The Boy King

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Ten years ago, during some study leave, I had the privilege of staying with the Australian evangelist John Chapman. And one night I took him out to the Sydney Opera House. And over the meal before the opera he said, ‘This is actually my 70th birthday.’ So I said, ‘Why aren’t you doing something bigger?’ And he said, ‘Between me and you, they laid on a big surprise party last year and I didn’t have the heart to tell them they were early.’ Anyway, he started asking me what I’d been studying and I said, ‘Mainly the book of Romans.’ And he said, ‘What’s been the main lesson?’ And I’d thought a lot about the bit where Abraham is used as an example of faith and it emphasises how hard it was for him to believe God’s promise that he’d have a son in old age. So I said to him, ‘Well, I think it’s been the lesson of how hard it can be to trust God’ – which was personally true for me at the time. And he fell into a thoughtful silence. And I wondered if he was worried for me and about to ask if I was falling away. But then with all the wisdom of a 70-year-old Christian, he said, ‘Yes. We need to tell people that faith is simple. But we must never give the impression that it’s easy.’

And I remember that vividly because it’s so true. Faith is simple – it’s believing God’s promises to us in the Bible, and a child can do it (often better than an adult). But it’s often hard – sometimes very hard. Eg, Romans is about God’s promise that he’ll accept us as forgiven people on the day of judgement. But is that easy to believe the more you realise your own sinfulness? Or take the promise in Matthew 6 on the strength of which we’re told not to worry:

‘But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things [ie, all you really need] will be given to you as well.’ (Matthew 6.33)

But is that easy to believe when you’re unemployed; or a Pakistani Christian flooded out and left with nothing?

Or take the end of Psalm 23:

6Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life... (Psalm 23.6)

But is that easy to believe when you’ve just failed your course, or had a miscarriage, or been diagnosed with something serious, or you’re struggling with unwanted singleness?

Well, faith was not at all easy for the people for whom the Old Testament (OT) book of 2 Kings was originally written. Because they were in exile. They’d lost their land, their king and their identity as a kingdom. And they were wondering, ‘Do God’s promises still stand? Or has he given up on them and on us?’ And you don’t have to be a Christian long before experience makes you ask those kind of questions.

But before we turn to 2 Kings, we need to look at the promise which the exiles would have struggled most to believe. So would you open up the Bibles at 2 Samuel 7. And would you look down to v11 – halfway through v11 where there’s a new paragraph. This is God speaking to King David:

'The LORD declares to you [King David] that the LORD himself will establish a house for you [house as in dynasty, family line]: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom [and the first of those offspring was Solomon]. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name [that is, the temple], and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. [And skip top v16:]. 16 Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.' "(2 Samuel 7.11-16)

So God promised there that a descendent of David would rule over his people for their good, forever. And that is the central promise of the Bible under which we live. If they’re going to put you on a desert island and you’re only allowed one promise of the Bible, this is the one to take. Because this is the promise that’s driving the history of the world, and which is being ultimately fulfilled by the ultimate descendent of David – namely, Jesus.

But how would you read that promise as an exile in Babylon, when there was no king in the line of David and no kingdom anymore for him to rule over? Wouldn’t you have to say it’s proved a false promise, and to abandon faith? Well 1 & 2 Kings were written to say: ‘No’ to that question. They were written to say, ‘That promise to David still stands. It may be looking unfulfilled; but it really is being fulfilled.’ And that’s what the chapter we reach in our series today is out to show. So let’s turn on to 2 Kings 11, and I’ve got two points about that promise to David under which we live:

1. The promise looking unfulfilled; and2.The promise really being fulfilled

So firstly, THE PROMISE LOOKING UNFULFILLED (vv1-3)

Let me remind you what’s been happening in 1 & 2 Kings. After King David came King Solomon. He began well, but ended sinfully – so that, as a judgement, God allowed a rebellion against him, Israel split into two kingdoms, and Solomon’s successors lost much of their influence. So now you’ve got the kingdom of Israel in the north and the kingdom of Judah in the south. And David’s descendents are the kings of Judah. Meanwhile, the kings of Israel turn drastically away from the Lord, reaching a climax of evil in King Ahab and his wife Jezebel. And in the first two sermons in this series we’ve seen how the Lord brought them and their sons to a grim, but deserved, end.

However, a daughter of Ahab (and I presume Jezebel) survives. Her name is Athaliah (not a name you find in the baby names books) and we meet her in 2 Kings 11. So she’s from the royal family of the northern kingdom, bringing with her all the false religion and evil of her parents. And she’s been married off into the southern kingdom supposedly to try to cement some peace between the kingdoms. And that’s why we find this daughter of Ahab and Jezebel in Jerusalem, capital of Judah. Her son Ahaziah, king of Judah, has just been killed. So now let’s pick it up at 2 Kings 11, v1:

1When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family.

Ie, she set out to kill all the descendents of David into whose family she’d married. So we have that expression, ‘He’d even sell his own granny.’ Well, here’s the granny who’d even kill her own grandchildren to get power. Read onto v2:

2But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes, who were about to be murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah; so he was not killed.

So by the end of v2, there’s only one living descendent of David left – the baby Joash. As someone has put it, ‘The promise to David now hung by the thread of a single infant.’ Read on, v3:

3He remained hidden with his nurse at the temple of the LORD for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.

So in v3, for the only time in the history of the kingdom of Judah, a non-descendent-of-David, a usurper, is on the throne. And judging from its start, it must have been a ruthless reign, a dreadful time. So what is God doing about his promise to David – that a descendent of David would rule over his people for their good, forever? It’s looking pretty unfulfilled, isn’t it? The opposition to God’s kingdom looks powerful and like it’s winning. While the bearer of the promise to David looks desperately weak and vulnerable.

Which is also how it looked when, in Athaliah’s footsteps, Herod tried to kill the ultimate descendent of David – the infant Jesus (see Matthew 2). It’s also how it looked as the Lord Jesus hung dying on the cross. And it’s also how it looks today whenever the church is weak or persecuted and the gospel is marginalised. It’s how it looks when anti-Christian worldviews – like those of atheistic scientists – seem to be winning the day. It’s how it looks when our church doesn’t seem to be growing; and when family and friends are just not interested in our invitations to come and look into Christianity.

But we so easily misread the way things look, and misinterpret what God is doing. Because in fact, in 2 Kings 11, v3, the promise to David is absolutely secure – because, while Athaliah thinks she’s got rid of the last descendent of David, in reality he’s still there – albeit, hidden and unknown but to a circle of believers. And the same is true of the ultimate descendent of David, the Lord Jesus. Because I guess our culture increasingly feels it’s got rid of him – from our public life, from our schools; from the media; and in a few months time we’ll see again that amazing cultural feat of the celebration of a Christ-less Christmas. But in reality, the crucified and risen Lord Jesus is still there – albeit, hidden for now, and unknown but to the circle of believers. And sometimes even for believers, why he’s allowing us to go through certain things, or why he’s allowing such apathy and hostility towards the gospel, is hidden from us. But this part of God’s Word calls on us to keep believing that he is still there.
And that he is still ruling over all things for our good – even when we can’t see how.

So this chapter begins with the promise looking unfulfilled. But it goes on with:

Second, THE PROMISE REALLY BEING FULFILLED (vv4-21)

God has promised that a descendent of David will rule over his people for their good, forever. So let’s see how he kept that promise in this chapter of history, and how this chapter foreshadows the way he’s ultimately keeping it through Jesus. Look on to v4, where we meet Jehoiada. He was one of the priests; he was the husband of Jehosheba who’d saved Joash’s life in v1 (we learn that in the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 22.10f); and he was clearly a faithful man. Verse 4:

4In the seventh year Jehoiada sent for the commanders of units of a hundred, the Carites and the guards and had them brought to him at the temple of the LORD. He made a covenant with them and put them under oath at the temple of the LORD. Then he showed them the king's son [ie, the seven year old Joash]. 5He commanded them, saying, "This is what you are to do…[Skip to v8:]8Station yourselves around the king, each man with his weapon in his hand. Anyone who approaches your ranks must be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes." [Skip to v11:]11The guards, each with his weapon in his hand, stationed themselves around the king – near the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.12Jehoiada brought out the king's son and put the crown on him; he presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and shouted, "Long live the king!"13When Athaliah heard the noise made by the guards and the people, she went to the people at the temple of the LORD. 14She looked and there was the king, standing by the pillar, as the custom was. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her robes and called out, "Treason! Treason!" [Which is a bit rich coming from her. Skip to v16:]16So they seized her as she reached the place where the horses enter the palace grounds, and there she was put to death. [Which may sound harsh, but it’s exact justice for a killer.] (vv4-16)

So at the end of v3, the promise to David hangs by the thread of a single infant. But by the end of v16 it’s been kept unbroken. Because through Jehoiada, God sees to it that this descendent of David is made king by such an unanswerable coup, such an unanswerable display of power, that there’s nothing Athaliah can do: God has decided who’s going to be king and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it. Which means the only two options open to people are: recognise God’s king and serve him; or rebel against him, and ultimately lose. And Jehoiada, then the leaders and guards, and then the people obviously do recognise Joash as God’s king. But Athaliah doesn’t – she never wanted him to be king. But you can’t rebel against God’s king and ultimately win.

Now what’s that bit of ancient history got to do with us? The answer is: it foreshadows how the ultimate descendent of David was made king; and the only two options open to us. Just listen again to God’s promise to David in 2 Samuel 7:

16Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.'

Now that sounds too big to be fulfilled by a merely human king. And in fact God engineered the events of the rest of the Old Testament (OT) to show that it couldn’t be. Because the kings we read about in 1 & 2 Kings were all part of the problem, not the solution. They were all sinful, like us, so that to some extent they all misled Israel into sin. They were just a very flawed model of the kind of kingdom we need God to bring in. But that model kingdom was so flawed that God ultimately dismantled it by sending them into exile – which is where 2 Kings ends.

But David still had descendents – in exile, and then later back from exile – they just weren’t kings anymore, because from then on, Israel was occupied – first by the Babylonians, then by the Persians, then by the Greeks, then by the Romans – when, finally, a more than merely human being was born in David’s line that first Christmas. And Jesus grew up claiming to be the ultimate son of David, God’s divine Son, God’s more than merely human king. But the leaders of the day rejected that claim and got him crucified. And as his body lay in the tomb that first Easter, those leaders were in exactly the same place as Athaliah in 2 Kings 11 – thinking they’d got rid of him. Only for a far greater, unanswerable coup, a far greater unanswerable display of power to take place than the one in 2 Kings 11 – as Jesus’ tomb was found empty, and he was seen bodily alive again, and they realised that God had raised him from the dead – as if to say, ‘This is my Son. And I have decided that he is going to be king of this universe. And there’s nothing you can do to stop that.’
That’s how the New Testament (NT) sees Jesus’ resurrection and return to heaven – it was his enthronement. And the only two options open to us are to recognise him as king, be forgiven by him and serve him; or to rebel against him to the end of our lives and ultimately lose when we meet him. Because he won’t have anyone into his heavenly kingdom who won’t recognise him as king.

Let me end firstly with a word to you if you wouldn’t yet call yourself a Christian. I realise the OT isn’t the easiest going if you’re just looking into Christianity. But it is the first part of the string of events through which God has made himself known, ending in Jesus. And along with the NT it claims that these events really did happen. Now that’s either true or false. If they didn’t happen, you can put Christianity in the bin and walk away. But if they did, ending with God raising Jesus from the dead, then Christianity is true for everyone. And you can’t just walk away saying, ‘Well it’s just a matter of faith – it’s true for you if you make it your faith, but it’s not true for me.’ Because things that have really happened are true for everyone. Eg, David Cameron became Prime Minister this year. And that’s true for everyone – whether you’re a Tory-type or not; whether you want him to be, or not.

And it’s the same with Jesus. If God really did raise him from the dead 2,000 years ago, to become king of this universe, then that’s true for everyone – whether you’re (quotes) the religious type or not, whether you want him to be, or not. And you need to decide whether you think what the Bible says about Jesus is true; and whether you’re going to accept him as king of your life.

Then let me end finally with a word to those who’ve done that already. We began with the fact that faith isn’t easy. And that’s because that central promise of the Bible, to David, hasn’t yet been completely fulfilled. It’s been partly fulfilled by Jesus’ resurrection and return to heaven. So he is ruling over all things for our good right now. But in this fallen creation, we’ll still experience things that make it look as if he’s not – like failure and miscarriage and illness and unwanted singleness and unemployment; and like the church not growing and people outside church just not being interested or being actively hostile. And this chapter tells us to trust that God is keeping his promise even when it looks like he isn’t; and to wait for him to work out his promise in the future.

Because faith always involves waiting – and maybe we don’t say that enough. The exiles who first read 2 Kings had to wait another 500 years, through all sorts of difficult and discouraging circumstances, for Jesus to come a first time. And we likewise have to wait, through all sorts of difficult and discouraging circumstances of our own, for him to come again. But he will. Because that’s how the promise to David will be completely fulfilled. And that’s when faith will become not just easy, but unnecessary, because we’ll finally see the Lord and be in a place where there’s nothing to make us doubt him.

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