Athaliah

sent into a place of isolation almost as if they had vanished from the earth. A story, which describes another called person, is the story of Joash. Athaliah (the daughter of Israel’s King Ahab and Queen Jezebel) had married Jehoram (son of Judah’s King Jehoshaphat) to cement a treaty (2 Chronicles 18:1). Athaliah and Jehoram’s son was Ahaziah. Ahaziah became the 6th king of Judah and ruled for one year. Elisha anointed Jehu, an army commander, as the new king of Israel. Jehu proceeded to destroy the royal family of Israel. 2 Kings 10:1-17, records how he brutally wiped out all of old King Ahab’s descendants (including Ahab’s widow, Jezebel – 2 Kings 9:30-37). He also killed all of the prophets of Baal in Israel (2 Kings 10:18-35). He killed both Joram (king of Israel) and Ahaziah (king of Judah) –2 Kings 9:14-29. When King Ahaziah was killed, one of his sons should have become King of Judah. Instead, Ahaziah’s mother decided that she should be queen. She tried to kill all of her own children and grandchildren so that they would not take the crown away from her. She almost succeeded in killing them all. You might remember how God had promised King David, years before that his descendant (later revealed as Jesus Christ) would someday save the world. Athaliah’s husband, Jehoram, was a descendant of King David. If Athaliah would have succeeded in her plan to kill all of her husband’s descendants then she would have killed all of King David’s descendants and made the…

favorite characters. She distinctly stands out from many of the other characters in the Old Testament because of her blatant courage. When she hears that this war is about to happen, she knows that her home along with everyone else will be destroyed. Instead of going to war, she takes this massive, dangerous, responsibly onto herself. Joab was taken aback by her boldness. He acknowledges her concern and agrees that the war will halt if she brings back the head of Sheba, and she does so. The…