Divine Right of Kings?

(Proverbs 16:10 KJV)  A divine sentence is in the lips of the king: his mouth transgresseth not in judgment.

Leaders make choices.  Because of their position it is a “divine sentence” (divine decision NASB) (7081).  This is a concept that does not sit well with our democratic thinking.  Maybe it should.  As I get older I see little Biblical evidence that democracy is God’s plan.  Think about it.  What kind of governments do you see referred to in the Bible.  Mainly monarchies.  It isn’t because democracy was not known.  The Greek democracies were well known and had experienced times of political success.  It is hard to believe that no one writing the Bible knew about them.

Some people refer to Moses getting advice from Aaron about setting up a system of leaders to give him advice.  That was much more along the lines of a republic like we have today.  Elders were chosen to represent a group of people.  Leaders were chosen from the elders.  A smaller group was finally selected to give advice to Moses.  This is not democracy; it is representative government.  Many people don’t seem to realize that our Founders did not like the idea of democracy.  They set up a republic, which is different.

There are some other qualifiers.  These kings were expected to seek God’s guidance.  This seems to be the process of divination.  In that context it seems to change the meaning of this verse.  The kings of Israel were constantly seeking out the prophets of God for opinions and advice.  Sometimes they went to the throwing of lots.  The assumption was that a good king was seeking the direction of the Almighty, not just doing his own thing.  When  the kings disregarded the advice of the prophets the nation suffered.

So?  We should seek godly leaders.  What a person believes is important.  Our culture is mouthing some mantra about separation of church and state.  Fine.  But that does not mean the separation of God and leaders.  When you vote for a mayor, school board member, county assessor or president, consider the ultimate source of their wisdom.  It makes a difference what leaders believe.