Lawlessness and Usurped Authority
Part Two
By Dr. Derek Carlsen
This series is looking at some of the accounts recorded in Scripture where the rule of law and the consent of the governed are ignored and violated?
Israel Judged
The nation of Israel again turned away from the Lord and so He strengthened Eglon, king of Moab, who then defeated Israel and put them under tribute (Judges 3:12ff). When God used Eglon as a tool to punish His wayward people, this in no way changed the fact that usurped authority is illegitimate, rather, this story confirmed the illegitimacy of usurped authority.
Tyrants Usurp Authority
Ehud was an Israelite from the tribe of Benjamin who planned and carried out the assassination of Eglon, king of Moab. Eglon had usurped authority over Israel and thus he had no legitimate standing, which meant his position didn’t have God’s ordained protection.
Ehud Strikes
The Moabite king was not directly threatening Ehud’s life; however, Scripture portrays Ehud’s actions positively; this was the beginning of Israel’s deliverance—it was God’s doing. The people cried out to the Lord and the Lord raised up a deliverer (Judges 3:15).
Legal Protection
A usurped authority (whether by an individual or group), has no legal right to rule because by ruling they cancel the people’s legal protection (the consent of the governed), but in doing this, they negate their own legal protection.
A Time to Choose
After Ehud killed Eglon, he called the people to join him in the fight (Judges 3:27-30). The nation now had to decide who Ehud was and what God was doing. We saw (in part one), that at this same critical juncture in Egypt, Israel determined that Moses was a usurper and God was not with him. This time, however, Israel discerned God’s hand in the situation and, by faith, they embraced Ehud as their leader and entered into the fray, putting their lives on the line.
David and King Saul
David’s example of not killing Saul does not contradict Ehud’s actions (1 Samuel 24:10). Saul did not usurp the throne and his lawless actions were directed against one man, David, not against the whole nation—Saul was acting like a tyrant toward David, not the nation. David was able to flee, but in doing so was resisting the king’s command. Saul’s son, Jonathan, also rejected the king’s command by siding with David (1 Samuel 20:31). A nation cannot flee from tyranny when interposition fails, and thus, their right to self-defense includes the option of killing the tyrant/s.
Community Guilt
Lawless leaders and usurpers rely upon lesser magistrates and others to enforce and uphold their tyranny. Saul’s military leaders involved in hunting David heard the interaction between Saul and David, which revealed that Saul was wrong, however, they again supported the hunt (1 Samuel 24:1-22 and 26:2). When lesser magistrates and others support the rule of tyranny, they negate their own legal protection.
Samson
The Philistines would, in time, usurp authority over Israel, and even before Samson was conceived, his mother was told that her son would “begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.” (Judges 13:5). When Samson was grown, God directed him to get a Philistine wife for the purpose of picking a fight with the Philistines (Judges 14:4). When Samson killed thirty Philistines to pay his wager, that was the beginning of the fight—it wasn’t murder (Judges 14:9). The fight escalated and many were killed (Judges 15:8, 15), which finally led to Samson being in the presence of the Philistine lords along with others, who were all killed in one action (Judges 16:27, 30). The only way to make sense of Samson’s actions is to understand the reality of community guilt. Everyone either supports or resists tyranny; to choose a path of neutrality in the face of tyranny is to support it.
Jesus and Rome
Do Jesus’ actions, under the usurped authority of Rome, contradict what is written above? The answer is no. Jesus’ mission was to make atonement for mankind’s sin which required Him to not only die but to die in a specific way. Crucifixion was one of the ways that Rome put people to death and when Moses lifted up the bronze serpent on a pole in the wilderness, this was picturing Jesus’ death (Numbers 21:9). Jesus clearly drew this parallel when He said, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,” (John 3:14). And again, He said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He,” (John 8:28). The role Rome played in the Savior’s death was crucial.
Disciple the Nations
The commission Jesus gave to His followers after He rose from the dead was that they must disciple the nations by teaching them everything that He had taught (Matthew 28:18-20). Jesus is the Word of God (John 1:1-2) and thus there is no justification for separating Jesus’ teaching in the New Testament from His instruction in the Old Testament when guiding, for example, people like Ehud and Samson. “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8).