申十六18 你要在耶和华你神所赐的各城里，按着支派设立审判官和官长；他们必按公义的判断，审判百姓。

　　三三8 论利未说，耶和华啊，愿你的土明和乌陵都在你的虔诚人那里……。

　　申命记中……论到神圣行政的段落，不仅是摩西的话，也是神的话（十六18~20，十七8~20，十九15~21，二一1~9、18~23，二二13~30，二四1~4、7、16，二五1~3、5~16）。我们需要研读这些段落，好认识神的心思，并知道祂所想的是什么。神认识人和人的需要、情形、光景。所以，凡神所说关于人的，都是最后的断语。……神百姓中间的神圣行政，不是专制，也不是民主，乃是神治。神治乃是按着神的所是由神管理。今天我们在召会生活中，不是实行独裁的专制，也不是实行按着人意的民主。相反的，我们尊重神的权柄，以其作为对我们的管理，因此召会中的行政乃是神治（申命记生命读经，一三八至一三九页）。

　　Deut. 16:18 You shall appoint for yourself judges and officers in all your cities which Jehovah your God is giving you, according to your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment.

　　33:8 And concerning Levi he said, May Your Thummim and Urim be with Your faithful man…

　　The portions of Deuteronomy which deal with the divine government are the word of God, not merely the word of Moses [Deut. 16:18-20; 17:8-20; 19:15-21; 21:1-9, 18-23; 22:13-30; 24:1-4, 7, 16; 25:1-3, 5-16]. We need to study all these portions in order to know God’s mind and to know what He is thinking. God knows man and man’s need, condition, and situation. Therefore, whatever God speaks regarding man is the final word. The divine government among God’s people is neither autocracy nor democracy but theocracy. Theocracy is government by God according to what He is. In the church life today, we exercise neither autocracy, which is a kind of dictatorship, nor democracy, which is according to the opinion of the people. Instead, we honor God’s authority as our government, and thus the government in the church is a theocracy. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, p. 117)

　　争执的事主要是由祭司审查〔参申十七8~9〕。祭司审查争执的事，首先到神那里，停留在神面前。其次，祭司在神面前思考神的圣言。第三，如申命记三十三章八节指明的，祭司利未人有胸牌带着乌陵和土明，提供即时的光照。……至终，祭司借着神的同在、神的话以及乌陵和土明，就对神圣的断案有清楚的领会，然后把这断案交给当时的审判官。审判官就按着祭司从神所领受并传给他的，执行审断。因此，争执之事的审断是借着人，却是出于神并照着神。这乃是真实的神治。

　　召会中的行政管理不该是专制，也不该是民主，乃该是神治。……所有的圣徒都是祭司，但长老们是领头的祭司。他们是这样的祭司，该带着神的圣言和今日的胸牌—调和的灵同着基督与召会—停留在主面前。他们带着圣言和调和的灵，为着召会停留在主面前，就会按主的思想得着领会；这领会要成为一种审断的决断。然后长老们该按这神圣的审断来管理。因此长老的功用首先是领头的祭司，然后是管理者（申命记生命读经，一四○至一四一页）。

　　在旧约以色列人中间，神管理祂的百姓，乃是按照祂常时的说话，就如写在律法中的话，并按照祂即时的说话，就如借着大祭司的胸牌，由乌陵和土明所启示的；或借着神的灵降临某些人身上，使他们能作申言者说神的话所启示的。……再者，神的管理是借着一些人作代理而执行的：祭司和长老、士师或君王为着神的神治效力，作直接管理者。在新约的召会里，使徒的教训（徒二42）顶替神行政中的律法，而众召会的长老（十四23，多一5）是直接的管理者，按照使徒的教训治理（提前三2，五17）。关于主即时的说话，基督里所有的信徒，包括长老，都是神的祭司（彼前二5，启一6），有基督作大祭司活在他们里面（来八1，罗八10），并有圣灵与他们重生之人的灵调和（16），顶替了乌陵与土明的功用（圣经恢复本，申十六18注2）。

　　参读：申命记生命读经，第十七篇。

　　[Complicated cases were] investigated mainly by the priest [Deut. 17:8-9]. First, the priest investigated the case by going to God and staying with God. Second, in the presence of God, the priest would consider God’s holy word. Third, as 33:8 indicates, the Levitical priests had the breastplate with the Urim and Thummim, which provided instant enlightenment….Eventually, through the presence of God, the word of God, and the Urim and Thummim, the priest would gain a clear understanding of the divine judgment and then pass on this judgment to the presiding judge. The judge would then make a judgment according to what the priest had received from God and passed on to him. The judgment of the case, therefore, came through man, but it was of God and according to God. It was truly a matter of theocracy.

　　The government in the church should be neither autocratic nor democratic but theocratic….All the saints are priests, but the elders are the leading priests. As such priests, they should stay in the Lord’s presence with God’s holy word and with today’s breastplate—the mingled spirit with Christ and the church. As they remain in the Lord’s presence with the word and the mingled spirit for the church, they will receive an understanding that is according to the Lord’s thought, and this will become a decision as a kind of judgment. The elders should then administrate according to this divine judgment. Thus the elders function first as the leading priests and then as the administrators. (Life-study of Deuteronomy, p. 119)

　　Among the children of Israel in the Old Testament God governed His people according to His constant speaking, as written in the law, and His instant speaking, as revealed either through the breastplate of the high priest by means of the Urim and Thummim or through the prophets by the Spirit of God coming upon certain ones to enable them to speak God’s word….Moreover, God’s government was executed through some human agents: the priests and the elders, the judges, or the kings as direct administrators, who worked together for God’s theocracy. In the church in the New Testament the teaching of the apostles (Acts 2:42) replaces the law in God’s administration, and the elders of the churches (Acts 14:23; Titus 1:5) are the direct administrators, who administrate according to the teaching of the apostles (1 Tim. 3:2; 5:17). In relation to the instant speaking of the Lord, all the believers in Christ, including the elders, are priests to God (1 Pet. 2:5; Rev. 1:6), having Christ as the High Priest living within them (Heb. 8:1; Rom. 8:10) and having the Holy Spirit mingled with their regenerated human spirit (Rom. 8:16) to replace the function of the Urim and Thummim. (Deut. 16:18, footnote 1)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Deuteronomy, msg. 17