The Christian Comforter
High Treason! In the Old Testament, we read of the account of Queen Athaliah, whose son King Ahaziah died when Jehu was charged by God to put to death all of the house of Ahab – 2 Kings 9:7 and 9:21. Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and had been the wife of King Joram, the father of Ahaziah. In an extraordinarily cruel act, on learning of the death of Ahaziah she put to death all his children, save one. Ahaziah’s sister Jehosheba, rescued one baby boy, Joash who was hidden from Athaliah.
2 Kings 11:2 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered; and they hid him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athaliah, so that he was not killed. Athaliah took the throne and reigned alone for six years.
2 Kings 11:3 So he was hidden with her, (Jehosheba) in the house of the LORD for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land. See also the account in 2 Chronicles where Jehosheba is called ‘Jehoshabeath’.
2 Chronicles 22:11 But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered, and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she did not kill him. As we have read, Jehosheba was married to the godly priest Jehoiada who nurtured Joash as his own child teaching him the ways of the Lord and upon his seventh birthday Joash was proclaimed King for the throne was rightfully his.
2 Kings 11:10-12 And the priest gave the captains of hundreds the spears and shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of the LORD. Then the escorts stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, all around the king, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, by the altar and the house. And he brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, and gave him the Testimony; they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!” Athaliah was mortified when she heard the commotion of the people rejoicing at the proclamation of Joash as King – she cried “Treason!” How hypocritical, for it was she who had committed the heinous crime of treason when she had the royal heirs of her own son, Ahaziah killed! And now her surviving grandchild Joash was proclaimed the rightful heir.
2 Kings 11:14 When she looked, there was the king standing by a pillar according to custom; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. So Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, “Treason! Treason!” So, what is treason? High Treason – definition from Noah Webster’s dictionary. Treason is the highest crime of a civil nature of which a man can be guilty. Its signification is different in different countries. In general, it is the offence of attempting to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance, or of betraying the state into the
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The Christian Comforter
hands of a foreign power. In monarchies, the killing of the King, (or in our case the Queen), or an attempt to take her life, is treason. In England, to imagine or compass the death of the Queen, or of members of the royal household, or of the heir apparent of the crown, is high treason. During the Second World War, those who committed treason against the interests of their own country were executed. Wikipedia will furnish a list of individuals who suffered this fate. I write on treason in particular reference to the demise of two so called ‘jihadists’, who were British Nationals, and recently killed by the use of an RAF drone. Much has been said about the legality of their deaths, but no one has mentioned that plotting the death of our government officials and the Queen herself, which I understand was to be by means of a bomb is an act of high treason. The Word of God says that the government of this country, probably mostly unknown to itself in this secular age, is actually ordained by God. There is a warning that wrath will fall on all those who choose to ignore God given authority by breaking the law of the land.
Romans 13:1-5 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake. Therefore, whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore, you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. Our Queen and government are ministers for our good placed in their capacity to rule over us by God Himself and to whom we owe allegiance. Therefore, all those who choose to go against the Law of the country of their nativity must take the consequences. Jihadists by definition are out to kill those who are not of their persuasion; no one can deny that this is true given all the accounts of those of British and other nationalities who have been killed in a most barbaric way by members of ISIS. In the Bible, high treason was committed by Queen Athaliah, who thought she had killed all the royal seed – her own son’s children, yet she threw the accusation of treason against those who had hidden and preserved the rightful heir to the throne.
2 Kings 11:15 So Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, “Treason! Treason!” And Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the army, and said to them, “Take her outside under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not let her be killed in the house of the LORD.” The last person executed for treason after trial in the UK was William Joyce in 1946, or ‘Lord Haw Haw’, as he was mockingly named, because of his plummy aristocratic UK accent. His crime was broadcasting German propaganda into the UK during the Second World War to undermine the courage and determination of the citizens. In no way was he plotting to execute
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The Christian Comforter
our King, George VI! How much more then, do these young men who were plotting to kill our Queen and government members deserve death? The truth of the matter is that they were, as is commonly said today, radicalised into believing a lie; deceived, and their minds blinded by evil, because evil company corrupts. Swayed by promises they were lured into Syria and to the place of their death by pure evil.
1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.”
Back to the Bible Later in life even Joash, also called Jehoash, was also corrupted from the ways of the Lord after Jehoiada the priest died at the great age of 130 years, when Joash began to listen to the princes of Judah.
2 Kings 12:2 Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.
2 Chronicles 24:17 Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them.
2 Chronicles 24:18-19 Therefore they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served wooden images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass. Yet He sent prophets to them, to bring them back to the LORD; and they testified against them, but they would not listen. This had a knock on effect, which also inflicted the people of Judah and Jerusalem with God’s wrath. The people suffered because their King and leaders had left off following the Lord. There is a long list of Kings of Israel and Judah who did evil in the sight of God and today there are even many more men whose thoughts and intents of their hearts are also continually evil – there is nothing new under the sun. Men who gloat over the gruesome and unlawful killing of others, and even glory in it, as if it is something to make one great, are heading down the slippery pathway to hell.
Deuteronomy 32:32-35 For their vine is of the vine of Sodom and of the fields of Gomorrah; Their grapes are grapes of gall; their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the poison of serpents, and the cruel venom of cobras. ‘Is this not laid up in store with Me, sealed up among My treasures? Vengeance is Mine, and recompense; their foot shall slip in due time; for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things to come hasten upon them.’ God’s wrath has taken them away; their lives snuffed out in a moment. What a tragedy for these young men, their families, and how broken are the hearts of the families of those who have been unlawfully killed in the name of an evil regime, because there are no winners and among the evil only losers, and gross darkness and the fires of hell which burn forever. Looney liberals who cry foul at this apparent ‘extra judicial’ killing of two jihadists ought to know that there are consequences, which are a lawful progression which arise from the killing of innocent people and that vengeance and recompense ultimately belongs to God alone! And that He uses men to do His will as He did by charging Jehu to eliminate all the house of Ahab. Therefore, let justice and truth prevail.
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