Way Less Free

 

Image: Unsplash

Think about this, this was the offer that Israel was made by God: they would get their land, they would all get a share in the land, they would get looked after by God, the best judge in the universe, the most gracious and wise and just being in the universe, full of mercy and grace. All the people had to do was follow his commands and they would be fine.

Now, some people think this was really hard. But Israel’s law only had 613 laws. 613. That’s a light burden. 

In Australia from federation in 1901 to 2012 on average 109 laws were passed every year. From 2013 to 2022 the average was 139. That equals 12,099 laws + 1,251 laws which equals 13,350 laws, and that is just an estimate. And that is just the federal government.  Our country is addicted to making laws, many of which increasingly restrict our freedom.

This highlights an often forgotten point; the Israelites were far more blessed and free than we could probably ever imagine in our society, where there are laws for almost everything.

Israel had the chance to be ruled solely by the good God, through his priests and judges, but instead they chose, “a king to judge us like all the nations.” They wanted a fallen human king instead.

When you consider this, we really are far less free than we think.