Love That Will Not Let Go, 2 Kings 11

Love That Will Not Let Go

This morning, we are in 2 Kings, chapter 11, on this fourth Sunday of Advent. So why don’t you turn there and use your finger to hold your place. But before we read anything in 2 Kings, let’s turn to the very beginning of the New Testament - to Matthew’s Gospel and the very first first of that very first book of the NT.

Matthew 1:1 “The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” Then Matthew proceeds to list a genealogical record: From Abraham, through his descendants to David, in v. 6 (routeen generations); Then from David to the exile to Babylon in v. 11 (fourteen more generations); And then from the exile to Jesus, in v. 16 (still another fourteen generations).

You can see what Matthew is trying to do here - He is anchoring the birth of Jesus Christ to God’s Old Testament promises, made to Abraham and made to David.

He promises Abraham that from his descendants will come the seed that will bless every nation.

To David, he promises a descendant who will be the everlasting King - 2 Samuel 7:16 “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.’ ””

And in case we missed it the first time, that promise is reaffirmed over and over: Psalm 89:36 “His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me.”

Christmas was no happy accident - It was God keeping the word He had planned from before the foundation of the world and spoken into history from the time of Abraham 2000 years earlier and to David 1000 years earlier.

And the Matthews genealogy meanders right through the time in history we are dealing with in 2 Kings.

So now, let’s go back to 2 Kings 11 and pick up our journey. READ vv. 1-3

That Davidic pipeline is never going to bite the dust. And eventually, from that line of kings, will come the future David, the messianic King,

But it was just over 1 generation removed from David that the kingdom divided into 2 separate nations … the descendants of David are reigning over a kingdom the size of a ‘postage stamp’. It’s called Judah - and it is so far from anything worthy of pride - it’s laughable.

And when we get to 840 BC - where 2 Kings 11 picks up the story - in the kingdom of Judah … it looks like there will never be a Christmas.

But our chapter today makes two points that i want you to keep in mind as we approach Christmas 2021.

First BIG TRUTH - Christ will never allow His kingdom to suffer eclipse.

Second BIG TRUTH - That God doesn’t merely fixate on the Big Picture of Nations and World Destinies … He loves the little and the least.

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1 THE LORD’S RUTHLESS ENEMIES, v. 1

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.”

It’s about 840 BC. Bloody events going on here. What is it with wicked Queen Mothers? Just last week, we saw Jezebel finally meet justice after a lifelong career of evil, treachery, oppression and murder. Her son, King Joram is assassinated and she puts on lipstick, planning to scheme her way into a position in the new regime. This time she runs out of cards in her deck and ends up literally thrown to the deck, out of a second story window. That’s it for one queen mother.

Now, in chapter 11, the story shifts from the Northern Kingdom of Israel, to the Southern Kingdom of Judah. We are taken from the brought back to Athaliah - queen mother of Ahaziah.

2 Chronicles 21-22 and flip back to 2 Kings 9-10.

Athaliah is the daughter of Israel’s infamous king Ahab, wife of King Jehoram of Judah. Jehoram was the firstborn among a number of brothers, so when his dad, Jehoshaphat was about to die - he gave gifts to all of his sons, but to Jehoram was given the crown. He gets the throne.

Right after the coronation ceremony and the family pictures that are always taken whenever a new king is crowned - (You can imagine starstruck royals pouring over the photos): “There’s Jehiel, there’s Zecharaiah, Michael (He looks so miserable, why isn’t he smiling? Welll, Mikey hates everything), Shephetiah ..... there’s … and of course, that’s Jehoram in the middle there - the one wearing the crown.” Well as soon as the photographer is done with the pictures, they’re posted online and the cleaning staff is putting away the dishes from the coronation party - do you know the first thing Jehoram does? He slaughters all of his brothers. It’s called consolodating your power - so that there is no competition from your brothers. So he killed them all. Wiped out every threat (2 Chronicles 21:1-4 tell that story).

Not long after that, the Philistines and Arabs invade Judah and carry off all of Jehoram’s sons - He killed his FATHER’S sons, only to have his enemy carry off all of HIS sons - all except the youngest, Ahaziah.

Well, Jehoram dies and Ahaziah takes the throne. He goes up to the N. Kingdom of Israel and ends up getting caught in the crossfire of a foreign battle - It’s not even his beef - Joram king of Israel is recuperating from battlefield wounds, in his palace in Jezreel. Ahaziah goes to visit him, to see how he’s doing … and arrives at PRECISELY the exact time that Jehu arrives in town to unleash a coup against him.

.... Ahaziah gets caught up in that and he loses his life. A one year reign. And just as quickly as Ahaziah becomes king - he’s dead.

Well, now the queen mother, Athaliah, is left in Jerusalem. What is she going to do? She’s going to copy the strategy that she’s seen her father in-law follow, that’s what she’s going to do - she’s going to remove every threat to HER power.

Verse 1 tells us that Athaliah, “… destroyed all the royal family.” But wait a minute - if her father in-law killed all of his brothers, presumably before they were old enough to get married and have kids … and if all of HIS sons have been carted off to new lands by the Philistines and Arabs, then just who is there left for a desperate queen to murder? Well, her own grandchildren, that’s who. Doesn’t matter if they are her own grandkids - this woman wants power and so she will destroy anyone who threatens that power.

Athaliah reminds me of the WHITE WITCH character, in the Chronicles of Narnia - the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe … she seems to have all of the power. She has the power of manipulation … with her smooth-tongued promises she puts Edmund under her spell and entices him to absolute compliance to her wishes and treachery against her own family. She accomplishes that with Turkish Delight. But when the smooth talk fails - the Witch quickly resorts to violence - turning to stone anyone who crosses her. It’s always winter in Narnia, but never Christmas.

That’s the story in Judah - under Athaliah - except for the smooth talking part. In the nation of Judah, in the mid 800s BC, it is always winter, but never Christmas.

See the hostility here. These bloody events are the specific situation - but they are bigger than this one episode … Do you see how history is marked by this kind of hostility towards Christ’s Kingdom?

When you think of the Christmas Story - you probably think of shepherds and angels and Mary and Joseph making the journey to Bethlehem only to find out that their reservations at the hotel didn’t go through on Travelocity. But that’s okay - there was a stable out back and the out of towners weren’t picky. So the birth of the Messiah took place in a stable, surrounded by animals. If I ask you about the stories of Christmas - Any one of those pictures are likely the ones that will come to your mind’s eye.

But don’t forget Matthew 2:13-18 - Herod finds out from the Magi when the star appeared in the sky. So even though the Magi obeyed the dream they received and returned home by a different way … Herod determined that the ‘King of the Jews’ they came to worship was born two years ago - so he rounds up all the male children, up to two years of age, in the whole greater Bethlehem district … and he slaughters them. The grown up king is THAT afraid of a baby’s power.

That’s the way the power brokers of this age work - because they have a savage hostility against God which translates into hostility against God’s people. Sometimes it is so successful that it seems as though Christ’s cause and Christ’s people - are on the verge of extinction.

That’s why the Apostle John warns us in 1 John 3:13, “Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.”

1 John 2:18, “… you have heard antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know it is the last hour.”

There is an antichrist coming - we see it in Daniel 7 and 2 Thessalonians 2 and Revelation 13. But we don’t need to wait for the future to seen an antichrist … there are countless ones along the way. And in 840 BC the way you spelt Antichrist was A-T-H-A-L-I-A-H.

Do you see what it means for your Christian faith today? There is a blood-thirsty hostility that God’s enemies have for His people. It’s nothing new today.

ILLUSTRATION .....

There is a term that has become very popular in the last few years: “Porch Pirate”. It wasn’t a thing when I was a kid; it wasn’t even a term 15 years ago. But with so many people doing so much shopping online - and depending on couriers to deliver their purchases to the front door - a new type of crime has risen to prominence. People drive slowly through a neighbourhood - in search of packages, sitting unattended on front porches, outside the front doors of residences. When they see something - they casually walk up to the porch and walk away with a stolen parcel. Porch pirates.

More and more people are looking for ways to fight back. I read about an Ontario woman who lives on a busy street and got so frustrated with people stealing packages from her front door that she wished she had coal to put in their stockings. She didn’t have coal, but she decided she would teach the thieves a lesson with something she did have.

She filled an empty Amazon box with used cat litter and left it at her front door as if it were just another parcel. Sure enough - less than 40 minutes laer, the security camera showed a man stuffing the excrement-filled box into his jacket and taking off. The lady’s only regret is that she didn’t have a remote camera to put inside and catch the reaction of the thief, when he opened up his stolen ‘present’.

With so much theft going on - how would you feel about a young man who decided he was going to make this a Christmas to remember for the girl of his dreams. He’s already proposed and got the ‘yes’ he hoped for. But he didn’t have the ring he wanted for his future wife. He decided he would order an engagement ring and suprise his new fiance by shipping it right to her door - He spent more money than he had … but she is worth it - so he saved up for months and finally had enough to place the order and have it shipped. But he didn’t even think about security. He just had it delivered to an unattended front porch and hoped that it would be okay until his fiance picked it up.

Isn’t it tempting to feel like God has done something like that foolish fiance. He has made fantastic promises - that He will bless the nations - that He will bring a Saviour to this broken world to crush the head of the Serpent, He will send that descendant through David’s line, a King who will reign in Righteousness forever, that He will build His Church and that for us, as His people, He will, together with His Son Jesus Christ, graciously give us “ALL THINGS” we need for joy and security.

.... So many precious promises .... He speaks them in history and then it’s like He ploops them down into the seeming chaos of our world - where vicious and corrupt people steal and tornadoes rip away and floods wash away .... a million different threats for all of the promises to come to nothing - and you’re tempted to ask, “God, how can we trust that your promises will come true?!”

“We’re so fragile here!”

Nigeria - An overnight attack that took place in the Nigerian village of Ta'agbe on November 26th left ten Christians dead, including three children. According to witnesses, the attackers were dressed in black, carried sophisticated weapons, and shouted Islamic slogans while slaughtering the residents of the village and burning homes. It is estimated that over 100 houses were destroyed, displacing 690 people.

Six of those killed were from a single family. "I lost my grandchildren for the sake of Christ," Sibi Gara said tearfully while lying in a hospital bed due to physical injuries caused by the attack. The governor of Plateau State is reportedly outraged over the unnecessary loss of life, pain and destruction that was inflicted on innocent villagers, and is calling for the arrest of those responsible. A Christian leader in the area believes that the attack is part of a campaign to wipe Christians from the region. In late October, a letter was sent by Fulani militants to Christian communities in the state warning of impending attacks if they did not evacuate their villages.

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2 THE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF CHRIST’S FAITHFUL SERVANTS, v. 2

2 Kings 11:2 “But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among 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.”

Interesting - wherever Antichrist is - The Lord always seems to have faithful servants. Here - her name is Jehosheba.

WHO is she? She is the the half-sister of the most recent king, Ahaziah, daughter of Jehoram. Ahaziah is her brother, but Athaliah is not her mother. It turns out that she is also the wife of Jehoiada the priest (2 Chronicles 22).

WHAT does she do? Well, the whispers have spread and Jehosheba hears that Athaliah is about to slaughter all of Ahaziah’s children. She could have put her head down, played a Sgt. Shultz: “I know nothing”, minded her own business and slid through life unscathed - she was no threat to the queen mother. But she didn’t. Instead she springs into action - scoops up Ahaziah’s son Joash - still a nursing baby … and she takes him, along with his nurse, to a private bedroom in a hidden location, where he would be safe from the blood-soaked talons of the queen mother. When the coast is clear, she moves the baby prince and his nurse, into a more permanent spot - and in that hiding place Joash lived and was protected and grew. Look at v. 3 - “He remained with her SIX years ....”.

Jehosheba is one BRAVE AND COURAGEOUS WOMAN. Do you see how important her bravery is?!

Dale Davis, “God’s Promise is ONE INFANT AWAY from falling to the ground.” If this baby Joash doesn’t survive … there is no Christmas. And if that happes - God’s promises cannot be trusted.

This one baby doesn’t make it - and David’s line dead-ends in death. And so does God’s commitment that David will have a king who will reign on His throne forever.

Do you see how critically important this moment is in the history of the world - and God’s Kingdom?!

Jehoshaba preserves the kingdom of God and saves Christmas. The great promises of God sit outside on the porch, in a small, obvious, easy to steal box - and Jehoshaba, moves it for safekeeping.

And notice where this secret hiding place is. Verse 3 goes on, “… in the house of the LORD, while Athaliah reigned over the land.” This hiding spot is no coincidence.

Six years, the queen is ruling the nation from the royal palace in Jerusalem that is literally next door to the temple … and she doesn’t suspect a thing.

THE distinguishing feature of the people of God isn’t the royal palace in Jerusalem … every country in the world worth its salt has a royal palace. What sets the people of God apart is their temple -

Don’t miss the LORD’s strategy. Notice what the LORD did NOT do - He could have had her step out onto the highway at the very moment Jehu’s Fast and Furious chariot was speeding by and turned her into a pavement pancake. He could have made her choke on a chicken bone before she ever started her murdering spree - but he didn’t.

What He did do - is to make sure his servant Jehosheba was prepared, in place at and ready to go at EXACTLY the right time.

Christian - you need to see how this applies to you. If you are a Christian parent or grandparent … God has put under your care the children he’s brought into your family. He doesn’t expect that you have to find a way to “SAVE” your children for Christ - you can’t do that

… what God expects is for you to be Jehosheba - use what He has given you - take them to God’s house, share God’s Word with them, be on your knees pleading for their souls ...

Some of you are young parents. I was talking to one young parent this past week - talking about what it’s like to have a newborn come into THIS world at THIS time - I hear people these days say, “I would never want to bring a baby into our world - not now!” And I wonder if you wrestle with that, young couples.

If you’re tempted to think that - tempted to fear the unknowns of the future and what kind of world you will raise your kids in … let me say: “Don’t!”

“Don’t be afraid and don’t hesitate” - If it wasn’t for Amram and Jochabed having a son, in the oppression of slavery - when the Hebrew babies were being taken from their parents and thrown into the river … there wouldn’t have been a Moses for God to use to lead His people to freedom.

And when God’s entire plan of salvation is under threat in the days of baby Joash … He brings along a Jehosheba with the tools she has - nothing more and nothing less … and through her, God saves Christmas.

Don’t say: “Wow, Jehosheba really made an impact for God’s Kingdom, but I have nothing to offer.” Don’t say that … God has put you in exactly the right place, at exactly the right time ....

And it’s interesting, isn’t it, that Jehosheba’s name is not exactly a household word? Daughter of a king, wife of a priest, she had some status. But we don’t hear of her again. You yourself probably didn’t think of her all this week—until you happened to read this chapter. She may well have been relatively obscure in her own time. Folks, after all, were still talking about the Battle of Qarqar (853), and Shalmaneser III was Time magazine’s ‘Man of the Year’. John Bright in his History of Israel doesn’t refer to Jehosheba by name in his narrative nor even list her in the index. But isn’t this the glory of God—that he does not need powerful or prominent people?

So we will be wrong if we become fixated on Jehosheba. We could too easily do that. Then we’d start marketing Jehosheba mugs, Jehosheba sweatshirts, Jehoiada-Jehosheba coffee table books (à la the Charles and Diana genre), and we’d try to get her on a Christian TV network.

Sometimes the Bible doesn’t say something directly because it expects you to be smart enough to pick it up. Don’t you catch what verse 2 wants you to say? ‘God wasn’t wasn’t asleep on the job, was he? He had just the servant he wanted in just the right place at just the right time.’ Your only response should be to stand and sing the doxology: ‘Praise God from whom gutsy women come!’1

“And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the LORD, while Athaliah reigned over the land.”

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3 THE SUBVERSIVE PRESENCE OF CHRIST’S KINGDOM, v. 3

2 Kings 11:3 “And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the Lord, while Athaliah reigned over the land.”

Verse 3 ends by telling us that on the visible throne of Israel is sitting the ILLIGITIMATE ruler. “Athaliah reigned over the land”. But the beginning of that verse tells us that the ‘BIG’ picture is so much bigger than that. You have the IMPOSTER seemingly in control having vanquished every threat to her power. But she doesn’t have a clue that, right next door to the palace, in the house of the LORD, at the VERY SAME TIME Athaliah is barking, bellowing and basking in the all the fame and luxury that a throne can bring you .... AT THE VERY SAME TIME - hiding with his nurse - the TRUE king is being hidden ... and he’s growing. Look at the beginning of the verse: “And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the LORD.” … for six years he is growing.

See the subversive presence of Christ’s Kingdom. The REAL power is NOT the VISIBLE power.

Now fast forward 840 some-odd years and do you see the paralells with the situation in the world at the time of Jesus’ birth? Where is the seat of power in the 1st century worlld? Well, it’s in Rome, of course. Caesare Augustus dominates. He rules over the 3 million, 340 thousand square miles of the Roman Empire. He is called ‘Lord’ and ‘Saviour’. He calls for a census, from his throne and all the way on the eastern frontier of the empire, a peasant carpenter and his fiance, scramble to make plans to leave the small business behin and travel to the ancestral hometown of Bethlehem … 9 months pregnant and all.

This couple is NOT choosing to travel for a vacation - not planning to elope … no the emperor in his power has snapped his fingers and obediently they go. Luke 2:1, “In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.” This is all about taxes and government control.

Now, let’s narrow the focus to Israel itself. Who has the power among God’s people? Well, Herod the Great does. He’s not a real Jew … he’s not even a real king … He’s a puppet, appointed by Caesar. But he does have a throne. And, he has all the visible power. When the Magi from the east arrive in Jerusalem, in their search for the newly born child, Herod is the one who’s help they enlist.

Herod is the one who gives the order to slaughter Bethlehem’s infant boys … clearly he has power.

Oh, but just like Athaliah - Herod is an imposter. The REAL king - in the first century, isn’t found in Rome’s halls of power ...

The real power isn’t being wielded by bloodthirsty Herod

… the REAL power is the one born in the stable, protected in private and hidden from view … a baby - the TRUE king, not just of Israel, or the empire, but of the entire World and not just for one generation, but this is the King of Kings for all eternity - His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and he will eventually be installed on his thrown and will overthrow every pretender.

Why even Luke 2, that tells us of Caesar’s census decree, also tells us, in Luke 2:4 that Joseph wehnt ‘up from Galilee, ‘to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David.” Ahh - do you see the connection - Why did Joseph and Mary go to Bethlehem? “Because Caesar commanded them to?” That’s like saying …

ILLLUSTRATION

No … the real reason Joseph and Mary make the trip is because the kingdom God promised to bring through David - has not been forgotten. But quietly … surrounded by so many threats - the better than David king, the descendant of Joash who is infinitely better than Joash … Jesus the LORD of LORD - - Reigns. Paul makes this very point in:

Ephesians 1:20-22 “that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,”

Jesus ALREADY reigns. It is still a reign that so often seems invisible - so tempting it is to view Christ in heaven - devastated at what has become of this world and all of it’s evil. He’s NOT wringing his hand friend. He’s reigning. “(The Father) put ALL things under his Feet.” That’s past tense.

Doesn’t that give you the strength to stand firm - no matter how the world around you appears?!

Michael Green tells of the early Christian martyrs and how they used to mark their graves. There would be their name, the appropriate year and then they would add, “Regnate, Iesou, Cristou”: “In the Reign of Jesus Christ.” They knew who was ruling.

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4 TENACIOUS LOVE FOR THE LEAST

Physicist Jonathan Feng says, “What is truly amazing about the Christian faith is the idea that God made the universe—from quarks to galaxies but at the same time cared enough about us to be born as a human being. To come down, to die and be crucified in the person of Jesus, and to bring forgiveness and new life to broken people.”

Charles Spurgeon said: “I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages.