The Good Work of God

As we've mentioned, we've been in the book of Kings. Let me ask you to turn there to 2 Kings in a Bible or a scripture journal. Chapter 11, 2 Kings, we are in the middle of quite a sequence of events.

If you're familiar with the biblical story, if you're just hearing it for the first time, there has been a lot of action, I guess you could say, a lot of death, quite frankly, and a lot of significant events going on.

And today we take our way down south to the southern kingdom of Judah. They say down, we say down because we tend to think of down south. Of course, back in the biblical day, it would have been up.

So up or down, we're in the kingdom of Judah. And I'd like to begin reading for us in 2 Kings 11, verse 1. And I'm going to read through verse 21, the whole chapter.

2 Kings 11:1

Now when Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family.

But Jehoshabah, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from the king's sons who were being put to death.

And she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus, they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

But in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of the charites and of the guards, and had them come to him in the house of the Lord.

And he made a covenant with them and put them under oath in the house of the Lord, and he showed them the king's son. And he commanded them, This is the thing that you shall do, one third of you, those who come off duty on the Sabbath, and guard the king's house, another third being at the gate, sir,

and a third at the gate behind the guards, shall guard the palace. And the two divisions of you, which come on duty, in force on the Sabbath, and guard the house of the Lord on behalf of the king, shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand, and whoever approaches the ranks is to be put to death.

Be with the king when he goes out and when he comes in. The captains did as according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest.

And the priest gave to the captains the spears and shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of the Lord. And the guard stood every man with his weapons in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house on behalf of the king.

Then he brought out the king's son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, Long live the king!

When Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people, she went into the house of the Lord to the people. And when she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar, according to the custom, with the captains and the trumpeters beside the king,

and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, Treason! Treason! Then Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains who were set over the army, Bring her out between the ranks, and put to death with the sword anyone who follows her.

For the priest said, Let her not be put to death in the house of the Lord. So they laid hands on her, and she went through the horse's entrance to the king's house, and there she was put to death.

And Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord and the king and the people, that they should be the Lord's people, and also between the king and the people.

Then all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down, his altars and his images. They broke in pieces, and they killed Matten the priest of Baal before the altars.

And the priest posted watchmen over the house of the Lord, and he took the captains, the charites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, marching through the gate of the guards to the king's house.

And he took his seat on the throne of the kings. So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword at the king's house.

Jehoash was seven years old when he began to reign. Would you pray with me once more? Father, we thank you for this church. We thank you for the body of Christ at Redeemer.

And Father, even today, in the midst of a cold January, we come with needs on our hearts. We think of our own church family, Father. We pray for Pat, for Pat Moorhead, and for her loss this week.

Lord, we pray for the Cole family and the visit to the hospital, that you would touch them and give them strength. Father, we pray for Matt Bowers and for the events of his father in the fall.

We pray for him. And Lord, we think of even the Thornton family with the gift of new life, but yet the trial of having him still in the hospital.

We pray for strength. And Lord, let us now turn from the concerns and the cares in our lives, and let us focus on your word, because we know there is good year for us, that you intend to teach us and shape us by it.

And we can pray this only because of the name and the work of Jesus, your son. So we pray this in his name. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Well, she may have reigned over the land of Judah for about six years, maybe seven years,

but we understand that this woman, Athaliah, is no legitimate queen, is she? And you'll notice that our narrator does not give her, does not afford her, the standard regal formula that we read about every other king throughout Kings and even Chronicles,

where you get an introduction, and then once they die, you get a death notice to memorialize them. She doesn't get any of that. Nor should she have that.

But let's not underestimate this woman, Athaliah. She is a powerful and ambitious woman, and quite lethal, because no sooner does the word come back to her of what has happened up north in the Jehu revolution,

namely that her own son, King Ahaziah, has been executed by Jehu, she hears that, and she is now seeking the throne for herself. One wonders whether Jehu's coup up north, maybe it incentivized her, maybe it encouraged her, we don't know.

But she is taking a very similar path. She too wants to wipe out the entire royal line of David. And that's a problem, because while the house of Ahab is a wicked line, the house of David is God's special line.

And so here she is, this woman who's been called, rightly so, a Jezebel of Judah. After all, she is the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel, and she's very much a chip off the old block.

She's the gal that King Jehoshaphat, a couple of generations back, foolishly arranged a marriage with for his son, Jehoram, down here in Judah, thereby bringing a Baal worshiper down into the land of Judah.

Not a good move. And it looks like the line of David is about to be extinguished. At least that's her goal. That's her objective. She hears that her son is dead, and she says, you know what?

Let's just go ahead and kill off the rest of the line, all the royal family, all the king's sons. She's even seeking the lives of her grandchildren.

She's grandma! And she wants to put to death every last heir. This kind of thing has happened a couple of times before, or a couple of other places in the Bible, and I can't even imagine how wild and violent and chaotic it must have been with these executioners dispatched

to see to this bloody massacre. It's what it is. And yet, somehow, by God's grace, someone survives. Enter a woman named Jehoshabah, and Jehoshabah is actually the sister of Ahaziah.

Now, we don't know whether that means that Athaliah is her mother, or whether she is maybe a stepdaughter to Athaliah. Either way, she is nothing like her mother, and she takes immediate action, by God's grace, in God's providence, to snatch up one small child, a boy, a baby boy.

A baby boy named Jehosh, also called Jehoash, same one. Baby Jehosh gets missed, or more like, smuggled off and hidden. In the confusion, she's able to get this baby, who is her nephew, by the way, her nephew, and she takes him, and his nurse,

and hides them in the temple. You say, why the temple? Why would that be a good place to hide a child? Well, for a couple of reasons. Number one, she's got connection here at the temple, because as it will turn out, and as we learn over in Chronicles, the high priest at the temple, a man named Jehoiada,

who appears here in what? Verse 6, verse 7, is her husband. The two are married. That's the first reason that she goes here. The second reason, is because she knows, that her wicked stepmother, or mother, whichever she is, has limited reach here in the temple.

Yes, even the usurper queen, can't quite get her hands, into every place in the temple. She is a woman, and she's also halfway foreign. She's got a foreign parent on one side, with her mother Jezebel, a Phoenician.

And so there would be places in the temple, where even she would not have access, so it makes it a wonderful hiding place. Now we're not even sure, that Athaliah knows, that this boy, Joash, exists, or that he's been smuggled away, and hidden.

Whatever the case, it's going to be secrecy. It's going to be hiding, as now we have our couple, the chief priest, and his wife, Jehoshua, taking the boy, and his nurse, and stashing them, in a bedroom, at the temple.

You say, there are bedrooms at the temple? Yeah, there are. Although, Josephus seems to think, it's probably more of a storage room. Either way, verse 3, he is hidden, in the house of the Lord, for no less than, six years.

Six, years. Like, Diary of Anne Frank style, hiding out, in the temple. A lot of scholars think, that perhaps, what's really happening, is that, Jehoshua, and her husband, Jehoiada the priest, have maybe adopted this child, kind of, this nephew of hers, as their own son, they're presumably raising him,

undercover, as their own son, sharing the private living quarters, of the priest. Probably. And if right about now, you're like me, and you're getting some Moses vibes, right?

Baby, somebody wanted dead, and yet, hidden away, and then, rescued, and raised, by a surrogate. Well, that's probably no accident. And so, some time goes on.

Years go by, six years, and the child, Joash, is weaned, and he's undoubtedly, walking, and talking, and playing, like every other seven-year-old boy does.

And for whatever reason, maybe because it's the seventh year, and as a good Israelite priest, Jehoiada knows the biblical significance of seven, for whatever reason, Jehoiada the priest decides that now is the time.

It's been long enough. Here's a detail I want to share with you from the Chronicles account. This is what Chronicles, 2 Chronicles chapter 23 verse 1 adds.

2 Chronicles 23:1

But in the seventh year, Jehoiada took courage. And boy, did he. Boy, did he have to have it. He took courage, and entered into a covenant with the commanders of the hundreds.

Now here in our account in 2 Kings, primarily our attention is on these soldiers called the Carites. C-A-R-I-T-S. Carites. We are not 100% certain who they are, but we have a pretty good idea.

We think that they are somehow descended from the Carithites. Carithites. Some of you are saying that doesn't help much. Carithites, who for biblical scholars out there would know, 2 Samuel chapter 20, the Carithites and the Pelethites, made up the special soldiers,

2 Samuel 20 · chapter mention

special bodyguard to King David. This is a special bodyguard that originally started out as mercenaries that were loyal to David when he was on the run, who became his captains once he became established as a king, and they are Davidic loyalists.

They are loyal to the line of David. So that's one group. And here's another. Our Chronicles account, it's a parallel account, fills in another detail.

2 Chronicles chapter 23 verse 2. And they went about Judah and gathered all the Levites from all the cities of Judah and the heads of the fathers of houses of Israel and they came to Jerusalem.

2 Chronicles 23:2

So this is a secret campaign, kingdom-wide, that Jehoiada the priest is engaging in. He has a very strategic plan. And you basically have what amounts to, as a team-up, between the Carithites and the Levites.

Carithites and Levites. Levites, you remember, the descendants of the tribe of Levi, they were the ones that had the special commission to oversee everything that had anything to do with the temple.

They had special privileges, special access, and special responsibilities. They were the only ones that could come into the temple complex and be armed.

And that's going to prove very, very important. They watch over everything temple-related and our priest Jehoiada has a plan to use them. So, with this crew secretly assembled, hundreds, and with a bold plan in his mind,

Jehoiada takes a preliminary step before he reveals anything or anyone. First thing he does, in verse 4, is he brings them all to the temple and he gets every last one of them to enter into a covenant with him.

He literally puts them under oath in the house of the Lord, which is about as serious as it gets. And once they have all sworn their allegiance to God, to priest, and to king, or at least it's about to be revealed to them, the king, that's who he brings out.

He brings out the king's seven-year-old son. He presents seven-year-old Joash, tells them who he is. Tells them how this is the only living, legitimate heir of David left.

Here is the lone survivor from Athaliah's massacre.

And then he lays out the plan. And to be quite honest, if you've read this and you get a little confused, I want to encourage you that you're not the only one.

All the scholars are confused too. And they try to reconstruct what happens here and nobody's sure. It's a little confusing because the Hebrew is not very clear.

Some translations said there's a division coming on duty and others are saying they're going off duty. And if you lay out an ESV and an NIV or a CSB, they don't all match up.

Whatever is happening here, clearly what's going on is Jehoiada recognizing that I have a division of Levites here to serve me that rotates.

I'm going to do what I can to keep the ones that are coming off duty, keep them in, even while I bring in the new divisions that are supposed to relieve them so that I have an overwhelming force.

That's what he's doing in verses 6 through 8 with all these movements. He is stationing, positioning everybody for maximum effect, maximum protection.

He's got every gate covered. Remember, this is a walled structure, the temple. Every gate is covered, every entrance. He's got the young man himself, the king, totally flanked and surrounded with what are literally layers of soldiers so that neither Athaliah

nor any of her loyalists can get at him. In fact, if anyone so much as he even approaches the ranks, here are Jehoiada's orders. He says, put them to death.

Verse 8, put them to death. And we have these extra weapons mentioned in verse 10. The spears and shields that had been King David's. And even they have a purpose.

These, understand, these would have been like display case weapons. You ever gone to a museum and seen, you know, ancient weapons or something important from a nation's history.

They're behind glass. And I don't think they had glass in those days. But they are kept in the temple. These are display weapons. Sacred keepsakes from David's day.

And they're grabbing those. And you say, well, why would they be needed? Well, because nobody could bring a weapon into the temple, even a Levite.

The divisions rotated in and out, but the weapons all stayed in house. And there are only enough weapons for the division on duty. And so very cleverly, very cunning, what Jehoiada is doing is ensuring that every last soldier will be armed and armed to the teeth as they need to be.

This is quite a show of strength. This picture that we see in verse 11. Check it out. We've got guards standing around with, as he writes, as the narrator writes, every man with weapon in his hand from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, all around the altar

and around the house on behalf of the king. Nothing and no one is getting through. Not without a serious fight with some pretty fearsome soldiers, especially these Kerites.

And finally, verse 12, finally, the king's son is brought out. And there, in the midst of this temple and in the protected middle of this massive guard around him, Jehoiada, the priest, put the crown on the king's head

and gave him the testimony. This is a coronation. Yes. One that's happening in stages. First, we have the legitimate king getting crowned, anointed and crowned.

And then he is given what we hear is the testimony. And this would be a copy of the Deuteronomic covenant, the Deuteronomy 17 prescription of responsibilities that Israel's kings were to have.

In fact, that chapter, Deuteronomy 17, actually says that every future king of Israel is to receive a copy of the covenant from the priest. And then he himself is supposed to make his own copy because they didn't have copy machines back in that day.

And not only that, but we all know that when you have to hand copy something, it kind of sticks in your head a little bit better. And they wanted the king to have to do this.

And not only that, they wanted the king, every future king, to have his own copy right next to him, to have it literally kind of on hand so that he could constantly read it and refer to it and rule by it.

A reminder to every king of Israel that ultimately, ultimately, Yahweh was God and really the true king and that he himself is really serving as a viceroy in Yahweh's kingdom.

That's what Deuteronomy 17 was all about. And this is no accident, no ceremonial thing that Jehoiada is doing just because, well, that's what we do.

This has real significance right now. Especially when we remember that this kingdom has broken God's covenant. That this kingdom of Judah has turned away from the Lord or you might say has been turned away by some very terrible Baal-worshipping leadership.

The daughter of Jezebel, Athaliah. Yes, what Jehoiada is doing is he is signaling a renewed allegiance and David's true successor it's a message to the whole kingdom that David's true successor is going to take us in a new direction now,

which is really an old direction. And there he is with the crown glistening, probably too big for his seven-year-old head, but he's got the crown on his head.

All the Levites and the priests are around the king. They're clapping their hands. We're told there are trumpets now blowing. And so we begin to get this picture pretty fast that the secrecy is over.

You don't blow trumpets when you're trying to be quiet and keep a secret. Trumpets are blowing. People are shouting. They're cheering. They're shouting.

Long live the king. And all this clapping and shouting and commotion makes its way over to the palace finally. As it was intended to because the time for secrecy is over.

Verse 13. Athaliah hears all the noise from next door. Remember, the royal palace is right next to the temple with a gate between them. And she wastes no time running right through that gate to find out what in the world is going on over in the temple complex.

And she runs into a big party. You ever do that? You ever go somewhere and you didn't know there was a party happening? For me, it's usually like at Pottawatomie or somewhere, you know, when the kids were little.

We go to the playground and all of a sudden like, there's a party happening in the pavilion. It's a little like that except this is the party that Athaliah was not invited to and a party that she will not really appreciate what they're celebrating because they're celebrating the coronation of the rightful king.

And so, she starts shouting too but she's not going to shout long live the king with everybody else. No. She shouts something different. She yells treason!

Treason! And she tears her clothes in dramatic fashion but it is to no avail. Verse 15, Jehoiada commands, bring her out between the ranks but don't execute her here.

Not yet. not in the Lord's house. She is responsible, this woman is, for enough desecration with her life. We don't need any more from her death.

And once outside the horse's gate in verse 16, we read that there she was put to death. Yeah, just as her wicked mother Jezebel once met her death under the feet of horses, now the daughter meets her end in the horse's gate.

By verse 17, we see that all the people are now involved. And Jehoiada goes on and he renews the covenant and we remember it's a covenant with three dimensions.

A covenant between the king and the people and most importantly with the Lord. And it's after so many years of being ruled by very bad rulers who serve foreign gods, yeah, this covenant needs to be renewed.

This is a big moment. And as the first action step to prove the sincerity that the people really mean it, the people go on to take swift action in verse 18.

Action to eliminate the entire Baal cult from Judah. In verse 18, they're off to the house of Baal where they will literally bring this house down.

the altars, the images, we're told that they're all torn down, they're all broken down to bits, and that the house of Baal itself is leveled and burned to the ground.

Seem extreme?

Maybe extremely faithful if you're an Israelite who is, after all, bound by the Mosaic law because, in fact, what they're doing is what the law actually required.

Deuteronomy chapter 7 verse 5, Moses said that here's how you're supposed to deal with idolatry in the land, but thus you shall deal with them.

Deuteronomy 7:5

You shall break down their altars, dash to pieces their pillars, chop down their ashram, and burn their carved images with fire. Israel was to destroy every place where the worship of a false god occurred, to tear it down, dash it to pieces, and burn it all to the ground.

And as for the ringleader of the Baal worship in Judah, this high priest of Baal named Matan, well, he's got to go too. Because, after all, Deuteronomy 13 said just that, that anyone leading God's people astray in false worship, it was supposed to be the death penalty for them.

returning again to the temple, all the people now take the rightful young king who's been anointed and crowned, and all that's left now is for him to be installed, for him to be enthroned.

And that's what they now do. They post watchmen over the house of the Lord. They want to be sure there aren't any Athaliah loyalists out there.

Post the watchmen, Jehoiada now assigns all the special guards and captains and the charites. You've got all the people and what they do is they securely transfer this king from the safety of the temple complex over to the royal palace itself.

Verse 19 describes the ceremonial march through the gate of the guards. They're leaving the temple precincts, going on into the royal palace of the king's house and there our seven-year-old king takes his seat on the throne of the kings in a very joyful

and jubilant scene because we have David's heir. David's lamp now again sitting on the throne of Judah. And in verse 20 we see the reaction.

The reaction of all the people of the land is that they rejoice. And the reaction of the city of Jerusalem itself? Maybe there are more Athaliah loyalists here?

No. This dramatic coup has produced nothing but quiet. We're told that the city is peaceful. It's calm. Now that the would-be queen, the usurper, Athaliah, has met her appropriate end and we have a son of David

back on Israel's throne.

Well, if you're counting, this is two weeks with two coups. Right? Two weeks, two coups. Last week it was in Israel. This week today is here in Judah.

And let's be honest, both of our coups have some similarities. It's no accident that we see both of them starting out with a secret coronation.

Remember Jehu's? And then now it's Joash's? Both of these coronations featured trumpets and celebrations and shouts for the new king. Both of them also featured cries of treason from a wicked queen slash mother

and ended up with this same queen getting executed. Both even featured, what? A house of Baal being destroyed. But that's where the similarities end because we realize there are some major differences here too.

For one thing, just the sheer extent of the violence. Scores of people were slaughtered. Scores of people were slaughtered under Jehu and his coup.

But you know what? Today, only two people have been executed as required distinctly by the law. Queen Athaliah and the high priest of Baal, Matin.

But you know what? In the midst of all this temple intrigue, palace intrigue, in the midst of all the verses where we read about the planning and the careful military moves, I want us to feast our eyes on the big thing that's really happening here.

What is the big thing that's really happening? It's the saving of David's line. It's the saving and preservation of David's line which is God's plan to save the world.

Right? Didn't we just celebrate a few weeks ago the birth of a son of David in David's town? This is what God is doing. Saving David's line.

Saving, making sure that the lamp of David did not get extinguished because it came very, very close. One year old boy, baby boy, close. That lamp was almost snuffed out in verse 1.

Of course, it's not the first time we've seen this in Scripture. We could go further back in the Old Testament and we could read about a great leader and deliverer of God's people like Moses who himself was almost snuffed out as a baby.

And of course, that's a type of what we know will come hundreds of years from this point on up ahead where another great leader and deliverer of God's people is born.

His name is Jesus. He too would come into the world with a target on his back and almost be snuffed out by the murderous plot of another wicked ruler.

Why is the enemy like that? Why does he always go after the babies? Right? So I want you to see that that is fundamentally what this chapter, 2 Kings 11, is all about.

It's about the saving work of God. Even though, in case you didn't notice, God never appears in this story. Even though there's never a direct word spoken from the Lord here.

We don't have a prophet showing up telling this couple save that child at least that we know of. And yet, it features a great work from them.

a saving and preserving work because they keep the lamp of David burning. And so what I'd like for us to do today is to simply reflect on this good work of God.

Reflect together, make a few observations. Here's the first observation and it has everything to do with what you and I are seeing in this brave couple.

The first observation we can make is this. Number one, the good work of God requires conviction and courage. Conviction and courage.

You know, there are really two pivotal moments here in our story. The first moment occurs in year one of baby Joash's life. And then, of course, the second pivotal moment takes place in year seven.

In the first moment, somebody thought that this boy needed to be rescued. Rescued and hidden. And then, in the second pivotal moment, somebody thought he needed to be crowned and revealed.

These were the thoughts that our brave couple here had. Jehoshabba and her husband, priest Jehoiada. a brave couple. These were the thoughts on their minds.

But more than just thoughts, I think I would call them convictions, wouldn't you? They had convictions. And these were good convictions. Right convictions.

You know who didn't share their convictions? Athaliah. But that doesn't mean she didn't have some. She just had different convictions. In fact, her convictions were opposite and evil and twisted.

Ladies and gentlemen, having the right convictions, having good convictions, having biblical convictions, now that you and I have the benefit of having a completed canon of Scripture, this is important.

And yet convictions, even the right convictions, aren't enough, are they? Courage is needed too. Conviction and courage. Conviction is to know what's right.

Courage is the ability to act on it. Because notice that Jehoshabba, she does not just sit there in the safety of the palace and furrow her brow or shed a tear and say, oh, these babies being murdered, these children being murdered, is so terrible.

I stand against this. I'm going to take a stand. Athaliah murdering children is wrong. She does more than that, doesn't she? Out of her conviction, she musters the courage to act.

And same thing with her husband, Jehoiada. Especially seven years later. He too doesn't simply go off to his temple duties every day saying to himself, you know, Athaliah is no legitimate queen.

I know who the real person is who should be queen. He's inside playing toys in my apartment. He does more than that, doesn't he? He too musters courage come that seventh year.

That's what Chronicles told us. In the seventh year, he took courage and he acted. And he unveiled the king and crowned the king and eliminated his rival.

Athaliah had conviction. She had courage too. I mean, that's quite a bold act to annihilate the entire royal family. To take on what God wants, the line of David being preserved.

That's both conviction and courage, twisted as it is. Bent toward evil as it was. And honestly, I think sometimes in our world today, it is a good reminder that we still see this sort of thing.

Don't we in our world, present day, see people around us that have a lot of conviction? And many of them have a lot of courage too. And yet, sadly, they are for things that are wrong.

For things that are twisted and bent toward evil. Honestly, I know of people even in roles like mine, in pastoral roles, who take to the airwaves and social media and perform their ministries in a way that protect convictions that are unbiblical

and unholy and wrong. But they have conviction. But it's a wrong conviction. You and I both know that there are health care workers in our world today who have convictions about pregnancy, about a woman's right with her body.

Very strong convictions. And they can be wrong. There are people that work in the health care professions, again, that have convictions about confused adolescents who don't know what they are or think that they need to undergo a gender treatment or take hormones

and try to somehow change what God has assigned. People who do such things, I don't have to tell you, they have convictions. Lots of conviction and no small amount of courage but for twisted and wrong things.

So, why not, as a man of God, as a woman of God, why not have conviction and courage for what's right? for things that are pleasing to God. For things that fulfill and protect

and help carry out good work. Our first observation is to notice that the good work of God, the good work of God, often requires conviction and courage.

Here's the second one, number two. Number two, the good work of God uses key people in key situations who create and seize key opportunities.

The good work of God uses key people in key situations who create and seize key opportunities.

It starts here with the key people, doesn't it? this couple, Jehoiada, Jehoshava, one living in the temple, the other living in the royal palace or at least having access because they're married, they live together.

But think about this couple. I mean, they are kind of a power couple, aren't they? High priest in the land, daughter of the king. These are key people.

And in as much as they have a front row seat to the terror happening in verse 1, all the purging of the royal family, they recognize that providentially they are just the people to intervene and do something

and save that one child.

That's a key person. These are key people in a key situation. And Jehoiada just so happens to be as the chief priest in the land. He's a person in charge of a lot of Levites.

He's a person with a lot of influence and reach. And that's exactly what he does. We see it a little bit better in the parallel account in Chronicles how he reaches out into the land of Judah to bring in people to the temple.

And once they're there, getting them to swear an oath before he goes any further. This is a key person in a key situation who's willing to seize well, willing to create and seize a key opportunity.

So maybe the question I have for you today, maybe the question for me today is where has God placed us? You say, well, I'm not, I'm not the president.

You know, I'm not the speaker of the house. I'm not even mayor of this city. Well, I don't know where you are, but I would venture to guess that somehow in some way, shape, or form, you in some context are a key person.

So the question is, where has God planted you? Where has he set you down? Where has he given you a job? Where has he given you influence? Where has God providentially given you an opportunity to contribute in some way

to his good work? Whatever role that you have, whatever position, job, what situation is it that puts you in proximity to do something right?

Because I want you to know that the good work of God uses key people in key situations who are not just willing to say, oh, that would be good if someone did something here.

That would be good if someone resisted something over there. But who actually are sometimes willing to create and seize key opportunities. And if you're sitting here this morning and you're saying, well, I just don't see any.

I mean, I just get up, I go to work, or I take care of this household, and I don't really see any key opportunities. Then let me challenge you.

Pray about it. Pray and ask the Lord for some opportunity that could be key for you. And I would be very shocked if you didn't find yourself finding one.

Or find one finding you. Third observation, number three. Third observation I want to make with us today is this one. The good work of God requires wisdom.

Requires wisdom. Wisdom for strategy, planning, and timing.

You know, Bible scholars remind us that Scripture records details for a reason. And as I said a few minutes ago, there's a lot of details here.

There's a lot of troop movements and it's so confusing that we have trouble reconstructing it. But what we do know is that there is strategy here in these verses.

There is planning here that High Priest Jehoiada is doing. And clearly, there is attention to timing. So sure, Jehoshabah, his wife, daughter of Athaliah, or daughter-in-law, yeah, in the very beginning of the chapter,

she seems to act pretty impulsively. Like, she's not sitting around waiting for the right timing. Because people are dying. And we don't know.

Did she have a plan before this? Did she have some inkling that maybe Athaliah would do something like this? Did she already have a plan worked out with her husband?

If this happens, we're going to get the boy. We're going to get this Joash. We're going to take him. Maybe we're not told that.

But you know, by the time we come to year seven with her husband, that boy's been thinking and planning, hasn't he? Get a look at Jehoiada, the priest.

There is no doubt that he's done very careful planning. This is a perfectly timed, carefully orchestrated, orchestrated, strategic plan that will unfold in several steps.

And they're all intentional. Gathering support across the land first. Getting everyone into Jerusalem, into the temple complex. Getting their oath.

You know, you swear an oath in Israel, that's a pretty big deal. I'm guessing if you swear the oath in the house of the Lord, it doesn't get any bigger.

That's what he does. And then he keeps those off-duty, going off-duty divisions in. And then he's got a plan to crack open the temple cases and get the weapons, the old weapons from David's day.

And then he's got a plan to get the Davidic loyalists, the charites. Who do you think was first up for the weapons of David? Oh, yeah, I'll take one of those.

Jehoiada knows what he's doing. Killing Athaliah. Going to Baal's house to purge it. This is a priest who's familiar with the law. And finally, publicly seating the rightful king on his throne.

Call me crazy, but this priest seems like he is anticipating anything and everything. He is literally ready for the worst. You know, all these soldiers he's got with all these weapons, aside from two executions, wicked queen and priest of Baal.

Nobody else has to draw a sword or spear because of his careful planning. He's got Joash the king flanked six ways from Tuesday. Layer upon layer of Levite and Karite elite protection.

Good planning on Jehoiada's part to utilize each of these steps, each of these forces. I can just imagine him going to the Karites in particular.

I don't think it's an accident that King's focuses on these strange Karites. These special forces guys going to them and Jehoiada's like, hey, guess what?

Before he brings the boy out. Guess what? What if I told you there's still an heir of David alive? What if I told you behind the curtain I have an heir of David who survived?

You guys thought, everybody thought they were all dead and gone. The Davidic line was extinguished. But we saved one. I need some help. Are you guys up for the job?

That's like asking a war veteran, you feel patriotic? You don't need to ask. Each and every step, carefully planned, strategically timed, meticulously executed, right on down to the place where Athaliah

is finally executed. That, too, is no accident.

So how do we have application to our lives today? Because we are quite a bit removed from this stage of revelation. We are not a theocracy. We don't run around executing people according to the biblical law.

We are not this kind of a people. So how do we find any application? Well, we do sometimes find ourselves in our own situations and moments where we face challenges, don't we?

Where we are tested in life. times where there is maybe something bad that's happening or some wrongdoing that everyone else seems to be going along with.

And this morning we can remember that we can have the right conviction. We can disapprove of what's going on, but we also sometimes need to have the courage.

And from this third observation, we can recognize that before we jump in and move forward, it is wise to do it with wisdom. If I can be redundant.

It's possible to jump in full steam ahead without wisdom and take those bold convictions and be very courageous. But how much better when wisdom allows you to think about things, to plan?

because wisdom helps us understand that sometimes there's a better approach or a better strategy or even sometimes better timing. How many of you have been in a situation where there's someone you care about, maybe a child that's growing up or a friend,

and you need to have a word with them, but the timing, the timing's important.

So the next time God has a challenge, allows a test in your life, remember that there are times when you should confront it right away. Jehoshabba doesn't sit around and think about whether she should save the child.

She takes quick decisive action, but then we also see there are times where somebody waits and plans. So sometimes maybe you should speak up right away, speak up immediately, and then there are other times where it might be wise to hold your tongue.

Let's remember that there may be times to move and to act, and then there may be appropriate times to wait and pray quietly and privately about it first.

And if you say, I don't know for sure which one I should do, jump into action or pray some more, I'll lean toward the pray some more.

And we need help, don't we, for this? If only the Lord had left us something to guide us. If only He had left us someone to guide us. And He has.

His Holy Spirit. His Holy Spirit. God's This incredible story of God's saving work today here in Kings reminds us, it even points us up ahead to another greater story, doesn't it?

A greater story of saving work. One that involves another son of David, David's greatest son, the very son of God himself. And as we look at that plan unveiled in the fullness of time, as Paul says in Galatians, can we not agree that it was a careful and strategic plan?

It was a well-timed plan. The Father sending His Son Jesus to save us, to purge from the land of our hearts every sin and wickedness, so that He, the true son of David, could take His seat on

the throne of our hearts. as the team comes, let me ask you, would you stand with me and let's bow our heads and pray before we sing a closing song.

Father, we pray today that You would take the Scriptures and even the narratives like this one that You have purposed for very good reason to give us these details and encourage our own hearts, Lord, whatever a situation might be that one of us is in right now,

wherever it is that we're building a conviction and we're mustering courage, Lord, and we know that someone needs to say something, someone needs to intervene, Lord, I pray that Your Spirit would in fact do what You have promised He will do,

which is guide us, lead us, convict us of any wrong motive in sometimes good crusades that we get on, and Lord, let us know how and when and what to do and what to say.

Lord, let us keep our courage, let us hold fast to conviction, but most of all, Lord, let us trust in Your wisdom, and we pray this today in the name of Your Son, in Jesus' name, Amen.