As you might know if you’ve been reading these posts in order, I’ve been journeying through the story of the Kings of Judah and Israel. Today I came across the story of Athaliah and Joash.

Athaliah was the mother of Ahaziah. Ahaziah wasn’t the greatest King. He followed the evil ways of the Kings of Israel and he was egged on by his mother. Ahaziah ended up getting killed after only reigning for one year after he went to visit Joram, son of the evil King Ahab.

His mum was undeterred, we read this about her after Ahaziah dies;

When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah. 2 Chronicles 22:10

It’s not going great. Then we hear about someone I’d never noticed before – enter Jehosheba.

But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him. He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land. 2 Chronicles 22:11-12

Joash ends up becoming king when he was 7 and reigns for 40 years. He did was right in the eyes of the Lord, for a while anyway.

I just love how this seemingly small moment of bravery from a woman we hardly even know about saved her country and brought a good King into leadership. It’s an encouragement to me to not take for granted those little moments of doing the right thing even in the midst of opposition.