STUDY HALL

“When [the king] takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites.”
Deuteronomy 17:18

I will admit, as I am sure you probably have already figured out, I was a ‘nerd’ in school. I was the type of student who wanted homework, and if I didn’t have enough I would ask for more. Chalk it up to boredom, constantly having to be busy, or being nerdy, I call it being studious. For me there was, and really there still is, an excitement that came in learning something new. I tell you the truth, if college wasn’t so expensive, I may have already enrolled myself as a lifetime student. But in a way I am. Of my own accord I have placed myself in the lifelong school of God, vowing to learn His ways and statutes. So then it should come as no surprise that as I was studying once again last night, God would show me a requirement given to the Israelites concerning an earthly king, and the lessons I can still gleam from this requirement for myself, today.
In reading the Torah Parasha portion titled ‘Shoftim’, I found Deuteronomy 17:14-20. It is in this passage that Adonai speaks to Moshe concerning later on down the line that Israel will want a king. Other nations at the time had them, and there was nothing wrong with them, but there were certain requirements that Adonai was placing on the one who would become such for Israel. As I read these requirements, I was able to spot the areas in which some of Isra’el’s past kings went wrong. Adonai’s first requirement was that the king had to be a descendent of one of the tribes of Isra’el. We see this in Isra’el’s history with Saul, the first king, being from the tribe of Benjamin. But we see later where self appointed kings such as Herod the Great, had no relation to the tribes. This then is why Yeshua was titled the King of the Jews. Herod may have been the king of the region, but Yeshua was the King of the people. The next requirement concerned his horse collection, or rather the limit he would have on personal items. A king of Isra’el was to not have many wives as there was the possibility that they could sway him and turn his heart away. Haven’t we seen this in the life of Solomon? Not only did he intermarry, but his wives veered his heart away from Adonai. This requirement is followed then with the command to not acquire an excess of silver and gold, which I believe again could be used to steal the king’s heart from Adonai.
It was the next requirement, though, that really caught my attention. Verse 18 reads, “When [the king] takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests, who are Levites.” As I thought about my own study habits I was reminded that I personally seem to remember something better when I write it down. Could it be the same here? The king was to write it down, carry it with him, and read it daily. First just let me say, this may benefit us all these days. But in thinking about these actions, I was reminded that we are supposed to hide His Word on our hearts so that we will not sin (Ps 119:11). Additionally, the New Living Translation of Psalm 40:8 reads, “I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” The king was to have the Word, the Torah, with him so that he would have Adonai’s ways before him, being guided and humbled, and holding himself to the same rules of Adonai that he was to govern his people with.
So then, let me ask this. Would we not benefit also from not only hiding Adonai’s Word in our hearts, but writing it down, carrying it with us, and reading it daily? In Jewish dress, the four corners of the tallit have twisted threads called tzitzits. Each strand, each thread, each knot within the tzitzit has value and is to remind the one wearing it of the 613 commands found within the Torah. Not only was the king to write down the Torah, but when wearing the tzitzits he wore a physical remembrance of the Torah. We may not wear this clothing as part of our daily dress these days, but what are we doing to carry His Word, remind us of His Word, and be guided by His Word? If we are truly His pen, and His Law is written on our heart, then we need to consider if we are reflecting His writing or our own.

Deuteronomy 17:14-20