The year 841 BC saw tremendous changes in the Divided Kingdom. Jehu slaughtered the royal households of Israel and Judah. In doing this, he broke the bond of alliance between the two kingdoms. He also broke the alliance with Phoenicia on the coast. While 50 years earlier, Ahab sent 2000 chariots to fight Shalamaneser at Qarqar, Jehu's son will send tribute to Assyria, breaking what few ties there were with Syria. In every way, destroying the works of an idolatrous Omride Dynasty, he destroyed the civil peace. In itself no sin, his failure was in turning away from Jehovah's guidance and power.
2 Kings 10:18-28 -- Jehu devised a sneaky plan. He declared in Samaria that his service to Melkart would make Ahab's household seem disinterested. In preparation for a massive great offering, he would require every priest and every serious devotee of Baal to gather in the temple. It seemed legitimate, even to the point of passing out the sacred robes for all the participants. Once everything and everyone was ready, he ordered them all to double check that no follower of Jehovah had slipped in. Then, he stepped outside and ordered his select warriors to slaughter everyone in the temple. While technically it was enforcing the Law of Moses to the letter to execute anyone caught in the priestly service of Baal, he overstepped the bounds by killing so many worshipers. However, there was nothing wrong with destroying the pagan temple.
10:29-36 -- In the end we see that Jehu never really cared about Jehovah. His was a rule of military brutality. While exceeding the mandate by killing so many might be forgivable, his adherence to mere politics disqualified him from the covenant. The Lord gave him a chance to do right, but Jehu turned to the cult centers founded by Jeroboam for purely political reasons. He was granted a dynasty of four generations on the strength of his initial obedience. For his tossing away the last chance for Israel to turn around, during his reign Hazael began seizing the East Bank of the Jordan bit by bit. By the end of his 28 year reign, Israel had lost nearly all of Gilead and grassy highlands.
11:1-3 -- The parallel passage is 2 Chronicles 22 and 23 for this section. Eventually the body of Ahaziah was returned to Jerusalem. Word of the execution of his adult cousins also arrived about the same time. It was the end of the line for those who worshiped Melkart, except for one: Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. She finished off the younger cousins of Ahaziah and any of his children, but one escaped. The infant named Joash (also Jehoash) was hidden by his aunt from grandmother's wrath. His rescuer was Jehosheba, daughter of Jehoram, half-sister of Ahaziah, and wife of Jehoiada, the High Priest of God. The infant boy was quickly transferred to the custody of the priests in the Temple of Solomon. There he was raised during the six years his grandmother reigned.
The text says little of this, but Athaliah was hardly idle. She built up a temple to Melkart and established Jerusalem as the new center of his worship. She made every effort to prevent support for the Temple of Jehovah, but couldn't penetrate the security to get at Joash. That she was so poorly supported by residents of the city and elders from all over simply goaded her to greater wrath. Tradition indicates she committed a number of atrocities, but we cannot be certain of the details.
11:4-12 -- Jehoiada was also busy as High Priest. 2 Chronicles 23 provides some details. The commanders of the Cherthites, the Royal Bodyguard, began campaigning politically across the realm. They drew in the Levites and some of the priests who had been forcibly retired from temple service under the previous three kings. By the time the boy king was seven, there was enough supporters to field a very substantial guard rotation. They were armed from the ancient weapons stashed in the Temple by David and Solomon. On a certain Sabbath, the boy was brought out to the pillars of the Temple. There he was given a copy of the Law of Moses, in a literal fulfillment of the Law itself. The guards who typically prevented unvested people from entering the Court of Priests were actually more of a guard to prevent interference with the ceremony. On reserve were the other two shifts of priests and Levites, who had been kept around instead of being dismissed after their service. Thus, the maximum personal available during a rotation of duties were still on hand. This was sufficient strength to enable the declaration that Joash was the King.
11:13-16 -- Such an announcement would naturally be well received by the population in attendance at Sabbath worship, and probably a high holy day, as well. The noise drew even more support from the less important rabble in the city. This racket drew the attention of the Queen. She forced her way somewhat into the Temple grounds, stopping at the terrace that separated the Court of Women and the Court of Israel. When she began to scream about treason, Jehoiada ordered her removed from the Temple grounds before executing her. The guards marched her east to the Horse Gate and killed her. Anyone foolish enough to support her were also executed.
11:17-21 -- So it was in 835 BC, Athaliah was executed, and a seven-year-old boy was placed on the Throne of David. Under Jehoiada's tutelage, the boy swore a covenant with the Lord and the nation. Both King and people would serve Jehovah. To seal the deal, the crowd went to the temple lavished by Athaliah and tore it down, executing the priest. Such action would have provoked what few supporters of Athaliah who would cause trouble to identify themselves by opposing the destruction. Once all was right, there was a ceremonial march from the Temple to the Royal Court. The land had peace with Athaliah gone.
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Ed Hurst
12 March 2005
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