Judges, pure worship, and a king under God’s law

16:18 You must appoint judges and civil servants for each tribe in all your villages that the Lord your God is giving you, and they must judge the people fairly. 16:19 You must not pervert justice or show favor. Do not take a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and distort the words of the righteous. 16:20 You must pursue justice alone so that you may live and inherit the land the Lord your God is giving you. 16:21 You must not plant any kind of tree as a sacred Asherah pole near the altar of the Lord your God which you build for yourself. 16:22 You must not erect a sacred pillar, a thing the Lord your God detests. 17:1 You must not sacrifice to him a bull or sheep that has a blemish or any other defect, because that is considered offensive to the Lord your God. 17:2 Suppose a man or woman is discovered among you – in one of your villages that the Lord your God is giving you – who sins before the Lord your God and breaks his covenant 17:3 by serving other gods and worshiping them – the sun, moon, or any other heavenly bodies which I have not permitted you to worship. 17:4 When it is reported to you and you hear about it, you must investigate carefully. If it is indeed true that such a disgraceful thing is being done in Israel, 17:5 you must bring to your city gates that man or woman who has done this wicked thing – that very man or woman – and you must stone that person to death. 17:6 At the testimony of two or three witnesses they must be executed. They cannot be put to death on the testimony of only one witness. 17:7 The witnesses must be first to begin the execution, and then all the people are to join in afterward. In this way you will purge evil from among you. 17:8 If a matter is too difficult for you to judge – bloodshed, legal claim, or assault – matters of controversy in your villages – you must leave there and go up to the place the Lord your God chooses. 17:9 You will go to the Levitical priests and the judge in office in those days and seek a solution; they will render a verdict. 17:10 You must then do as they have determined at that place the Lord chooses. Be careful to do just as you are taught. 17:11 You must do what you are instructed, and the verdict they pronounce to you, without fail. Do not deviate right or left from what they tell you. 17:12 The person who pays no attention to the priest currently serving the Lord your God there, or to the verdict – that person must die, so that you may purge evil from Israel. 17:13 Then all the people will hear and be afraid, and not be so presumptuous again. 17:14 When you come to the land the Lord your God is giving you and take it over and live in it and then say, “I will select a king like all the nations surrounding me,” 17:15 you must select without fail a king whom the Lord your God chooses. From among your fellow citizens you must appoint a king – you may not designate a foreigner who is not one of your fellow Israelites. 17:16 Moreover, he must not accumulate horses for himself or allow the people to return to Egypt to do so, for the Lord has said you must never again return that way. 17:17 Furthermore, he must not marry many wives lest his affections turn aside, and he must not accumulate much silver and gold. 17:18 When he sits on his royal throne he must make a copy of this law on a scroll given to him by the Levitical priests. 17:19 It must be with him constantly and he must read it as long as he lives, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God and observe all the words of this law and these statutes and carry them out. 17:20 Then he will not exalt himself above his fellow citizens or turn from the commandments to the right or left, and he and his descendants will enjoy many years ruling over his kingdom in Israel.

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Moses commands Israel to set up fair judges, reject false worship, deal with serious covenant sin using careful witnesses, and submit hard cases to God’s appointed authorities. He also says that any future king must be chosen by the Lord and must live under the written law, with his life marked by humility and obedience.

Israel’s life in the land must be ordered by covenant faithfulness. Judges must act fairly. They must not show favoritism or take bribes. Justice matters because the Lord is giving the land to his people, and their life in the land depends on right judgment.

Worship must also stay pure. Israel must not mix the worship of the Lord with Canaanite symbols or practices. The people must not bring blemished sacrifices to God, because he detests defective offerings. He is holy, and he will not be approached with rival worship or what is unfit.

If someone serves other gods, the matter must be investigated carefully. Rumor is not enough. There must be two or three witnesses. If the charge is true, the guilty person must be removed from Israel, even by death, so that evil is purged from the community.

If a legal matter is too hard for local judges, it must be taken to the place the Lord chooses. There the Levitical priests and the judge in office will give a binding verdict. The people must not turn aside from what they say. God’s people need ordered authority, not rebellion and presumption.

Moses then looks ahead to kingship. Israel may one day want a king like the nations around them, but the king must be one whom the Lord chooses. He must be an Israelite, not a foreigner. He must not trust in military power, multiply wives, or gather great wealth for himself. Instead, he must copy the law, keep it with him, and read it all his life. The goal is reverence for the Lord, obedience, humility, and lasting rule.

• God requires fair judgment and hates bribery and partiality.
• Justice and covenant faithfulness belong together.
• God’s worship must be kept pure and free from idolatry.
• Serious covenant sin must be investigated carefully with true witnesses, and evil must be purged.
• Final hard cases belong to God’s appointed authorities.
• A king in Israel must live under God’s written law.
• Power, wealth, and worldly alliances can turn a leader’s heart away from the Lord.

• Do not pervert justice.
• Do not show favor.
• Do not take a bribe.
• Do not plant pagan worship symbols near the Lord’s altar.
• Do not offer blemished sacrifices.
• Investigate serious charges carefully.
• Do not worship other gods.
• Remove proven evil from Israel.
• Submit to the verdict given by God’s appointed authorities.
• Do not multiply horses, wives, silver, or gold.
• Keep and read God’s law continually.
• Do not exalt yourself above your brothers.

God is forming a holy people in the land through just judges, pure worship, and law-governed leadership. The king is not above the law but under it, so Israel’s leaders must model covenant obedience and humility.

God still cares about justice, truth, pure worship, and humble leadership. His people should reject favoritism, corruption, false worship, and pride. Leaders must stay under God’s word, and all believers should treat his commands with reverence.

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