The Traitor's Treason: The Justice of Jehoiada Text: 2 Kings 11:13-16
Introduction: When Tyrants Cry Foul
There is a peculiar and instructive irony that unfolds whenever a long-established tyranny is finally confronted with righteous judgment. The tyrant, who has spent years trampling law, murdering innocents, and subverting every standard of decency, is often the very first to cry "Treason!" when the tables are turned. The usurper, who seized power through bloodshed and deceit, suddenly becomes a great defender of "order" when that order is being rightly restored. This is because tyrants believe they own the law; they believe it is a tool for them to wield against others, but never a standard to which they themselves must submit.
We see this principle displayed with glaring clarity in our text today. For six years, the bloody queen Athaliah has reigned in Jerusalem. She is the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, a viper from a viper's nest, and she brought all the Baal-worshiping filth of her parents down to Judah. To secure her throne, she "destroyed all the seed royal" (2 Kings 11:1), or so she thought. She was a mass-murdering, idolatrous usurper. Her entire reign was one long act of high treason against the covenant God of Israel and against the Davidic line He had established by solemn oath.
But God, in His providence, always preserves a remnant. He hid one royal son, the infant Joash, in the one place Athaliah and her cronies would never think to look for the true king, the house of God itself. And for six years, the godly priest Jehoiada waited. He was not rash. He was not a revolutionary, eager to burn things down. He was a restorer, a man who understood God's timing and God's law. He was a lesser magistrate, using his God-given authority to plan the careful and orderly removal of a tyrant and the restoration of the one true king. When the moment was right, he acted, not as a rebel, but as a loyal servant of the true and living God. Our passage picks up at the very climax of this glorious counter-coup, when the tyrant finally realizes the game is up.
What we are about to read is not just some palace intrigue from the ancient world. It is a foundational lesson in the nature of true authority, the limits of civil government, and the duty of God's people when confronted with lawless rule. It teaches us to distinguish between a lawful ruler and a usurper, and it shows us that the charge of "treason" depends entirely on who is leveling it, and against whom.
The Text
Then Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, and she came to the people in the house of Yahweh.
And she looked, and behold, the king was standing by the pillar, according to the custom, with the commanders and the trumpeters beside the king; and all the people of the land were glad and blew trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!”
And Jehoiada the priest commanded the commanders of hundreds who were appointed over the military force 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 Yahweh.”
So they laid hands on her, and she arrived at the horses’ entrance of the king’s house and was put to death there.
(2 Kings 11:13-16 LSB)
The Usurper's Alarm (v. 13-14a)
We begin with the moment of discovery.
"Then Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, and she came to the people in the house of Yahweh. And she looked, and behold, the king was standing by the pillar, according to the custom, with the commanders and the trumpeters beside the king; and all the people of the land were glad and blew trumpets." (2 Kings 11:13-14a)
Athaliah hears a noise she does not recognize, the sound of genuine joy. For six years, the only sounds from the people would have been the grumbling of the oppressed and the false praise of court sycophants. But this is different. This is the sound of a people liberated. This is the sound of order being restored. The "people of the land," the covenant body of Judah, were rejoicing.
She goes to the temple, the very center of the covenant life she had sought to extinguish with her foreign idols, and what does she see? She sees the true king, Joash, standing "by the pillar, according to the custom." This is crucial. Jehoiada is not inventing a new form of government. He is not leading a populist rebellion based on some new theory. He is restoring the old paths. The pillar was the place where the legitimate Davidic king stood to renew the covenant with God and the people. This entire event is a constitutional restoration. It is a return to the "custom," to the established, God-ordained way of doing things. The presence of the commanders and the trumpeters signifies that the legitimate instruments of state power, the lesser magistrates, have aligned themselves with the true king against the usurper.
The gladness of the people is the fruit of righteous rule. "When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn" (Prov. 29:2). The celebration was not just for a new king, but for the end of a long, dark night of tyranny. They were rejoicing because God's promise to David had not failed. Their gladness was a theological statement.
The Traitor's Cry (v. 14b)
Athaliah's reaction is as predictable as it is pathetic.
"Then Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, 'Treason! Treason!'" (2 Kings 11:14b)
Here we have the arch-traitor, the one who committed treason against God and the entire royal line, crying "Treason!" This is the language of every tyrant who is righteously deposed. She tears her clothes, a sign of horror and grief, but it is a self-pitying, theatrical gesture. Her horror is not that the law has been broken, but that the law has finally been applied to her. She believed she was the law. She believed her will was sovereign.
But Jehoiada's actions were not treason. Resistance to tyranny is not the same thing as resistance to the established civil order. In fact, Jehoiada was defending the established civil order by removing the one who had overthrown it. Athaliah had, by her own actions, deposed herself. A ruler who systematically violates the law of God and the established constitution of the land is no longer a legitimate ruler. They vacate their office by their manifest rebellion. They become a usurper, and a usurper has no right to demand loyalty. Athaliah was not the minister of God spoken of in Romans 13; she was a terror to good works and a praise to evil. To resist her was not to resist God; it was to obey God.
The true treason was her six-year reign of terror. The true treason was her attempt to snuff out the line of David, through whom the Messiah would come. The true treason was setting up the worship of Baal in God's holy city. What Jehoiada led was not treason, but righteous judgment against a traitor.
The Priest's Command (v. 15)
Jehoiada, the priest of the Most High God, now acts as the agent of divine justice.
"And Jehoiada the priest commanded the commanders of hundreds who were appointed over the military force 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 Yahweh.'" (2 Kings 11:15)
Notice the authority here. A priest is commanding the military. This is not a confusion of the spheres of church and state. This is a situation of national crisis where the legitimate authority, the king, is a child, and the priest is acting as a regent and a restorer of the covenant. Jehoiada is the one who knows God's law, and he is applying it. He is acting as the conscience of the nation, guiding the sword of the state, which is wielded by the commanders.
His command is twofold. First, execute the tyrant. And second, execute anyone foolish enough to follow her. This is not a time for half-measures. The cancer of this idolatrous usurpation had to be cut out completely. Any lingering loyalty to the old, corrupt regime had to be dealt with swiftly and decisively. This is what a just and orderly restoration looks like. It is not mob violence; it is a lawful, though severe, cleansing.
But even in this moment of fierce justice, Jehoiada is a man of piety. "Let her not be put to death in the house of Yahweh." The temple was holy ground. It was the place of atonement and worship, not a place for shedding the blood of a wicked queen, no matter how deserved. This demonstrates that Jehoiada is not acting out of personal vengeance or a lust for power. He is acting out of a deep reverence for God and His holiness. He distinguishes between the sacred and the common. Justice must be done, but it must be done in its proper place. The temple is for worship; the horse gate is for executions.
The Tyrant's End (v. 16)
The conclusion is swift and just.
"So they laid hands on her, and she arrived at the horses’ entrance of the king’s house and was put to death there." (2 Kings 11:16)
The commanders, the lesser magistrates, obey the priest. They lay hands on her, and her illegitimate authority evaporates. The power of a tyrant is an illusion, propped up by fear and lies. Once confronted by righteous and organized opposition, it collapses. She is taken to the "horses' entrance," a place of common traffic, a service entrance. She who had sat on the throne is executed at the back door. This is the end of all who set themselves against the Lord and against His anointed.
Her death was not an assassination. It was a public, judicial execution carried out by the lawful authorities of the land, who had realigned themselves with the true king. This act cleansed the land. It was the necessary prelude to the covenant renewal that Jehoiada would conduct immediately afterward, where he bound the king and the people to the Lord, and then to one another. The death of the tyrant was the rebirth of the nation.
Conclusion: Christ, the True King
This story is a glorious foreshadowing of a much greater reality. The world is full of usurpers. The devil is the ultimate Athaliah, a murderer from the beginning who seeks to destroy the royal seed. The spirit of antichrist sets up its idols in every generation, demanding our worship and promising peace while delivering only tyranny and death. And like Athaliah, this spirit of rebellion cries "Treason!" at the preaching of the gospel. It calls the lordship of Christ an act of rebellion against the secular order.
But God has preserved His Son, our Lord Jesus. He was hidden for a time, in the grave, but on the third day, He was revealed. He was coronated at His ascension, standing not by a pillar in Jerusalem, but at the right hand of the Majesty on High. And all the trumpets of heaven blew for Him.
The gospel is the announcement that the true King has been installed. It is a declaration of war against every usurper. It demands that all lesser magistrates, all presidents, governors, and judges, bow the knee to Christ the King. It declares that all other lords are pretenders.
And the day is coming when Christ will return. He will come not to a temple made with hands, but with the armies of heaven. The final usurper, the man of lawlessness, will be revealed. And the Lord Jesus will command His angels to seize him. He will be brought out from among the ranks of rebellious humanity. And he and all who follow him will be put to death, not with a sword of steel, but with the sword that proceeds from the mouth of the King. He will be slain and cast into the lake of fire.
And on that day, "all the people of the land" will be glad. The whole renewed creation will rejoice, for the tyrant will be dead, the King will be on His throne, and the city will finally be at peace. Until that day, we are to be like Jehoiada: faithful, patient, courageous, and utterly committed to the restoration of all things under the authority of the one true King, the Lord Jesus Christ.