One thing I forgot to mention yesterday…
Verse 17 talks about about how when an earthly king is installed, he will take one-tenth of a farmers’ flocks.
Now understand this is NOT talking about the normal tithe used to support the Levitical Priesthood.
It’s in addition to that.
Remember, once the king creates an army, he also has to create a tax system and a bureaucracy to oversee it…not to mention the infrastructure to support it.
And what loyal subject wouldn’t wanna help out with such a noble undertaking?
Now speaking of the tithe, this topic does underscore the key difference between how God and man operates when it comes to ruling a kingdom.
A gentile king taxes everyone whether poor, rich or everyone in between and uses that money to fund his own interests.
On the other hand, a Godly king also takes a tithe (one-tenth)
But he uses that cash to support His chosen servants (the Levites) who are then in turn to serve the people.
In other words, under the Lord’s system, the king gets nothing.
The tithe goes back to the people.
This makes sense because the God we worship has zero desire for wealth and power…because He owns everything anyway.
On the other hand, an earthly king’s lust for power and wealth seems to have no end.
So the takeaway I’m getting for today is this.
And forgive me if I sound a bit New Agey here…
But the big difference in mindset between a Godly king and an earthly king is that one possesses an “abundance” mindset while the other possesses a “scarcity” mindset…
Because God has no need nor desire for earthly riches…
He doesn’t have to spend His waking or sleeping hours fretting and scheming about how to get more money in his life like 99.9% of mankind does.
He doesn’t stress out about preparing for retirement…
Or buying property left and right to bolster his wealth…
Or purchasing life insurance to make sure His family is taken care of in case something happens to Him…
He has zero ego or pride or in the matter…again because He already owns everything.
On the other hand, an earthly king is quite the opposite.
He’s ego-driven and always concerned about how to maintain his power.
He’s also prone to jealousy and quick to envy those he views as a threat to his standing.
An earthly king often allows his pride to cloud his judgement and this prevents him from taking responsibility for his actions.
I don’t know if you realized it but I pretty much just described the characteristics of the first king of Israel.
So the lesson here is to try and adopt an “abundance” mindset and see things from God’s perspective.
After all, we are created in His image…
And as believers, we are called to reflect His ways and wisdom while here on earth.
So take this as a sober reminder to be in this world but not of this world…
And stop being so freakin’ attached to all the material things the gentiles lust after.
Everything’s gonna be gone anyway.
Ya feel me?
CONNECTING THIS TEACHING TO THE NEW TESTAMENT
“So do not worry, saying,
‘What shall we eat?’ or
‘What shall we drink?’ or
‘What shall we wear?’
For the gentiles run after
all these things,
and your heavenly Father
knows that you need them.
But seek first his kingdom
and his righteousness,
and all these things
will be given to you as well.
Therefore do not worry
about tomorrow, for tomorrow
will worry about itself.
Each day has enough
trouble of its own.”
-Matthew 5:31-34
I feel ya!
Happy to hear it!
Shalom.