In Deuteronomy 17 after talking about those who breach their faith in the Lord, Moses addresses one of today’s hot topics: political leadership.
Moses gives four principles that political leaders are to follow. First, political leaders are not to amass things for their personal protection – the leader should not build up a trove of war-trained horses for himself (verse 16). Second, political position cannot be used for personal pleasures – the leader should not have sexual relationships with numerous people (verse 17). Third, the leader should take time to know, understand, analyze, apply, and evaluate God’s word daily (verses 18, 19). Fourth, the leader should not think of himself or herself as someone special or better than other people, as everyone is equally special in the eyes of the Lord (verse 20).
The outcome of following these four principles is this: the leader will live in awe of God and will walk in obedience to God (verse 19). In our world today if political leaders who say there are followers of Jesus Christ would pay heed to this Scriptural advice, they will truly be the light of the world (Matthew 5:14) – and under their leadership all people will flourish.
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