2 Kings 11:4 - Meaning and Application

Athaliah ruled as a tyrant for six years. We are not given a detailed account of her reign, but there is no doubt it was like its beginning. While Jehu was tearing down Baal worship in Israel, she was building it up in Judah, as 2 Chronicles 24:7 shows. Judah’s court and kingdom had already been corrupted by its alliance with Ahab’s family, and now one member of that family became a curse and disaster to both kingdoms. Sinful friendships never end well.

All that time, Joash, the rightful heir to the throne, lay hidden. He had a right to the crown and was meant for it, yet he was, in effect, buried alive in obscurity. Though God’s children are now hidden from the world, which does not know them (1 John 3:1), there is a fixed time when they will appear in glory. Joash was shown in his seventh year, when he was old enough to be presented, no longer a baby, and already making his first steps toward manhood. By then, the people were also growing tired of Athaliah’s rule and ready for change.

Jehoiada the priest, likely the high priest, or at least his deputy, was the man who directed this great work. By birth and office he was a man of authority, and the law called the people to listen to him, especially when there was no rightful king on the throne (Deuteronomy 17:12). By marriage, he was tied to the royal family, and if all the royal offspring had truly been destroyed, his wife, as Joram’s daughter, had a better claim to the crown than Athaliah did. His gifts and godly character made him fit to serve his country, and he could not have done it better than by freeing it from Athaliah’s usurpation, that is, her unlawful seizure of power. We have good reason to think he did not act until he had first sought God’s guidance, by prophets or by the Urim, perhaps by both.

Jehoiada handled the matter with great wisdom, as suited such a good man. He gathered the rulers of hundreds and the captains, men with church, civil, and military authority, and brought them to the temple. There he explained the present troubles, bound them to secrecy with an oath, and, finding them willing to help, showed them the king’s son (2 Kings 11:4). Their confidence in Jehoiada was so strong that they had no reason to doubt the truth of what he showed them. We can imagine the joy of the faithful among them, who had feared that David’s line had been entirely cut off, when they found this last spark still alive in the ashes.

Then Jehoiada placed the priests and Levites, who were under his direction, at the temple entrances to keep watch, putting them under the captains’ command (2 Kings 11:9). David had divided the priests into groups that served by turns. Each Sabbath morning a new group came on duty, but the previous group did not leave until Sabbath evening, so that on the Sabbath there were extra hands for the greater work. Jehoiada used these men for this urgent task and armed them from the temple storehouses with David’s spears and shields, either David’s own weapons or those he had taken from enemies and dedicated to God’s honor (2 Kings 11:10). Even if the weapons were old or plain, they would remind the men that they were defending the covenant God had made with David.

They were given two duties. First, they were to protect the young king from insult or attack. They were to keep watch over the king’s house (2 Kings 11:5), stay close around the king, and remain with him (2 Kings 11:8), guarding him from Athaliah’s supporters, for some still wanted royal blood. Second, they were to keep the temple from being profaned by the crowd that would gather for this event (2 Kings 11:6). They were to guard the house so it would not be broken into or damaged, and so no strangers or unclean people would rush in. Jehoiada was eager for the needed reform, but he did not let zeal for the kingdom make him forget reverence for God. In the busiest times, care must still be taken that God’s house is not harmed. It is also worth noting that Jehoiada assigned each person both a place and a task (2 Kings 11:6, 2 Kings 11:7), because good order helps greatly in carrying out any large plan. When each man knows his post and keeps it faithfully, the work moves quickly.

Once the guards were in place, the king was brought out (2 Kings 11:12). Daughter of Zion, rejoice greatly, for your king appears in your holy place. He was only a child, but not one who would bring ruin on the land, because he was David’s son and a son of noble parents (Ecclesiastes 10:17). He was young, but he had a good guardian, and even more, a good God to care for him. Jehoiada then moved at once to crown this young king. Though Joash was not yet ready to handle government on his own, he would grow into it step by step.

This ceremony was done with great solemnity (2 Kings 11:12). First, Jehoiada placed the crown on him as a sign that he was given kingly power, though the crown was probably too large and heavy for his head. The royal items were likely kept in the temple, which is why the crown was ready at hand. Second, Jehoiada gave him the testimony, the law of God, as a sign that the king must rule by law and make God’s word his guide. He was to read it all his life (Deuteronomy 17:18, 17:19). Third, he anointed him, showing that he received God’s Spirit to fit him for this great calling. Scripture mentions the anointing of kings especially when the line has been interrupted, as here and in Solomon’s case, though it may well have been used for all the kings of David’s house. Their kingship pointed forward to Christ, who would be anointed above all others, above all David’s sons.

Finally, the people showed that they accepted him and submitted to his rule. They clapped their hands for joy and cried, “Let the king live!” In this way they made him king, or rather, they agreed with God’s choice and publicly received it. They had every reason to rejoice that Athaliah’s tyranny was ending and that religion might be restored and strengthened under a king guided by such a good man as Jehoiada. They had every reason to welcome to the throne the one who truly had the right to it, and to pray that he would live, since he came to them as life from the dead, and through him David’s house would live. In the same way, Christ’s kingdom should be welcomed into our hearts with gladness, when his throne is set up there and Satan, the usurper, is cast down.

Hosanna, blessed is he who comes. Clap your hands and say, “Let King Jesus live, live forever, and reign in my soul and in all the world.” This is what was promised in (Psalm 72:15): “He shall live, and people shall pray for him continually.”