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The Subversive Presence of God’s Kingdom
The Subversive Presence of God’s Kingdom
I’m reading an excellent commentary on 2 Kings by Dale Ralph Davis, and I stumbled across an encouraging section I had to share with you all. He analyzes 2 Kings 11 when baby Joash is hidden and raised to be king right under the wicked queen Athaliah’s nose. He calls the section, “the subversive presence of God’s kingdom.”
“‘So he [Joash] was with her in the house of Yahweh, hiding himself for six years; and Athaliah was ruling over the land.’ (11:3). Note the two kingdoms here; you have the visible reign of the illegitimate kingdom (v. 3b), and you have the secret existence of the true king (v. 3a). The usurper rules, but the chosen king as it were secretly reigns, unknown to Athaliah. The true king is there behind the scenes and the pretender doesn’t have a clue. There is often a vast difference between what is apparent and what is actually the case.
That’s what a neighbor said about Ethel Kennedy, Bobby Kennedy’s wife. She recalled that on the same day photographers were at her Hyannis Port home snapping pictures of Ethel for a mother-of-the-year award, three of Ethel’s kids were on the roof trying to lasso the chimney. The neighbor wondered why they didn’t turn the camera on the fiasco on the roof. So down below you see the mother-of-the-year, while part way up in the sky her kids are playing cowboy with a chimney. That’s the way it is in 2 Kings 11. Here is Athaliah ruling Judah and never even imagines a lad stashed away in a temple room patiently learning his A-B-Gs (well, that’s Hebrew for you).
Sometimes this subversiveness of God’s kingdom crops up in almost incidental ways in Scripture. I’ve always been intrigued by Philippians 4:22, where the apostle tells the church at Philippi that all the saints send greetings, ‘especially those of Caesar’s household.’ That does not mean they were Caesar’s sons or daughters but more likely those employed in the imperial service — servants who cleaned imperial latrines or carried inter-office mail. Some of them came to Christ. Now they belong to Christ’s household. In one sense Caesar is their Lord, but actually they have begun to serve a different Lord. Caesar rules the empire but Jesus has begun to ruler over (some of) Caesar’s subjects. Jesus has set up His kingdom under Caesar’s nose in his own civil service. There is a godly sneakiness about the gospel and the kingdom of God. You never know where the gospel will break out, who will be its next ‘victim’! Perhaps some of you understand now why some of your family have gotten so very nervous after you told them you had bowed the knee to Jesus. They’re secretly alarmed that they might be next, that He might have designs on them. Of course they should be scared!
You must see this as your anchor, not the secret reign of Joash, for there is a far greater than Joash who reigns now — David’s Descendant and Joash’s Descendant, Jesus the Lord. And the rulers of this age and the pagans around you don’t know this secret. But you do, if you’ve swallowed Ephesians 1:20-22. This is what puts iron in your guts and makes you able to resist any other power that tries to control you. Knowing there is a legitimate King who secretly reigns keeps you from despair while the pretenders carry on." - Dale Ralph Davis. 2 Kings: The Power and the Fury. 2011. p. 174-175.
