{"id":71224,"date":"2020-03-04T16:18:41","date_gmt":"2020-03-04T14:18:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=71224"},"modified":"2023-01-03T11:39:49","modified_gmt":"2023-01-03T09:39:49","slug":"kingship-a-necessary-apostasy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/kingship-a-necessary-apostasy\/","title":{"rendered":"Kingship: A Necessary Apostasy?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[835,423,832],"acf":{"old_id":"71224","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":69185,"related_cahpter":"240","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"The clash of politics with theology\u00a0\r\n\r\n","content":"

The last line from the book of Judges, which comes right before the rise of the monarchy in 1 Samuel, provides the final verdict on this form of governance and ultimate justification for the Israelite kingship: \u201cIn those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his eyes\u201d (Jud. 21:25). During the reign of the judges (a name given to tribal chieftains), a degree of chaos took hold of Israelite society, leading to military weakness, exposure to enemy control, and increasingly widespread moral decay. The narrator offers an inescapable conclusion borne of historical experience: without a king exerting centralized power, society falls apart; therefore, Israel needs to appoint a king. From a purely practical political, social, and military perspective\u2014from a human vantage point\u2014there is no alternative. It is remarkable that the narrator offers this line at all, let alone so matter-of-factly, with such authority. It\u2019s not often that the Bible presents the human perspective alone, or affords it the last word. The theological perspective that would routinely undermine this assertion is entirely absent.<\/span><\/p>\n

A mere eight chapters later, before the first king, Saul, is even installed, the Bible offers the opposing judgment on kingship: \u201cAnd the Lord replied to Samuel, \u2018Heed the demand of the people in everything they say to you [by asking for a king]. For it is not you that they have rejected; it is Me they have rejected as their king\u2019\u201d (1 Sam. 8:7). This quotation presents <\/span>only<\/span><\/i> the theological perspective. As far as God is concerned, it would seem, there can be no justification for a human king. The people\u2019s acclamation of a king is of a piece with the repeated rejection of God\u2019s authority in the Pentateuch. There is a tone of weariness in God\u2019s statement. God offers comfort to Samuel, who is both a priest and prophet, and Samuel must convey to the people God\u2019s disapproval of their choice, incurring their displeasure. God is in effect saying to Samuel: <\/span>Don\u2019t take it personally; you can give in to the people\u2019s misguided inclinations; they are rebelling against Me, not you, and I, God, am thoroughly used to it<\/span><\/em>.<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

God makes it clear that kingship itself is the heart of the issue. God alone is king; there can be no other. When the people insist on having a human monarch, they are forgetting their King in Heaven.<\/span><\/p>\n

Clearly, these two assertions clash in the boldest fashion. On a practical level, kingship is necessary; on a religious level, kingship is apostasy. Both assertions are valid and true, as both exist on entirely different planes of reality. The narrative of biblical history as played out in the books of Samuel and Kings is riven by these conflicting truths. Israel\u2019s kings are shown to be uniters, protectors, legislators, builders, symbols of strength and national pride. They are also idolaters, oppressors, dividers, fomenters of destruction in themselves and the nation\u2014accounting for the narratives\u2019 disjointed qualities, stark contradictions, and enduring fascination.<\/span><\/p>\n

Excerpted from <\/span>The Biblical Hero: Portraits in Nobility and Fallibility<\/em> <\/span>by Elliott Rabin by permission of the Jewish Publication Society. \u00a92020 by Elliott Rabin.<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":69430,"id":69430,"title":"BiblicalHero","filename":"BiblicalHero.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/BiblicalHero.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/the-gap-between-god-and-humankind\/biblicalhero\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"biblicalhero","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":69219,"date":"2020-02-02 17:04:11","modified":"2020-11-23 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