For to us a Child is born, a Son is given, and the government will be on His shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)
A King for America
“A King! A King!” the people shouted. “We need a king to rule over us!”
Anyone who has spent a semester in a high school American History class realizes that the time following the American Revolution was full of dissatisfaction and upheaval. After the peace treaties had been signed with the British in 1783 and the Thirteen Colonies were free of British rule, a rumor began to circulate: make George Washington, brave leader of the Revolution, the King of America. Washington, who had given his all to his country, had no desire to be king.
He refused the Kingship.
It’s a nice story, but none of it is true. It began as a myth when Lewis Nicola proposed the formation of a new country–with a king–in the western part of the continent. It IS true that Nathaniel Gorham, President of the Continental Congress, wrote a letter to Prince Henry of Prussia in 1786, offering him the Kingship of America. The government Gorham had in mind was to be closely modeled after the monarchy in England that the fledgling country of America had fought so hard to escape.
Wisely, Prince Henry refused and sent this message across the ocean: “The Americans have shown so much determination against their old king that they would not easily submit to a new one.” With this refusal, the delegates rallied themselves, drafted the Constitution of the United States of America, and begged George Washington to take the office of President.
But old habits die hard or, as my grandmother used to say, “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.” Alexander Hamilton—yes, THAT Hamilton–argued that the office of President should be for a lifetime. John Adams suggested that the President be referred to as “your Majesty.” Washington, longing to retire to Mount Vernon and almost blind, had no desire for absolute power but was concerned that his fellow countrymen could so easily desire a monarch. He set the precedent for a two-term President.
Because, as Lord Acton of England once said, “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
A King for Israel
“A King! A King!” the people shouted. “We need a king to rule over us!”
Israel, with their sovereign God, still wanted to be like all the other countries and have a King to lead them. They demanded that Samuel, the aged prophet, find a King. Samuel took this request to God, who told Samuel, “Listen to all the people are saying. It is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their King. As they have done from the day I brought them out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods” (I Samuel 8:7-8).
God further told Samuel to “warn the people that a king will rule over them and claim his rights” (1 Samuel 8:9). He went on to list all the demands a king would make on the people, demands that would cost them their sons, their women, their crops, their grain, and their freedom.
So Saul–yes, THAT Sault–became the first King of Israel. He repeatedly disobeyed God and let his jealousy of the young David drive him into madness.
So much for earthly kings.
A King for All
But not the King, the Prince of Peace, that was promised in Isaiah and born as Jesus. Unlike Presidents and Kings who do not listen to God’s commands but allow their absolute power to corrupt, Jesus is the perfect King, fulfilling all the promises given by the prophets and, not by coincidence, all the characteristics set forth in the Constitution of the United States of America.
- To form a more perfect union.
Jesus makes no distinctions for race, ethnicities, class, or gender. Our Everlasting Father is for all people, for all time, giving us all equal access to God and loving all His children (Colossians 3:28).
- To establish justice and domestic tranquility.
The sacrifice of Jesus covers all of our sins and prevents us from seeking revenge on those who have wronged us (Romans 12:19). We can trust Jesus, Wonderful Counselor, to implement justice when needed.
- To promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our prosterity.
Our Constitution provides us with the promise of “the common good”, the right to make our own choices but to do so in a way that benefits all. Jesus, our Mighty God, has the power to not only give us what we need for an earthly existence, but work all things together for His glory (Romans 8:28).
- To provide for the common defense.
The Prince of Peace is authority over all forces, physical and spiritual (Matthew 28:18). Even His enemies are used to accomplish His purposes (Revelation 17:17).
The Founding Fathers envisioned a new country, free of tyrannical rule and discrimination, a country where everyone was able to live at peace and prosper. We may have fallen short of the ideal they upheld, but true freedom comes from Jesus as we live in His kingdom (Colossians 1:13).
Let Freedom Ring!
References:
Jesus the Perfect King | Desiring God Community Church (desiringgodchurch.org)
Lessons of the Time America’s Founders Tried to Draft a King | Time
Why Did Israel Want an Earthly King When They Had God? (christianity.com)
