and after God has richly blessed you, and after God has provided above and beyond, and after God has displaced nations greater than you, then you're going to look around and say, I want what they want.

[13:15] Now to me that seems striking, but it also seems very human. Because how often do we see the people of God, who witness God doing what we can only quantify as the impossible.

[13:33] And when that mountaintop moment is over, and we're sitting amongst the blessings God has provided, then we begin to look around and say, well, I wish I had what everybody else had.

[13:46] And he said, you're going to do the same thing, and your desire is going to be, we need a king like everyone else. Now we know we see this come about. Reading the book of Samuel, we see where the people come to Samuel and say, we want a king like everyone else.

[14:03] And you remember Samuel gets mad, and God says, don't be mad, Samuel, they're not rejecting you. Now you say, why would God say they're not rejecting you? Because at that time, Samuel was the last judge, okay?

[14:13] A judge, not in the sense that we see in the judges, I mean in Deuteronomy 17, but judge that is both a prophet and a priest and a judge. Through the period of the judges, you know, when you read the book of Judges, where the judge really was the one that dictated the word of God to the people of God and the will of God.

[14:30] And that's how they operate it, and they delivered them. Well, Samuel's the last one of those. And Samuel saw this as an affront. They're saying, well, we don't want you. Well, in reality, Samuel's children were messed up. Remember, Samuel didn't keep his household in order either.

[14:45] That's important because there's no perfect people, right? There's no perfect people. So the judges were failing, and God says, Samuel, they're not rejecting you. They're rejecting me because I'm their king.

[14:55] They're rejecting me. So God says, give them a king. But long before that happens, he foretells this through Moses, that there's going to come a day where your desire is going to be just like everybody around you.

[15:11] We want a king. Everybody else has got a king. We need a king. God says, this day is coming. And then God meets that desire because he says, you shall appoint a man to rule over you.

[15:24] But now, when it came to judges, God said, you select the judge, right? When it comes to kings, pay attention to this. God says, you shall appoint the man I tell you to appoint. Man had the right to choose the judge, but God says, I'm choosing the king.

[15:41] Big difference. Big difference. What he says, the man is going to rule over him. My people is not going to be there because he wins the electoral votes. Not because he is popular.

[15:52] Not because he looks the part. By the way, God gives them that first. The man who would have won the popular vote. The man who looked the part. The man who was head and shoulders literally above everybody else.

[16:03] Who was a striking, handsome gentleman. Who looked like he could lead them into battle. Well, they had him first. His name was Saul. And he fell desperate.

[16:13] So God gave them what they were looking for first. Which, by the way, is too often how God chastises his people. Is he allows them to get what they want.

[16:27] He meets their desire in a way that it would become unappealing to them. So the king, the ideal king, is going to meet the desire of the people.

[16:38] And God is going to be the provider of that desire. Because he said, you shall appoint a king. And you will be the man that I choose from among you. And so we get this underlying principle. God longs to fulfill the desire of his people.

[16:54] And that's great. Because when he who rules and reigns over us. Longs to fulfill our every desire.

[17:06] It is both comforting and pleasing. But, God does not fulfill the desire of his people based upon what they want. Pay attention to that.

[17:19] God's fulfillment of the desires of his people is not up to them how it is fulfilled. Let's bring it down to an application. There are desires of the flesh that you have no right whatsoever to determine how you're going to fulfill it.

[17:36] Let's make it real easy that we can all talk about it. I like to eat. Nobody else in this room likes to eat, I'm sure.

[17:48] But I really like to eat. And my belly likes for me to eat. And it tends to growl and grumble at me. And that's a desire of the flesh. The Bible says man shall not live by bread alone.

[17:59] But it says man has to live by some kind of bread, right? You've got to have something to live on. God has created us. That is a desire and I have an appetite for that. But the problem that I get into is I like to meet the desire the way I want to.

[18:12] Chocolate chip cookies and, well, anything with chocolate in it is kind of how I like to meet that desire. And things that really aren't quite that healthy for me. But what I have found out through a lot of trial and error is the things that God has determined would meet my desire.

[18:27] Not only meets it better, but it keeps me healthier. That means if I can pick it off a plant or a tree or I can eat it naturally, it's a lot better for me. I'm not saying anything like this. But if it's walking around.

[18:38] That which God said is clean and good for eating is actually clean and good for eating. It's only when man tampers with it. And messes with it. And wants it to be the way we want it to be.

[18:49] Now, I'm not speaking in a judgmental way here. I'm just talking about me, okay? Because give me something natural and I'm going to sprinkle something tasty on it. And I get that, right? I think Brussels sprouts are only good when they have bacon grease smothered all over them.

[19:02] And that's just the way it works, okay? I know they grow naturally and you can pick them up and eat them. But when you put bacon grease on them and you throw them in the oven and cook them with bacon, it's just everything's better with bacon grease. But that's natural.

[19:13] By the way, pigs walk around with fat on them, right? So that's got to be natural. That's my justification for that. But that's an easy way to look at that picture. God wants to meet the desires of his people, but God alone gets to dictate how he meets that desire.

[19:28] God said, when you want a king, you shall have a king, but it will be the king that I choose. So the ideal king is the king who meets the desire or fulfills the desire of the people of God.

[19:42] And not only will he fulfill the desire, the ideal king will be the king who meets the demands of God. He will fulfill the desire of the people and meet the demands of God.

[19:54] Because God determines how this individual will rise to power and who this individual will be. And the very first demand he gives, don't overlook these because this is a theme that runs throughout Scripture that we need to pay attention to.

[20:09] This is a theme that is of utmost importance to us, right? And he says this, when you choose that man, I will appoint him and he shall be one of your countrymen.

[20:23] Not to us. Well, that's a little thing. No, it's not a little thing. He shall be one from among you, one of your countrymen, because you shall not have one who is not your countrymen rule over you.

[20:37] So the very first demand that God makes is that it would be one like you that rules over you. We call that in other portions of Scripture, kinsman redeemer.

[20:52] Or one of the same seed. It is one like you that would rule over you. Because you're not going to choose one that is different from you to be your king.

[21:04] God says the very first demand is that it would be one from among you. And he lays it out. Now, I was going to get through all the demands before I said this, But we know ultimately that the reason it is there is because Scripture tells us that Jesus came to his own and his own received him not.

[21:27] Now, that his own does not necessarily mean just the Jewish people. It means his own creation. He came to be like unto us.

[21:38] He is from us. He came to be like us. Because the ultimate king must be one of us. It can't be someone different than us.

[21:52] Because that's the demand of the ideal king. He says that he has to be one of your fellow countrymen. One of your relatives, if you will.

[22:03] And he goes on with this list of demands. And he says, moreover, now I want you to pay attention to this. And I want you to see this listing. And then we'll kind of lay it out in just a minute. Here are the demands that God sets of this individual.

[22:18] He should be one of your countrymen. But he should not do these things. He shall not multiply horses for himself. Nor shall he cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses.

[22:29] Since the Lord has said to you, you shall never again return that way. Now, a multiplication of horses would be to build your army. Right? When the people of God went into the promised land, they went on foot.

[22:40] And they fought every battle on foot. They didn't have horses. They didn't have chariots. They didn't have the modern advancements in warfare. Right? They were still fighting on feet. Hands and foot battle.

[22:50] They were literally marching around cities and watching them fall down. But the people who were really advanced in warfare, the modern warfare, were people who had horses. And when you had horses, then you could have chariots.

[23:01] And when you had chariots, well, hey, you were somebody because you had chariots. So essentially what he is telling them here is you're not going to trust in the strength you can provide. Don't build your army.

[23:14] Because my strength is sufficient. You know who had an advanced army? Egypt. Egypt had horses and chariots. You know where they ended up? In the bottom of the Red Sea.

[23:27] The people of God walked through on dry ground, but the horses and chariots ended up in the bottom of the Red Sea. God says, my power is greater than horses and chariots. But the temptation, when man desires to be like the people around him, they want to be like the people around them in every way.

[23:42] So you're going to think, well, since we're going to be like the people around us, our military strength needs to match their military strength. Our army needs to match their army. We need to build our army up. And now we can be confident because our army is stronger and we have these horses and we have these chariots.

[23:56] And now we are strong enough to defend ourselves. And God says, don't do that. Do you know why David got in trouble when he counted the census? It wasn't because David wasn't supposed to count the people.

[24:09] It's because in counting the people, David was trying to reassure his heart that he had enough soldiers to be comfortable. And what David is doing is counting the men who can go to war.

[24:19] And David, counting the men who can go to war, was trying to get to the point where he could say, now I know I'm safe because I have enough men. And what I have found in following Christ is if you ever count numbers, you're always going to come up short.

[24:34] Because the true follower of Christ never has enough to be comfortable in his own strength. Because the moment we can start relying on what we have provided, we have stepped out of trusting him and trusting ourselves.

[24:50] Don't multiply your horses. Hey, if you don't have a horse in the barn and you're going to battle, if you have God walking with you, I don't care how many horses they're riding. I've read the scripture.

[25:04] I've seen armies flee and leave their horses behind all because God scared them while they were asleep. I've seen horses stumble and fall and get run. I've seen them be tricked over ditches dug in the field when the water filled the ditches because the sun hit it and they thought it was blood.

[25:22] I've seen God do things throughout the scripture that a horse could never lead a soldier to do. God says, don't try to get stronger, just continue to rely on me. That's the demand, right?

[25:33] Don't multiply horses. The second one is, he shall not multiply wives. Not only because it's go completely contrary to scripture. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined together with his wife and the two shall become one.

[25:49] No matter what anybody says, and I know you read your Bible and you're like, well, there are these people who had polygamy and they had all these wives. I mean, even David had all these wives. Did God allow that? Jesus said God permitted it because of man's sin, right?

[26:02] Jesus said a lot of things that it was just man's sin that led to it, but it was never the will of the Father. When he speaks of marriage, he says a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined together with his wife and the two shall become one.

[26:16] He lined it up that way. It's not only because it's contrary to the will of God. It doesn't say that. He says, but also because the multiplication of wives was entering into treaty agreements with other nations.

[26:28] Well, if I marry this one and she's of the rights, if I am a king and I marry that one over there and now I'm in alliance with that nation and I marry one over here and now I'm in alliance with this nation.

[26:43] And if I marry, this is how Herod the Great came to rule over the nation of Israel, by the way. He married the right people. It's also why Herod the Great ended up killing all of his wives but one and all of his children because he married the wrong people.

[26:56] Okay, he married the right people for political alliances. He married the wrong people because he started worrying about his throne. And what he tells the king is don't multiply wives because you don't need to make an alliance with the nations around you.

[27:13] Your allegiance to me is enough. So you don't need a bigger army. You don't need allies. And then he says, and he shall not increase silver and gold for himself.

[27:28] Because you really don't even need to amass riches. You don't need this. These are the demands of God. These are the things that he dictates that a king should not do. You don't need a stronger army.

[27:40] You don't need allies. And you don't need more money. You just need me. You just need me. You know the sad irony in this is that the wisest king Israel ever had did every one of these.

[28:05] Solomon held up as the wisest king the nation ever had. David is held up as kind of the standard, right?

[28:18] David did this as well. His son Solomon is the wisest. And if you read 1 Kings chapter 10 and following, it very clearly says in there, Solomon built so many stables because he had 12,000 chariots and he had all these thousands of horses.

[28:39] And he built cities full of stables for his horses. And he had all these charioteers to drive his chariots. And he married all these wives, you know, the 700 wives and the 300 concubines.

[28:49] And it says that the way he got his horses is he went to Egypt and got his horses. Now, God says you shall never go back to Egypt to get your horses.

[29:01] Just a little side note here. Isn't it just like man to always go back to that which used to enslave them to try to enrich themselves? Man has a tendency to go back to that which used to hold them captive to try to make them better.

[29:18] God said, I set you free from that. You don't need to go back to that. The man thinks I can go back just for a minute. God says, no, you can't. He went back to Egypt because Egypt had the best horses.

[29:33] And then it says that he made silver so plentiful it was like rocks. Nobody even cared about silver. He had so much gold he made shields out of them, right? He did all of these things.

[29:46] All of these things. Everything that God said don't do, he did do. But if you catch the end of this chapter, it says, So that his sons would live long.

[29:58] You know whose sons did not live long. Remember Rehoboam. I admitted that earlier. The kingdom fell apart. Because even the wisest of kings that the nation of Israel had tried to do this.

[30:12] There is a whole book in scripture that refers to this. Ecclesiastes. Now most Bible scholars, and I tend to be in agreement with this, are not 100% convinced that Solomon actually wrote the book of Ecclesiastes.

[30:26] Ecclesiastes is written by the preacher, it says. And some, at least historically, have always attributed it to Solomon. Many people believe that this is probably a writer later on in Israelite history who is using Solomon.

[30:39] He is speaking kind of through Solomon. God is leading him to actually take the place of Solomon and to show how even the wisest individual, with all of the desires, all of the fulfillment, everything was vanity.

[30:51] Everything he sought was vanity. And everything he did was vanity. His riches were vain. His increase was vain. His pleasures were vain. His enjoyment was vain. His wisdom was vain. And this wise man Solomon is lifted up all through the book of Ecclesiastes, showing that everything that he did that God said don't do led to nothing.

[31:08] And then Ecclesiastes ends with this one thing. All is vanity. All is vanity. But the meaning of life is to love God and fear him and keep his commandments.

[31:19] And the whole reason that book was written is to get to that last verse. It says, all this stuff we think that is going to last, all this stuff we think is going to make a difference, really is nothing.

[31:37] Because it doesn't meet the demand of God. Which leads us to that last thing. And it is the ideal king exhibits a dedication to the word.

[31:51] That last king exhibits a dedication to the word. Because what God says he shouldn't do, now he makes this transition in verse 18. And this speaks of what he should do.

[32:02] Now it shall come about when he sits on the throne of his kingdom. Remember how I told you there's no separation of church and state in the mind of God, right? So when he sits upon his throne, he shall write, he himself shall write a copy of this law.

[32:19] Now, understanding that they just couldn't go down to the local bookstore and pick up a Bible, right? If you can go down to the local bookstore to pick up scripture, there would be one scroll of the law. And it was kept in the Ark of the Covenant. It was kept at the temple.

[32:30] But he should go get it. And with the Levites there, the Levitical priests around him, to ensure he was writing it accurately, to ensure that he was making a great copy of scripture.

[32:40] Which, by the way, we want to give the Levitical priests the credit that is due to them. This is why we need to rejoice so much that we can trust that the word we have in front of us is accurate. Someone this week was talking to me about some struggles that are going on in their local church.

[32:54] And they said, and I didn't have a chance really to talk to this pastor and really flesh it out. And I got to talking and said, well, I was trying to contradict them. I said, well, that's stepping outside the word of God. And he said, well, they told me, yeah, but scripture has been translated so many times we really don't know what it says.

[33:07] And the answer to that is, but au contraire, we do know what it says. And we went so far along, and we do have these accurate translations of scripture. And we have this accurate, because these Levites were so meticulous in their copying skills.

[33:21] And these Levites were so accurate, because they would have been there watching the king, making sure. This is what he should do. The king should sit on his throne. He should take the scroll, and he should write himself a copy.

[33:31] Going this way. They went right to left, right? He should write himself a copy. And he should have a copy of this book. Many people believe this book would literally refer to the book of Deuteronomy. Do you know that all male children by the age of 15 in the nation of Israel would have memorized the book of Deuteronomy?

[33:47] Memorized. I remember when I first heard that, it kicked me in the gut. Scripture memory is not one of my strong points. That's why I get the bones mixed up.

[34:00] Not one of my strong points. But male Israelite children by the age of 15 would have memorized the book of Deuteronomy.

[34:11] Because they weren't kids at 15. They were men. The whole book of the king is to write a copy. And it says, and he should keep it.

[34:22] Here's his dedication. And he should read it all the days of his life. Not only does he copy it, now he's reading it and he's studying it. Why should he do this? That he may learn to fear.

[34:34] You know, the fear of the Lord is a great thing, but it's something that has to be learned. Learn to fear the Lord his God. Each and every time we open up the word of God, we ought to have a growing fear of him.

[34:49] Now that doesn't mean being terrified of him or kind of pulling back from him. But a holy reverence and awe of him. We ought to have a growing desire for who he is.

[35:03] This on week, Psalm 90. Reading Psalm 90. And I was looking at it yesterday just a little bit. And Moses writes Psalm 90. The oldest Psalm, by the way. So it's one of the oldest recorded praise songs.

[35:16] And Moses makes this declaration that God sets our secret sins before him. Now if we can read that and be like, oh yeah, that's cool.

[35:26] Then one or two things happen. We don't understand who he is or we don't understand who we are. But when we understand who he is and we understand who we are, all of a sudden we go, wow.

[35:37] We begin to learn to fear him. And this is why you should read the law. That he may learn to fear the Lord his God by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen.

[35:49] What is it saying? It says if the king would do this, not only would his dedication to the word help him to fear God, it would also keep him humble. Because he said though he's on the throne, he won't be able to lift himself up above his countrymen.

[36:02] Because one thing that I have found is the word of God is great at leveling man. He keeps all mankind on the same plane. No matter where we're at.

[36:14] No matter what we've done. No matter what accomplishments we've got credit for. No matter what failures that we have to take credit for. No matter where we're at, the word of God is a great leveling field.

[36:26] There are a great number of people that when I talk to them, I feel so insignificant. And I feel so kind of like really down. I have really nothing to say. And my who I am comes out.

[36:36] You know, being Billy Joe from Belbo going living in war trades comes out. And it's just kind of that way. It's just like, man, you know, I know nothing. And you get to talking. These people are so educated. But what's amazing is when we get on scripture, it levels it out.

[36:53] Because no one can raise their head up above anybody else. And what I have found is those who can talk about scripture and try to raise themselves up are often the ones who are humbled the most by God.

[37:05] Because we don't raise ourselves up. It says that he may stay where he should be with his countrymen. That he may not turn aside from the commandments to the right or left so that he and his sons.

[37:17] Here's the promise. You understand? Dedication to the word equals longevity and rule. Right? Dedication and commitment to the word equals blessings and rule.

[37:30] That he and his sons, generations after him, may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel. There's the ideal king for his people.

[37:44] Here's the reality. None ever meet this. Because this points to one.

[37:55] And that is Jesus Christ. There is only one king who ultimately satisfies the desire of people.

[38:07] There's only one king who can meet every explicit demand of a holy God. There's only one king who is absolutely dedicated to the word of God.

[38:19] And says, I did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it down to the smallest jot or tittle or little mark. There's only one. And the ideal king for the people of God is the son of God.

[38:35] And that's the point. God says, here he is. See if you can find him among you. And when you're certain you can't, I will send him to you.

[38:48] Here's your king. Your ideal king. Here's the one who meets every requirement. He is the ideal king for his people. Deuteronomy 17, verses 14 through 20.

[39:02] Thank you, brother. Thank you.

[39:35] Thank you. Thank you.

[40:06] Thank you. Thank you.