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Forsaking God & Higher Taxes

Through Moses, God commanded limits upon the king.

“When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; Thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way. Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.”

Deuteronomy 17:14-17. In the ancient world, these were astounding words, for kings of the East were supposed to be wealthy, powerful, and have many wives.

“The Mosaic law did not forbid other men from accumulating gold and silver. They did not possess civil power. Their wealth was not a threat to the nation. A king’s wealth was, for it persuaded him that he was doing all the right things. The Mosaic law established a unique, historically unprecedented set of restrictions on kings. The Mosaic law warned kings not to accumulate what in private life would not be prohibited. A citizen is surrounded by restraints. A king is not. A successful king accumulates wealth as a sign of his success. “If you’ve got it, flaunt it!” The centralization of power is a threat to the nation, both internally and internationally.”

Gary North, “Disobedience and Defeat: An Economic Commentary on the Historical Books” (Dallas, GA: Point Five Press, 2012), p. 136 (footnotes omitted).

I heard a sermon once on the three G’s that are the Christian’s greatest temptation and that lead to failure: Girls, Gold, Glory. In the context of the limitations on the king of Israel, horses stand for glory, and the rest speak for themselves. These are also the great temptations for the public official. These violations of God’s law by Solomon caused a more severe sin: His foreign wives lead him to the worship of many gods. Solomon became a polytheist. The true religion was broken into pieces; therefore, God caused Israel to be broken to pieces

Not during Solomon’s reign for the sake of David, but later in his son’s reign, God ensured the division of the northern tribes from Judah in the south. See I Kings 11:7-13. And what was the earthly instrument that God used to accomplish this division? Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, listened to his young advisors and decided to raise taxes. That’s right; a tax revolt caused the division of the kingdom.

“And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men’s counsel that they gave him; And spake to them after the counsel of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke: my father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat. So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What portion have we in David? neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse: to your tents, O Israel: now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents.”

I Kings 12:13-16. One can make a political statement about this state of affairs. The forsaking of the one true God creates higher taxes and division in the unfaithful society. The choice of a king in itself was bad enough, a sign that they had turned from God to man. God had warned that the people’s children and property would be expropriated by their king.

“And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots. And he will appoint him captains over thousands, and captains over fifties; and will set them to ear his ground, and to reap his harvest, and to make his instruments of war, and instruments of his chariots. And he will take your daughters to be confectionaries, and to be cooks, and to be bakers. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants. And he will take the tenth of your seed, and of your vineyards, and give to his officers, and to his servants. And he will take your menservants, and your maidservants, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, and put them to his work. He will take the tenth of your sheep: and ye shall be his servants. And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.”

I Samuel 8:10-18. At the time that Rehoboam caused a tax revolt, the people were already suffering under that prophetic word. Higher taxes just ramped the misery to a new level. What would be the sign that a society had forsaken polytheism and trusting in man and had returned to the true God? Could it be local and limited government?

But such a theory not so big a stretch, is it? If you turn to the civil government for support, then you’ll have to pay for it. You must sacrifice to the god you choose. If you think the civil government can solve all your problems and provide your needs, then you will have to pay for it.

“Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” Jeremiah 17:5.