II Kings 11:14 And when she looked, behold, the king stood by a pillar… and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets: and Athaliah rent her clothes, and cried, Treason, Treason.
Loyal to the Disloyal?
II Kings 11 is much like a Shakespearean tragedy. There are the players. You have Ahaziah, the murdered king of Judah. You have Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah. You have Jehosheba, sister of King Ahaziah, and you have Joash, son of King Ahaziah. As the tragedy opens, the Bible tells us that when Athaliah saw that her son was dead, she killed all the royal seed. She was so ambitious for power that she was willing to kill her own family in order to get what she wanted.
In verse 2 the Bible says, “But Jehosheba… took Joash… and stole him from among the king’s sons which were slain; and they hid him… so that he was not slain.” Verse 3 says, “And he was with her in the house of the LORD six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land.” And, it would seem, Athaliah was a ruthless tyrant.
The following verses tell how Jehoiada, the priest, and others decided to make Joash, the king’s son, the king. When Athaliah saw what had transpired, she accused them of treason.
This is an interesting story of a woman who expected loyalty but was disloyal. She expected obedience, but was herself rebellious. And she claimed that these people who had anointed this young king were committing treason. My question is, “Who was really committing treason?” To whom was Athaliah loyal? Was she loyal to her son, the slain king? Clearly, she was not. Was she loyal to her family? Clearly she was not; she killed them all. Was she loyal to God? No, she was not. In other words, here was a rebel expecting obedience and a traitor expecting loyalty. An unprincipled person who demands loyalty shows he has little beyond self for which to live.
The difference between Athaliah and the people who raised Joash to be the new king was that they had loyalty to God. Verse 17 says, “And Jehoiada made a covenant between the LORD and the king and the people, that they should be the LORD’s people; between the king also and the people.” The story ends by saying, “And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was in quiet.” This was so because they had someone leading them who was following God. No one who is disobedient should expect obedience, and no one who is disloyal to principle should expect loyalty to their personality.
Be sure that those whom you follow are loyal to the God you serve and the principles you believe, and make sure that as you are leading other people you follow the One who is worthy of our highest obedience.