Athaliah verses the Temple: 2 Kings 11.1–16 (Day 303)

Pray

Lord, open my ears to hear what you have to say to me; open my heart to love your word, and open my mind to understand your truth.

Read

2 Kings 11–12 2 Timothy 2 Hosea 3–4 Psalm 119.121–144

Daily reflection: 2 Kings 11

The bloodthirsty King Jehu has killed not just the Israelites who stood in his way, but Ahaziah, king of Judah (9.27). The way was open for another palace coup, but this one is carried out, unusually, by a woman – his mother Athaliah. Like the male players of this period's game of thrones she's utterly ruthless, massacring everyone who might be a threat to her – including, by implication, her own grandchildren. Just one small child, Joash, is saved, when his aunt Jehosheba hides him in the Temple for safety.

Joash is hidden in the Temple, and it's in the Temple that resistance to Athaliah's rule is nurtured and breaks out in a successful revolution led by Jehoiada the priest (11.12).

There's much to think about here. Life for believers, in a regime dominated by idolatrous and ruthless enemies of God, cannot have been easy, to say the least. But Athaliah never won Judah's heart and soul. There was always an undercurrent of faithfulness, and it was centred on the Temple. The Temple was where the faith was preserved, the innocent king was kept safe and his character shaped for godly rule.

Today, we don't think so much in terms of religious buildings – though churches can sometimes still be places of sanctuary against unjust laws. But the Church as a body of believers is still where the innocent should be able to find help, where resistance to injustice and wrongdoing is nurtured, and where faith in God is preserved and taught.

Pray

God, thank you for the faithful witness of your people who preserve the faith in the face of persecution and exclusion. Help me never to forget that my citizenship is in heaven, and keep me faithful to you.