Deuteronomy 17 contains instructions from God to Moses for the newly founded nation of Israel, God’s own people descended from Abraham and rescued from Egypt. Some of the instructions in this passage are specifically for Israel's king. However, at the time of this instruction, Israel didn’t have a king. In fact, Israel wouldn’t have a king for approximately 350 to 400 more years. At that time, the people asked for a king against the prophet Samuel’s advice and were given Saul in answer. (See 1 Samuel 10.) Yet 350 to 400 years before Saul was anointed the first king of Israel, God knew that Israel would someday want a king and gave that king some instructions.
The
instruction that caught my eye was God’s direction for the king to write out
for himself a copy of the law that God was giving to Moses at that time. Can
you imagine putting quill to scroll to handwrite a copy of the entire Levitical law (that is, laws given by God to Moses to establish the nation of Israel as His people)? God didn’t
tell the king to hire a scribe either. He really meant for the king to write
out the law for himself. After that, he was to read it all the days of his
life.
The
evidence presented in the books of 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, and 1
& 2 Chronicles suggests that 350 to 400 years later, the kings probably didn’t do this. David, for example, one of
the best kings as far as the kings went, didn’t know the proper way to
transport the ark. Uzzah paid for that lack of knowledge with his life. (See 2
Samuel 6:1-15.) Had David written out the law for himself so that he knew it inside and out, this tragedy might have been prevented. Of course, I am assuming David didn't know the law. If he did and chose to ignore it, that's a whole different problem. But David was known as a man after God's own heart, so I'm thinking he didn't know the laws for transporting the ark.
In 2
Kings 22:1-13, Hilkiah finds the Book of the Law while having the Temple
repaired and has it delivered to Josiah, who has been king for 18 years. Josiah
is distraught, tears his robes, and sets about making things right between the
people and God. It appears the Book of the Law had been missing for many years. Throughout that time, none of the kings of Judah or Israel, originally the single nation of Israel,
had hand-copied the law for themselves.
I
wonder what difference it would have made for God’s people and for the people
all around them had the kings followed God’s instructions and written out God’s
Word for themselves. I believe all of history would have been quite different.
Instead of leading God’s people down a path of destruction, the kings could
have lead the people to point the world to God’s goodness, providence,
protection, and grace. They would have taught the world to bow before the One
true King.
I also
wonder what difference writing out Scripture could make for God’s people and
for the people all around them today. Like Josiah, there are a lot of people in
this world who don’t really know what the Bible really says. They let other
people tell them instead of reading for themselves. But even those who do read
their Bibles regularly can benefit from writing out the words for themselves.
Writing it out helps you remember. It also slows down your thinking, so you
catch the deeper meanings of the words. It gives the Holy Spirit more time to
impress the words on your heart and into your mind.
I recommend starting small. When you read God’s Word, write out any verses that stand out to you. Then reflect on them and journal your thoughts. Once you get used to doing that, choose a small passage or book to write out over the course of a week: the “Sermon on the Mount” (Matthew 5-7), Psalm 139, Philippians, or First John. When you find value in doing that, you may want to tackle something larger like Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John. Writing out the entire Bible seems incredibly ambitious, and yet, if you can read the whole Bible in a year by reading four chapters a day, you could write the whole Bible in four years by writing one chapter a day. (There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible, so one chapter a day would take about 3.25 years.)
I’m not suggesting we all pressure each other into doing this. It's just one idea for finding our way deeper into God's Word, so we can get to know Him better. I wonder what difference it would make in our lives, in our families, in our communities, in our world, if people tried this. If God told the kings to do it so they would learn to revere Him and follow His way carefully, I think the practice could benefit us, too.
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Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash
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