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CHAPTER 1 - ATHALIA, (SEVENTH) QUEEN, AND JEHOASH,
(EIGHTH) KING OF JUDAH
Murder of the remaining Princes of Judah by Athaliah - Rescue of Jehoash, and his
Preservation in the Temple - Reign of Athaliah - The Revolution inaugurated by Jehoiada
- Proclamation and Coronation of Jehoash - Death of Athaliah - Destruction of the House
of Baal - New Settlement in Church and State. (2 KINGS 11:1-20; 2 CHRONICLES
12:10-23:21.)
WITH the accession of Jehu and the destruction of the house of Ahab, and with the ill-
fated alliance between the doomed race of Ahab and the descendants of David, the last
period in the history of Israel and Judah's national decline had begun. The measure was
not only full, but the Hand hitherto lifted in threatening was no longer stayed. We have
reached a period of judgments, when each follows the other with only brief intermission.
Of the events in Israel connected with the rebellion of Jehu, of the character of the
religious changes introduced by him, and of the troubles and difficulties of the military
monarchy which he founded, a detailed account has already been given.* But the full
sweep and import of these events will only be perceived as we mark their direct and
indirect influence on the history of Judah.
- See Vol. 6, pp. 193-213. Here we recall only these points: 1. The literal fulfillment of
the prophetic predictions concerning the house of Ahab (1 Kings 21:21-24; 2 Kings 9:6-
10). 2. That the reaction against the foreign idolatry introduced by Ahab and Jezebel
consisted in a return not to the pure service of Jehovah, but to that under the form of the
golden calves instituted by Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:27-33). In short it was an attempt to
reverse the whole previous policy both in Church and State and to reconstitute the
kingdom of Israel as Jeroboam had sought to found it on its original separation from
Judah. And it may well have been that his slaughter of Ahaziah, and then of the princes
royal of Judah (2 Kings 9:27; 10:13, 14), may, from a political point of view, have been
determined by the wish to break the bonds that were re-uniting the kingdoms of Israel
and Judah. Lastly, we have to bear in mind the military character of the monarchy
founded by Jehu, which continued under his three successors, although no: with
successful results.
The union between Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, and Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab
and Jezebel, had introduced apostasy, and brought calamity to the house of David. If the
marriage had been planned from political motives, perhaps in the hope of an ultimate
reunion of the two kingdoms, or at least with the expectation of a firm and close alliance
between them, the result speedily showed the folly of attempting to achieve imaginary
successes by subordinating principle to so-called policy.
(^)