“Under God’s Authority (Deuteronomy 17:8–18:22)”, Thad Yessa | 4/26/26
Deuteronomy 17:8–18:22 | 4/26/26 | Thad Yessa
Boss, teacher, manager, parent, pastor….bad authority
Brett belittled everyone under him, blamed everyone else for problems, only took praise, took advantage of others' hard work ethic, etc…
Whereas a good authority figure builds trust, shows genuine care, seeks to help others improve, shoulders the burden of responsibility, etc.
Jonathan Leeman, in his book Authority: How Godly Rule Protects the Vulnerable, Strengthens Communities, and Promotes Human Flourishing
, makes the case that good authority:
Does steal life but creates it
Leads and Directs
Is accountable and submits to a higher authority
Is not unteachable but seeks wisdom.
Passes out power
God establishes order for His people by placing everything under His authority (especially those who lead).
8 “If any case arises requiring decision between one kind of homicide and another, one kind of legal right and another, or one kind of assault and another, any case within your towns that is too difficult for you, then you shall arise and go up to the place that the Lord your God will choose. 9 And you shall come to the Levitical priests and to the judge who is in office in those days, and you shall consult them, and they shall declare to you the decision. 10 Then you shall do according to what they declare to you from that place that the Lord will choose. And you shall be careful to do according to all that they direct you. 11 According to the instructions that they give you, and according to the decision which they pronounce to you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside from the verdict that they declare to you, either to the right hand or to the left. 12 The man who acts presumptuously by not obeying the priest who stands to minister there before the Lord your God, or the judge, that man shall die. So you shall purge the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear and fear and not act presumptuously again.
14 “When you come to the land that the Lord your God is giving you, and you possess it and dwell in it and then say, ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are around me,’ 15 you may indeed set a king over you whom the Lord your God will choose. One from among your brothers you shall set as king over you. You may not put a foreigner over you, who is not your brother. 16 Only he must not acquire many horses for himself or cause the people to return to Egypt in order to acquire many horses, since the Lord has said to you, ‘You shall never return that way again.’ 17 And he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor shall he acquire for himself excessive silver and gold.
18 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. 19 And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20 that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
“The Levitical priests, all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion or inheritance with Israel. They shall eat the Lord's food offerings as their inheritance. 2 They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as he promised them. 3 And this shall be the priests' due from the people, from those offering a sacrifice, whether an ox or a sheep: they shall give to the priest the shoulder and the two cheeks and the stomach. 4 The firstfruits of your grain, of your wine and of your oil, and the first fleece of your sheep, you shall give him.5 For the Lord your God has chosen him out of all your tribes to stand and minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for all time.
6 “And if a Levite comes from any of your towns out of all Israel, where he lives—and he may come when he desires—to the place that the Lord will choose, 7 and ministers in the name of the Lord his God, like all his fellow Levites who stand to minister there before the Lord, 8 then he may have equal portions to eat, besides what he receives from the sale of his patrimony.
9 “When you come into the land that the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominable practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer 11 or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, 12 for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord. And because of these abominations the Lord your God is driving them out before you.13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God, 14 for these nations, which you are about to dispossess, listen to fortune-tellers and to diviners. But as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do this.
15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen— 16 just as you desired of the Lord your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the Lord my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’17 And the Lord said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. 19 And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him. 20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’ 21 And if you say in your heart, ‘How may we know the word that the Lord has not spoken?’— 22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him. Deuteronomy 17:8–18:22
Before we go further with our passage this morning, we need to understand where we are in Deuteronomy and why it matters for us.
God is laying out the terms of His covenant with Israel. These are not random laws or regulations. These are the conditions of life with God. They show what it looks like to live under His rule, to belong to Him as His people. And the stakes are incredibly high. Blessing flows from obedience. Judgment follows disobedience. God is making it clear that how His people live is directly connected to whether they trust Him.
And one of the ways Moses does this is by unpacking the Ten Commandments. Beginning in chapter 6,
“Now this is the commandment—the statutes and the rules[a]—that the Lordyour God commanded me to teach you, that you may do them in the land to which you are going over, to possess it, 2 that you may fear the Lord your God, you and your son and your son's son, by keeping all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, all the days of your life, and that your days may be long.3 Hear therefore, O Israel, and be careful to do them, that it may go well with you, and that you may multiply greatly, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, has promised you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.[b] 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
Moses takes those ten foundational words and applies them to everyday life, what it looks like to love God, worship rightly, live in community, and walk in holiness.
1) God Establishes Justice (17:8–13)
There were going to be situations among God’s people that were not simple. And in those moments, God did not leave His people to navigate justice based on instinct, emotion, or majority opinion but in responding to God’s designated justice. The people were to bring their most difficult cases to the place the Lord chose, to those who were set apart and trained in His law, the priests and judges (those who were to know the law of God better than anyone else). They were interpreting and applying what God had already revealed. In that sense, they stood as representatives of God’s justice among His people.
These rulings were not suggestions that could be weighed and dismissed if inconvenient. They were binding. To reject the judgment handed down by those appointed leaders was not merely to disagree with a human verdict; it was to reject God Himself. The text makes clear that such a response was not simply an error; it was rebellion. God was forming a people who would not be marked by autonomy or defiance, but by trust. Trust that His justice is right, even when it is difficult OR what we don’t like.
For those who lead, there is a weight or pressure that we bear. Leadership is not about crafting outcomes or managing perceptions, as most leadership books champion; it is about carefully stewarding what belongs to God for the flourishing of others. It’s about carefully applying God’s truth to different (often complicated) situations. It is about representing Him rightly, one of the ways that is done is by discerning what is the best response to a certain course of action.
Even not in “formal leadership roles”, this passage still raises the question: Do we trust God enough to submit when things are unclear, when decisions are hard, when outcomes are not what we want? This is not “blind submission” but a listening to those who God’s has placed in authoirty in your lives. Submission is not first about authority; it is about trust. It reveals whether we believe God’s justice is actually good. God’s people should be marked by humility, teachability, and a willingness to come under the authority of His Word.
2) God Governs Those in Power (17:14–20)
As the text moves forward, it shifts from the administration of justice to the reality of kingship. It’s important to note is that this is not presented as God’s ideal, but as His allowance. Israel already had a king. The Lord Himself ruled over His people. And yet, God knew that a day would come when they would look around at the nations and desire something different. They would want a visible, tangible king like everyone else. And when that moment came, it would not simply be a change in political structure; it would be a revealing of their hearts.
Then all the elders of Israel gathered together and came to Samuel at Ramah5 and said to him, “Behold, you are old and your sons do not walk in your ways. Now appoint for us a king to judge us like all the nations.” 6 But the thing displeased Samuel when they said, “Give us a king to judge us.” And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 7 And the Lord said to Samuel, “Obey the voice of the people in all that they say to you, for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. 8 According to all the deeds that they have done, from the day I brought them up out of Egypt even to this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are also doing to you. 9 Now then, obey their voice; only you shall solemnly warn them and show them the ways of the king who shall reign over them.” 1 Samuel 8:4-9
And yet, even in that rejection or future rejection, God graciously sets boundaries for their good. The king must be chosen by God, not self-appointed or crowd-selected. He must be one of the people, someone who belongs to the covenant community and is shaped by its commitments. Why? Because leadership among God’s people must reflect allegiance to God. Authority is never ultimate in itself. It is always derived from a different source.
Police Officer - A police officer can pull you over and enforce laws, but only because the government grants that authority.
Manager - A manager can assign tasks and make decisions, but only because the company entrusted them with that role.
Teacher - A teacher has authority over students, but only within the structure of the school.
Referee - A referee can make a call, but only because the league authorizes them.
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The king who will be established in Israel is still under God’s authority:
Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.” The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. He rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, “I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.” PSALM 2The king is not to multiply horses, meaning he is not to place his trust in military strength or strategic dominance. One commentator notes, “All people carry insecurities. And often, those insecurities look for relief in outward displays of power. When power is placed in the hands of someone whose heart is driven by insecurity, it is rarely used with restraint. It becomes something to be exercised, displayed, and even proven. The thrill of asserting dominance, of overcoming another, can become a way of feeding the ego. What begins as insecurity can quickly turn into unnecessary aggression.”
A king with excessive military strength may feel compelled to expand his influence, not out of necessity, but out of desire. He may pursue conquest simply because he can. And in doing so, he brings suffering, injustice, and pain upon others. It will also create the potential for the king to rely not on God but on his own strength.
He is not to multiply wives, which in that context often meant building political alliances, thereby being even more influenced by the surrounding nations along with indulging in ones personal desires. He is not to multiply wealth, hoard resources, or elevate himself above the people. God is emphasizing that there is a natural drift of power towards oneself. Because power has a way of reshaping the heart, of slowly convincing a leader that they are self-sufficient, that they are above the very standards they once followed.
That is why the most important command is not about what the king must avoid, but what he must pursue. He is to write out a copy of the law with his own hand and read it on all the days of his life. The most powerful person in the nation is to be daily, deliberately shaped by God. His leadership flows not from instinct or ambition, but from submission.
And Israel’s kings failed to do this, the closets we see is Josiah in 2 Kings 22:
8 And Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, “I have found the Book of the Law in the house of the Lord.” And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. 9 The secretary came to the king, and reported to the king, “Your servants have emptied out the money that was found in the house and have delivered it into the hand of the workmen who have the oversight of the house of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the secretary told the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it before the king.
11 When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his clothes.13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found. For great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.”
A danger in leadership is not failure, but independence. It is the subtle shift from being under God to operating as if we are above Him. That is true for kings, but it is also true for us. In our homes, in our ministries, in our workplaces, the question is not simply what we are doing, but what is shaping us. Are we being formed by God, or by everything else around us?
The king was tempted to trust in horses, wives, and wealth. In other words, he was tempted to trust in strength, relationships, and possessions instead of the Lord. And those temptations still exist.
We may trust in our ability to control outcomes.
We may trust in our reputation.
We may trust in money, comfort, competence, approval, or influence.
We may use whatever power we have to protect ourselves, prove ourselves, or elevate ourselves.That is why the king needed the Word of God daily. Not as a religious accessory, but as a guardrail for his soul. The Word of God was meant to humble him, shape him, and remind him that he was not ultimate.
And the same is true for us. God’s Word keeps us from becoming the center of our own lives. It teaches us to fear the Lord, walk humbly, and remember that whatever influence we have is entrusted to us by God.
We often think the problem is having too little power, but Scripture shows the greater danger is what power does to the heart. Even small areas of influence can expose pride, insecurity, or self-reliance.
3) God Defines and Sustains True Worship (18:1–14)
As we have worked our way through the Pentateuch, we have spent much time looking at not just how Israel was set apart, but how, within Israel, there was another group set apart, the priests, the Levites. They are not given land like the other tribes because God Himself is their portion. Their lives are structured around serving Him and leading the people in worship. And the people, in turn, are called to provide for them through offerings. This creates a rhythm of dependence, not just for the priests, but for the entire community. Worship is sustained not by human ingenuity or effort, but by God’s provision.
Now Israel is about to enter a land filled with spiritual alternatives. Practices that promised guidance, power, and control. Divination, sorcery, interpreting omens, consulting the dead. These were not fringe practices. They were woven into the fabric of the surrounding cultures. God calls these practices abominations. Why? Because they represent a fundamental rejection of Him. They are attempts to gain knowledge, security, and direction apart from God.
The priests were not only to facilitate worship, but they are also to guard it. They are to ensure that what shapes the people of God is actually from God. There will be a temptation that will slowly pull the people away from dependence on God and toward reliance on something else.
Israel was entering a land full of spiritual practices that promised insight, control, and power. These practices were attractive because they seemed useful. They offered guidance. They promised access to hidden knowledge. They gave people the feeling that they could manage the unknown.
But God calls His people away from all of that. Why? Because He wants them to depend on Him.
We may not consult mediums or practice divination, but we often look for peace, identity, direction, and security apart from God. We want to know the future. We want control over outcomes. We want assurance without dependence. We want worship on our terms. We are always worshiping something. We look to success, relationships, comfort, or approval. This section reminds us that worship is not mainly about what feels meaningful to us. Worship is about what God has revealed.
Where do we go when we feel uncertain especially about the future? What do we reach for when we feel afraid? What do we depend on when we want direction? According to 2025 research, therapy and companionship have emerged as the number one use case for generative AI, representing a significant shift from technical tasks (like coding) that previously dominated AI usage. Users are increasingly turning to AI for emotional support, 24/7 mental health aid, and personal guidance.
Scrolling your phone or binge-watching to escape anxiety
Making decisions based only on what feels right rather than what is true
Constantly worrying about the future and needing to know what will happen next
Over-planning and trying to control every outcome to avoid uncertainty
Only engaging in worship when it feels meaningful or emotionally satisfying
Organizing your life around comfort and avoiding anything difficult
Needing approval from others to feel secure or valuable
God is not trying to withhold life or the future from His people. He is protecting them from counterfeit sources of hope. In fact, God has revealed what we need to know about the future in His Word, and for those who trust in God, the future is incredibly bright, even if your present reality doesn’t feel bright. True worship begins with surrender. It says, “Lord, You define what is good. You are enough.”
4) God Speaks with Final Authority (18:15–22)
If God’s people are going to live rightly, they must hear rightly. And so God makes a promise. He will raise up a prophet like Moses, someone who will speak His words faithfully. The people are to listen to him. Because to listen to the one God sends is to listen to God Himself.
At the same time, there is a warning about false voices. Not everyone who claims to speak for God actually does. False prophets will arise, and they will not always be obvious. They will speak with confidence. They will claim authority. But their words will not align with God’s truth. And so God gives a standard. If what they say is false, if it does not come to pass, they are not from Him.
Words carry weight. God is saying that words have the power to bring life or bring death. Words spoken by a true prophet will come to pass and bring truth, words spoken by a false prophet will bring false hope and death. Leadership, particularly in preaching and teaching, is not neutral. It either reflects truth or distorts it. And for those who listen, there is responsibility as well. We are not called to passively absorb every voice around us, but to discern, to weigh, to evaluate in light of what God has revealed. Everything that we consume is forming and shaping us into something else. You are constantly listening to voices. Podcasts, social media, books, friends, movies, culture, etc.
The question is not whether you are being shaped. It is what is shaping you.
What captures our attention (and time) will eventually shape our lives.
God’s people are responsible for what they listen to and what they believe. That is why discernment matters. Not every confident voice is a true voice. Not every spiritual-sounding message is from God. Not every popular idea is faithful. Not every comforting word is true.
God’s people must learn to ask: Does this align with what God has said? Does this lead me toward trust, obedience, holiness, and love for Christ? Or does it feed pride, fear, self-rule, resentment, self-justification, or compromise?
All of this ultimately points beyond itself. Because, as you read through the story of Israel, what becomes painfully clear is that these standards were not consistently met. Judges failed. Kings pursued power and drifted from God. Priests neglected their calling. Prophets spoke falsely.
And that is exactly why we need Jesus.
He is the perfect Judge who never gets it wrong, who sees clearly, who is always just. He is the true King who does not grasp for power but humbles Himself to provide salvation for His people. He is the perfect Priest who does not merely offer sacrifices but becomes the sacrifice, giving Himself for the sins of His people. And He is the greater Prophet promised in this very passage, the One who does not just speak God’s Word, but who is the Word made flesh. He does not speak partially or misleadingly. He speaks with full authority and perfect truth. Where others fail, He does not. The Christian life is not simply about filtering out bad voices. It is about learning to hear and follow the voice of Christ above every other voice.
Where every human leader failed, Jesus does not. He does not distort justice. He does not abuse authority. He does not mislead in worship. He does not speak falsely.
Closing
The deeper issue in this passage is not simply leadership structures and following authority. It is the human heart.
We do not just struggle under bad leadership. We resist God’s authority altogether. We question His justice. We seek our own rule. We drift in our worship and affections. We listen to voices that affirm what we want rather than what is true.
The problem is not just out there. It is in here.
And that is why we need more than better leaders. We need redemption.
The gospel is the good news of what God has done to save sinners. God, who is holy, created us to know him, but we rebelled/rejecting God’s authority and cut ourselves off through sin. In his love, he sent Jesus Christ, the true King, who lived perfectly, fulfilled the law, and died in our place as a sacrifice for sin. He rose again, proving that sin and death were defeated. Now he calls all people to repent and trust in him, and all who do are forgiven, made new, and given eternal life with God.Not as a burden, but as life.