{"id":50870,"date":"2019-03-06T14:34:23","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T12:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=50870"},"modified":"2022-09-29T07:53:17","modified_gmt":"2022-09-29T04:53:17","slug":"the-unsupreme-ruler","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-unsupreme-ruler\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unsupreme Ruler"},"content":{"rendered":"
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In perhaps one of the most striking shifts in the vector of power, government, and rightful authority, Deuteronomy 17 records what over the centuries transformed what the very notion of government can mean. Like all ancient societies, ancient Israel assumed that monarchy was synonymous with government. In moments of fear, a strong leader was needed to rally the nation. In times of war, a warrior was needed to lead the troops. As late as the Eighteenth Century, many literate people assumed that only a strong central government ruled by a monarch could possibly function to maintain order and fight crime.<\/span><\/p>\n

So what is that subtle shift Deuteronomy introduces? Yes, you may have your sovereign. But that monarch is not supreme. Above the crown is the law: \u201cWhen the monarch is seated on the royal throne, have a copy of this Teaching written on a scroll by the Levitical priests. Let it remain with the monarch and let the monarch read in it all every day while alive in order to learn to revere the Lord God and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching as well as these laws (17: 18-19).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Each monarch of Israel must have their own personal copy of the Torah, and it must remain nearby. Not only proximity, but familiarity with its contents is required, so that the outcome is fidelity, obedience, and humility. The state is not the monarch. The goal is not the monarch\u2019s whims or desires. Everyone in ancient Israel was to be governed by the same laws, rules, and teachings. There is to be one law for the lofty and the low, the weak and the strong, the poor and the rich. <\/span><\/p>\n

And with that subtle intervention, the rule of law is born. If even the king or queen is answerable to the law, then the law itself, with its core concepts of justice and equity, become the goal of government, and its yardstick.<\/span><\/p>\n

One law to rule them all. The rest is commentary.<\/span><\/p>\n

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