Judges to Kings
The judges to kings move that Israel made as recorded in 1Samuel Chapter 8 can be seen as a movement of going from bad to worse. Israel for the most part goes from bad to worse throughout its history. Yes, some “ups” are there but they are always followed by a greater downward movement. Ending up in the killing of the Messiah, in a 3-prong civil war, and the Romans so sick and tired of them that they come and destroy the Holy City and land up destroying the temple as well.
In this case of going from judges to kings it is already “bad”, in the sense that Israel is pretty desperate already in its then existing state. The Judges coming into power were corrupt and self-centered (1 Samuel 8:1-3). This is what happens when judges are allowed to act like kings do and put their offspring in power. Then going to “worse”, in that things would only get worse by adapting kings in replacement of the system of judges that Israel had.
Most people on the face of the earth have what is called, “center of the universe” disease. This is a mental illness where one thinks that life is mostly about them. Kings and dictators often have an acute case of this mental illness. The focuses of the King are, his “subjects”, his position of power, his control over people’s lives, and getting that power into his offspring’s hands when his time is up. Focusing on the future of the nation stays very far behind the self-glorying focus of the king. While this may also be true of other types of leaders, a king has fewer checks and balances that a judicially based society normally produces. A judicially based society is more likely to make its leaders accountable in the direction of the rights of the citizens. Judicially based societies can evolve toward equality and freedom and brotherhood. It is hard to bring the king or dictator before a judge for an unbiased judgment.
Israel was warned: (1 Samuel 8:11-18) The “right” or “justice” (translated “manner” in some translations) of the king would enable him to take their sons and daughters for his own personal reasons. He would take their fields and part of their produce for his personal agenda. He would take other possessions and belongings for his own personal agenda. The people would cry out and God would not hear them. Their rights were going to go further down the drain.
“Rights” are expressions of ethically based principles of life and conduct that are formed from the attribute of self-awareness where self-awareness is connected to love. In this way then we could say that Adam did not have the right to make Eve his slave, yank on her hair and mistreat her. Where human rights have little hold, many people’s hearts remain cold, and human life has little value. Interestingly enough this is more often the case where religion and superstition have clout. So then, the move from judges to kings would be a move that would affect their rights.
Old covenant law is not founded upon the focus of human rights, or equality because the Old Covenant was attached to human potential. A biblical term that expresses this point is the term “in the flesh”. Through the law, both Jew and Gentile where in the official declared status of being “in the flesh”. The spirit of the law did many times touch the principles of justice but the law as a whole was to point toward a coming better age. And so we should not be surprised if in view of the pronouncements of the new covenant we are able to trace in our resent history a sort of reversal of the movement of judges to kings that we have seen in 1 Samuel chapter 8. We have in recent years reversed the trend and have moved in the direction of kings to a judicial system, which is focused in the direction of equality, which is linked directly to a covenantal pronouncement.
Kings to Judges:
About 900 years ago in England, “common law” begins to take root. The term “common” is applied in that it supposedly represented the common customs of the kingdom. Common law was a different approach from Roman law, which was the trend in continental Europe. Common law gave greater leeway to a judge to make his decision based upon the particulars of the case as well as precedents in similar cases.
On June 15th of the year 1215 King John of England signed the “Great Charter”. King John signed the “Magna Carta” to avoid a civil war that he probably would have lost. In some key areas the Magna Carta and the Constitution of the United States read somewhat similar. The Magna Carta becomes an integral part of common law.
What is developing here is a separation of powers between Monarchy and the judiciary constituent. This separation becomes more pronounced as the years go by. In 1628 the “Petition of Right” is addressed to King Charles 1. Led by Sir Edward Coke of Parliament this petition is addressing many of the very same issues that 1 Samuel chapter 8 warned about concerning what the king’s “manner” or “justice” would be like. This is followed by the 1689 Bill of Rights from which the American Bill or Rights takes its name (which the United States ratified in 1791).
The conflict between England and its13 colonies in North America in the late 1700’s has more of a British heritage character to it than it does an actual rebellion against England. What the colonies are doing is taking their British judiciary ideology to its logical conclusion. It is a rebellion against King in following with the continued development of this ideology and English heritage that is focused on human rights.
Many countries have since completely done away with Monarchy or reduced Monarchy to a mere figurehead. We went from Judges to Kings and Kings to a judiciary ideology that is focused of the ethics of human rights. Yes there are still dictators that would be King, but their days are numbered. They have no future in the future of humanity.
Concluding remarks:
It is the opinion and hope of this author that at some point in the near future there will be a growing awareness that there must be and is, an explanation of the last 1900 years of history. We are not where we used to be. Something has bought about an ongoing transformation in humanity. Unfortunately most Christians have no coherent explanation for the last 1900 years of our history. Indeed, few religious views if any at all, can parallel the last 1900 years of history to its belief system. God is working in His creation and we really do need to realize the blessings involved in being conscious participants. The dark ages need to be an ever-present reminder of the consequences of doing things the painful way.
Much of the transformation that has been taking place over the years is not necessarily the best method of change. Perhaps we could say that there is an easy way or a hard way of developing. For example, France’s way of getting rid of kings was more violent than that of some countries. This brings us to a little follow up point.
In being aware of God’s continued working in humanity we would do well to seek out the easiest way of continued evolution. Ideally there would be a growing awareness of the reality of God’s working in us. Ideally there would be a better understanding of the pronouncements of the New Covenant. This would enable us to see a little better where we are heading and proceed in the most peaceful way possible.
This article is only brief examination of this very vast topic of “Socio-biblical Evolution”. Further development and study are needed. Lord willing other articles will follow.
By Barry Dupont
