The Protection of King Joash. Doctrine
of Self Defense 2 Kings 11:4
If we have followed various
contemporary events we will have observed that we live in a culture where there
is a certain segment of the culture that has taken a position against violence
in principle. They represent themselves as being pacifist in relationship to
military conflict, they also represent themselves as being against the private
ownership of guns and they promote extreme regulation of private ownership of
guns and weapons. They are usually the same group of people that are against
capital punishment and who have a way of looking at the penal system in a way
the focus more on rehabilitation than punishment. All of these things are
linked and work together in terms of certain basic presuppositions about human
life. That is why many of those people who hold those positions also take
certain other positions in relationship to life because they really don’t
fundamentally and biblically understand the value of life, even though they
often say that they do. And that is one of those strange little quirks about
people: they are often say that they are defending and promoting one thing when
in fact what they are actually working for is something that is against that
position. They claim to be in the right when they are in the wrong.
We see that again in our
study for when the tide turns against Athaliah she screams out that it is treason
when it is she herself who is the traitor. So we always have to be very careful
not to get caught up simply thinking about the superficial things that people
claim that they are doing, the superficial ways in which they are promoting
things. People say the right things but they are doing the wrong things they
use the right words in order to mask and camouflage their wrong agenda.
There are several basic
doctrines that are embedded within the story of Jehoash who is the king that
comes to the throne in 2 Kings chapter eleven. Embedded within this account
there are these three doctrines. The first is that which relates to
killing—murder, self-defense, war. As we go through this account related to
Jehoash as the king of the southern kingdom in Judah he is going to implement a
way to restore and repair the temple that has been ignored and under disrepair
for a number of years, In doing that he is going to levy some new taxes, call
for free will giving according to the purpose of their heart. These episodes in
the Old Testament connect to key doctrines that are explained clearly in the
New Testament.
What we have seen as we have
been looking at chapters 8-11 with God’s judgment which He brought against the
northern kingdom of
We have seen that the whole
issue of God’s faithfulness focuses on His covenant with David. In that
covenant God promised three things: that David would have an eternal house or
dynasty, an eternal kingdom, and an eternal throne. There can only be an
eternal house, kingdom and throne if the lineage is going to go on without end
in an infinite series of descendants or if one of those descendants is Himself
going to be eternal, which of course is the case. The Davidic covenant openly
focuses on the seed of the woman, as promised in Genesis 3:15. Jesus Christ is
the focal point of those seed promises. Satan understands that and that is
another aspect of the backdrop to these events. Satan’s strategy in the Old
Testament is to prevent God from being able to fulfill the covenant with David
(and earlier with Abraham) because if he can prevent God from bringing the
promised seed then he wins. And so there is always an assault upon the seed of
Abraham and the seed of David.
The first thing Athaliah does
when she comes to the throne is instigate a hit squad against everybody in the
divine line in an attempt to completely blot out and destroy the lineage of
David. She is not on the line of David, she is the only ruler in the southern
kingdom that is not in the lineage of David. This is an aberration in the
southern kingdom and she is virtually a usurper of the throne, and in her
attempt to blot out the line of David she is foiled by the sister of Ahaziah,
the daughter of Jehoram, who rescues one of the infants, the infant son of
Ahaziah, Joash. This is an attack at a spiritual level, because spirituality
drives everything; everything gets driven by theology. We live in a world today
that wants to make theology something very private and personal, and individual
spiritual life is something that is one’s own and it is in a realm of pure
subjectivity. That comes because of the influence of a German philosopher by
the name of Immanuel Kant in the late 1700s who redefined religion as something
that is purely subjective, an individual’s personal, private perception of that
which he said was beyond our senses. This thinking that goes back to Kant
revolutionized the thinking of western civilization. This kind of subjective
view of truth was completely foreign to Moses, Jesus and Paul. They never
understood truth that way, Christianity is based on an actual objective view of
truth and reality and it is defined by God and revealed in His Word.
The southern
2 Kings 11:4 NASB “Now
in the seventh year Jehoiada [the high priest] sent and brought the captains of
hundreds of the Carites and of the guard, and brought them to him in the house
of the LORD. Then he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the
house of the LORD, and showed them the king’s son.” For seven years
Joash has been hidden in the temple. He has been taught and trained by Jehoiada
so his life has been shaped by the teaching of the Word of God and listening to
the reading of the Torah, and according to Deuteronomy this was to be one of
the primary training tools for any leader or king in
So Jehoiada is not
operating outside of the law. In fact, it is Athaliah who is operating outside
of the law, had usurped the throne, taken it from the seed of David through the
violent means of murder. She has had all of the legal heirs to the throne
assassinated, except one. He is the hope, the only one left alive, and God has
protected him through Jehoiada.
2 Kings 11:5 NASB
“He commanded them, saying, ‘This is the thing that you shall do: one third of
you, who come in on the sabbath and keep watch over the king’s house….” This is
not some spur-of-the-moment event, he has thought this out. What he means by
that in terms of those who come on duty, remember that under David the priesthood
was divided into 24 groups which rotated so that they all didn’t serve at the
same time. They served in shifts within these 24 different groupings of
priests, and it seems that the military that served in the temple was also
divided in much the same way so that there were some who would serve for maybe
eight hours and another group would come on for eight hours. One third of them
were to watch over and guard the kings house because this is where Athaliah is
and they have to watch what she is doing and make sure there is not a
successful response to this coup that is taking place. [6] “(one third also
{shall be} at the gate Sur, and one third at the gate behind the guards), shall
keep watch over the house for defense. [7] Two parts of you, {even} all who go out
on the sabbath, shall also keep watch over the house of the LORD for the
king. [8] Then you shall surround the
king, each with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes within the ranks
shall be put to death. And be with the king when he goes out and when he comes
in.” So they are to protect the king from anyone who is allied with Athaliah
who seeks to kill him to keep her on the throne. [9] “So the captains of
hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each one
of them took his men who were to come in on the sabbath, with those who were to
go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. [10] The priest gave to
the captains of hundreds the spears and shields that {had been} King David’s,
which {were} in the house of the LORD.” There is a reason for that in that he is making a
clear statement that they are constitutionally authorized (by the Davidic
covenant), and so he is arming them. [11] “The guards stood each with his
weapons in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the
house, by the altar and by the house, around the king.” That means they have
filled the outer courtyard, they have surrounded the external walls and are on
guard at every gate. Only then, when they have provided complete security, do
they bring out young Joash, seven years old, with tremendous pomp and
circumstance. There is a formality here that takes them back to the foundation
of the Jewish nation in the Mosaic Law. They will bring him out and anoint him
as king. [12] “Then he brought the king’s son out and put the crown on him and
{gave him} the testimony; and they made him king and anointed him, and they
clapped their hands and said, ‘{Long} live the king!’”
People were out to see
what was going on, there was a tremendous amount of noise, and Athaliah now is
alerted, hears the noise and comes out to see what is going on. [14] “She
looked and behold, the king was standing by the pillar, according to the
custom, with the captains and the trumpeters beside the king; and all the
people of the land rejoiced and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes
and cried, ‘Treason! Treason!’” We are not sure what the custom was but
apparently once they had crowned the king he would be taken to stand by one of
the pillars, probably outside the temple, and there they would announce that he
was the king. All the people then were rejoicing, singing hymns and blowing
trumpets. Athatliah cries treason, but it is not treason. She is the traitor.
How often it is that those with evil intent mask their intent with the
deception of claiming they were the ones who are actually following the law,
they are the ones who are actually in the right. The only way to get past that
is to actually know what the right thing is. In those days it was only those
who knew the Torah, who understood the covenants, who were able to see past the
deception of these claims of people like Athaliah.
2 Kings 11:15 NASB
“And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of hundreds who were appointed
over the army and said to them, ‘Bring her out between the ranks, and whoever
follows her put to death with the sword.’ For the priest said, ‘Let her not be
put to death in the house of the LORD.’” They can’t violate the sanctity of the temple so
she is to be taken outside of the temple where she was executed. Following that
there is a covenant made between Jehoiada and the people and the Lord.
We stop here and address
what is going on here in terms of the protection of the king in light of the
doctrine of self-defense in Scripture. It is really the foundation for the
doctrine of just war; it is related to the private ownership of property. It
comes out of a more basic doctrine which is the distinctiveness and the
sanctity of human life.
1. The life of every human being has value because every
human being is created in the image and the likeness of God. Genesis 1:26, 27.
Among all of God’s creatures only human beings are created in His image and
likeness. This indicates something that is distinct about man; not only the
immaterial makeup of man, his soul and his ability to have a relationship with
God, but it also relates to his mission, to his purpose, because the idea of
being an image or representation of somebody is that you are a representative
of someone and are to represent him. Man was to represent God to creation, to
rule over the birds of the air, the fish of the sea, the beasts of the field.
The image was not destroyed when Adam sinned, it was distorted and warped by
sin but every human being is still in the image and likeness of God as value
because they are in the image and likeness of God. They are not valuable
because of what they can produce for society. Every single human being has the
same value because they are created in the image and likeness of God, not
because they are God’s children (the latter is the liberal theology claim).
This becomes the basis for capital punishment. Genesis 9:5 NASB
“Surely I will require your lifeblood; from every beast I will require it. And
from {every} man, from every man’s brother I will require the life of man.
2. There is not an absolute, unequivocal right to life in
the Scripture. Just because you are alive doesn’t mean you have the right to
continue living no matter what. That is the liberal position that flows out of
the universal fatherhood of God, which is a distortion of Genesis 1:26, 27. The
Scriptures clearly make it known that there are circumstances where a person
can forfeit the privilege of living. They can forfeit that privilege of living,
it is not a constitutional guaranteed right to be alive under any and all
circumstances. This occurs, according to Scripture, when people commit certain
crimes which reveal a level of soul depravity and perversion that is so great
that that person has now forfeited the right to live. One of these cases is in
the case of first degree murder or homicide. This is laid down in the Noahic
covenant in Genesis chapter nine. One of the other provisions in that covenant
was to eat meat. Up to that point man was not to eat meat. A third provision of
that covenant was that God promised that He would not ever again destroy the
earth by water. The sign that this covenant is still in effect is the
rainbow—including the right to eat meat, including capital punishment, and the
promise that God won’t destroy the earth again by water. People will ask: What
about those passages in the Bible that talk about you shouldn’t kill? Someone
will bring up Exodus 20:13 which is accurately translated, “Thou shalt not
murder.” This is a prohibition of murder; it is not a prohibition on all
categories of taking human life. God has already delegated two human beings in
the Noahic covenant that under certain circumstances it is the obligation and
responsibility of human beings to take the life of other human beings who have
so forfeited the right to life because of the fact that they have committed
certain crimes. Under the Mosaic Law other crimes called for the forfeiture of
life—idolatry, rape, blaspheming the name of the Lord (which occurs when a
person takes the name of the covenant God of Israel and assigns it to their
agenda falsely). If any creature shed man’s blood then man was to destroy the
life of that creature, whether it was a beast or another human being. Cf.
Exodus 21:28.
3. What we see from this is that the foundation of
self-defense is the recognition that all human life is valuable and must be
protected, even though that may cost the life of someone who attempts to take
the life of another, or threatens to take the life of another. If you feel your
life is threatened Scripture absolves you of guilt in taking the life of the
person whom you think threatens your life. But there is an obligation to
protect life on all of us. Psalm 82:4 NASB “Rescue the weak and
needy; Deliver {them} out of the hand of the wicked.” We are to be vigilant to
protect those who cannot protect themselves. Proverbs 24:11 NASB
“Deliver those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering
to slaughter, Oh hold {them} back.” We are enjoined to protect those whose lives
may be in jeopardy. Ezekiel 33:6 NASB “But if the watchman sees the
sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and a
sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but
his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.” This lays down the
principle that we are to protect others and that of we are negligent in
protecting others it should be that our lives should be taken in capital
punishment.
4. Exodus 22 is the foundation passage related to self-defense.
[2] “If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies,
there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account.” The point here is that if
someone is breaking in and they are threatening to take the life or the
property of an individual, then the person who is threatened or his property is
threatened has the right to take the life of the person who is threatening them
and there is no guilt for that bloodshed. [3] “{But} if the sun has risen on
him, there will be bloodguiltiness on his account. He shall surely make
restitution; if he owns nothing, then he shall be sold for his theft.” The
point is that if you wait two hours and there is no longer any immediate
threat, and then you kill the burglar, you are guilty of murder. But at the
time you are under threat or the threat of the loss of property, you have the
right to take the life of the thief. That doesn’t mean you have to do it; it is
not a mandate, but you have the right.
5. The case law of the Mosaic Law shows that on the basis
of this law and others like it, when a person’s private property is threatened
and their individual life is threatened, then deadly force is acceptable. Two
other key passages in the Old Testament also demonstrate the right of
self-defense. In Nehemiah the Jews have returned from the captivity under the
mandate of Artaxerxes, but they are meeting opposition from people in the land.
The leader is Sanballat and there were others who heard that the walls of
6. There is no change in the New Testament. In Luke
chapter twenty-two Jesus tells the disciples at the end of the Passover meal:
Luke 22:35 NASB “And He said to them, ‘When I sent you out
without money belt and bag and sandals, you did not lack anything, did you?’
They said, ‘{No,} nothing.’ [36] And He said to them, ‘But now [new
dispensation, new instructions], whoever has a money belt is to take it along,
likewise also a bag, and whoever has no sword is to sell his coat and buy one.
[37] For I tell you that this which is written must be fulfilled in Me, ‘AND HE WAS NUMBERED WITH TRANSGRESSORS’; for that which refers to Me has {its} fulfillment.’
[38] They said, ‘Lord, look, here are two swords.’ And He said to them, ‘It is
enough.’” When they were sitting there at the Passover meal they had their
concealed weapons! The reason for that was to defend the Lord. He is to be
arrested that night but it has to follow God’s plan and there can’t be some
situation where somebody in the mob just reaches out and kills Him. He has to
go to the cross, so the swords are there for self-defense. When Peter cut off
the ear of the high priest’s servant Jesus heals the servant, but He doesn’t
rebuke Peter. From the other accounts we learn that He said: “Peter, put your
sword away.” He doesn’t say to throw it away. Peter is guilty of being indiscreet
and foolish in the way he applied the principle of self-defense because there
really wasn’t a threat. So there is also the need for discretion in the use of
violent force because in the use of violent force you are still dealing with
someone—even though they are a criminal and a threat—who is in the image and
likeness of God.
What we learn from this is
that the Bible, from Genesis right through the New Testament, affirms the right
to self-defense. To allow a murder or a theft when it could be prevented is
morally wrong. To put the life of a criminal over the life of a victim is
morally wrong. We see that every person has the right to defend life and
property to the point of taking the life of those who immediately threaten the
life and property, but it doesn’t mean that they should. Even the Lord commuted
David’s sentence. David was guilty of two capital crimes under the Mosaic Law,
murder and adultery, and God commuted that sentence and did not call for
David’s life. So just because it is a legal option doesn’t mean it should
always be invoked; there is room for grace.
Underneath all of this we
have a statement of Jesus in John chapter 15 where He says: “This is My
commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. Greater love
has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.” The
application of that in context is that the Lord is going to die on the cross
for the sins of the world. But an implication and application of that is that
those who are willing to defend the life and the liberty of others are
demonstrating this tremendous love that God is talking about. It was
exemplified by Him on the cross. Those who are willing to defend the life and
the property of others, especially in the military, police, etc., are worthy of
great praise because of their devotion to ultimately saving life.