Theological Commentary: Click Here
This is such
an interesting chapter. Athaliah hears
about the death of her son at the hands of Jehu. What makes this chater so interesting is that
the Queen Mother then turns and starts to kill all the other children who might
become king. She slaughters child after
child while being on a rampage. If her
child won’t reign, then nobody else’s child would reign, either.
There are
two really neat things about this chapter.
The first neat concept is that one child, Joash, is smuggled into
safety. News of him is kept silent from
Athaliah’s ears for six years. That
alone is an amazing feat. The lineage of
David is saved when all hope appears lost.
The other
neat dynamic comes out of this reality.
When we start this chapter, it looks bleak. This chapter starts with the death of innocent
people. The chapter starts with awful
news. Yet, look at what God does in this
chapter. God brings forth a complete reset
of the southern kingdom. In the
salvation of Joash comes a king who is dedicated to the God whose house he
quite literally was saved and raised in.
The worship places of Ba’al are removed.
A renewal of the pact between God and His people comes into being. A chapter that starts out so bleakly ends
with a great story of success.
For the
record, this is often the modus operandi of God. The story of Moses begins with the Hebrew
people enslaved and the Hebrew children being killed. When Jesus is born it begins with no room at
the inn and the slaughter of innocent children.
Paul’s story begins with the death of Stephen and the absolute
persecution of the early church. So
often it is in the darkest moments that we see the light of God most brightly.
<><
No comments:
Post a Comment