We are going to look at two very different women. One of them wicked, and one of them good. One of them sets out to destroy and the other one bravely steps in to save. It’s a story involving the line of Christ and it’s a story of life and death.
To best understand the story, we need to do a little family history and genealogy.
Family History/Genealogy
Remember Jehoshaphat, King of Judah? (2 Chron. 20:2 and following). See my blog post Standing Firm in the Midst of Battles.
When told a vast army was coming to attack, he gathered all his people. They all went before the Lord, collectively (men, women, children, and little ones). Though they did not know what to do, their eyes were on the Lord.
Then God said to them:
Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”
God gave them victory.
Jehoshaphat had several sons, and he gave his eldest son, Jehoram, the right to be King when he passed away.
Look here for a family tree which is helpful in keeping everyone straight.
Jehoram, Jehoshaphat’s son became king at age 32. Once firmly established on the throne, he killed all his brothers along with some officials. Yikes!
Jehoram married a daughter of Ahab, her name is Athaliah (we’ll come back to her later, but I call her “Evil Athaliah”). Jehoram did evil in the eyes of the Lord.
2 Chron. 21:7 – “Nevertheless, because of the covenant the Lord had made with David, the Lord was not willing to destroy the house of David.”
Just as we see the Lord’s hand here, we’re going to continue to see it as we keep reading in 2 Chron. 21:12-20
All of Jehoram’s sons were killed, except Ahaziah. In 2 Chronicles 22:1, we read thatthe people of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, Jehoram’s youngest son, king in his place.
It is at this point in the story we get to the two women I mentioned earlier.
Let’s see what we learn about evil Athaliah:
- Chronicles 22: 3 tells us that Ahaziah’s mother encouraged him to act wickedly. His mother “encouraged” him to act wickedly!
“The counsel of the ungodly ruins many young persons when they are setting out in the world. Ahaziah gave himself up to be led by evil men. Those who advise us to do wickedly, counsel us to our destruction; while they pretend to be friends, they are our worst enemies.”
Matthew henry
*We must be careful not to give ourselves up to be led by evil people or allow them to influence us.
As we continue reading in 2 Chron. 22:7, we learn that “Through Ahaziah’s visit to Joram, God brought about Ahaziah’s downfall.”
Skip ahead to v. 10.
- 10 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah.
This woman was ruthless! She usurped the power and authority and ascended the throne and caused almost all the royal seed of the house of Judah (all the male members who might set up claims to become King), to be murdered. Some of these might have been Ahaziah’s own sons (her grandsons!).
She had no regard for human life.
Only one heir remained: Ahaziah’s son who was only a year old.
This is where the account gets suspenseful because this is the LINE of DAVID, which is also the line of CHRIST. We must remember that all the prophecies said that the Messiah, the salvation of the world, was to come from the line of David. And everything now hangs on the life of a 1-year-old, whose grandmother is trying to kill him!
“The tree had been cut down, and there was but this one sucker pushing forth a tiny shoot from ‘the root of Jesse.’” (MacLaren’s Expositions)
What will happen? Will Athaliah succeed in her evil plan?
Let’s keep reading and take special note of a very important word in Scripture:
2 Chronicles 23
11 But Jehosheba,[e] the daughter of King Jehoram…
- Scripture doesn’t say that Athalia is her mother.
- Take a look at the family tree and find Jehosheba.
…took Joash, son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. “
We see this brave woman stepping in to save the line of David.
“Because Jehosheba,[f] the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him.”
So Jehosheba is Joash’s aunt. And she, along with her husband, are trying to protect Joash.
12 “He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.”
Not only did Jehosheba need to be brave to take Joash and hid him, but she had to exercise courage daily for 6 years. Imagine the danger she must have been in.
2 Chronicles 23 tell us that Jehoiada “showed his strength.” He made a covenant with the commanders of units of a hundred and they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites and the heads of Israelite families from all the towns. The whole assembly made a covenant with the king at the temple of God.
Jehoiada said to them, “The king’s son shall reign, as the Lord promised concerning the descendants of David.
2 Chron 23:7 “The Levites are to station themselves around the king, each with weapon in hand. Anyone who enters the temple is to be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes.”
The Levites and all the men of Judah did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered.
9 Then he gave the commanders of units of a hundred the spears and the large and small shields that had belonged to King David and that were in the temple of God. 10 He stationed all the men, each with his weapon in his hand, around the king—near the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple.
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 covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!”
12 When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering the king, she went to them at the temple of the Lord. 13 She looked, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and musicians with their instruments were leading the praises. Then Athaliah tore her robes and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”
14 Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of the troops, and said to them: “Bring her out between the ranks[b] and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not put her to death at the temple of the Lord.” 15 So they seized her as she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate on the palace grounds, and there they put her to death.
16 Jehoiada then made a covenant that he, the people and the king[c] would be the Lord’s people. 17 All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
18 Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the Lord in the hands of the Levitical priests, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the Lord as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered. 19 He also stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that no one who was in any way unclean might enter.
20 He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people and all the people of the land and brought the king down from the temple of the Lord. They went into the palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the royal throne.
21 All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had been slain with the sword.
What an incredible ending to this story of good vs. evil! Jehosheba, granddaughter of King Jehoshaphat, was brave, she persevered, and with the help of her husband, did everything she could to save the line of David. All the people rejoiced! The city was calm because Athaliah was no more.
I’m reminded of the words we started with in 2 Chron. 20:
“Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16 Tomorrow march down against them. They will be climbing up by the Pass of Ziz, and you will find them at the end of the gorge in the Desert of Jeruel. 17 You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”
Whatever you are facing right now, remember God is a God of redemption. The Lord is with you. Let us go be radiant remembering Who is, and always will be, with us.
Go Be Radiant 
