In 2 Kings 11 Athaliah (Ahaziah’s mother) finding out Ahaziah had been killed proceeds to annihilate all royal heirs (except Joash who is hidden in the Temple) which is sick by anyone's standards except maybe Jeffrey Dahmer or Adolf Hitler. Some of those killed are her grandchildren. Athaliah then becomes the first and only female “king” of Israel (Queen, Ruler) temporarily. She usurps the throne through murdering her entire family or so she thought. When Joash/Jehoash is about seven years old Jehoiada the High Priest of the Temple sends for rulers, captains and the guard to inform them that the king had a son that was still alive. When they find this out and also find out that he is the Davidic line they are thrilled. They surround Jehoash , weapons drawn and he is brought from the temple and crowned king of the Southern Kingdom (McGee 327-328).
Athaliah seeing/hearing the commotion at the Temple goes to the temple to find a king that “stood by a pillar”. Athaliah rent her garments probably in a theatrics lamenting and crying treason fraudulently. Jehoiada has her apprehended, removed from the Temple and promptly executed. As with many dramatic stories like the story of Athaliah we are often caught up in the morbid and sweeping evil that some of these people were consumed by. Because of this we see swift punishments and then quickly move on to the next morbid rise of an evil ruler. We miss the subtlety of God working to maintain a thin strand or remnant of the faithful, good and dare I say the righteous.
The interesting thing that arises after the execution of Athaliah and the placing of Jehoash on the throne is a return to God by the monarchy. After all the bad kings and the most recent abomination Athaliah, a lightened mood settles on the Southern Kingdom at least for an interim of a hundred years until Ahaz takes the throne. Because Jehoash is so young he has Jehoiada as an advisor. Being a High Priest he brings the priestly religious element back to the throne. By doing this he brings back God to the throne and the kingship is blessed because of this fact. The Houses of Baal are broken down. The idols and images meet the same end. This is a time of revival in the Southern Kingdom and God is given his rightful place in a revived theocracy (at least in the south). At the same time we begin to see the nation as a whole begin to diminish in power and wealth. We sort of see this in some modern nations like America. There are still outcroppings of revival and flourishing of a love for the Lord such as the Great Awakenings but these are only thumbs in the dike of a continual downward spiral of empire. As have all empires that turned their back on God, America is being relegated to the dust bin of history due to disobedience. The parallels to the past are unmistakable.
Mcgee, J. Vernon. "Chapter 11." Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee Vol 2 Joshua - Psalms. New York: Thomas Nelson/ Thru The Bible Radio, 1983. 325-329. Print.
II KINGS 8:26 says she was the daughter of omri, the king of israel, & married to jehoram, the king of judah. ahaziah was her son that jehu killed, & he had been allied to joram & killed by the same "traitor", so maybe she saw herself as a strong uniting element for the kingdoms. of course it was bloodthirsty for her to kill the heirs, which i guess she saw as weak!...there'd been alot of bloodshed, what with the slaughter of the sons of ahab & all his friends & rellies, not to mention all the people tricked into thinking they could safely go after baal! the only way to sort it all out was to believe in the True God, & apparently she was unenlightened in that area! i do see some of your points, but i still like to see the west as sheep nations...our one even actually has a whole heap of sheep in it! lol! (:D
ReplyDeleteGood information about the ancestory and lineage...adds to this discussion quite nicely!
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