“But
Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of
Ahaziah and stole him from among the king’s sons who were being put to death,
and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So they hid him from Athaliah, and
he was not put to death.” (v.2)
Back
in 2 Samuel 7:16, God had promised that King David’s line would be “established
forever.” Now here in 2 Kings, that line was teetering on the edge of destruction.
Athaliah, the mother of now-dead Ahaziah, seized the throne and proceeded “to
destroy the whole royal family” (v.1).
If
all heirs of the kingly line were killed, God’s earlier promise would fail.
Enter the faithful priest Jehoiada and his wife Jehosheba. Two previously
unknown figures in history quietly stepped forward to save the infant Joash
from certain destruction, hiding him away from ruthless Athaliah, and raising
him for seven years in the temple. When ready, Jehoiada publicly presented the
boy and proclaimed him king. The wicked usurper Athaliah was soon put to death.
Today’s
reading reminds us of a similar story in the New Testament. There, another
small child in David’s line, was whisked away from certain death at the hands of
a raging, paranoid ruler (Matt. 2:13-18). Many times through scripture satin has tried to end the Davidic Line through which Jesus would enter the world, right up to His birth. But, praise God for His hand of preservation, both of His covenant with David and the promised Messiah as well.
The
Truth
Now when they had departed,
behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise,
take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I
bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him. When
he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for
Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I
called My Son.” (Matt. 2:13-16)
