2 Chronicles 23:21: “So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword.”

October 10th, 2023 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Athaliah was the daughter of King Ahab of Israel and his wife Jezebel. She married Jehoram king of Judah. The northern kingdom of Israel had already been completely led astray into open and idolatrous worship of Baal through the wicked, aggressive efforts of Jezebel and the acceptance of King Ahab. Their daughter, Athaliah, was made in her mother’s image and tried to lead the southern kingdom of Judah astray also. She was a terrible influence on her husband and her sons who enthusiastically adopted her faith and pagan, sensual idol worship. Why are her blatant mistakes and failures recorded for us so openly in Scripture? Simply because we can learn from good models what to copy and do well and from terrible models what mistakes to avoid.

We assume Athaliah’s husband, King Jehoram, was raised in a godly home because his father, King Jehoshaphat, had done right in the eyes of the Lord. So what happened to his son Jehoram? Why didn’t he follow the ways of his father; and when he became king, do right in the eyes of the Lord? The answer is painfully simple—he married the wrong woman. And he allowed Athaliah to influence him and his sons to do evil. That is why we need to be extremely careful about who we allow to influence our lives. The impact of a person on our lives can be for good or bad.

The following examples demonstrate the different impacts a person can have on their descendents:

Max Jukes was an atheist who lived an ungodly life and married an ungodly woman. They had 570 descendents: 310 paupers, 150 criminals, 7 murders, 100 drunkards, and more than half of the women were prostitutes.

Jonathan Edwards lived a godly life and married a godly woman. They had 1,394 descendents: 13 college presidents, 65 college professors, 3 U.S. Senators, 30 judges, 100 lawyers, 60 doctors, 75 army and navy officers, 100 preachers and missionaries, 60 authors of prominence, 1 United States Vice-President, 8 public officials, 295 college graduates (some of whom became state governors and U.S. ambassadors).

One man lived an ungodly life and had a detrimental effect on his descendents. The other lived a godly life and had a tremendously positive influence on his descendents.

“LORD, please make us a godly example to those around us this day.”

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2 Chronicles 23 KJV

¹ And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him. ² And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. ³ And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the LORDhath said of the sons of David. ⁴ This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, shall be porters of the doors;  ⁵And a third part shall be at the king’s house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD. ⁶ But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they are holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD. ⁷ And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever else cometh into the house, he shall be put to death: but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out. ⁸ So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go out on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses. ⁹ Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David’s, which were in the house of God. ¹⁰ And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about.   ¹¹ Then they brought out the king’s son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king. ¹² Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD: ¹³ And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason. ¹⁴ Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the LORD. ¹⁵ So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king’s house, they slew her there. ¹⁶ And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD’S people. ¹⁷ Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. ¹⁸ Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the LORD by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.  ¹⁹ And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in. ²⁰ And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the LORD: and they came through the high gate into the king’s house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom. ²¹ And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.