1 Samuel 8:9–18 (NASB95)
9 “Now then, listen to their voice; however, you shall solemnly warn them and tell them of the procedure of the king who will reign over them.”
10 So Samuel spoke all the words of the LORD to the people who had asked of him a king.
11 He said, “This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots.
12 “He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.
13 “He will also take your daughters for perfumers and cooks and bakers.
14 “He will take the best of your fields and your vineyards and your olive groves and give them to his servants.
15 “He will take a tenth of your seed and of your vineyards and give to his officers and to his servants.
16 “He will also take your male servants and your female servants and your best young men and your donkeys and use them for his work.
17 “He will take a tenth of your flocks, and you yourselves will become his servants.
18 “Then you will cry out in that day because of your king whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the LORD will not answer you in that day.”

The citizens of Israel wanted to have a king rule over them instead of having God as their king. God solemnly warned them of the manner of the king who would rule over them. Such a self-serving king would take their sons to run is own operations and they would be forced to labor for him to reap his harvest and make his weapons and equipment. He would force their daughters into servitude as well so that these “working women” would be unable to stay at home and manage their own household or raise their children as God intended. This king would take a tenth of their seed and vineyards to give to his servants (which speaks of big government). He would take their male and female servants and best of their young men and donkeys to use for his own work. He would take a tenth of their flocks and the people would become his servants (existing only to labor for the king). They would cry out under this oppression having no hope for their future when all of the fruit of their labor would go to serve the king.

This was a punishment to the people for rejecting God as their King and so having a self-serving man rule over them (to make their lives pure misery in toil and labor) which would not benefit themselves or their own families.

Leaders Right to Prosper

It is acceptable for a civil leader to prosper, (if he fosters policies that cause his people to prosper first). A good civil leader should experience prosperity as an overflow of the prosperity of his own people whom he is leading. King David’s leadership caused his people to prosper, so he was legitimately entitled to a “leader’s share” because he made his own people prosper first. A “leader’s share” is a reward for those civil leaders who make others prosper under their leadership.

1 Samuel 30:20 (NASB95)
20 So David had captured all the sheep and the cattle which the people drove ahead of the other livestock, and they said, “This is David’s spoil.”

David was unlike King Saul who was exploiting the labor of the people to serve himself only. David caused all those who followed him to prosper tremendously. It was therefore not an outlandish thing that David was given a special portion of the spoil as a reward for his effective leadership that caused everyone to prosper who followed him.

1 Samuel 30:22–25 (NASB95)
22 Then all the wicked and worthless men among those who went with David said, “Because they did not go with us, we will not give them any of the spoil that we have recovered, except to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away and depart.”
23 Then David said, “You must not do so, my brothers, with what the LORD has given us, who has kept us and delivered into our hand the band that came against us.
24 “And who will listen to you in this matter? For as his share is who goes down to the battle, so shall his share be who stays by the baggage; they shall share alike.”
25 So it has been from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel to this day.

David was generous with his people and acknowledged that every citizen served an important role. Even those people who took care of camp operations and watched over their baggage were considered important and David shared with them equally the same as with the warriors who went to battle. The support staff are equally as important as those who do the fighting because the warriors could do nothing without the help of the supporting staff. Therefore they were all equally entitled to care in the rewards obtained by the group as a result.

The leadership of David and his generosity toward his people was in great contrast to King Saul (who only seized whatever he wanted from the people and forced everyone to serve him with their own labor). David served the people and saw to it that they all prospered under his reign. This is in contrast to a dictator who only uses the people to serve himself without consideration of meeting the needs of the people under his authority.

Civil Leaders Serving in the Role of a Shepherd

Ezekiel 34:2–4 (NASB95)
2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to those shepherds, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD, “Woe, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?
3 “You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat sheep without feeding the flock.
4 “Those who are sickly you have not strengthened, the diseased you have not healed, the broken you have not bound up, the scattered you have not brought back, nor have you sought for the lost; but with force and with severity you have dominated them.

God referred to civil leaders in Israel as being shepherds. This is a good analogy because just as a shepherd watches over natural (four-legged) sheep, so a civil leader is to watch over the citizens entrusted under his care. God rebuked the civil leaders of Israel through the mouth of Ezekiel the prophet and told them that they were exploiting the citizens for their own service but were not caring for the people under their authority. God said, “Woe, to the shepherds of Israel who were feeding only themselves. They were supposed to be caring for the flock rather than exploiting them. They were busy devouring the substance of the people and taking everything the citizens produced for themselves. It was for this reason that God pronounced judgment upon these evil and self-serving civil leaders.

Good Leaders Resist Exploiters

Nehemiah was an example of a good leader who cared for the needs of the people. He was in contrast to those nobles who were exploiting the people with excessive taxes and high interest loans which were forced upon the people who needed to buy food and pay taxes.

Nehemiah 5:1–14 (NASB95)
1 Now there was a great outcry of the people and of their wives against their Jewish brothers.
2 For there were those who said, “We, our sons and our daughters are many; therefore let us get grain that we may eat and live.”
3 There were others who said, “We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our houses that we might get grain because of the famine.”
4 Also there were those who said, “We have borrowed money for the king’s tax on our fields and our vineyards.
5 “Now our flesh is like the flesh of our brothers, our children like their children. Yet behold, we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves, and some of our daughters are forced into bondage already, and we are helpless because our fields and vineyards belong to others.”
6 Then I was very angry when I had heard their outcry and these words.
7 I consulted with myself and contended with the nobles and the rulers and said to them, “You are exacting usury, each from his brother!” Therefore, I held a great assembly against them.
8 I said to them, “We according to our ability have redeemed our Jewish brothers who were sold to the nations; now would you even sell your brothers that they may be sold to us?” Then they were silent and could not find a word to say.
9 Again I said, “The thing which you are doing is not good; should you not walk in the fear of our God because of the reproach of the nations, our enemies?
10 “And likewise I, my brothers and my servants are lending them money and grain. Please, let us leave off this usury.
11 “Please, give back to them this very day their fields, their vineyards, their olive groves and their houses, also the hundredth part of the money and of the grain, the new wine and the oil that you are exacting from them.”
12 Then they said, “We will give it back and will require nothing from them; we will do exactly as you say.” So I called the priests and took an oath from them that they would do according to this promise.
13 I also shook out the front of my garment and said, “Thus may God shake out every man from his house and from his possessions who does not fulfill this promise; even thus may he be shaken out and emptied.” And all the assembly said, “Amen!” And they praised the LORD. Then the people did according to this promise.
14 Moreover, from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s food allowance.

During the time of Nehemiah there were some nobles or princes who were exploiting the people. These Jewish people had just returned from captivity and were rebuilding their nation. They were neglecting their fields in order to build the wall around Jerusalem. Therefore, a famine resulted because they were unable to plant their crops when they were working on construction.

But the princes were demanding taxes from them (even when the people had no income). These self-serving leaders were harsh and unyielding even forcing the people to pay or have their children seized as slaves. This was even being done by Jewish princes against their own Jewish people (not oppression caused by outside foreigners).

Nehemiah 5:14–19 (NASB95)
14 Moreover, from the day that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of King Artaxerxes, for twelve years, neither I nor my kinsmen have eaten the governor’s food allowance.
15 But the former governors who were before me laid burdens on the people and took from them bread and wine besides forty shekels of silver; even their servants domineered the people. But I did not do so because of the fear of God.
16 I also applied myself to the work on this wall; we did not buy any land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work.
17 Moreover, there were at my table one hundred and fifty Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us.
18 Now that which was prepared for each day was one ox and six choice sheep, also birds were prepared for me; and once in ten days all sorts of wine were furnished in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the governor’s food allowance, because the servitude was heavy on this people.
19 Remember me, O my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.

Nehemiah’s leadership was in great contrast to this because he did not take the allowance he was authorized to receive as a governor. He did not want to place further financial burden upon the people. Nehemiah supplied the needs of his staff out of his own budget instead of taxing the people for it.

When a civil leader serves only himself (but does nothing to help the people prosper) then he becomes a freeloader who lives off the labor of others. Civil leaders are to work at the task of administration and earn the right to the wages they receive. Never were the civil leaders to do nothing but collect taxes so they can live in luxury at the expense of the citizens.

Making Our Own People Prosper

Under our system, we create a situation where every member of our group can prosper and benefit from the fruit of their own labor. We create an association which will handle administrative needs and group organization but it is the people who are allowed to prosper from the fruit of their own labor. We have a production system planned that utilizes technology to create prosperity and thus greatly reduces the curse of Adam which forces men to labor by the sweat of their brow to produce a living. See the link “Allowing Citizens to Prosper” for more details.