2 Kings 11:1-3 And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.… Athaliah was the evil genius of Judah, as Jezebel was of Israel. The mother was slain, but, unwarned by her fall, the daughter snatched at the reins of power, and held the throne for six years. The track of both was marked by violence, bloodshed, and political convulsion. I. THE WICKEDNESS OF ATHALIAH. Ahaziah's death gave Athaliah her opportunity. Nothing could more clearly reveal the wicked disposition of the woman than the means by which she raised herself to the throne. When she "saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal." 1. She was a woman, yet, to pave her way to power, she did not hesitate to crush every feminine instinct in her breast, and to imbrue her hands in innocent blood. 2. She was a mother, yet she remorselessly put to death her own grandchildren. The youngest was a babe, but her savage temper made no distinctions. Her son's offspring were only rivals, to be got out of the way by murder. In this tigress-like nature of the queen-mother all womanhood is effaced. Truly "the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel" (Proverbs 12:10). II. THE PRESERVATION OF JOASH. After all, Athaliah's end was not gained. Unknown to this savage woman, one of Ahaziah's sons, the youngest, was saved from the general massacre by his aunt Jehosheba, and, after a temporary concealment in the store-chamber of the palace, was conveyed to the temple, and there secretly brought up. We have in this deliverance of the young Joash: 1. An example of faith and courage. IS was "by faith" that the pious Jehosheba did this daring act, even as it was by faith that the parents of Moses hid their goodly child (Hebrews 11:23). And faith, in this instance as in the other, had its reward. 2. A proof of God's faithfulness to his promise. It had been promised to David that he should never want a man to sit on his throne (1 Kings 8:25). That promise seemed now frustrated, when to outward appearance every descendant of David was destroyed. But "the counsel of the Lord standeth forever" (Psalm 33:11). No device of man can prevail against that. 3. An illustration of how God can defeat the designs of the wicked. Skillfully as the wicked lay their plots, there is generally something overlooked, forgotten, which brings them to naught. Some witness of their crimes is left undetected. They seem to have closed up every chink and cranny through which defeat could enter, yet it is found that some loophole has been left. A good and true cause may be safely left in the hands of God. He will not suffer it to fail. - J.O. Parallel Verses KJV: And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal. |
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