Untitled Sermon (3)

I. You may set a king over you (14-15)

a.

II. What the king should not do (16-17)

a. Not acquire many horses for himself

b. Not cause people to return to Egypt

c. Not acquire many wives for himself

d. Not acquire excessive silver and gold

III. What the king should do (18-20)

a. Write a copy of this Torah in the presence of the Levitical priests

i. The king is under God’s law. The king is not divine or intermediary to the divine. In the ancient Near East, kings were often gods or specially related to the divine in some way. Here the king is subject to God’s law.

ii. The state will want to play God, but the king is under the authority of God.

IV. Conclusion