Solomon began well, became widely known for his gift of wisdom, and built the Temple which his father wanted to construct, but was forbidden on account of his being a man of war. But Solomon was a man of peace, as his name signifies, and he made peace with surrounding nations.
But as he grew in stature as a monarch, he used marriage with foreign princesses as a means of maintaining peace with these nations. This led to the building of “foreign embassies” in Jerusalem, together with the shrines of their gods. Gradually Solomon succumbed to this infiltration, and even partook of it himself, leading his nation away from the worship of the One True God.
As a result God tore the Kingdom apart, whereby ten tribes travelled north to Samaria, there to set up a Kingdom, whilst Judah (together with Benjamin and some Levites) remained in Jerusalem. This rift caused many difficulties over the ensuing years. Jehoshaphat, King of Judah made the classic mistake of trying to amalgamate the two Kingdoms by a marriage alliance between his son Jehoram and Athaliah, the daughter of Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab of the Northern Kingdom. The Lord was angry with Jehoshaphat’s disobedience, and sent a prophet to denounce it.
Athaliah rose up against the Southern Kingdom of Judah and slew all the seed royal of the House of David. This would have effectively ended the progress of the Promise. But what she didn’t realise was that “Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered; and they hid him and his nurse in the bedroom, from Athaliah, so that he was not killed.” (2 Kings 11:2) And Baby Joash was cared for secretly in the Temple for six years before being presented to Judah as the rightful King. Athaliah was slain on the same day.
So the Promise was hanging on a very slender thread for the six years that Athaliah usurped the Kingdom. The faithfulness of Jehosheba goes down in history as yet another heroine of FAITH. It’s a shame she was not mentioned in the gallery of faith in Hebrews 11.
