Praise the Lord for this godly couple – Jehoiada (Jehovah-known) and Jehoshabeath (Jehovah-sworn). They raise the one remaining seed of David in secret in the Temple; their nephew, King Joash. He is barely a year old when they hide him from the murderous Athaliah.
And when Joash is seven years old – the age of most kindergarten boys – Jehoiada makes his move. He has spent the past several years building a network of trustworthy and faithful men. He now forms a tight military guard and they make a covenant- an oath of loyalty to the house of David and to Yahweh. He gathers Levites from across the land and essentially re-establishes them in their temple duties as gatekeepers and guards for the holiness of the sanctuary.
He is bringing back the temple service that David and Solomon had originally organized but has been left ever since the death of Jehoshaphat to fall into a disorganized mess under a series of evil kings and now the usurper, Athaliah.
Once all the military leaders and Levites are assembled and Jehoiada is assured of their loyalty, he reveals the little king.
Imagine the shock. And the glorious joy! David’s dynasty has NOT been cut off. There WILL be a true descendant of David on the throne of Jerusalem. Yahweh has NOT broken His promise to David.
It’s a BIG deal.
Jehoiada arms the guards with a stash of King David’s own weaponry that had been stored in the temple. Can you imagine?! I bet those shields carried scars from legendary battles. Maybe some of the spears were used to slay giants. Maybe some had the names or symbols of David’s Mighty Men carved into them. I bet it was an absolutely EPIC moment for those guards to be outfitted with that gear.
With the armed guard in place and a throng of people surrounding the temple for extra protection, Jehoiada brings out a crown and places it on little Joash’s head.
When it says “and gave him the testimony” in verse 11, that would be a copy of the book of the Law.
Then they anointed him with oil and started trumpeting and shouting “Long live the king!” (This is where that phrase originated by the way.) I suspect that like most 7-year-old boys, Joash was probably getting a little squirmy and may have been asking Uncle Jehoiada when he could take the crown off and go play. Maybe he would’ve liked to dance around to the music.
Athaliah hears all the commotion in the temple and when she realizes what has happened she tries to play the victim card. Jehoiada warns the assembly that if they side with her, it’s an immediate death sentence. He wasn’t messin’ around.
Athaliah is arrested and immediately executed and her reign of terror is over.
Kinda makes ya wanna sing a chorus of “Ding Dong the witch is dead, Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch. Ding Dong the Wicked Witch is DEAD!”
A NOTE on OBADIAH
I know the schedule says to read Obadiah today. But as near as I can tell from my reference books, the events mentioned in the short, 1-chapter book won’t happen for about another 270 years after the beginning of Joash’s reign. So I plan to shoe-horn Obadiah in around 2 Kings 24-25.
To The Reader 