God’s Word for You
2 Chronicles 23:8-11 “Long live the king!”
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Tuesday, April 22, 2025
8 The Levites and all the men of Judah did just as Jehoiada the priest commanded. Each one brought his men—those who were going on duty on the Sabbath and also those who were going off duty—for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed any of the divisions. 9 Then he gave the commanders of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields that had belonged to King David and that were in the house of God. 10 He placed all the men, each with his weapon in his hand, from the south side of the house around to the north side of the house, around the altar and around the temple, surrounding the king. 11 Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; they presented him with a copy of the testimony. They proclaimed him to be the king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!”
Once the new division of priests and Levites had entered the temple, the high priest left one thing out of the usual routine: He did not dismiss the previous division. Then he immediately armed all of the Levites and the other soldiers who were there. The “spears and large and small shields” were not from the main arsenal, the so-called “forest of Lebanon” (1 Kings 7:2-6; 2 Chronicles 9:16). The weapons and shields stored there were bronze, because Pharaoh Shishak had demanded tribute from Solomon’s son Rehoboam. The weapons mentioned here may have been secretly stashed away by King David after one of his many victories, such as the one over Hadadezer the King of Zobah (2 Samuel 8:3-7).
Then, in what seems to have been a pretty rapid deployment, the armed men, both from the army and also the Levites, took positions all around the temple (and especially guarding the doors and gates) and also around the altar and surrounding the boy.
The coronation ceremony began just as soon as the guards were in place. Five things happened in quick succession:
First, the high priest and his own sons brought out the crown and crowned the little boy to be the king. This was probably not the same crown that had belonged to Ahaziah, the boy’s father, which would have been far too big for a seven-year-old boy to wear. It’s more likely that this was made to look like his father’s crown, but was made specially for him.
Second, the new king was given his own copy of the Law. It is significant that this took place immediately after he was crowned but before anything else. The one requirement of the kingship was that the king had to have his own copy of the Law of Moses. Deuteronomy 17:18 says that “he is to have a copy of the law written for him on a scroll,” but whether he was to do the copying himself or not is a rare question of interpretation. It’s likely that in this case at least a copy would have been provided for the boy.
Third, they proclaimed the boy to be king. This was followed by the fourth item: he was anointed. A king was anointed just as a priest was, with oil from a horn. In this case, the high priest Jehoiada would have done it himself. Finally, the Levites and soldiers all shouted, “Long live the king!”
As quickly as it started, it was finished. The boy was the anointed King of Judah. There was oil on his lapel for the world to see. The shouts of the loyal people were raised—many of the things that were said then were said when Jesus rode a donkey into the city on Palm Sunday. It is thought that Jehoiada may have staged this coup on one of the three great festivals of Israel, when many people in the kingdom who were loyal to the Lord would have been in the city for the festival.
We see the law in this passage in the need for all of the security, secrecy, and planning on account of the danger, not only to the life of the child, but the danger to all of the men and women who supported him and were involved in this palace coup—a takeover of power from one monarch to another. In what way does the Fourth Commandment apply here? Did Jehoiada the high priest overstep when he decided to present the child as the legitimate king? We must remember that with regard to doctrine, we cannot set one doctrine against another. The woman Athaliah had destroyed the legitimate line to the throne of Judah, a line God had promised to preserve. God had promised: “I will give one tribe to his son so that David my servant may always have a lamp before me in Jerusalem, the city where I chose to put my Name” (1 Kings 11:36). And earlier in Chronicles we were reminded of the same promise: “Yet the LORD was not willing to destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David. He had promised to maintain a lamp to him and to his sons for all time” (2 Chronicles 21:7). Therefore, the rescue of this child had been a godly thing to do. But there was a danger. The longer the boy lived without being proclaimed king and being under the protection of the nation and its army, the greater the danger to the child’s life. It was time for Athaliah to be removed from her illegitimate throne. Therefore Jehoiadah was doing what was right. The plans he made, and the commands he gave were in the service of God and God’s kingdom.
May God give us a clear understanding of his holy word, and including the knowledge that changes of government like this one are very rare things indeed. We must take care not to use power or force against our lawful and legitimate government. May God bless us and bless the nations of all who worship him.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.