“THERE WAS NO KING IN ISRAEL.”
By C. P. Bollman
GOD'S promise to Israel was: “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto Myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation.” Ex. 19:4-6. This promise was more than fulfilled to Israel, for tho the people never kept their part of the agreement, the Lord wrought most marvelously for them. When sent for in haste by Balak, king of Moab, to curse Israel, Balaam, the mercenary prophet, while desirous of securing the reward offered by Balak, said in the presence of all the royal princes:— “Balak the king of Moab hath brought me from Aram, out of the mountains of the east, saying, Come, curse me Jacob, and come, defy Israel. How shall I curse, whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy, whom the Lord hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him; lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!” Num. 23:7-10. This was not what Balak wanted, and he took the prophet to another place, that from a different standpoint he might view the camp of Israel, and might, peradventure, curse God’s chosen people instead of blessing them. But again was the king of Moab disappointed; for Balaam took up his parable and said:— “God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent; hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall He not make it good? Behold, I have received commandment to bless; and He hath blessed; and I can not reverse it. He hath not beheld iniquity in Jacob, neither hath He seen perverseness in Israel; the Lord his God is with him, and the shout of a king is among them. God brought them out of Egypt; He hath as it were the strength of an unicorn. Surely there is no enchantment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel; according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, What hath God wrought!” Verses 19-23. And again, looking upon the camp of Israel from still another view-point, and still speaking under inspiration of God, Balaam said:— “How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the Lord hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters.” Num. 24:5, 6. All this was spoken and was true of God’s chosen people when “there was no king in Israel,” but “the shout of a king” was “among them,” “the Lord of hosts is His name.” Not that the nation was perfect, nor that its history was an unbroken record of prosperity. The children of Israel were only human. In their veins flowed the blood of Reuben, of Simeon, and of Levi, as well as that of Judah, of Joseph, and of Benjamin. Moreover, Israel was at this time less than one generation removed from Egyptian bondage with all its degrading influences and memories. But under divine leadership a race of slaves had become a self-governing people. Again, Israel should be judged not from the standpoint of the present, but in contrast with other people at that time. Viewed in this light, Israel is seen to be inestimably superior to all other peoples of that age. Nor was this because better blood flowed in their veins. It was because they had better laws and better government. “Behold,” said Moses, “I have taught you statutes and judgments, even as the Lord my God commanded me, that ye should do so in the land whither ye go to possess it. Keep therefore and do them; for this is your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the nations, which shall hear all these statutes, and say, Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people. For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon Him for? And what nation is there so great, that hath statutes and judgments so righteous as all this law, which I set before you this day?” Deut. 4:5-8. God’s Word is a living Word. Where it truly dwells, there God is. There was no visible king in Israel—no mortal man who assumed the right to rule over his fellows; but “the shout of a king [was] among them;” for “the Angel of His presence saved them” in Canaan even as He did at the Red Sea and in the wilderness. Tho many times they sinned against Him, His judgments did not destroy but only corrected them; and when they turned again, He forgave their iniquity and delivered them from their enemies. “In His love and in His pity He redeemed them.” “He regarded their affliction, when He heard their cry; and He remembered for them His covenant, and repented according to the multitude of His mercies.” Isa. 63:9; Ps. 106:44, 45. It was because Israel was His peculiar treasure that God was unwilling that His people should pattern after the tribes of Canaan. It was for this reason that Israel was not to be “reckoned among the nations” in the sense of being a part of the world’s political system, not in the sense of not being great and powerful. Tho so far as the world could see, “there was no king in Israel”—none whom the world called a king—every true-hearted Israelite felt the invisible presence of their divine Leader, and “the shout of a King [was] among them;” for God Himself was their King; for He dwelleth not only “in the high and holy place,” but “with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.” Isa. 57:15. “Happy is that people that is in such a case; yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord.” C. P. BOLLMAN.