Year 1, Week 52, Day 4 Bible Reading Observations

Year 1, Week 52, Day 4

I have a brief observation for today’s reading of 2 Kings 11.

Today’s reading introduces us to Joash (aka Jehoash), who would emerge as a King over the Southern Kingdom of Judah. 1 Kings 11, which parallels with the historical events described in 2 Chronicles 22-23, informs us of what occurred in Judah in the aftermath of Jehu’s killing of Azahiah: “Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family” (2 Kings 11:1). Remember, Athaliah was the wife of Jehoram, King of the Southern Kingdom of Judah, as well as the daughter of Ahab, King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. As a side note, Jehu did not actually kill everyone connected to Ahab’s family, for Athaliah is still ensconced in Judah.

One of the things that struck me from today’s reading was the LORD’s preservation of the line of David. The LORD had made a promise to David: "His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me” (Psalm 89:36). But the daughter of Ahab hated the line of David and took action to eliminate it. Today’s reading is an example of the type of threat to the David line, but also something of the LORD’s commitment to preserve the line, through the instruments that the LORD uses: “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 put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death” (2 Kings 11:2). Jehosheba and her husband, Jehoiada, a priest, would be the primary instruments for sustaining the line of David.

Athaliah, arguably, had her family murdered. Joash, presumably was a grandson of Athaliah; but if she could have gotten her hands on him, he would have been a dead baby boy. With Athaliah reigning as Queen, the current moral rot in Judah was hatched during the reign of Jehoshaphat, who made peace with Ahab (see 1 Kings 22:44), which included the marriage alliance (2 Chronicles 18:1) between his son, Jehoram and Athaliah. Jehoshaphat was considered a godly king (2 Chronicles 20:32-33), but he also entered into covenants with the ungodly that bore troublesome consequences long after he was gone.

The LORD’s promise to David was one nursing child away from failing. But one nursing child is all it takes to validate the faithfulness of God’s promises. But there was more than one baby on the scene. There was a husband and wife to nurture and protect, along with a host of faithful priests. Then, when Joash was seven, what was secretive went public: "Then he brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!” (2 Kings 11:12). Joash is crowned King. And very important to observe, and yet, easy to overlook, Joash was given “the testimony.” The testimony was the Law (see Exodus 25:21), as the king was to be given his own copy of the Law (see Deuteronomy 17:18-20). The king’s copy of the Law was intended to teach him that he was to both govern his own personal life and govern the nation as God’s Law stipulated.

In fact, as Joash is declared king, and Athaliah is removed, Jehoiada leads Judah to make a covenant: “And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and people, that they should be the LORD’S people, and also between the king and the people” (2 Kings 11:17). Reminiscent of Israel in the wilderness, the covenant was to consist of loyalty to the LORD through obedience to His Law: “Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the LORD has spoken we will do…And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Exodus 24:3,8). And if the truth of God’s Word was to govern the nation, then all what was false would need to be eliminated: “Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars” (2 Kings 11:18). Covenant faithfulness has a strong component of purging: “So you shall purge the evil from your midst” (Deuteronomy 13:5b). Today, covenant faithfulness requires an internal purging: “So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).

And the result of covenant faithfulness of peace and joy: “So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king’s house” (2 Kings 11:20).

What struck you in today’s reading? What questions were prompted from today’s reading?

Pastor Joe