The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my heart and mind in 2 Chronicles 23:12-13,
"When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering the king [Joash], she went to them at the temple of the Lord. She looked, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and musicians with their instruments were leading the praises. Then Athaliah tore her robes and shouted, 'Treason! Treason!'"
"When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering the king [Joash], she went to them at the temple of the Lord. She looked, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and musicians with their instruments were leading the praises. Then Athaliah tore her robes and shouted, 'Treason! Treason!'"
Athaliah was an evil woman. She was the previous king's (Ahaziah's) mother, and encouraged him to "act wickedly", 2 Chronicles 22:3. Running afoul of what the Lord wanted to do with the nation, the Lord brought about his downfall, 2 Chronicles 22:7. When Athaliah saw that her son was dead, she moved to destroy the whole royal family and took the throne for herself.
She obviously felt the nation was hers - hers to rule and hers to do with whatever she felt. This was a case of the classic sense of entitlement and self-appointed right to rule by a power-hungry woman given to despotism for authoritarian domination over others.This is clearly seen in her response to the enthronement of the previous king's son, Joash, orchestrated by the priest Jehoiada. Her response in exclaiming "Treason! Treason!" was her alarm in seeing a rebellion, not against the nation, but against herself personally. In her mind, she owned Judah.
However, the nation belonged to the Lord, not to Athaliah, and from Athaliah the Lord took the nation and gave it to another.
How often people illegitimately attempt to take those things that belong to God solely, as if it were theirs to take.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
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Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just respond and let me know.
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