And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.
- II Kings 11:1
Today we continue our look at how Christians are to conduct themselves when they find themselves living, as we are here in America in 2022, under an evil and hostile government.
For most of us in America and in the West generally, the idea that we ever would find ourselves living under a government that actively hates us and seeks to harm us has seemed like a paranoid fantasy. Yet with the growing power of globalist organizations such as the Vatican, the World Economic Forum, the United Nations, and the Bilderbergers, as well as individuals such as Bill Gates and George Soros, Americans, and citizens of other once free Western nations have found themselves living under governments that are actively and openly hostile to their political and economic liberties and even their very lives.
This state of affairs raises a number of questions for Christians. How is a Christian to respond when living under a hostile government? Does a Christian have a right to resist an evil government, or does he simply have to put up with whatever laws a rogue government enacts, however evil and destructive they are? If resistance is an option, who does the resisting? What actions constitute proper resistance if resistance can ever be considered proper?
Last week we considered the actions of a private citizen to resist the actions of evil, usurping Queen Athaliah by looking at Jehosheba, who took it upon herself to rescue the only remaining heir of the Davidic throne from the murderous queen, thus preserving the David dynasty. Had Jehosheba not stepped up and saved the infant Joash, there would have been no continuing line of David to sit on the throne of Judah and God’s promise would have been made void. One lesson we can take from this is that private citizens may resist the commands or the actions of a ruler when those actions are evil.
The basis for private citizens is clearly seen in Romans 13. There, we read that the civil magistrate is, “God’s minister to you for good.” If the civil magistrate is “God’s minister,” it is God who is sovereign, not the magistrate. This means that the magistrate’s power is delegated to him by God and does not originate with himself. As such, the civil magistrate is bound by the law of God just as is the private citizen. Rulers do not have a license to lie, cheat, steal, or murder any more than a private citizen does. But if this is the case, who can call the civil magistrate to account? Or to put the question slightly differently, is it ever appropriate to rebel against and forcibly remove from power an evil ruler? And if it is, who can rightfully do this?
The Scriptures rule out the idea of private citizens taking matters into their own hands. Christians are enjoined to pray for rulers so that they may live peaceable lives. Christians can rebuke evil rules for their evil deeds. Take for example John the Baptist’s rebuke of Philip for taking his brother’s wife. But leading a violent rebellion is not something Christians as private citizens are called to do. As further proof of this, we see examples in the Scriptures of men who assassinated evil kings – for example, those men who assassinated King Joash when he went rogue later in life – being treated like murderers.
So, is it ever appropriate for Christians to use physical violence to rebel against an evil ruler? Not for Christian private citizens. But it is appropriate for Christians who wield civil power to do so. In Protestant circles, this idea has historically been known as the doctrine of the lesser magistrate. In his book The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates: A Proper Resistance to Tyranny and a Repudiation of Unlimited Obedience to Civil Government, Matthew Trewhella defines the doctrine of the lesser magistrate thus,
The lesser magistrate doctrine declares that when the superior or higher civil authority makes unjust/immoral laws or decrees, the lesser or lower ranking civil authority has both a right and duty to refuse obedience to that superior authority. If necessary, the lesser authorities even have the right and obligation to actively resist the superior authority (1).
Note well, as Trewhella has defined it, the doctrine of the lesser magistrate states that lower ranking civil authorities not only have the right to actively resist superior authorities, but when those superior authorities make unjust or immoral laws or decrees, they even have the duty to do so.
Let us now turn to the example of the faithful High Priest Jehoiada to see how his interposition helped to remove a wicked government and restore the God-ordained Davidic monarchy to Judah.
Lux Lucet 
Leave a Reply