Today's Video Devotion

Saturday 4/1/23

Take a Stand

📺️ 2 Kings 11 🔊

¹And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.

 ²But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.

 ³And he was with her hid in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land.

 ⁴And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and shewed them the king's son.

 ⁵And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king's house;

 ⁶And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house, that it be not broken down.

 ⁷And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king.

 ⁸And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand: and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain: and be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in.

 ⁹And the captains over the hundreds did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.

 ¹⁰And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David's spears and shields, that were in the temple of the LORD.

 ¹¹And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right corner of the temple to the left corner of the temple, along by the altar and the temple.

 ¹²And he brought forth the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king.

 ¹³And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the LORD.

 ¹⁴And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner was, and the princes and the trumpeters by the king, and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason.

 ¹⁵But Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the host, and said unto them, Have her forth without the ranges: and him that followeth her kill with the sword. For the priest had said, Let her not be slain in the house of the LORD.

 ¹⁶And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king's house: and there was she slain.

 ¹⁷And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD's people; between the king also and the people.

 ¹⁸And all the people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down; his altars and his images brake they in pieces thoroughly, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the LORD.

 ¹⁹And he took the rulers over hundreds, and the captains, and the guard, and all the people of the land; and they brought down the king from the house of the LORD, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king's house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.

 ²⁰And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in quiet: and they slew Athaliah with the sword beside the king's house.

 ²¹Seven years old was Jehoash when he began to reign.

Written By: God through Inspiration

Penned By: Jeremiah

Date Penned: (586 BC)

Overview: A History of the Kings of Israel and Judah (c 1-25)

Theme: A Divided Kingdom (c 1-17)

Message: Athaliah Rules Judah (v 1-21)

2 Kings 11 Commentary 

(11:1) The Messiah's Lineage Stays Intact - This story is continued from 9:27, where Ahaziah, Athaliah's son, had been killed by Jehu. Athaliah's attempt to kill all of Ahaziah's sons was futile because God had promised that the Messiah would be born through David's descendants (2 Samuel 7).

(11:2-3) A Hiding Place for Joash - Jehosheba was the wife of Jehoiada, the high priest, so the temple was a practical and natural place to hide baby Joash. Athaliah, who practiced idolatry, would have had no interest in the temple.

(11:4) The Carites - The Carites were mercenary troops possibly associated with the Philistines. Some interpreters believe they settled in southern Palestine from Crete.

(11:17) A Commitment - This covenant was, in fact, a recommitment to a very old covenant--the one set up in the book of Deuteronomy for the righteous rule of the nation. It was meant to function as a constitution for the people. This covenant, however, had been virtually ignored for over 100 years. Unfortunately, with Jehoiada's death, the reforms were discontinued (see 2 Chronicles 24:17-22).

(11:21) The 7 Year Old King - If Joash (also called Jehoash) became king at only seven years of age, who really ran the country? Although the answer is not spelled out in the Bible, Judah was probably run during the first seven years of Joash's reign by the king's mother, the high priest Jehoiada, and other advisers.d idolatry; and, pursuant to the covenant with one another, they expressed mutual readiness to help each other. The people rejoiced, and Jerusalem was quiet. The way for people to be joyful and at peace, is to engage fully in the service of God; for the voice of joy and thanksgiving is in the dwellings of the righteous, but there is no peace for the wicked

Each day we walk through the Bible chapter by chapter, making application of our text to help us grow in the Lord. Today we continue the book of 2 Kings with Chapter 11. In our text, we see Athaliah rules Judah, and Young Joash becomes King. What catches my eye today is how the people followed Jehoiada, the man of God, in the covenant between the Lord and the King to drive out Baal's false idols and religion, which the Kings before allowed to stay in the land. In the making application today, we, too, still have false gods and religions that dwell in the land, from religions that deny the existence of the deity of Jesus Christ to the modern idols of materialism. It is up to the body of Christ, from the Pulpit to the pew, to make a covenant with God to drive out this modern-day Baal Worship through the body of Christ sharing the Gospel. We need to stand for God from the Schoolhouse to the White House. From the Workplace to the Marketplace. The power of the Gospel and the decision to stand for Christ by the whole body will drive out this false god worship everywhere we go. How about you? Do you see the need to stand for Christ in our current-day land? Let us learn from our text today and the direction of Jehoiada to take a stand for the Lord and drive out the false gods that inhabit our land.