May the mumbling commence!
Where is the best place to hide something or someone from somebody? The best hiding place is where that person rarely goes. I remember a story from a former workplace of mine. I once worked at an auto rental and used vehicle sales place. My immediate supervisor told me a story about a former employee. Part of the chore of cleaning a returned rental car was to clean out and check the glove compartment. This supervisor was convinced that the employee was not doing this part of the chore, so he secretly placed a twenty-dollar bill in the glove compartment of a returned rental. After the employee cleaned the vehicle, the supervisor checked the glove compartment and found the money right where he left it.
Where would someone hide something from you? Could someone hide paper money from you in your Bible? Could someone hide a Christmas or birthday present from you at the church building or in your church mailbox where you claim to have membership? I ask these questions because of the Scripture passage from 2 Kings Chapter 11. Read some of it below:
When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes, who were about to be murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah; so he was not killed. He remained hidden with his nurse at the temple of the Lord for six years while Athaliah ruled the land…
When Athaliah heard the noise made by the guards and the people, she went to the people at the temple of the Lord. She looked and there was the king, standing by the pillar, as the custom was. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her robes and called out, "Treason! Treason!"
Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of the troops: "Bring her out between the ranks and put to the sword anyone who follows her." For the priest had said, "She must not be put to death in the temple of the Lord." So they seized her as she reached the place where the horses enter the palace grounds, and there she was put to death.
Jehoiada then made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people that they would be the Lord's people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. (Verses 1-3; 13-17)
The evil queen Athaliah seized her opportunity for power. Athaliah sought to kill all her son’s children – HER GRANDSONS! But Aunt Jehosheba stole Joash away – who must have been just a young baby. Where did she hide Joash? Jehosheba hid Joash with his nurse in the temple of God. For seven years, Joash and his nurse were safe in the temple of the Lord!
Athaliah neglected the temple of the Lord in favor of the temple of Baal. The temple of the Lord had fallen into disrepair. My prayer is that the Church of Jesus Christ never suffers from neglect – neither the physical building nor the people. Remember: The people rejoiced at the death of Athaliah and the new kingship of seven-year-old Joash. May our spiritual leaders and political leaders lead us to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jehoiada immediately began to repair proper worship to the temple of the Lord. The Chronicler tells us about this in 2 Chronicles 23:18-19 –
Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the Lord in the hands of the priests, who were Levites, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the Lord as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered. He also stationed doorkeepers at the gates of the Lord's temple so that no one who was in any way unclean might enter.
Let us be after the heart of God, like David and Jesus.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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