The year was 1558 and Scotland, which had become increasingly Protestant, found itself being governed by an increasingly tyrannical Roman Catholic Monarchy.
Between the people and the Roman Catholic government of Mary I, or Bloody Mary (so-called because of her murderous rampage against the protestants in England), and Mary Queen of Scots, stood the Scottish nobleman. These were local men with local authority. They had a responsibility to protect the people against the tyranny and oppression brought about by unjust laws designed to punish people for being Protestant.
That was 1558. But the year could just as easily have been 604BC – the times of Jeremiah the prophet and the last days of Jerusalem before it fell to the Babylonian army.
In the fourth year of Jehoiakim king of Judah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. It was a word of judgement against Israel and Judah. Jeremiah had the prophecy written down by his scribe, Baruch, and sent to the officials of Judah and the king. (Jeremiah 36:1ff).
The king cut up the prophecy with a knife and threw it into the fire. He also instigated a man hunt against Jeremiah and Baruch. As it turns out, this is not the best way to respond to a word from the Lord.
Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: He shall have none to sit on the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and the frost by night. (Jeremiah 36:30)
But it gets worse. Not only was the king to be punished but the officials in Judah would also be punished (Jeremiah 36:31). They should have chastised the King, but instead we read that they were neither afraid, nor did they tear their garments (Jeremiah 36:24).
Back to Scotland and John Knox is also on the scene. He wrote to all the nobleman in Scotland, and, citing Jeremiah 36, urged them to strap on a pair and not to make the same cowardly mistake as the noblemen of Judah had made.
Knox wanted the nobles of Scotland to see that they had a duty before God to protect the innocent and oppose the unjust laws of the monarchy on behalf of the people. Not only that, but a failure to act would bring judgement on themselves.
Knox took the indolent Scottish nobles to task saying,
Shall you be excused, if with silence you pass over his (the Queen’s) iniquity? Be not deceived my lords. You are placed in authority for another purpose than to flatter your king in his folly and blind rage.
Knox went on to say that, before God, “it shall not excuse you to allege, “we are no kings and therefore neither can we reform religion, not yet defend the persecuted.”
Knox lamented their inactivity to protect the people and intercede on their behalf, declaring,
For now the common song of all men (nobles) is, “We must obey our kings be they good or be they bad, for God has so commanded.”
For John Knox, this was not only folly but also plainly untrue. They had a God-given duty and right to intercede on behalf of the people they served.
As an example of this, Knox cites the account of Ebed-Melech in Jeremiah 38.
Jeremiah was in the dungeon being held prisoner on a false charge of treason. Ebed-Melech was an official in king Zedekiah’s household (Zedekiah being Judah’s new king after God knocked Jehoiakim off his perch).
Ebed-Melech pleads with Zedekiah on Jeremiah’s behalf (Jeremiah 38:9) and Zedekiah sends men to deliver Jeremiah out of the dungeon.
Knoxs’ point was to show the Scottish nobles that not only would God punish those who had the authority and yet refused to protect the people from unjust treatment, but that God would also bless those who acted righteously by interceding on behalf of the people.
Ebed-Melech acted righteously even though all of the other officials in Judah either wanted Jeremiah dead or else stood by in silence, concerned only for their own welfare and status.
And so the Lord tells Jeremiah that after Jerusalem Falls and he is released from prison he has to go and speak to Ebed-Melech and say,
Thus says the Lord of hosts… “Behold, I will fulfill My words against this city for harm and not for good, and they shall be accomplished before you on that day. But I will deliver you on that day, declares the Lord, and you shall not be given into the hand of the men of whom you are afraid. For I will surely save you, and you shall not fall by the sword, but you shall have your life as a prize of war, because you have put your trust in me, declares the Lord.”. (Jeremiah 39:15-18)
The danger was real. Ebed-Melech was afraid. But he acted righteously and stood in the gap on behalf of the righteous, just the same.
For those nobles who did not step into the gap for a righteous man (Jeremiah) when it was in their power to do so, the outcome was not so sweet (Jeremiah 39:6).
Scripture illustrates this principle repeatedly and teaches us that God is pleased with those who stand against unjust or immoral law, who refuse to sing the common song.
Ebed-Melech could have joined in and sung the common song. He could have gone off key. But he didn’t. And God blessed him.
Perhaps you are a father being called to step in and intercede for your kids against unrighteousness. Perhaps you are a minister or an elder being told to police, enforce, or otherwise bind the conscience of believers with worldly, unjust or unbiblical regulations on behalf of the state, or even your own denomination.
Perhaps you should be standing beside a brother who is facing opposition for doing something good.
Like many in our own day, men will justify their actions (or inaction) by saying that they were just following the law and we’re powerless to do other than what they were commanded or expected to do.
This is false. Those with any kind of authority in any sphere of life have a duty to stand against bad law and refuse to implement it. They are to stand up and intercede on behalf of those whose faith and well-being would be harmed or corrupted by bad policy.
We are not to hide behind the common song, “We are not kings – we must simply obey, whether it be good or bad.”
Instead, our faith and the testimony of scripture calls us to stand as kings and priests before God, to whom we must all give an account.
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