“Now when Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she set about to destroy all the royal family” (II Kings 11:1). The text gives us no details about what any of Queen Athaliah’s accomplishments might have been; we are only told that she was from the family of Ahab, king of Israel, and therefore implicitly connected with the idolatrous Baal worship of Ahab’s family.

Who was she, exactly? There are a few minor hints to suggest she may have been the sister of King Ahab of Israel, but most of the evidence suggests she was his daughter (8:18, 8:26-27). It appears she was married to King Jehoram of Judah in order to help establish a political alliance between the northern and southern kingdoms. Her son Ahaziah fought alongside King Joram of Israel, and as we saw yesterday, he was among those slain during Jehu’s coup (9:27).

Yet we should note this one detail, and ponder on it: she ruled over the Kingdom of Judah for six years. Indeed, Athaliah’s reign might have gone on even longer, but when she was murdering all the royal family – which is to say, when she was murdering her own grandchildren – she inadvertently missed one: Joash (11:2), sometimes spelled Jehoash (12:1). The child was just a baby at the time, and was rescued by his aunt, Princess Jehosheba (11:2). All the similar-sounding Hebrew names make the narrative somewhat hard to follow, but if we pay attention to the relationships, they turn out to be provocative: Jehosheba was the sister of King Ahaziah, and thus Athaliah’s daughter (or perhaps step-daughter). Thus Athaliah was trying to kill off all the children of her son in order to make her position secure; but her efforts were foiled by her own daughter. Jehosheba hid Joash in the temple under the care of Jehoiada the priest. When Joash was seven, he was formally anointed king, to high public acclaim. As they arrested Athaliah she shouted that it was treason, but her shouting did not stop them from killing her (11:13-16).

There were a lot of reasons for people to hate Athaliah and want her dead. She was, like all the family of Ahab, a worshiper of Baal; she was not in the royal line of David or even from Judah, but an outsider from Israel; she was a woman in an era where everyone took for granted that only a man could become the monarch. Considered in this light, it is quite surprising that she reigned for six years. It would have taken remarkable political skill for her to be able to maintain her position for that long before she was assassinated.

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The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).
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If you gave Athaliah such impressive leadership abilities, O God, why did she use them so badly? Why do so many politicians today do the same? Why do we all misuse the capabilities you have entrusted to us, seeking our own will rather than yours? Help us, Lord. Apart from your grace we are all so lost.

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