2 Kings 12:1

1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba.

Joash’s story is the story of the providence of God. When we read the Old Testament, we feel like we are reading a newspaper account of Iraq, Iran, or the Palestinian camps.

Joash’s father died. He was the king of the southern tribes, called Judah. Jehu, the kind of the northern tribes, wounded him and Joash’ father, King Ahaziah, was dead. He died at Meggido.

His grandfather was King Jehoram. His grandmother was Athaliah. Athaliah was an evil woman. It is sad that in this world when we want to honor mothers and honor grandmothers, that not all mothers or grandmothers are worthy of honor. We are commanded to honor our father and mother, which we must do. But some mothers, some grandmothers are harder than others to honor.

Athaliah was this kind of woman. Her husband is dead. When she hears that her son is dead, this is what she does. 1 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family.

Let’s understand who the royal family is. This is her family. This includes her children and grandchildren. We call this a consolidation of power. But here is a woman who is Queen because of her son, who is more concerned about her position in life, her power, her control, than she is for the welfare of any child or grandchild that might threaten her position.

This is the kind of person Jesus died for. This is the kind of change that he came to give us. He wants us to live no longer for ourselves, but for him who died and gave himself for us. If you want a picture of a person who lived for themselves, look at Athaliah. Are there any Athaliah’s in this congregation? Are there any people who are looking out for themselves at the expense of children, grandchildren, spouses? Christ came to give you a different kind of life. He will if you will trust him.

One would think that life was hopeless for this family. But we learn two important lessons at this point. The first is that you do not have to be defined by the evil in your family. You do not have to be like your father, your mother, your brother or your sister.

A hero steps forward in this story. A relative. She is Ahaziah’s sister or maybe half-sister. . Athaliah was either her mother or her stepmother. But she is not like Ahaziah her brother, nor like Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother. She is different.

2 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. 3 He remained hidden with his nurse at the temple of the LORD for six years while Athaliah ruled the land. (2 Kings 11:1-3, NIV).

We talk about the kings of Israel. Here is a Queen who reigns for six years. And for six years, Joash’s aunt hides him in the temple. If he is discovered, he could die at any moment as well as those who harbored him.

This brings us to our second lesson. God is in control. He had promised David that his descendants would be on the throne. This evil woman tried to kill all the royal family. But God worked in the heart of Jehosheba to protect this one year old child from the wrath of his grandmother. And he helped make sure that Josiah’s activities never come to the ears of his grandmother, Athaliah.

This is why I say that Josiah’s story is a story of the providence of God. God is over all and working behind the scenes to bring about his purposes. Josiah could have perished as well as everyone else. He has only the grace of God to thank and the actions of his aunt.

Athaliah dies. She is put to death in a coup. Read 2 Kings 11 for more information. And now 21 Joash was seven years old when he began his reign. 1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. (2 Kings 11:21; 12:1, NIV).

Wait a minute! Where did his mother come from? Why wasn’t she mentioned earlier? Why didn’t she take her son and hide him? Why wasn’t she with him in the temple for those six years? What kind of a mother was she to abandon her son?

This brings us to an important place. Our mothers need our support. We walk in the supermarket and see kids running around and we castigate the mothers. It may well be deserved…and it may not. We see a child punching his brother or sister and we castigate the child’s mother. It may be well deserved…and it may not.

When mothers come into this church, when they fellowship with us, when they bring their children in here, we need to bring them full support. Let me warn all of us that we will be judged for every idle word. David said, “Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight or Lord my strength and my redeemer.” We need to be slow to judge and quick to help bring support.

Here is a Proverb that will help us. 13 He who answers before listening--that is his folly and his shame. (Proverbs 18:13, NIV). When we judge before we know the facts, when we jump to conclusions before we listen, we are the ones who will pay the price.

It’s hard. But mothers need to be careful to not get into the habit of snapping at their children. It’s so easy to target one child as always wrong. But it will be to your folly and shame if you do not first listen.

So when we come to Zibiah, Joash’ mother, we need to be careful. It may be she was a negligent mother. But there are two other possibilities.

The first is that she might have died. When Athaliah killed all the royal household, her son’s wife might have been first to go! It does not say that she was alive, it just says she was from Beersheba.

How would you feel if you started griping about how bad a mother she was to abandon her child, only to find out she had died in the massacre? If we don’t listen first, we can be highly embarrassed.

A second possibility would be that she sacrificed the privilege of seeing her son in order to save his life. If she had taken her son, it would have soon been discovered and she would have been found and both she and her son would have died. She was little threat. Her son was a big threat. So it is possible that she suffered as only a mother could suffer during the six years her son grew up without her. But if this is so, what choice would she have? To go and see him, to bring him presents, to talk about him with her friends and neighbors would have put his life at risk.

What if you had disparaged her parenting skills only to learn that she had made a heart wrenching sacrifice for the good of her child? 13 He who answers before listening--that is his folly and his shame. (Proverbs 18:13, NIV).

Let me be honest about this. I think we do a pretty good job supporting mothers in this church. We are not perfect, but I can’t think of any more important task than preparing the next generation of Christians.

God is in control. Trust him with your children.

Let’s be slow to judge and quick to help the parents around us. They need to know that we are behind them. They need to have the support of their husbands. They need to know the church is behind them. They don’t need to hear idle words or have hasty judgment.

May the spirit of Christ be so evident in our midst that we become a center that attracts mothers and families for the glory of God.