‹ Back

2 Chronicles 21:8-9 "In his days Edom revolted from the rule of Judah, and set up a king of their own. Then Jehoram passed over with his commanders and all his chariots, and he rose by night and smote the Edomites who had surrounded him and his chariot commanders."

 

Jehoram was an evil king of Judah. He killed his brothers when he ascended to the throne, and he "walked in the way of the kings of Israel, as the house of Ahab had done; for the daughter of Ahab was his wife. And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord." (2 Chronicles 21:4-6), so one can certainly understand why Edom revolted. Yet Edom's revolt served to further divide an already divided kingdom and bring more disunity into God's family.

 

We can look at the story of Israel from two points of view: that of a family, and that of a nation. Here, both the family and the nation are being further divided because the person in authority over them is wicked. Remember that Israel was initially not meant to have a king. God was the only King they needed. The only reason they had a human king at all is because they insisted upon one, they wanted to be like everyone else. If they had trusted God fully, who knows how the story of Israel would have played out in history? We can be assured it would have been much better than what it has been. Once Israel had a king, a human ruler, their fate was in large part determined by the quality of that ruler (see As the King Goes, So Goes the Nation). When they had a good king, like David, things went well. When they had a bad king, like Jehoram here, things went poorly. No human being is perfect, however, so never did the family or kingdom of Israel flourish as it would have if they had stayed with the only perfect King - God Himself.

 

Israel is a special and instructive case for us because it is both a nation and a family. God chose Israel to be His people, and established them as a nation. So we can look to their history as instructive for both our families and our nations. In our families, the Fourth Commandment requires us to honor our father and mother. They, but especially the father, are stand-ins for God in the family, and are owed respect and honor in that role. But sometimes parents are wicked, and then the question becomes how do we handle them while also protecting ourselves? This is a very difficult situation and one that plays out in a multitude of ways in different families. Sometimes separation is necessary, but I do not believe revolt is ever justified.

 

In our nations, the same factors are at play. The Fourth Commandment also applies to people in rightful authority over us. This is how order is maintained in the world. If people revolted every time they got a leader they did not like, the world would be in a constant state of chaos. But sometimes leaders are particularly wicked, and the question becomes how do we maintain the nation while protecting ourselves? I believe, in both the case of the family and the nation, revolt is not the answer. Revolt is the taking up of arms against authority. Note that Edom had appointed a new king for themselves, and surrounded Jehoram with armed men. They did not wait for Jehoram's wickedness to affect them in some way and then resist, they proactively revolted and rejected Jehoram's kingly authority. This is not, I believe, the correct approach. It just creates further division and animosity.

 

Whenever there is division, it is a sign of the devil, the scatterer. He uses our legitimate complaints about, and pain from, other people's sinfulness to lead us to sin ourselves. I think, in the situation of a bad father or leader, we are to act as honorably towards them as possible, while still doing our best to protect ourselves. We are not to take up arms against them proactively, but we are to recognize that sometimes we have to deal with wicked people in authority and learn ways to preserve unity while also protecting the members of our family and nation.

 

I do not have the answer to the title of this post. I do, however, have the structure on which to construct an answer in individual circumstances, as do we all. We have the Ten Commandments, and we have Scripture, both of which establish that structure. So we do our best to do what we know is right; we try our best not to violate any of the Commandments; and we look to Scripture to see the consequences of certain choices, especially choices that violate the Commandments. God gave us these things to guide us, and He will see us through the struggle of bad leaders when we trust in Him and obey His commands, because He is, after all, the only real King we need.