Who was it that came up with three branches of government: executive, judicial and legislative?
From Deuteronomy 16:18 through the end of chapter 18, we find the subject oscillating between two ways of governance. Would the people of Israel be directed by godly judges and officers (16:18-20; 17:8-13), kings (17:14-20), priests and Levites (18:1-8), and prophets (18:15-22)? Or would they be enslaved and dominated by pagan idolatry (16:21-22; 17:1-7; 18:9-14)? First, “You shall appoint judges and officers in all your gates…and they shall judge the people with just judgment. You shall not pervert justice; you shall not show partiality, nor take a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous” (16:18-19). The judges (Heb, shophetim) might be similar to a justice of the peace or magistrate judge. Officers (Heb, shoterim) would visit places of business, examine weights and measures, oversee civil conduct, neighbor complaints, border disputes, etc. They would then bring the accused before the judge. How important it is also that we “not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (Jn 7:24). And what about kings? It would seem, when the people later insisted on a king from Samuel, “Make us a king to judge us like all the nations” (1 Sam 8:5), the Lord was not happy about this. Later He would declare, “I gave you a king in My anger, and took him away in My wrath” (Hos 13:11). And yet as early as Genesis 17:6, the Lord had promised Abraham that “kings shall come from you” (Gen 17:6). Later, the line of David was to culminate in the King of kings, who would eventually sit on God’s throne and rule the whole universe! More of this in our next study as we consider the plan of the One who actually originated the three branches of government!