The Mysterious Allure of Royalty

This past weekend the United Kingdom celebrated the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II, marking the 70th anniversary of her accession to the throne. Elizabeth began her reign on February 6, 1952 upon the death of her father King George VI. She is the only British Monarch to serve that long, surpassing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria who occupied the throne for over 63 years.

The Jubilee commemoration proved once again that the British are unparalleled when it comes to pomp and pageantry. The Jubilee Weekend festivities included a military parade, horse races, concerts, feasts, and a thanksgiving service at St. Paul’s Cathedral. Understandably, the 96 year old sovereign was unable to participate in every event, but at the conclusion of the holiday, she did appear with the royal family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace to the delight of the British crowds. The Queen released a statement which read, “I have been humbled and deeply touched that so many people have taken to the streets to celebrate my Platinum Jubilee. While I may not have attended every event in person, my heart has been with you all; and I remain committed to serving you to the best of my ability.”

Queen Elizabeth’s Jubilee celebration is an opportunity to reflect upon the enduring hold that the monarchy continues to have upon the hearts of the British people, and indeed upon people around the world, including here in the former colonies. If you have any doubts about this phenomenon, consider this: when Prince Charles married Lady Diana Spencer in July of 1981, an estimated 750 million people worldwide watched the nuptials! The British live under a constitutional monarchy; that is, the authority of the monarch is quite limited. The actual machinery of government is overseen by elected officials. The power to make and enforce the law lies with Parliament and the Prime Minister. Long gone are the days of absolute monarchy, when the king or queen exercised complete authority over all matters. So why is it that there is such intense interest and affection for the monarchy?

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The theme of royalty pervades the scriptures. Consider the words of David in Psalm 8: “When I consider the heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than God and crowned him with glory and honor. You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you put everything under his feet.” Here David is reflecting upon the foundational Hebrew creation story in Genesis chapter one, whereby God delegates his royal authority over the world to his image bearing human creatures. The human race is fashioned from the dust of the earth. Yet even though we’re made from mud, we are paradoxically the pinnacle of God’s work. We have been given marvelous qualities such that we’re capable of governing the world on God’s behalf, ensuring that the creation flourishes in the way that God intends.

This is the dynamic David is referring to when he writes “you made [mankind] a little lower than God.” God alone is the great King over all the earth, yet human beings have been given the exalted role of exercising God’s wisdom and justice over the world. We’ve been “crowned” with the glory and honor of being made “ruler” over all that God has made. This language makes explicit the Biblical theme that human beings have been entrusted with royal authority. Additionally, it’s crucial to understand that the sovereignty God has granted to humanity is not a temporary appointment. We haven’t merely been given transient responsibility for the world until we reach our true home in ‘heaven.’ Rather, human sovereignty over creation is God’s intention for all eternity. Let’s explore how this theme plays out through the rest of the Bible.

The key theme of royalty dominates the first two chapters of the Genesis, where the man and the woman were given responsibility to care for the garden. The man and the woman – while figures in their own right – are archetypal symbols of the entire human race. Meanwhile, the garden represents God’s whole creation. The point of the story ought to be clear: if humanity worships the one true God and lives according to his wisdom, then they shall have access to the tree of life. The tree of life is an obvious symbol for the kind of joyful, thriving, abundant life available to those who (a) faithfully worship the Creator and (b) live in obedience to his commands. Thus, for human beings to succeed in their task of governing the world, they must fulfill (a) a priestly responsibility of worshipping God alone and (b) a royal responsibility of implementing God’s sovereign rule over the earth.

We all know that, despite humanity’s lofty responsibility to care for the created order, the human race has fallen down on the job. The tragic story is recounted in Genesis 3, when the man and the woman eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Again, more obvious symbolism here: rather than living according to God’s wisdom, humans sought to exercise their own set of values. They turned away from God – the source of all life and goodness – and attempted to seize authority over the world for themselves alone. The result was disastrous: a world full of violence, fear, futility, alienation and ultimately death.

God’s solution to this disastrous turn of events is not to scrap the whole creation project while evacuating certain people to some otherworldly destination called ‘heaven.’ Rather, God’s whole plan of salvation involves restoring humanity to their rightful role as his image bearers. If men and women commit themselves to proper worship and obedience, they will be equipped to wisely govern the created order. This grand project to bring about the restoration of humanity is at the very heart of the Biblical story. Moreover, God’s project has a name…it’s called Israel.

In the book of Exodus, we read about the dramatic events whereby God brought the people of Israel out of bitter slavery in Egypt. Led by Moses, the Israelites traveled to Mount Sinai where they entered into a covenant with God. “Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, ‘This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the People of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.‘”

These importance of these words can hardly be overstated. In effect, this passage forms the foundational charter for the nation of Israel, revealing her raison d’etre – the very reason for her existence. God called Israel to fulfill the role marked out for humanity from the beginning. Just like the man and the woman in the garden, the children of Israel were given the same crucial twofold task: the priestly task of worshipping the one true God alone and the royal task of exercising God’s authority over the world through obedience to his commands.

The rest of the book of Exodus gives a detailed account of God’s covenant with Israel; yet all of these detailed stipulations and ordinances are simply an outworking of the central theme of the royal priesthood. Take, for instance, the first two commandments: “You shall have no other gods before me” and “You shall not make for yourselves an idol.” Clearly, both of these instructions are simply an expression of humanity’s priestly task of giving exclusive, undivided worship to the one true God.

The same is true for the latter commands. Human beings accomplish their royal task when they govern the world in accordance with God’s wisdom, honoring God’s prohibitions against murder, adultery, theft, and deceit. These behaviors bring about misery, injustice and death in the world. However, Israel’s rule as kings and queens was not just a matter of avoiding destructive patterns of behavior. Rather it involved constructive action – cultivating love for their neighbor, seeking the best for all people, just as they sought the best for themselves. When that happens, God’s world flourishes!

Thus, God’s covenant with Israel constitutes his rescue plan for the entire creation. Israel was called to become the true human beings, the royal priesthood, offering true worship and complete obedience to God. Just like the man and the woman, Israel was given a ‘garden’ to care for: God promised them the land of Canaan, flowing with milk and honey. It would be a foretaste of things to come. There would still be glorious future moment when God would somehow call people of every nation into full membership in Israel, serving in the royal priesthood. And when that time arrived, the ‘garden’ would no longer be a small strip of land along the eastern Mediterranean. Then the ‘garden’ would be the whole earth, indeed, the entire cosmos.