Real Treason, Real King.

2 Chronicles 23:13 says, “And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, ‘Treason! Treason!’”

Treason! That’s a sizable, potentially explosive, and accusatory term. Is Athaliah justified in crying, “treason?” Does her strong use of the term equate truth? Is this real treason? Athaliah is the queen and happens to be in a position of power; her office alone might wield the type of influence that causes her cry to be believed. She said the word so it must be true. Aren’t we supposed to take people at their word (find that passage in the Bible!?! It’s not there). But this is where the discerning Christian takes God’s wise advice and examines the fuller picture. By the way, this lack of discernment is a danger that is pointed out in Proverbs 18; you may recall reading this when we went through the Bible Challenge just last month: “The one who states his case first seems right, until (emphasis added) the other comes and examines him” (Proverbs 18:17). We are called to be discerning and not just swallow a testimony without further inspection and examination. So was Athaliah correct in yelling out, “treason?”

Let’s do some examination! We’ll start with the word, “treason.” It’s very efficacious to consult the dictionary version of a word in order to elucidate certain terms. Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/treason) describes treason in this way: “the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance or to kill or personally injure the sovereign or the sovereign's family.”

We will draw on several facets of this definition: overt acts, attempting to overthrow, killing or personally injuring the sovereign or the sovereign’s family. We also need to see the big picture. Along with proper discernment, we’ve learned that context is a necessary tool for good discipleship and proper Biblical understanding. For the context of 2 Chronicles 23:13, we will need to go back to chapter 22 to discover, through examination, that Athaliah, the daughter of the wicked king Ahab of Israel, was trying to kill off any opposition from the royal family. She wanted to be in charge.

2 Chronicles 22:10 says this: “Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah.” Athaliah is the mother of Judah’s king, Ahaziah. But Ahaziah just died and for some reason, his mother, Athaliah, feels that she needs to extinguish or destroy the royal family. That seems to fit the definition of “treason.”

What is ironic and emblematic about this whole series of events is that the accusation Athaliah makes in 2 Chronicles 23 fits her actions in 2 Chronicles 22, not the righteous actions of God’s people in 2 Chronicles 23. It is not unusual for evil to be decrying someone else’s behavior as vindictive when their own conduct is vile. Her cry for treason is a smoke screen. It’s an ad hominem attack on the rightful king when she was the one committing treason in the first place.

Psalm 34 reminds us that our Holy God not only sees evil rising up but also acts in justice toward evil: “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and his ears toward their cry. The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth” (Psalm 34:15-16). God knows the history of satan’s villainy and knows exactly what to do to counteract his schemes. God raises up a heroine.

“But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king [Jehoram], took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king's sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom” (2 Chronicles 22:11). In a position of service, this woman was truly deserving of the godly description of a woman of noble character. She did not have the power of the evil queen. She did not have the hate and vitriol. She had a God-given heart of service and it is her actions that are to be commended while the queen mother’s actions, those of Athaliah, are to be strongly denounced!

There are several reasons why Athaliah’s actions were wrong. First, she is a murderer and God clearly condemns the murder of any individual from the moment of conception to the moment of their last breath. Second, Athaliah was guilty of trying to wipe out the Davidic lineage, the line through which God promised to send the Real King - Jesus Christ.

As Athaliah’s reign of terror is terminated, God’s ear is attentive to the cry of His people and fulfills the cutting off of the wicked. One more interesting twist to this historical account: eventually there would be a rightful king to ascend the throne and claim an eternal place of leadership. His name is Jesus. In order to take His place on the throne of eternity, He was assigned a place with the wicked. He was cut off from the land of the living. As rightful King, His death would even offer the worst offenders of God’s law an opportunity for pardon.

By faith and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we accept King Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself, bearing all the wickedness of mankind, young and old. By faith our wickedness is replaced with His Kingly holiness. We are called “royal priests” and diadems of the Holy God (1 Peter 2:9-10 and Isaiah 62:3).

Several lessons or takeaways from this account of intrigue. One, God’s plans will not be defeated by evil men or women! This is so praiseworthy that it would be valuable for us to stop here and echo the words of Psalm 34:16: “The face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth.”

Two, evil is spurred on in the hearts of humanity by evil forces that we associate with the devil or demons or Satan; this is a spiritual battle and it must be fought with spiritual armor. Are we fighting correctly or have we dismissed that there is even a battle going on? Ephesians 6 reminds us that we are constantly living in a spiritual battle (Ephesians 6:11-12) and that the days in which we live are evil (Ephesian 5:16).

Three, this is where it is important for us, as disciples of Jesus, to be more than just hearers of the Word of God; we are also to be people of action. Jehoshabeath is a woman of action. She acted and she saved this young king from evil intent. God worked through her and now her record is being applauded by us as we read about what she did. She’s the picture of a godly woman. Very fitting as we celebrate this week, International Women’s day.

May God be praised!