In Scripture, Queen Jezebel is pointed to as the epitome of evil. She led Israel into open idolatry and tried to completely wipe out the worship of God. Her daughter, Athaliah, made in her mother\u2019s image, led Judah astray as well. Athaliah influenced her husband, Jehoram, to kill all of his brothers. After Jehoram\u2019s death, her son Ahaziah was king for a short time. But when he died, her love for power caused her to try to kill her grandchildren who were rivals to the throne she wanted. Have you noticed how this story sounds more and more like Cinderella or Snow White? Truth is more interesting than fantasy.<\/p>\n
So here in the history of Israel, the wicked grandmother, Queen Athaliah, ruled for 6 years, while the young prince grew up hidden in the temple. The wife of the high priest, Jehosheba, is a type of all godly parents and believers who want God\u2019s best for their children. Young Joash is a type of those children who are easy prey for the enemy. Parents must guard them and train them carefully.<\/p>\n
Where are the godly parents of the 21st century who are training their children? If the church does not reach out to children, if godly parents do not train their children, and if concerned believers do not influence the lives of children, then hell will capture their minds and hearts and destroy them.<\/p>\n
“LORD, give us the courage and concern to reach out today in prayer and actions to influence young people all around us.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 Kings 11 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0And when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal.\u00a02<\/sup> But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king\u2019s sons\u00a0which were\u00a0<\/em>slain; and they hid him,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And he was with her hid in the house of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land. 4<\/sup>\u00a0And 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\u00a0LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the\u00a0LORD, and shewed them the king\u2019s son.\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And he commanded them, saying, This\u00a0is\u00a0<\/em>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\u2019s house;\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And a third part\u00a0shall be\u00a0<\/em>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.\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0about the king.\u00a0\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And 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.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0And the captains over the hundreds did according to all\u00a0things\u00a0<\/em>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.\u00a010<\/sup>\u00a0And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David\u2019s spears and shields, that\u00a0were\u00a0<\/em>in the temple of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a011<\/sup>\u00a0And 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,\u00a0along\u00a0<\/em>by the altar and the temple.\u00a012<\/sup>\u00a0And he brought forth the king\u2019s son, and put the crown upon him, and\u00a0gave him\u00a0<\/em>the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king.\u00a013<\/sup> And when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard\u00a0and<\/em>of the people, she came to the people into the temple of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar, as the manner\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>, 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.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0But 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\u00a0LORD.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0And they laid hands on her; and she went by the way by the which the horses came into the king\u2019s house: and there was she slain. 17<\/sup>\u00a0And Jehoiada made a covenant between the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and the king and the people, that they should be the\u00a0LORD\u2019Speople; between the king also and the people.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And 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\u00a0LORD. 19<\/sup>\u00a0And 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\u00a0LORD, and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king\u2019s house. And he sat on the throne of the kings.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in quiet: and they slew Athaliah with the sword\u00a0beside\u00a0<\/em>the king\u2019s house. 21<\/sup> Seven years old\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>Jehoash when he began to reign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In Scripture, Queen Jezebel is pointed to as the epitome of evil. She led Israel into open idolatry and tried to completely wipe out the worship of God. Her daughter, Athaliah, made in her mother\u2019s image, led Judah astray as well. Athaliah influenced her husband, Jehoram, to kill all of his brothers. After Jehoram\u2019s death, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6859"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6859"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6859\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16282,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6859\/revisions\/16282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}