by Zeke Flores<\/p>\n
Moses says the king must read the law so that “… he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen” (Deuteronomy 17:19-20).<\/p>\n
Deuteronomy 17 addresses leadership, especially kings. The warning is clear: Power distorts people who stop grounding themselves in God’s word.<\/p>\n
The king wasn’t supposed to rely on charisma, military strength, or political strategy. He was supposed to rely on God’s instruction. Regular exposure to God’s word was meant to keep him humble and aligned with truth and justice.<\/p>\n
This principle applies even if you’re not a king. Any kind of influence can shift your perspective. Responsibility and power can make you think you’re above correction. Deuteronomy 17 reminds us that staying grounded requires consistent engagement with Scripture. Not for information, but for calibration.<\/p>\n
If you’re in a position of influence, watch your habits. Are you staying anchored, or drifting into self-reliance? Moses’ instruction is practical. Stay close to God’s word so your heart stays level.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Zeke Flores Moses says the king must read the law so that “… he may learn to fear Yahweh his God, by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes, that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen” (Deuteronomy 17:19-20). Deuteronomy 17 addresses leadership, especially kings. The warning…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[310,950],"class_list":["post-97599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-government","tag-rulers"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11853,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-were-the-duties-of-a-king\/","url_meta":{"origin":97599,"position":0},"title":"What were the duties of a king?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: What did kings do as they were king? Answer: A king was responsible to God for the welfare of the people in his nation. He was the leader of the army in times of war (I Samuel 8:20). He was the final judge or highest court of appeals in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":802,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-were-the-ten-commandments-written-on-stone-and-the-ceremonial-laws-written-on-paper-scrolls\/","url_meta":{"origin":97599,"position":1},"title":"Why were the Ten Commandments written on stone and the ceremonial laws written on paper scrolls?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 15, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why did God write the Ten Commandments with His own finger on stone? And why did He allow Moses to write the ceremonial laws on paper scrolls? Answer: Peter instructed Christians, \"Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God.\" (I Peter 4:11) As a teacher\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":97204,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/gods-victory-over-enemies\/","url_meta":{"origin":97599,"position":2},"title":"God’s Victory Over Enemies","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 10, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"by Zeke Flores \"Do not fear them, for Yahweh your God is the one fighting for you\" (Deuteronomy 3:22). Deuteronomy 3 highlights God's victory over powerful enemies, especially King Og of Bashan.\u00a0Moses reminds Israel that God's power supports them. This wasn't just encouragement; it was a command rooted in experience.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62906,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/king-of-kings\/","url_meta":{"origin":97599,"position":3},"title":"King of Kings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 23, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalm 47 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The Babylonian conquer, Nebuchadnezzar, was a mighty ruler \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In his first year of reign, he destroyed the Assyrian Empire, and took over all its territory. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He then proceeded to expand his empire conquering the mighty merchant city-state of Tyre and the ancient\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":56476,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-breathed\/","url_meta":{"origin":97599,"position":4},"title":"God Breathed","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 1, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"by Stan Cox In II Timothy 3, the apostle Paul penned a wonderful sentence that establishes both the precious nature of the words contained in our Bibles and their efficacy in ordering our lives as His servants. \"All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43451,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/elders-in-the-old-testament\/","url_meta":{"origin":97599,"position":5},"title":"Elders in the Old Testament","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 28, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Job 29 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0While we don\u2019t live under the laws of the Old Testament, there are things to be learned from its pages - Romans 15:4 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes we forget that elders have been used long before the church \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It would be useful to learn some\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}