When
Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to
destroy the whole royal family. (2
Kings 11:1)
Jehoshaphat
was one of the great kings of Judah, but he had a blind spot when it came to
Ahab. Perhaps as part of a sordid plan to extend their power over Israel’s
neighbor nation to the south, Ahab and Jezebel gave their daughter Athaliah in
marriage to Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram. Out of his naïve desire to restore good
relations between the two nations, he never saw Ahab’s ploy for what it was, and
opened Judah to a nearly disastrous wicked influence.
Jehoram and
Athaliah gave birth to Ahaziah. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Ahaziah
was mortally wounded in Jehu’s purge, which eradicated all of Athaliah’s family
members still in Israel. When the news reached the palace, she set out to kill
every member of the royal family – which by the way would have ended David’s
line – and seize the throne for herself.
In the nick
of time, High Priest Jehoiada spirited Ahaziah’s youngest son Joash into hiding.
He was the only one to survive Athaliah’s murderous rampage. The priests cared
for Joash until Jehoiada proclaimed the young man king at the tender age of
seven. The bodyguard priest then ordered the execution of Athaliah ending her
reign of terror.
Against
overwhelming odds, God’s promise to David (2 Samuel 7:16) remained intact.
So
what are the odds God will keep his promises to you?
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