2 Kings 11:13-14 Godly Treason?

 “Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the escorts and the people, she came to the people in the temple of the Lord. When she looked, there was the king standing by a pillar according to custom; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. So Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, “Treason! Treason!”” II Kings‬ ‭11‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. When she looked, there was the king: For the usurper queen mother this was a horrifying sight. For six years she ruled because she believed there were no legitimate claimants to the throne of David. Now she sees that one son of Ahaziah – Joash, her own grandson – escaped her murderous intent.

b. All the people of the land were rejoicing: They were obviously weary of the wicked reign of Athaliah.

c. Treason! Treason: The charge was not unfounded. This was treason against her government, but it was a well-founded and godly treason against a tyrannical, wicked ruler.

Godly Treason?

We recently watched a movie based on true events, Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin.

The movie was good but it troubled me because of his actions with the assassination attempt. With my biblical knowledge it was affront to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

But his resistance to the blasphemous changes in the church by speaking the truth, helping the persecuted Jews and secretly teaching Christianity were courageous!

Saul who became Paul was a roll model for similar circumstances and died for his faith in Jesus Christ. Some believe he was beheaded but the Bible doesn’t specifically mention the method of his death.

Paul said:

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

‭‭II Timothy‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭8‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Could Bonhoeffer’s assassin attempt be considered godly treason?

Blessings 

2 Kings 11:12 King’s Son!

 “And he brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, and gave him the Testimony; they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king!”” II Kings‬ ‭11‬:‭12‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. He brought out the king’s son: First the king’s son had to be revealed. No one could support him and he could not take his rightful throne until he was brought outbefore the people.

b. Put the crown on him: Next the king’s son had to be crowned. This was the public and official recognition of him as king.

c. And gave him the Testimony: The king’s son had to come with the Word of God. Joash appeared before the people holding the scrolls of God’s Word.

i. Deuteronomy 17:18 says that the king should have his own copy of the Scriptures. “This is the basis for the British custom of presenting the monarch with a copy of the Bible during the coronation service.” (Wiseman)

d. They made him king: The king’s son had to be received. He had the royal right to impose his reign, but he instead allowed his rule to be received.

e. And anointed him: The king’s son could never fulfill his office without a divine anointing.

f. They clapped their hands and said, “Long live the king”: The king’s son received praise once he was recognized as their king.

i. We can and should follow the same pattern in our reception of Jesus Christ, the true king’s son.

ii. “Is not the spiritual condition of too many children of God represented by the condition of the Temple, during the early years of the life of Joash? The king was within its precincts, the rightful heir of the crown and defender of the worship of Jehovah; but as a matter of fact, the crown was on the head of the usurper Athaliah, who was exercising a cruel and sanguinary tyranny. The king was limited to a chamber, and the majority of the priests, with all the people, had not even heard of his existence. There needs to be an anointing, an enthroning, a determination that He shall exercise his power over the entire Temple of our Being.” (Meyer)

(Guzik)

Kings Son!

“We can and should follow the same pattern in our reception of Jesus Christ, the true king’s son.” (Guzik)

“There needs to be an anointing, an enthroning, a determination that He shall exercise his power over the entire Temple of our Being.” (Meyer)

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.”

‭‭I John‬ ‭4‬:‭9‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Have you accepted the true king’s son and allowed Him to exercise his power over the entire Temple of your Being?

Blessings

2 Kings 11:4-11 Legitimate King!

 “In the seventh year Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of hundreds—of the bodyguards and the escorts—and brought them into the house of the Lord to him. And he made a covenant with them and took an oath from them in the house of the Lord, and showed them the king’s son. Then he commanded them, saying, “This is what you shall do: one-third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath shall be keeping watch over the king’s house, one-third shall be at the gate of Sur, and one-third at the gate behind the escorts. You shall keep the watch of the house, lest it be broken down. The two contingents of you who go off duty on the Sabbath shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord for the king. But you shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes within range, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king as he goes out and as he comes in.” So the captains of the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. Each of them took his men who were to be on duty on the Sabbath, with those who were going off duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. And the priest gave the captains of hundreds the spears and shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of the Lord. Then the escorts stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, all around the king, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, by the altar and the house.” II Kings‬ ‭11‬:‭4‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. Jehoiada sent and brought captains: Jehoiada was a godly man who was concerned with restoring the throne of David to the line of David, and taking it away from this daughter of Ahab and Jezebel.

b. On the Sabbath: Jehoiada chose the Sabbath for the day of the coup because that was the day when the guards changed their shifts, and they could assemble two groups of guards at the temple at the same time without attracting attention.

c. He made a covenant with them and took an oath from them in the house of the LORD: From the place where the oath was made and the context of the oath, we learn that the worship of the true God was not dead in Judah. These captains and bodyguards and escorts could respond to their responsibility before the LORD.

d. And showed them the king’s son: This was a dramatic moment. For six years everyone believed there were no more surviving heirs of David’s royal line, and there was no legitimate ruler to displace the wicked Athaliah. The secret had to be secure, because the king’s son would be immediately killed if his existence were revealed. The captains and bodyguards and escorts must have been shocked by the sight of this six-year-old heir to the throne.

i. One reason Athaliah was able to reign for six years was that no one knew any alternative. Many people live under the reign of Satan because they don’t really know there is a legitimate king ready to take reign in their lives.

e. The priest gave the captains of hundreds the spears and shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of the LORD: It was fitting for these soldiers who would set the heir of David’s royal line back on the throne of Judah to use these weapons which had belonged to King David. (Guzik)

Legitimate King!

This quote from David Guzik is striking! “Many people live under the reign of Satan because they don’t really know there is a legitimate king ready to take reign in their lives.”

Jesus said:

“And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they do not believe in Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more; of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” ‭‭John‬ ‭16‬:‭8‬-‭11‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Who is He in these verses?

“He” is the Holy Spirit who puts the draw on us, convicts us of sin and points us to Jesus.

Who is the ruler of this world? Satan!

Is Jesus your legitimate King?

Blessings 

Kings 11:1-3 God Remembered His Promise!

 “When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered; and they hid him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athaliah, so that he was not killed. So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land.” II Kings‬ ‭11‬:‭1‬-‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead: Ahaziah was executed by Jehu, as recorded in 2 Kings 9:27-29. She used the occasion of her son’s death to take power for herself, and she reigned over the land for six years.

i. We remember that Athaliah was the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and was given to King Jehoram of Judah as a bride. She was a bad influence on both her husband (Jehoram of Judah) and her son (King Ahaziah of Judah).

b. And destroyed all the royal heirs: Athaliah was from the family of Ahab, and Jehu had completely destroyed all of Ahab’s descendants in Israel. Now, after Jehu’s coup, Athaliah tried to save something for Ahab’s family by trying to eliminate the house of David in Judah.

i. “How dreadful is the lust of reigning! It destroys all the charities of life; and turns fathers, mothers, brothers, and children, into the most ferocious savages!” (Clarke)

ii. Years before, the king of Judah – Jehoshaphat – married his son to this daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, hoping to make an alliance with those wicked and apostate leaders. “And this was the fruit of Jehoshaphat’s marrying his son to a daughter of that idolatrous and wicked house of Ahab, even the extirpation of all his posterity but one.” (Poole)

iii. “No character in history, sacred or secular, stands out blacker or more hideous than this daughter-in-law of the godly Jehoshaphat.” (Knapp)

c. But Jehosheba: This little-known woman had an important place in God’s plan of the ages. Through her courage and ingenuity, she preserved the royal line of David through which the Messiah would come. Evil people like Athaliah will begin their work, but God can always raise up a Jehosheba.

i. “Thus evil always breaks down. It is extremely clever, it calculates on all the changes, and seems to leave no unguarded place; but with unvarying regularity it fails somewhere to cover up its tracks, or to insure its victory.” (Morgan)

ii. 2 Chronicles 22:11 tells us that Jehosheba was the wife of Jehoiada, the high priest. Yet, “It is not likely that Jehosheba was the daughter of Athaliah; she was a sister, we find, to Ahaziah the son of Athaliah, but probably by a different mother.” (Clarke)

d. He was hidden with her in the house of the LORD for six years: Though Ahaziah was a bad king who made evil alliances, he was still a descendant of David and the successor of his royal line. For the sake of David, God remembered His promise and spared this one young survivor to the massacre of Athaliah. The line of David was almost extinguished and continued only in the presence of a small boy, but God preserved that flickering flame.

i. “Josephus (Antiquities 9.7.1) says that the bedroom where the child and his nurse hid was a room where spare furniture and mattresses were stored.” (Wiseman)

ii. Like the boy Samuel, Joash grew up in the temple. Like Samuel, he probably found little ways to help the priests, whatever could be done without attracting too much attention.

God remembered His promise!

For the sake of David God remembered His promise! 

But God made a promise for you too!

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Have you grasped onto this promise of everlasting life?

Blessings 

2 Kings 10:34-36 Relationship With God?

Relationship With God? “Now the rest of the acts of Jehu, all that he did, and all his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Jehu rested with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria. Then Jehoahaz his son reigned in his place. And the period that Jehu reigned over Israel in Samaria was twenty-eight years.”

‭‭II Kings‬ ‭10‬:‭34‬-‭36‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. And they buried him in Samaria: Though incomplete in his own goodness, this man was the best of a bad group. Jehu’s goodness was rewarded with a long reign (twenty-eight years).

b. Twenty-eight years: This was a long reign, but notable only at its beginning. Jehu had the energy and influence to truly turn the nation back to God, but his half-commitment to God left that potential unfulfilled and points to a lack of any real relationship with God.

i. “We have no chronicles in which there is any thing further spoken of this bad man. His reign was long, twenty-eight years; and yet we know nothing of it but the commencement.” (Clarke)

ii. “The great lesson to be drawn from this remarkable man’s life is that of being constantly on guard, as servants of God, lest we be found doing His work – whether it be in the exercise of discipline, or the accomplishment of reformation – in a spirit of unbrokenness and without due exercise of heart and conscience between Him who is ‘a God of judgment,’ and by whom ‘actions are weighed.’” (Knapp)

(Guzik)

Relationship With God?

Years ago when my father died a friend had told me, “you are now mortal”. Not understanding what he meant I asked for clarification.

He said that the previous generation is gone and you’re next!

Now that Im in my golden years, I reflect back on my life and examine my relationship with God! 

I thank God for His Son Jesus Christ! If there is one thing I could change it would have been seeking God sooner!

I have been born again and because of my relationship with Jesus I know that my home is in heaven. 

How is your relationship with God?

Blessings 

2 Kings 10:32-33 To Cut Off!

 “In those days the Lord began to cut off parts of Israel; and Hazael conquered them in all the territory of Israel from the Jordan eastward: all the land of Gilead—Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh—from Aroer, which is by the River Arnon, including Gilead and Bashan.” II Kings‬ ‭10‬:‭32‬-‭33‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

a. In those days the LORD began to cut off parts of Israel: This was the work of the LORD. These neighboring rulers and their kingdoms were prompted and made successful by God.

b. All the territory of Israel from the Jordan eastward: For hundreds of years before this – since the time of the entry into the Promised Land more than 600 years before – Israel held substantial portions of land on the eastern side of the Jordan River. This land was held by the tribes of Gad, Reuben, and Manasseh. Now this land was taken by the enemies of Israel, because of their sin and unfaithfulness to the covenant.

i. This included the rich and fruitful lands of Gilead and Bashan. (Guzik)

To Cut Off!

“Now this land was taken by the enemies of Israel, because of their sin and unfaithfulness to the covenant.” (Guzik)

The Bible shows us many times what happened when the Israelites strayed from the covenant. He eventually cuts them off completely and they will be conquered and taken as prisoners away from the promised land.

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭5‬:‭20‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

It seems to me that we are living out Isaiah’s prophecy in real time!

“the Lord began to cut off” this verse should be a warning for us!

Please pray for a revival.

Blessings