The courageous hiding of the child Joash by his aunt
Jehosheba from the murderous intentions of Queen Athaliah was but the beginning
of the efforts to resist her tyrannical and idolatrous rule. For the next seven years, Joash was hidden in
the temple by the priest Jehoida, Jehosheba’s husband, until Jehoida had been
able to secretly build up enough support among the military, priests and
Levites, and elders of Judah to attempt to overthrow the queen.
The
efforts of Jehoida, fraught with danger as they were should they be discovered
prematurely, ultimately came off without a hitch as the conspiracy unfolded
according to plan and the city of Jerusalem was quickly under the control of
those who had proclaimed Joash, now seven years old, as the rightful king as
the only surviving direct descendant of David.
The rebels had risked much in going against a queen willing to murder
her own family to maintain power, but they had chosen to make that risk on the
side of that which if right in fulfillment of God’s promise to protect the
throne of David.
The
people of Jerusalem, upon hearing the proclamation that Joash is the new king,
rather than hiding indoors and waiting to see who prevails between the queen and
the rebels, instead throng into the streets to celebrate their liberation. Athaliah, rejected by her subjects and bereft
of supporters, makes a dramatic entrance into the temple courts shouting, “Treason!”,
but to no avail. Jehoida orders her
taken back to the palace where she is put to death, fittingly in the building
she was willing to kill in order to control.
It was
an unlikely revolution, centered around a dispossessed child-king, led by a
priest, and yet it succeeded with very little bloodshed. Those involved in the conspiracy had been
ready to spend their lives for the sake of that which is right, because of the
promise of the word of God and the support of the people of Jerusalem, they
didn’t have to.
What
does this mean for us? We are unlikely
to find ourselves in the midst of a revolution against a tyrant, but we will
still have opportunities for acts of courage in defense of the weak, acts of
purity in defiance of corruption.
Jehoida and those who followed him risked death to do the right thing,
we can certainly risk far less to do likewise.
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