In a multitude of people is a king's glory, But in the dearth of people is a prince's ruin.   Proverbs 14:28

A king is not a king unless he has a kingdom over which to rule. A kingdom will not exist where the people are not fruitful and multiply. Therefore it is wise for kings to encourage their people to grow in number. Today's proverb handles this situation - but the implications of this proverb are fascinating, especially when applied to what is happening in both the United States and Europe.

The simple meaning of this proverb is obvious - a king needs people to have his kingdom flourish. When there is a multitude of people under his rule - he is blessed, but when there is a declining population within the kingdom - it points to the ruin of his son. The son will have a far smaller kingdom over which to rule - or possibly none at all.

As I stated at the beginning of this post, this has amazing ramifications for both our nation and the nations of Europe. Both places have declining populations when it comes to the original population of the countries. As a result of this both of these regions are trying their best to maintain population growth by immigration. The problem is that as the numbers of immigrants grow, they are having more and more influence in the policies and direction of the nation. Give this direction a few more years - and soon Europe will be different - completely different than their forefathers. The United States is not that far from this development either. Why is this happening to these once great nations?

For a king to continue to rule over his own people, he has to encourge his own people to multiply in their families. If they do not, the indigenous people of the land will begin to dwindle in numbers. The result of this will be that a different group of people will begin to rise up and rule the land. All this happens because the people do not have children. Or, in our case, they only want 2.4 children or less. That is what has happened in our nation. We have become a people who do not believe that having multiple children is a blessing. This all began with people espousing a worldview that did not value children. We became a people so interested in our own comforot and our own pleasure that we decidd that children were no longer a blessing of the Lord. We came to the conclusion that the man whose quiver if full of children is not blessed at all. In fact, we decided children were a burden - an unnecessary burden - and within a couple of generations - an unwanted burden.

According to the humanistic worldview - this was a wonderful development. We were supposedly choking the world to death with our overpopulation - our poluting - and our urban sprawl. So when people bought this unbiblical view, they stopped having childen, or they did what was necessary to reduce the number of children they have. Everything seemed wonderful and the planet would be saved. But over time, the dearth of children began to weigh heavy on our society. Now we face problems as our system is imploding. It is doing so because we no longer have far more families coming up, because we do not like or enjoy the thought of having multiple children. Programs like Social Security require a larger generation of younger people than in the older generation. Even our national character - is shifting from being European and western to being either Mexican or Islamic.

A wise set of leaders would have had a biblical worldview. That worldview remembers that God said to be fruitful and multiply. The whole concept of overpopulation is foreign to God. He promises to supply our needs if we will live for His glory and obey His Word. But since those things have been jettisoned just as we have done with His view of children and family - we are facing the "dearth of a people."

An interesting thing about this passage is that it says that the prince is ruined by this. The king is to rule not just with an eye toward himself - but toward his sons - and his grandsons. That is a fascinating thing to see here. It is fascinating because one of the curses of our current political fabric is that we only see the immediate future as important. Most of our elected officials actually only see the next election cycle as important - therefore they plan only to keep people fat and happy til past the next election. All the while as we are doing this - the princes of our future (our children) are having their future ruined by the selfishness of the current generation.

Wisdom means that rulers think ahead - they think long-term - and honestly, they should think biblically. To do otherwise is to think in a way that God will not bless. This, more than the economy or any other factor, is what will bring about the blessing or the dearth of our society and its people. We should always remember the verse, "Blessed are the people who are so situated. Blessed is the nation who's God is the Lord."

Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear Is a wicked ruler over a poor people. Proverbs 28:15

Oppression of the poor by a wicked ruler - that sounds like a modern day headline in one of our newpapers - or in a report that we would read online.  Unfortunately oppression has been going on every since the fall of man - and the beginning of politics.  When the sinfulness of man combined with the treachery of politics - it was not going to be long before men learned how to oppress the poor and helpless for their own benefit.

We read in today's proverb that a wicked ruler over a poor people is like a roaring lion or a rushing bear.  A roaring lion scares the other animals in the forest.  The lion roars to establish his territory and his authority.  Thus when a wicked ruler acts like a roaring lion - he is establishing that he has the power and authority over the poor ones he is oppressing.  We've seen it again and again in history.  The powerful oppress and dominate the poor - even resorting to attacking them with the army to establish their power.  They will use the secret police to kidnap them and torture them to silence anyone's opposition and threat to their power.  It is a sad thing to see - but unfortunately it will continue until the day that Jesus Christ comes to establish a  kingdom based upon justice and righteousness. 

Those who dare to stand against such a wicked ruler will find themselves quickly attacked and often silenced for good.  They may be thrown into prison - or summarily executed for their boldness to oppose the ruler - or threaten their absolute stranglehold on power.  However it is done, the poor quickly learn to hide any desire for freedom and justice, because these things can cost them their lives.  This is why it is so vital for those who have the freedom to choose their leaders, to choose wise and godly ones.  To do otherwise will cost us far more than just a wrongly cast vote - it could cost us our freedoms - and in some severe cases - even our lives.

In the light of a king's face is life, And his favor is like a cloud with the spring rain. Proverbs 16:15

This verse in Proverbs is given as a second statement about rulers - and it comes from a positive point of view.  Verse 14 dealt with the fury of a king - while this one deals with his favor. 

The light of a king's face is life.  No one knew this more than Esther, who dared come into the presence of king Ahasuerus without being summoned.  She knew that there was a punishment for this kind of action - death.  Only if he extended the golden scepter to her would she be delivered from the death penalty for such an offense.  To receive such an action was to be allowed to see the king's face.  That meant that he was showing her grace and favor. 

The favor of the king is also compared to a cloud with the spring rain.  This was called the "latter" rain - and it was the rain that was absolutely necessary if a good crop was to be expected.  Without these latter rains, the crops would be killed by the lack of rain.  When these clouds would come up over the land, people would rejoice because they knew that God had blessed them and that they were going to have a crop that would bear abundantly.  So also the favor of the king meant that blessing was coming.  In the culture at the time the king had absolute power.  If he decreed that you were to die - you would die.  If you knew his favor - then great blessing would come to you and your family.

We sing a song in worship at Calvary that goes this way, "Thou, O Lord, art a shield about me, Your my glory, and the lifter of my head."  This song deals with something very similar to this verse.  The lifting of the head was a symbol that the one who had previously bowed to the king was being allowed to see his face - and thus receive his favor.  If you remember in the book of Esther, when the king was furious with Haman, a black bag was put over his head.  This symbolized that he would NEVER see the face of the king again.  It also meant death. 

The amazing thing about this whole idea of the light of the king's face is the way that is reflects to us the message of the gospel.  There is a King that we all have to approach one day at the end of the age.  He is a King Whose holiness prevents us from coming before Him without being judged for our sin.  Were we to try to approach Him unworthily, we would be consumed by His wrath and righteous judgment upon sin.  But there is also One who has gone before us - Jesus Christ - and who has taken our sin and paid the full penalty for our sin.  He has taken the judgment.  Not only this, but He has also given us His perfect righteousness - by which we can stand before God accepted and welcomed.  Truly Jesus Christ is the light of the King's face to us - and he is the reason God's favor can be granted to us.  May God ever remind us of the grace gloriously showered upon us by His gracious act in Christ - and may we rejoice in His favor like the clouds filled with the latter rains.  Christ has opened the way and brought us to see the King's face with favor - favor purchased by His death, burial, and resurrection.  Glory to God for His grace, favor, and the joy of seeing His face in Christ Jesus.