They Should Be The Lord’s People
“And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD’s people, and also between the king and the people”
There is something precious about the phrase “the Lord’s people.” As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we use this term to distinguish between those who belong to Christ and those who don’t. It is also a phrase that belongs to new covenant language. In Jeremiah 31:33, God makes this great promise which will be accomplished by Jesus: “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” From this statement, it is clear that God’s people possess his law inscribed on their hearts and within them. This is evidence of the new heart, and believers possess new minds and hearts. This is not something we do for ourselves. It is something that God has done for us.
In Judah during the days of Jehoiada the priest, spiritual life is very low. The land is oppressed by the rule of Athaliah, the queen mother. Her son, Ahaziah, was killed by Jehu (2 Kings 9) who would become king of Israel. Jehu had also killed Joram (king of Israel), Jezebel (Ahab’s wife) and all of Ahab’s descendants, according to the word of the Lord. He also destroyed the prophets of Baal. Jehu removed wicked kings and false prophets, but, unfortunately, he never persisted in doing what was right, but followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam and worshipped the golden calves (2 Kings 10:29, 31).
The infection of Baal worship also infected the southern kingdom under Athaliah. She was a granddaughter of Omri (2 Kings 8:26) and, no doubt, learned Baal worship from Jezebel. When her son Ahaziah died, she took over the rule of Judah. The first thing she did was eliminate all the royal family. She was thwarted, without her knowledge, by Jehosheba (sister to Ahaziah and daughter of Joram, and wife of Jehoiada the priest) who saved the only remaining son of Ahaziah. His name was Joash. She placed him with a nurse in a bedroom within the house of the Lord, and there he stayed for six years (2 Kings 11:2, 3).
In the seventh year, Jehoiada set about placing Joash on the throne. He uses an elite force of bodyguards to protect the young king in the Lord’s house. There he places the crown on the head of Joash, anoints him and gives him the testimony (vs. 12, see Deut. 17:18–20). Athaliah is enraged when she discovers that a son of Ahaziah is alive and cries out “treason.” But she is taken out of the house of the Lord and is executed (vv. 14–16. So Jehoiada removes the wicked queen from ruling the land, and verse 20 says, “So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king’s house.”At the same time, Jehoiada ensured that the priest of Baal (Mattan) and Baal’s house were destroyed (vs. 18).
The first thing we can note here is that there must be cleansing and removal before there can be renewal. The physical destruction of individuals (Athaliah, Mattan) here is the removal of that which is wicked in God’s sight. Jehoiada recognizes this. It is also interesting to note that he does nothing for six years except protect Joash. Renewal requires preparation. It does not happen overnight, but takes time. Renewal takes the form of physically removing Athaliah and placing Joash on the throne. These steps in and of themselves are not enough. Renewal is primarily spiritual in nature. But how does one go about renewal? Jehoiada understands that it begins with a right relationship to the Lord. This is achieved by way of the covenant that he makes (vs. 17; see also Josh. 24:1–27; 2 Kings 23: 1–3). This covenant made with the Lord applies to everyone—king and people. It also applies (not merely individually to the king and to the people), between the king and his people.
Thus, Jehoiada achieves unity between the king and his people based on a spiritual covenant that affects them all individually. This is important because our spiritual relationships with each other are predicated on our relationship first with the Lord. If we fail between ourselves and the Lord, we fail elsewhere. This was a major lesson for a king to learn, yet there were so few who seemed to understand it. It is one thing to make a covenant, but what is the specific content of that covenant? First, it is a covenant with the Lord. People make covenants (contracts or agreements) among themselves, but not here. This is made with the Lord. Second, the covenant content is found in this phrase “that they should be the Lord’s people.” This is not only renewal but also recognition of who we are. But what does this do for us? Well, it restrains us. It confines us. It is not a broad definition. God’s people in Scripture are also identified as remnant—a small unique group (Gen. 45:7; Isa. 37:32; Jer. 50:20; Mic. 4:7; 5:7, 8; Acts 15:17; Rom. 9:27; 11:5).
What are God’s people defined by? They belong to God and he belongs to them. This means that they are to be like God. If God is holy, and he is, then his people are to be holy. If God is love, and he is, then his people are to be the same. It is a matter of distinction. Jehoiada understood that Judah and their king were to be distinct. This is the idea of separation. God’s people are separated from other people. Israel was distinct from Egypt (Ex. 9:4; 11:7). Sin makes no distinction between us because we all sin and are sinners. Malachi put it beautifully when he said: “Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him” (Mal. 3:18). As believers in the Lord Jesus we are distinct from unbelievers. Unbelievers often accuse Christians of being “holier–than–thou,” but there is a certain truth to this recognition. The distinction between the believer and the unbeliever is the righteousness of Christ. This makes all the difference in this life and the next.
In this passage, Jehoiada is making a public declaration of who he is, who the king is, and who the people are. He is defining them. Covenant renewal means they are separated to God. The apostle Paul understood this principle. He makes this clear in 2 Corinthians 6:14–18 when he says: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.’” Separation implies putting away our sins and offering ourselves to God, recognizing that there is no relationship between what we once were and now are.
The believer is defined as God’s temple, implying that God dwells in them. He is their God and they are his people. This is the new covenant relationship. Jeremiah tells us that God forgives our sins and iniquities and does not remember them anymore (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12; 10:17). These are the consequences to this new relationship—we are the Lord’s people. This is what Jehoiada wanted his king and people to know.