Reflections on 2 Kings 11

2 Kings 11 (Contemporary English Version)

1. As soon as Athaliah heard that her son King Ahaziah was dead, she decided to kill any relative who could possibly become king. She would have done that,
   
2. but Jehosheba rescued Joash son of Ahaziah just as he was about to be murdered. Jehosheba, who was Jehoram's daughter and Ahaziah's half sister, hid her nephew Joash and his personal servant in a bedroom in the LORD's temple where he was safe from Athaliah.
   
3. Joash hid in the temple with Jehosheba for six years while Athaliah ruled as queen of Judah.
   
4. Joash son of Ahaziah had hidden in the LORD's temple six years. Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada the priest sent for the commanders of the king's special bodyguards and the commanders of the palace guards. They met him at the temple, and he asked them to make a promise in the name of the LORD. Then he brought out Joash
   
5. and said to them: Here's what I want you to do. Three of your guard units will be on duty on the Sabbath. I want one unit to guard the palace.
   
6. Another unit will guard Sur Gate, and the third unit will guard the palace gate and relieve the palace guards.
   
7. The other two guard units are supposed to be off duty on the Sabbath. But I want both of them to stay here at the temple and protect King Joash.
   
8. Make sure they follow him wherever he goes, and have them keep their swords ready to kill anyone who tries to get near him.
   
9. The commanders followed Jehoiada's orders. Each one called together his guards--those coming on duty and those going off duty.
   
10. Jehoiada brought out the swords and shields that had belonged to King David and gave them to the commanders.
    
11. Then they gave the weapons to their guards, who took their positions around the temple and the altar to protect Joash on every side.
    
12. Jehoiada brought Joash outside, where he placed the crown on his head and gave him a copy of instructions for ruling the nation. Olive oil was poured on his head to show that he was now king, while the crowd clapped and shouted, "Long live the king!"
    
13. Queen Athaliah heard the crowd and went to the temple.
    
14. There she saw Joash standing by one of the columns, which was the usual place for the king. The singers and the trumpet players were standing next to him, and the people were celebrating and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes in anger and shouted, "You betrayed me, you traitors!"
    
15. Right away, Jehoiada said to the army commanders, "Kill her! But don't do it anywhere near the LORD's temple. Take her out in front of the troops and kill anyone who is with her!"
    
16. So the commanders dragged her to the gate where horses are led into the palace, and they killed her there.
    
17. Jehoiada the priest asked King Joash and the people to promise that they would be faithful to each other and to the LORD.
    
18. Then the crowd went to the temple built to honor Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols and killed Mattan the priest of Baal right in front of the altars. After Jehoiada had placed guards around the LORD's temple,
    
19. he called together all the commanders, the king's special bodyguards, the palace guards, and the people. They led Joash from the temple, through the Guards' Gate, and into the palace. He took his place on the throne and became king of Judah.
    
20. Everyone celebrated because Athaliah had been killed and Jerusalem was peaceful again.
    
21. Joash was only seven years old when this happened.
    

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Except for a brief passage toward the end of chapter 8 describing the succession of kings in Judah from Jehoram to Ahaziah, the narrative of 2 Kings has been about the kings of Israel. Now, in chapter 11, we turn to the kings of Judah. Athaliah was the mother of king Ahaziah of Judah and the daughter of Jezebel in Israel. She had married king Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, to form an alliance between the two kingdoms. But she influenced Judah toward Baal worship much as her mother had done in Israel. As we can see in chapter 11, she was a true daughter of Jezebel, every bit as wicked.

When Athaliah learned that her son, king Ahaziah of Judah had been killed along with Joram, king of Israel, she moved to take over the throne in Judah, becoming the only ruling queen in Judah. To make this possible, she had to get rid of any possible heir to the throne which meant killing all of her grandsons. In this we can see just how wicked she was. Though God allows wickedness to have an upper hand as long as people choose wickedness, it does not thwart His plans. God had made a covenant with David that there would be a line of his descendants rule in Judah from which would come the Messiah. Had Athaliah succeeded in killing all her grandsons, there would have been no more descendants of David remaining. But God did not allow her to succeed.

Jehosheba was a sister to king Ahaziah (but not a daughter of Athaliah), and an aunt to the grandsons being killed. As the killings were taking place, she secretly rescued Joash, one of the grandsons. Initially she hid the boy, along with his nurse, in a bedroom of the palace and later moved them to the Lord's temple where he remained in hiding for six years. The Lord's temple was probably the safest place in Judah to hide him since Athaliah had no interest in worshipping the Lord. But also, this arrangement was convenient and possible because Jehosheba's husband was the priest in the Lord's temple. In short, though, this was the Lord's plan.

In the beginning of Athaliah's seventh year of reign, Jehoiada the priest set in motion a plan to anoint the boy Joash as king. He made an agreement with the captains of the bodyguards who would be on duty on the Sabbath. According to the plan, when there was a changing of the guard with new guards coming on duty and others going off duty, their ranks would be increased by leaving the outgoing guards on duty. Instead of going off duty they moved to the temple to protect Joash. With the boy surrounded by guards, he was moved to the court of the temple to be anointed and crowned king. When the shout went up, "Long live the king!" Athaliah heard the noise and went to investigate. Realizing what was happening, she screamed "Treason!" But it was not those who crowned Joash, a legitimate heir to the throne, who committed treason, but Athaliah who had treasonously usurped the throne.

Jehoiada the priest had the guards take Athaliah outside the temple area and killed. Then he "made a covenant between the LORD, the king, and the people that they would be the LORD's people and another one between the king and the people." (11:17) After this the people tore down the temple of Baal and killed the priest of Baal at the altars. Then Joash was taken to the palace and seated on the throne. Verse 20 says that, "All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death by the sword in the king's palace."

Athaliah's actions in killing the heirs to the throne was a satanic attempt to break the royal Messianic line and she was Satan's agent in carrying it out. With Satan's agent dead there was now peace and quiet which do not characterize the presence of Satan through those over whom he has rule.