Thou shalt not revile the gods, nor curse the ruler of thy people.
The command belongs to the instruction given in the mount recorded in Exodus 19-24, written in a book, as one of the statutes and judgments set forth in Exodus 21, 22, and 23. It was given by Christ Jesus Himself, the same Teacher who gave the directions on Mount Sinai and afterward spoke in human flesh. It does not come from a Christless dispensation and is not of a lower order than the statutes given in this age. It is to be obeyed and presented before the people now just as verily as by the children of Israel in the days of Moses, strictly obeyed and kept in jots and tittles as appropriate for the occasion.
It belongs to a code by which the Lord guards the interests of His people and guards against doing injustice, guiding dealings with one another. That code gives special directions concerning the poor and shows impartial ways and exalted requirements. It calls for all contention to cease and for loving as brethren with softened and subdued hearts. Within that setting it enjoins respect for magistrates and rulers, forbidding reviling, cursing, or speaking evil of the ruler of the people, including God's high priest.
Paul treated it as still binding when examined before the high priest who had ordered him to be struck contrary to the law. When bystanders charged him with reviling God's high priest, he answered courteously that he had not known the man was the high priest, for it is written that the ruler must not be spoken evil of. His stern word that God would smite that whited wall was not an outburst of passion but a prophetic denunciation under the Holy Spirit, like Christ's rebuke of Jewish hypocrisy. It was terribly fulfilled when that iniquitous high priest was murdered by assassins in the Jewish war.
The command belongs to the instruction given in the mount recorded in Exodus 19-24, written in a book, as one of the statutes and judgments set forth in Exodus 21, 22, and 23. It was given by Christ Jesus Himself, the same Teacher who gave the directions on Mount Sinai and afterward spoke in human flesh. It does not come from a Christless dispensation and is not of a lower order than the statutes given in this age. It is to be obeyed and presented before the people now just as verily as by the children of Israel in the days of Moses, strictly obeyed and kept in jots and tittles as appropriate for the occasion.
It belongs to a code by which the Lord guards the interests of His people and guards against doing injustice, guiding dealings with one another. That code gives special directions concerning the poor and shows impartial ways and exalted requirements. It calls for all contention to cease and for loving as brethren with softened and subdued hearts. Within that setting it enjoins respect for magistrates and rulers, forbidding reviling, cursing, or speaking evil of the ruler of the people, including God's high priest.
Paul treated it as still binding when examined before the high priest who had ordered him to be struck contrary to the law. When bystanders charged him with reviling God's high priest, he answered courteously that he had not known the man was the high priest, for it is written that the ruler must not be spoken evil of. His stern word that God would smite that whited wall was not an outburst of passion but a prophetic denunciation under the Holy Spirit, like Christ's rebuke of Jewish hypocrisy. It was terribly fulfilled when that iniquitous high priest was murdered by assassins in the Jewish war.