In Bible times, the wearing of rings was not only for ornamental purposes. Sometimes it depicted authority. It was not uncommon for kings to write and seal with their rings. Such practice was to bring authority to bear. There are two quick examples that we can refer to for illustration. After Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, the king gave his ring to him. “And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring off his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand; and he clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain around his neck” (Genesis 41:41-42). A second example is in the book Esther. Through a series of divinely orchestrated intervention, the plot to destroy all Jews was quelled, and Haman the plotter was killed. The next thing we noticed was the king removing the signet ring that was once given to Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. From then on Mordecai became a man of authority, rising to the second in command in the entire empire.

On his return, the prodigal son was attired with gorgeous dress and a ring to match. That was revealing. The idea was to bring him back to the realm of honour and authority, which he lost when he walked away from his father. Worth stressing is the fact that before he received the ring, he was covered with the best robe. Seen with evangelical eye, that robe is the robe of righteousness. We must first put on this robe before the ring of authority will find its place. In other words, before we can walk in authority we must choose to walk in righteousness.