- [Narrator] The evil daughter of Jezebel.
She assassinated her own family.
Athaliah, whose name means afflicted by God,
reigned as queen of Judah
between the years 841 and 835 BC.
She sat on King David's throne.
Her name means afflicted by God.
Athaliah was the daughter
of Israel's king Ahab and Queen Jezebel,
and she wed Johoram,
the eldest son of Judah's King Jehoshaphat.
Athaliah was known as the Queen of Israel.
Her father had already gotten a prophecy of the death
of his wife Jezebel and his sons.
Athaliah's reign as queen was sandwiched
between several centuries
during which Judah and Israel were ruled
by wicked kings and queens.
Athaliah was a fervent follower of Baal,
and as a result she was every bit as wicked
as the monarchs who came before her and after her.
Her story can be found in II Kings 11
and II Chronicles 22 to 23.
Athaliah's husband, Jehoram, was king of Judah
until he passed in 841 BC.
Unlike his father, Johoram was a wicked king.
Athaliah's son, Ahaziah, ascended to the throne
at the age of 22
and established himself just as evil as his father.
II Kings 8:18 Amplified Bible:
He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel
just as the house of Ahab had done.
But Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab, became his wife.
He did evil in the sight of the Lord.
Athaliah guided her son in his devilish schemes.
II Chronicles 22:3 Amplified Bible:
He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab,
for his mother was his advisor
and she encouraged him to act wickedly.
Ahaziah served as king of Judah for less than one year
but he was assassinated
along with Israel's ailing King Joram.
Their assassin was Jehu, who had originally been a commander
in King Ahab's army.
II Kings 9:5 Amplified Bible:
When he arrived,
the captains of the army were sitting outside
and he said, "I have a message for you, O, captain."
Jehu said, "To which one of us?"
And he said, "For you, O, captain."
II Kings 9:25:
Then Jehu said to Bidkar his officer,
"Pick him up and throw him
on the field of Naboth the Jezreelite,
for I remember when you
and I were riding together after his father Ahab
that the Lord uttered this prophecy against him."
Jehu was anointed as the new king of Israel
by the prophet Elijah, who also commissioned him
as an instrument of the law to carry out the punishment
that God had pronounced against King Ahab
and his entire family because of their idolatry.
As part of Jehu's goal to put an end
to the dynasty established by Ahab,
Jezebel and her sons were put to death.
It just so happened that her son Ahaziah
was visiting Joram when Jehu arrived
to carry out the plot to kill Joram.
As a result, Ahaziah also lost his life.
II Chronicles 22:10-12:
When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah,
saw that her son was dead,
she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family
of the house of Judah.
But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram,
took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away
from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered
and put him and his nurse in a bedroom.
because Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram,
and the wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah's sister,
he hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him.
He remained hidden with them
at the temple of God for six years
while Athaliah ruled the land.
Athaliah, who had already lost her husband and then her son,
took the kingdom for herself
by executing her own grandchildren
after she had already lost her husband and son.
Satan was the hidden force behind this savage massacre
of the royal family, and he was seeking
to cut off the messianic line
as he had attempted to do in the past
and would strive to do in the future.
Jehovah moved Jehoshabeath to hide her nephew Joash
because the promise in Genesis 3:15
guaranteed the Lord would preserve the line
through which the Lord Jesus would eventually come.
Jehoshabeath's husband, Jehoiada, who was a priest,
took care of him for the next six years
while he was hidden away in the temple.
When Athaliah learned that her son had been slain,
she seized the chance to steal the throne
by assassinating Ahaziah's son
therefore wiping out the entire royal dynasty.
Athaliah was successful in her coup.
II Kings 11:2:
but Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram of Judah
and half sister of Ahaziah
took Joash the son of Ahaziah,
and abducted him from among the king's son
who were to be killed
and hid him and his nurse in the bedroom.
So they hid from Athaliah and was not put to death.
II Chronicles 24:7:
For the son of Athaliah, that wicked woman,
had broken into the house of God
and also had used all the holy and dedicated things
in the house of the Lord for the Baals.
Unbeknownst to Athaliah,
a single grandchild escaped the massacre.
Jehosheba, the baby's aunt
and the wife of the high priest Jehoiada,
took the infant Joash
and hid him and his nurse in a bedroom.
Joash was later smuggled out of the castle
and taken to the temple
where he remained hidden for six years
while Queen Athaliah reigned over the land.
II Kings 11:1-3.
II Kings 11:1-3:
Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah
saw that her son was dead,
she arose and destroyed all the seed royal,
but Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram,
sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the the son of Ahaziah
and stole him away from among the king's sons
that were slain, even him and his nurse,
and put them in the bed chamber
and they hid him from Athaliah so that he was not slain.
And he was with her in the house of Jehovah six years.
And Athaliah reigned over the land.
Just like her mother, she worshiped the god known as Baal.
During the reign of Ahab and Jezebel,
at the peak of Baal worship in Israel,
God directly confronted paganism through his prophet Elijah.
First God showed that he, not Baal, controlled the rain
by sending a drought lasting 3 1/2 years.
Baal was the name of god who was worshiped
through Canaan and Phoenicia in old times.
During the Judges' period,
the practice of Baal worship entered Jewish religious life.
The practice of Baal worship became widespread
in Israel during the reign of Ahab.
The practice of Baal worship also affected Judah.
Various parts worshiped Baal in different methods
and Baal proved to be a highly universal god.
Various locales highlighted one or another
of his attributes and designed unique sects of Baalism.
Baal is depicted in statues wearing a helmet embellished
with a bull's horns, a symbol of strength and fertility.
He holds a club or mace in one hand
probably representing thunder,
and a spear adorned with leaves in the other
possibly representing both lightning and vegetation.
In Aramean sculptures, Baal is depicted riding a bull.
Athaliah, during her reign as queen of Judah,
utilized her position
to further establish the worship of Baal across the kingdom.
She did this by placing priests and establishing altars
for her idol within the temple of the Lord.
In this way, Athaliah followed the footsteps
of her mother Jezebel.
After Athaliah had rained for six years,
the high priest Jehoiada placed guards around the temple
and publicly crowned the young Joash as the fitting king.
As the new king was anointed,
"the people clapped their hands and shouted,
'Long live the king!'"
II Kings 11:12:
Then Johoiada brought out the king's son
and put the crown on him and gave him the Testimony,
a copy of the Mosaic law
and they made him king and anointed him
and they clapped their hands and said, "Long live the king."
II Chronicles 23:12-13:
When Athaliah heard the noise
of the people running and cheering the king,
she went to them at the temple of the Lord.
She looked and there was the king standing
by his pillar at the entrance.
The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king
and all the people of the land were rejoicing
and blowing trumpets and musicians
with their instruments were leading the praise.
Then Athaliah tore her robes
and shouted, "Treason, treason!"
Queen Athaliah came to the people in the temple
to investigate the cheering and shouting,
only to find a child rival she fought long dead
now wearing the royal crown.
But what must have alarmed her even more was the realization
that the people were solidly behind him.
No one listened to her charge of treason.
After all, she was the usurper, not Joash.
Johoiada ordered her to be slain, but not inside the temple.
She was taken to the Horse Gate
where she was slain for her atrocities in Judah.
King Joash, who was only seven years old at the time,
dismantled the temple of Baal,
broke the altars and idols of Baal
and executed the priest of Baal.
This was all done under the command
of the faithful high priest.
And "all the people of the land rejoiced,
and the city was calm before Athaliah had been slain
because Athaliah had been put to death."
With Athaliah out of the way, reform was swift.
Jehoiada and the people covenanted to be the Lord.
To demonstrate their commitment,
they destroyed the temple of Baal and killed Matten,
the priest of Baal.
As a priest, Jehoiada was sensitive
concerning the temple and divine worship.
One of the first things he did was
to set the temple service in order
as he'd been commanded by Moses and David.
The Levites and the priests were each given responsibilities
that were appropriate for them.
The holiness of the temple
was no longer to be taken lightly,
and the gatekeepers were tasked
with preventing ceremonially impure individuals
from entering the building.
Jehoiada was aware that in order for reform
to be successful it had to start in the temple of the Lord.
Joash was brought to the residence of the king.
The people of Judah were overjoyed
to have another son of David ascending the throne of Judah,
and looked forward with great anticipation
to the reign of Joash.
Some people rise to the position of authority
because of their passion for the cause
and their feeling of duty.
Others want leadership positions for no other reason
than to achieve power over others
and to enjoy the arrogant feeling that comes
with being in a position of superiority.
In most situations,
figuring out what kind of leader you have
won't take you very long at all.
In the case of Athaliah,
coming to a decision did not take any time at all.
As soon as she learned that Jehu had taken the life
of her son, King Ahaziah, she "arose and destroyed
all the royal heirs of the House of Judah,"
which included all of her grandchildren.
She failed to slay Joash, the only child left alive,
because a devout young woman named Jehoshabeath
concealed him in the temple of God
for a period of six years,
allowing him to escape her homicidal rampage.
The fact that God had promised his people
that the Messiah would come via the royal line of David
made absolutely no difference to Athaliah in the least.
This is the picture of a leader so thirsty for power
that she would do anything to attain
and hold her illegitimate title
including murdering her own kin.
Athaliah ruled over Judah for seven years.
In the end, the people violently removed her from power.
Queen Athaliah is an extreme example
of a leader motivated not by love,
but by power, prestige, and position.
It never takes long to spot the difference.