Her reign continued for six full years. Six years of anxiety, worry, and fear. A reign of terror if ever there had been one. Roiling just below her well-composed surface, violence and bloodlust strained to be unleashed. Ice ran through her veins. She would hesitate at nothing to retain her queenly status. Her stony countenance invited no questions, no opinions, no options. Her word was absolute, her judgments final. She ruled with an iron fist–the same fist with which she had stolen the throne six years ago.
Ascending the throne at the passing of his father, Ahaziah was only twenty-two when he began to reign. His time on the throne would be short-lived, however, what time he spent there, was under the steely, micromanaging eye of his mother Athaliah. From her position as the king’s counselor, she kept abreast of every decision, monitored his every move, manipulated his thoughts. Her desire to take his place, do his job is nearly palpable. It is almost as if she was just biding her time, waiting for the perfect moment to ascend the throne. And no moment was more perfect than the one in which her son was pronounced dead.
Without so much as a momentary pause to mourn the untimely death of her son, Athaliah narrowed her dry eyes and sprang into action. The competition must be vanquished. The throne would be hers at all costs. Orders flew off her lips in rapid succession. Men raced to do her bidding. By the end of the day, she and she alone would be heir to the throne. Staring at the growing pile of royal corpses, Athaliah felt satisfaction. She had accomplished her goal. She was now queen of Judah.
Everyone else was dead. Rewriting a page from her husband’s acts, she’d had them all dispatched. Except she hadn’t just killed the men. She’d killed them all. Every. Single. One. Male. Female. Young. Old. Her daughters. Her sons-in-law. Her grandchildren. People she should have protected. People she should have preserved. People she should have loved more than her own life. Every member she could find was selfishly sacrificed in the pursuit of her own promotion. So desperate was the darkness of her soul that she was willing to sacrifice everyone, everything to have the one thing she wanted more than anything. Athaliah reigned over Judah.
It wouldn’t last. The task she assumed had so efficiently been undertaken had fallen short of the mark. In her haste to crown herself queen, Athaliah had failed to count the bodies stacked up at her door. She had missed one. Sheltered in the bowels of the temple, protected by a God-fearing priest, lay a little boy who would one day reclaim his rightful throne.
Years would pass with no one being the wiser. The growing Joash would spend his time learning to obey God and walk in all His ways from the priest Jehoiada. He would purposely be raised to lead his people back into service of the one true God of heaven and earth. Their God. The God whose preserving hand they could trace throughout their own heritage. The God who had delivered them over and over again from mess after mess of their own making. The God who had never failed to keep one word of all His promises. The One who had promised to be their God if they would simply be His people.
They had failed. Miserably. They had followed kings and leaders who were drawn aside by false gods and idol worship. They had engaged in horrific acts of spiritual whoredom. No matter how offensive they found their sitting leader, no matter how distressing their current situation, they had no one to blame but themselves. They had let evil in. They had failed to stand up against the status quo. They could have chosen as a whole to turn back to God, but their fear of the cold-blooded queen had them cowering. Man. Woman. Child. Everyone. Except the priest.
As the seventh year of Athaliah’s reign dawned, Jehoiada knew things had to change. They couldn’t continue to live under the dark pall of royal menace and idolatry. Their souls were dying. Something must be done to turn the people back to the proper paths. Someone had to step out and eradicate the evil growing unhindered among them. Someone had to summon the courage to gather the troops, appoint a new ruler, destroy the idols, and lead the people back to the God of their fathers.
Being the sole protector of the seven-year-old boy who was key to the mission, Jehoiada found himself in the unenviable position of leading the charge. He did not take the responsibility lightly. The situation was too grave for heroism and showboating. He would need help, men he could trust, people willing to risk it all for the sake of their souls.
He found them in the commanders of Judah, the Levites scattered throughout the cities of the land, the priests who carried with them faith like that of Jehoiada. Men who believed God was still willing to honor His covenant with His people. Men who weren’t afraid to gather in Jerusalem, right under the callous eye of Queen Athaliah, and crown the rightful king of Judah. Men who were so tired of the prevailing sin and evil and wickedness that they were unconcerned with the fallout. Because, should things not go according to plan, there would be fallout.
Noting the commotion and hearing the word “king” floating on the breeze, Athaliah hurriedly walked the unfamiliar path to the house of the Lord. Her thoughts hurtled over one another. What heresy could this be? She’d killed them all, hadn’t she? How could anyone have survived that bloodbath? Yet there he was, standing beside his pillar sporting a crown. The likeness was unmistakable. Her stomach lurched and dropped to her toes. Anger shot through her veins. There had indeed been an oversight. Some inattentive dunderhead had left a child behind.
It was an indescribable betrayal. Unexplainable treason. Everything she thought she had attained and accomplished now lay in ashes at her feet. It was over. The legacy she planned to leave was nothing now but a telltale list of “would have beens” after her death. A declaration of her impotence. What had begun with a bloodbath ended the same. The blood of Athaliah ran into the gate by the king’s house. The idols and altars and temples to Baal were obliterated, his priest killed. Burnt offerings to the Lord were re-instituted. Singing resounded throughout the land. The people rejoiced. The land was finally quiet. Why? Because the absence of sin is the presence of peace. (II Chronicles 21-23; Mark 3:22-27)
See, nothing has changed in the intervening centuries between Athaliah’s demise and our current situation. Evil is still rampant in the world. Wickedness is alive and well. Sin is celebrated. People everywhere seem to be searching for peace. Attending retreats. Practicing yoga. Diffusing essential oils. Camping. Hiking. Unplugging from electronic devices. They are all harmless things and they may bring a semblance of peace for a time. It won’t last. Sooner rather than later you will find yourself again seeking relief from the turmoil in your soul. You can try a thousand things. There will be only one answer. Stop sinning. Destroy your selfish idols of pleasure, prosperity, and prominence. Covenant with God to follow Him alone. Knowing this truth–Peace can only reign when evil is removed. (II Chronicles 23:16; I Samuel 7:3; Joshua 24:23; Matthew 6:24; Romans 8:6)
So why do we have so much trouble doing it? Why does it take such concerted effort for us to let go of the things that bring turmoil and upheaval into our lives? Why do we beg for peace with our mouths, but hide sin in our hearts? How can we possibly love something so much when it brings only struggle and striving and stress?
I truly don’t know; I simply know we do. I also know this. We need to stop it. Stop being silly. Stop playing around. Stop lying to ourselves. Stop looking for peace in places we know it can’t be found. We need to clean up our act, clear out our hearts, cleanse our souls in the blood of Jesus Christ. We need to eradicate sin. All of it. Large. Small. Public. Private. Every single one has to go. Only then can we know the peace that transcends all understanding, pervades every circumstance, permeates every fiber of our being. Only in the absence of sin can true peace reign. (Romans 6:12; Philippians 4:7; I Corinthians 14:33, 15:34; Colossians 3:5; Proverbs 12:20; James 4:8; Isaiah 1:16-18)
Amen!