The Nation (Study – 5)

The king — president, prime minister, however the position is termed — over the nation possesses real authority over his nation.  However, he also delegates some of that authority to others.  If he failed to do so, he would be overwhelmed with the responsibilities of his position.  This grim reality was recognized by Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, when he asked that over-worked leader: “What is this thing that you are doing for the people?  Why do you alone sit, and all the people stand before you from morning until evening?” (Ex. 18:14 NKJV).  Moses was exercising wide responsibility within his nation of Israel, functioning in the triad of executive, legislative, and judicial roles.  Moses heeded this advice and appointed men as “heads over the people” (Ex. 18:25), an appropriate metaphor for those who lead the nation in various directions, like the human head does our bodies.  It was the same situation in the New Testament era.  The apostle Peter writes: “[S]ubmit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, or to governors, as to those who are sent by Him” ( I Peter 2:13-14).  The chief authority in the nation is set in this place by the sovereign providence of God.  “The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, Like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes” (Prov. 21:1).  And it is so with the lesser offices as well.