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All right chapter 11 it's pretty simple chapter as far as what is going on here we see basically the story of Athaliah who was a his eyes mother remember a his eye was killed by Jehu and Athaliah comes in and of course she wants to reign she wants to be Queen and be reigning over Jerusalem so she has All of a his eyes Children killed basically is what happens but one child escapes one child is kept captive not kept captive but kept secret and away from Athaliah so she doesn't realize that he's still alive and he's brought up by Jehoiada the priest and When he becomes I think seven years old is when they when they Pronounce him to be the king and they kill a fly and that's that's a real brief overview of what happens in this chapter Pretty simple chain of events, but let's dig into this There's a few things that I want to point out and and we're gonna look at this evening In this chapter look at verse number one. The Bible says and when Athaliah the mother of a his eye Saw that her son was dead. She arose and destroyed all the seed royal So anyone who would have any claim to the throne she killed what an extremely wicked woman Athaliah is I mean, can you imagine this we just had my parents in visiting, you know, and they love their time getting to spend with their grandchildren Well here you have Athaliah who's the mother of a his I am Killing all of her grandchildren. I mean what what type of a wicked woman Cares more so much about her being in power that she's willing to destroy and to murder her own grandchildren That's the type of woman that Athaliah was and this is you know, well here before I even get into that I want to Turn if you would to Micah chapter number six We're gonna do a little bit of comparison also between 2nd Chronicles 22 and 2nd Kings 11 that's the parallel passage for these stories in 2nd Kings 22 verse 2 I'll just read this for you The Bible says 42 years old was a Isaiah when he began to reign he reigned one year in Jerusalem His mother's name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri So Athaliah was a his eyes mother and she's the daughter of Omri remember at Zimri became king of Israel and then Omri became king of Israel after Zimri died and Then you have Omri produced Ahab and Athaliah and then in verse 3 It says he also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab for his mother was his counselor To do wickedly and this is in reference to a as I am talking about a as I am being wicked Why because his mother was his counselor He was listening to what his mom said and his mom was a wicked woman So wicked that she's willing to kill her own grandchildren for power and that's who a as I looked up to that's who a as I went to when he had when when he wanted to learn anything or know anything that was his counselor and We can see why a as I was so wicked because you know, you may be wondering why When we're reading through the passages and Jehu's killing You know the house of Israel He's he's killing the wicked Kings Ahab seed right and cutting off the posterity of Ahab Ahab was reigning over Israel, but then it's like a as I is is you know, the king of Jerusalem the king of Judah gets caught up in the middle of it and then he gets killed and then Everyone that's going to to be friendly with Ahab's house, you know, they're all killed It's kind of like well, why did all those guys get killed? Why because they were all really really wicked too. This was still the judgment of God coming against them It wasn't just against Ahab's house It was also against the house of Ahab's sister because that's who Athaliah was as Ahab's sister who married into the kings of Jerusalem and A as I ended up dying as a result and it says and So Athaliah was a daughter of Amrai so was Ahab Now, what does that say about Amrai? Because our Bible doesn't talk a lot about Amrai at all. It's very very few places that his name even comes up But obviously if you produce children like Ahab and And Athaliah that speaks a lot for the father that's that's raising those children The father and mother who's raising those children. It's one thing to have one wicked child, right? One that that maybe just goes off the deep end where you say, you know what? You know, they rejected the Lord I brought them up the best way to go whatever and then one of them goes up Even when you got two children two siblings and they're both wicked as hell You got to look to the parents look to Amrai and I had to turn to Micah chapter 6 because there's another reference to Amrai in Micah chapter 6 proving my point exactly. We're gonna start reading in verse number 13 So in Micah 6 you're gonna you're getting all of these Curses essentially against the children of Israel and all these bad things being prophesied are going to happen to them So we'll start reading in verse number 13 Bible says therefore also will I make thee sick in smiting thee in making thee desolate because of thy sins Thou shalt eat but not be satisfied and thy casting down shall be in the midst of thee and thou shalt take hold But shalt not deliver and that which thou deliver itself. Will I give will I will I give up to the sword? Thou shalt sow but shalt not reap thou shalt tread the olives Thou shalt tread the olives, but thou shalt not anoint thee with oil and sweet wine but shalt not drink wine So he's saying all these things are gonna happen. You know, you're gonna be eating but it's not gonna satisfy you It's not gonna fill you up You're gonna be sowing but you're not really gonna reap because God's gonna be cursing your crops Because you're gonna be treading the olives You're not gonna be anointing yourself with the oil thereof because you're pressing the olives You're trying to get the oil out of it and all you know You're gonna be working at all this stuff and it's not gonna do you any good Why because God's hand is going to be against you against you and it says here why specifically in verse number 16 Why is all this gonna happen for which means because verse 16 for the statutes of Omri are kept What's that his laws his? Testimonies his statutes the statutes of Omri are kept and all the works of the house of Ahab and ye walk in their Councils that I should make thee a desolation and the inhabitants thereof and hissing Therefore you shall bear the reproach of my people the statutes of Omri his his wicked ways bringing up these two wicked children that Were murderers and murdered innocent people and they just had a lust for power It's wicked as hell and Now we see even more insight as I mentioned already to the destruction of not just Joram and Aziah but almost his whole house Cuz remember when a as I was killed it wasn't just a as I either it was All these other members of his house that were going to to check up on Joram and everything else. So At the same time period you have two wicked women on either side in Israel and in Judah and You'd be between Jezebel and Athaliah and they both had a lot of influence on their families So this is a real dark time in the nation of Israel and Judah as a whole because you know Judah was doing great for a while in Jerusalem With Jehoshaphat and brought for you know, Asa, you have you have these godly kings And then it's like as soon as he married in to that wicked household Things just deteriorated really quickly to the point to where I mean Athaliah is killing her grandchildren Killing anyone who might have right to the throne Let's get back to 2nd Kings chapter 11 Verse number 2 the Bible says but Jehoshaphat The daughter of King Joram sister of a his I took Joash The son of a his I and stole him From among the king's sons which were slain and they hid him even him and his nurse in the bedchamber From Athaliah so that he was not slain so basically Joash is ant Right because it's the sister of a Isaiah Hides Joash so that he doesn't get killed now. We learn a little bit more info in 2nd Chronicles chapter 22 You could turn there if you'd like 2nd Chronicles 22 is a parallel passage for what we're reading here And in verse 11 of that chapter the Bible says but Jehoshaphat the daughter of the king took Joash the son of a Isaiah and Stole him from among the king's sons that were slain and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber, right? So this is all exactly the same as what we just read and then it says so Jehoshaphat the daughter of King Joram The wife of Jehoiada the priest for she was the sister of a Isaiah hid him from Athaliah So that she slew him not now we get a little bit more information in this other chapter we didn't see that in 2nd Kings 11, but Jehoiad because you're wondering well, how did Jehoiada come to raise this child and and everything else? It's because he was married to Joash his aunt he was married to this Jehoshaphat who was the sister of a his I am So he's the good influence This is this is going to be the saving influence for the whole nation of Judah by by raising up Joash from a young age to try to get the whole The whole country back on track look at verse number three now in 2nd Kings 11 the Bible says and he was hid he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years and At the lie did reign over the land for so for the six years that this infant was growing up and being taught and raised Athaliah's just ruling because there's no more claim to the throne because she can't she thought she killed everybody but all of the other brethren were dead that could have Made any claim to the throne. So verse number four says in the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds with the captains and the guard and Brought them to him into the house of the Lord and made a covenant with them and took an oath of them in the house of the Lord and showed them the king's son and He commanded them saying this is the thing that you shall do a third part of you that enter in on the Sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king's house and a third part shall be at the gate of Sir and A third part at the gate behind the guard so shall you keep the watch of the house that it be not broken down and two parts of all you Of all you that go forth on the Sabbath Even they shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the king And you shall compass the king round about every man with his weapons in his hand and he that cometh within the ranges let him be slain and be with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in and The captain's over hundreds did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest the priest commanded and they took every man his men That were to come in on the Sabbath with them that should go out on the Sabbath and came to Jehoiada the priest So we see here after seven years now the child seven years old Jehoiada decides to show other people because they've been secretly just raising this child Bringing him up and now, you know in the seventh year after all this stuff has happened He decides to show some of the soldiers the captains of the guard people who are in pretty high positions within within the kingdom but Also people who you figure are going to have their loyalty still to the king to the rightful king When you have a wicked person like Athaliah the only way that they maintain their power is going to be through fear It's not because people love this woman. She's a wicked demon of a person Nobody wants to be ruled over by a person like that But the reason why they allow is just for fear because they think that she you know She has power and she's gonna you know, if anyone speaks up that's gonna be your life But when they see here and out they see here. Oh, wow, there's still another heir Yeah, everyone's gonna want that person to be king over at the lie They're gonna let their loyalties still lie to the to the line of a as I had to the line of the house Of David instead of this wicked woman ruling after him verse number 10 says So basically what they do is they they you know, Jehoiada just kind of commands them says look We need you guys watching over the house of God watching over the king, you know in all these areas and in Designates the areas that they're going to be responsible for Ultimately protecting the king that was their job is to make sure say hey look the king's alive At the lie, I killed everyone else so we need to make sure that he stays alive They're like the Secret Service right in today's lingo That's that's what they're doing there Their job is to take to take a bullet as it were for the king and in to watch over and to protect and make Sure, he stays safe verse number 10 says and to the captains over hundreds Did the priest give King David spears and shields? That were in the temple of the Lord now These are captains of the guards. These are captains over hundreds. Do you think that they didn't have any weapons? Of course, they had weapons what he's doing here is very symbolic what he's doing here is showing them Hey, we're going back to the ways of King David. We're getting back to our roots work This is the line of David. We're gonna we're gonna sustain this line this came the line We're gonna make this King the rightful King and get at the lie out of here and we're gonna go back To David's way. So he gives them David Spears and David shields So they're armed day in day out when they have their weapons in their hands and they're guarding they're reminded Yes, we're going back to the ways of David That's why he did that. They had their own swords. You guarantee it. They're captains over over the guard They had weapons, but they got these weapons specifically to remind them of what they're doing There There's a lot of hope in this young boy and Having been raised in the house of the Lord to get the kingdom back to God and and once he finally shows these guards this This you know this boy, I think that probably Encouraged everyone around them to now have hope into into getting things back To the way that they ought to have been in to begin with look at verse number 11 The Bible says in the guard stood every man with his weapons in his hand round about the king from the right corner of the Temple to the left corner of the temple along by the altar and by and the temple and he brought forth the king's son and put the crown upon him and gave him the testimony and They made him king and anointed him and they clapped their hands and said God saved the king So everyone was real happy about this or celebrating They put the crown on his head and they say God saved the king and they not only put the crown upon his head Don't pass over this is and gave him the testimony It's the testimony of the Lord. It's it's God's Word. They gave him the testimony This is this is the way that he was to rule Jehoiada was the priest He's been raising this child up in the words of the Lord and basically trying to get him back To say you need to be putting God first You need to be worshipping the Lord because you remember not that long ago There was all this bail worship going on and Jehoiada was getting rid of bail out of the land when you know last week we just read about that how he killed all these prophets of bail and But now it's like a big reset button has been pushed All these wicked people are dying off and now we're gonna start back out right again with this young king now This was a very bold act for them to do Because think of the repercussions at this time is that you have this wicked woman who was not afraid to kill her own grandchildren That sends a really powerful message to people when you're dealing with someone who's willing to do Anything for them to stay in power? This is like the demonic people that are in government today That are willing to kill people willing to do whatever to retain their power and And basically what they're saying is you better not cross me. You better not cross my path Right. It's it's a threat to try to keep the people in fear. That's what Athaliah was doing You say you think I won't kill you I killed my own grandchildren So By making this proclamation and saying God saved the king that took some guts That took some boldness because any one of those guys could have been a little snake and and you know turned in Joey say hey Athaliah one of these guys, you know, one of them survived and he's alive and could have ratted him out right, and that would have been the the Obviously the the rat thing to do But it would be a little bit easier for people who had fear if you're fearful of Athaliah and say oh man there's no way that we can you know that this is going to go down well and You were afraid you'd run to Athaliah you'd run to Satan but no, they had boldness they knew that this was right and they acted on that faith and Obviously there was a huge risk involved but look at all the risks that men of God have been taking throughout the Bible We have all these great stories in God's Word to take encouragement from the Christian life is not supposed to be a cowardly life And this is really what we need to remember I think this is gonna be the main point my sermon tonight is that We need to make sure that our life is not marked by cowardice when it comes to our faith But that we're willing to be bold. We're willing to make a stand We're willing to actually say something and stand for the Word of God and not just cower down and not just let the wicked Get more wicked and continue to just push the moral direction of our community of our country of The whole world down into the pits of hell But that we're gonna stand up and say no, we're gonna say we're not worried. We've had it with this We're not gonna be tolerant. We're not gonna sit by we're not gonna let you destroy everything around us We're gonna call sin sin We're gonna call wickedness wickedness and we're gonna stand for righteousness We're gonna stand for the Word of God and I don't care if you don't like it I don't care if you're gonna make fun of it, but you know what? We're gonna stand here and proclaim it and we're not gonna back down It's time to stop being so complacent and tolerant of every vile thing that happens We've been taught and brainwashed into thinking that well, that's just what they think. Oh, you know live and let live everyone just Sit idly by and let the world go to hell. We're just taught to just accept all this garbage And we need to get over that Overcome that that the fear for one of not standing up and saying anything and to the Conditioning and the brainwashing into tolerating everything You ought to speak your mind, you know when you're out and you see some faggot some sodomite out there Acting all girly and stupid and they're checking you out. You say what the hell is the matter with you? You ought to speak your mind and not and not allow us and say oh I can't believe you'd say that you bet I'm gonna say that Why cuz I don't want my children growing up and thinking that's normal and then that we're just not gonna say anything about all this Perversion and wickedness that's going on. No, we're gonna call it out We're not gonna stand for it You Know there's some things that you just you deal with because you're in the world But you know what? You got to have a line in the sand that you're gonna draw Are you gonna allow for just Satan altars to be reared up in town because I'll tell you what, I'm not Someone comes our time and wants to rear up an altar on the Satan. Guess what's gonna happen? I'm gonna be tearing that sucker down Oh, but it's a private I don't care Because if you're live the Christian life look at what the people did in the Bible. Look at what Gideon did He tore down the altar of Baal God told him to do it It didn't matter that the property didn't belong to him Look what G who did Look at what they didn't book it back. Look at look at Acts chapter number four terms go to Acts chapter number four You Got to have a line we're gonna say enough is enough We're not just gonna sit by and let wickedness rule and take over Now obviously the number one thing that we need to be using is our boys That Is that that is the primary and and almost I want to say Exclusively the only way to resist the wickedness, but that ought to be the the way that we're focusing on because we don't have any I can't think of any instances going on right now that would physically require to go and do something at the moment, but We definitely need to be Preaching and being vocal and very loud against the things that are going on and we're not going to stand and take it And we're not going to just allow Perversion to walk up and down the streets and we're just okay with that because they're not okay with that Look at Acts chapter 4 we need boldness We're seeing the boldness that the disciples received in Acts chapter 4 Look at verse number 3 the Bible says and they laid hands on them and Put them in hold and unto the next day for it was now eventide. So this is talking about these people preaching God's Word being Having hands laid on them and they were put in hold. Basically, they're put into prison until the next day They were locked up for a day Look at verse number 6 the Bible says an anise the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest were gathered together at Jerusalem So here we are in Jerusalem with Peter and these other disciples They get hands laid on them. They're thrown into prison and now they're brought before all these rulers the bigwigs I mean the the guys calling the shots right people who you might have a little bit of fear towards because they're ruling the Land and they have power over putting you in a prison or you know punishing you or whatever Whatever they want to do and they're in front they're gathered now in front of basically the kindred or the household of the high priest This is the the religious Let's see and in these days the religious leaders the high priest. They also had some political influence as well They were also kind of rulers over the area, but they were still subservient to the Roman Empire But they were they were rulers of the area since even though they were high priests is kind of mixed together But anyhow, let's keep reading in this story So they get brought before all these rulers verse number seven says and when they had set them in the midst They asked by what power or by what name have you done this? So they're being called out now for preaching for preaching about Jesus and for healing and Verse number eight says then Peter don't miss it says filled with the Holy Ghost So He's filled with God's Holy Ghost with God's Holy Spirit and as a result of this He has the boldness as is said unto them ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel if we this day be Examined of the good deed done to the impotent man by what means he is made whole Be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth So now he named say well what power are you doing this under who is it that that that told you to do is what? What name are you acting under by doing this? He said by the name of Jesus Christ, but he doesn't even just stop there He comes straight out and says hey, we believe in Jesus Christ Our Savior and by his name and his power doing this, but he doesn't stop there. He goes on to say whom ye crucified Yeah, you wicked people. Hey, I'm doing this under the authority of Jesus Christ who you crucified You nailed him to the cross you murderers killed Jesus Christ whom God raised from the dead even by him that this man Stand here before you whole Now he knew they didn't want to hear that They wanted him to come up with any other reason. They're trying to intimidate him They're trying to scare him and to stop and to preach and teach about Jesus Christ So that's about who are you doing this by just to push him and just see if they could scare him and not Saying Jesus Christ, but what does he do? He gets filled with the Holy Ghost and he goes that he goes right back at him and saying no We are doing this under the authority of Jesus Christ and you're the murderers that killed him verse number 11 This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which has become the head of the corner Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men they marveled so they're astonished because they're looking at Peter and John and They're looking at the boldness with which they're speaking against the priests the high priests Say wow These guys are bold and what was amazing to them is not as much that they were bold against the priests is that They were unlearned men. They were not Pharisees They were not brought up in these schools. They were fishermen. They were blue-collar workers Don't think that you need to have some degree in theology in Order to combat the spiritual wickedness and these priests who think they know everything about God When you combat them with the truth You can have the boldness of Peter and John without having that type of background You don't need that. All you need is Jesus Christ and the truth. Holy Ghost to give you the boldness And it says they marveled and it says and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus Are you lacking boldness in your life? Are there times when you're just afraid to speak other times when when you know You see all this wickedness going on and you don't want to say anything about it because you're getting scared Well, you know you need you need to be with Jesus a little bit more You need to get in the word a little bit more you need to pray a little bit more and you need to just rely On Jesus Christ and have the boldness. Hey look because you know why it's not your opinion It's the Word of God if you are relying on the Word of God if you are preaching the Word of God You know, it's God's Word. What do you have to be ashamed of? nothing There's no reason not to have boldness. There's no reason not to proclaim it Being with Jesus will give you boldness not cowardice You get a bunch of Christians today that are acting like cowards and not willing to stand up against the sodomite agenda Which you can't really get much more wicked than that because they're a bunch of perverts and pedophiles That are out defiling people and they're full of murder They're full of envy and debate and deceit and malignity and their whisperers and backbiters and haters of God What more type of an enemy do you need to be able to stand up against but no you want to coddle them No, you want to invite them into your church to be among your children Cowards Get some boldness Spend some time with Jesus in his word Jump down to verse number 29 Again, this chapter is just marked with boldness Marked with boldness and Now Lord behold their threatenings because they're threatening them They're they're beating them up and threatening them to stop preaching the name of Jesus. So they go to God God we're being threatened God they're intimidating us God They're doing all this up to try to stop the work that we're doing for you And now Lord behold their threatenings and grant unto thy servants that with all boldness they may speak thy word Hey pray to God that God will give you that boldness that God will fill you with the Spirit Hey walk in the Spirit You shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh start walking in God's Word and you will get that boldness Pray to God for that boldness say look this isn't easy because we have all these people opposing us God Give me some more boldness and when he gives you that boldness You will not be silent You're gonna preach out and stand up against the filth of this world Verse 30 by stretching forth thine hand to heal and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus And when they had prayed the place was shaken where they were assembled together and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and look What happened and they spake the Word of God with boldness? when you see Throughout the Bible especially in the book of Acts The Holy Ghost coming upon people, you know, we're gonna see happening The work for God being done boldly Boldly out in the open very vocally Not not writing a little letter and passing it off to someone or being anonymous and what you believe no boldness Standing up and saying this is the truth Proclaiming it from the rooftops Not hiding it under a bushel Not staying in your closet my Bible says, you know, what do you hear in the closet that that preachy upon the rooftops? That's the boldness that we need And we've been conditioned to be tolerant and that we should just keep things to ourselves And not to don't talk about religion That might offend somebody why I'm gonna talk about religion Because it's God's Word and we're gonna proclaim God's Word boldly. I'm not just gonna go along and get along I'm not just gonna oh don't rock the boat I'm gonna be rocking the boat People need a slap in the face with the Word of God In the in the society that the perverted society we live in today People just need a swim this quick slap in the face with God's Word Perverbally speaking, of course not not with the book itself some people that might be the only thing that gets through to them, but No, I'm sick and tired And you know one of the reasons why one of the reasons why there's not a lot of people even doing this It's not because it's hard Because when you have the boldness of God, it's not hard It's because they're not getting the boldness because they're not doing the work of Jesus because they're not going up and getting off their rear Ends and doing the work that God has from the do the people are not going out sowing they're not spending serious time in their Bibles reading and learning and studying and meditating on the Word of God Going out and doing the work and keeping themselves unspotted from the world If you're doing those things, you're gonna be walking in the spirit. And if you're walking in the spirit, you will have boldness guaranteed Just like Jesus Christ said if you follow me, I will make you fishers of men If you're not a fisher of men you are not following Jesus I don't care what you say. I don't care what you think if you are not a fisher of men You are not following Jesus Christ And if you're a coward When it comes to the things of God, you're not walking in the spirit If you're filled with the spirit, you would be filled with boldness to preach God's Word. It's a bottom line Let's go back to 2nd Kings chapter 11 To be shorter sermons tonight, we're gonna finish up 2nd Kings chapter 11 verse number 13 So they had just pronounced Joash to be king Seven years later. He'd been hidden from Athaliah Athaliah has been reigning for these six years and now they put the crown on his head and they give him the testimony And he's king and you've got these captains of the guards and you know, God saved the king And everyone's happy and everyone's rejoicing about this Well, Athaliah catches wind of this in verse number 13 The Bible says and when Athaliah heard the noise of the guard and of the people She came to the people into the temple of the Lord and when she looked behold the king stood by a pillar as the man who was and the princes and the Trumpeters by the king and all the people of the land rejoiced and Blew with trumpets and Athaliah rent her clothes and cried treason treason So she's all upset and she's like, oh you're committing treason No, Athaliah you wicked woman. This is the rightful heir to the throne You're the one that usurped authority over man and just in general in the kingdom and and and killed with murderous hands Those that were more worthy than you They're not committing treason, but she tries to just kind of grasp on to one last hope that someone's gonna listen to her but notice there is no power given to her and Power is interesting like that Power is is more of a perception than anything else in general Now there's times where people can physically threaten you with violence or you know Hold a gun to your head and have some limited form of power in some regards But ultimately when it comes to governments and when it comes to rulers Look how easy it was. It's to strip her of her power she had power just because she was ruling and Telling the armies what to do. She had the captains of the guards to be able to tell to hey go take care of Oh, this person's speaking up take care of that person for me. But what happens when no one listens to her? It's no more power she's not in charge you're only in charge of people listen to you Remember that because don't ever let the excuse come your way that oh, I was told to do this if it's something that's wicked. I Mean do you mean it's a do you really think that Athaliah personally Individually killed every single one of a as I as children because I don't of course not what she's responsible for it Because she sent people out to do it But what if nobody did it? She wouldn't be raining she would have no power because no one would be listening to her Verse Number 15 the Bible says but Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds The officers of the host and said unto them have her forth without the ranges see look And now we have Jehoiada commanding for her to be he doesn't do it himself, but he has people listening to him why because now he's taken over a lot of that risk with that that authority in that power and People are looking to him to lead Because obviously when you have a seven-year-old King He's only gonna be leading to a very very very small degree He's still a child, but Jehoiada was the one who kept him joy is the one who was raising him Jehoiada was his counselor. So He's the one who brought him out But Jehoiada is the one that that for a while people gonna have the respect to and be listening to as the core Region to you know Brent while he's bringing up this this child to take over the kingdom So Jehoiada is basically in charge now And it makes a lot of sense why people would would would follow him because he saved one of the king's sons You know and was was gonna bring them back to the right way So verse 15 says but Jehoiada the priest commanded the captains of the hundreds The officers of the host and said unto them have her forth without the ranges and him that followeth her kill with the sword For the priest had said let her not be slain in the house of the Lord and they laid hands on her and She went by the way by the which the horses came into the king's house and there was she slain So he didn't want her killed in like in church, you know, like in God's house in the house of the Lord So he says well take her out of here and anyone who's following after her right anyone who's serving her anyone who follows after Athaliah kill them also but go out there and do it and that's what they do and they take her and bring her out there and then 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 so at this moment joy is like, all right, we're gonna get this settled right now We're gonna make a covenant a covenants like an agreement or a contract or a promise, right? This is what what a covenant is Covenant is so we are gonna make a covenant with the Lord right now between the Lord This King and all of us people we are gonna be the Lord's people. We're gonna serve the Lord we're gonna follow the laws of the Lord and Getting them back on track This was this was Jehoiada's and it says in verse 18 and all the people of the land went into the house of Baal And break it down. This is a great turning point You know what? Sometimes these things need evidence and this same type of thing has happened multiple times in the Bible Where you know choose you this day whom you will serve you have to get to a decision point Elijah said yo, hey Choose you yo, who is God? Who are you gonna serve? Is it gonna be Baal or is it gonna be the Lord you make that decision you make that choice and you go with it and Jehoiada then brought up this this choice and brought it to a head again saying you need to choose who you're gonna Serve and sometimes people today Christians a day need to decide. Hey, who are you gonna be loyal to? Who are you gonna serve? Are you gonna serve the money of this world? Are you gonna serve Satan or are you gonna serve God? And if you're gonna serve God, hey get all in Serve the Lord with all your heart When you decide hey, I'm gonna serve the Lord, you know, we're gonna do we're gonna be breaking down the house of Baal You know, we're gonna we're gonna be going home. We're gonna be getting idols out of our house We're gonna be cleaning up our lives and we're gonna be living a sold-out life to the Lord Making his covenant as promised. Hey God, you're our God and we're gonna be your people Which means we're gonna treat your word with respect and we are gonna not just say with our lips that we believe it But we're actually gonna do something about it not be some hypocritical believers that says with their mouth and does something completely different and And all the people land went in the house of Baal and break it down his altars and his images break they in pieces Thoroughly and slew Matan the priests of Baal before the altars and the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord You know, it usually only takes One or two guys to stand up To encourage an entire multitude to do what's right? Don't be the guy just waiting for someone else To stand up to say or to do something and just always looking for someone else You know, there are situations that come up That you are uncomfortable. You don't think this is right But you're afraid to stand up and say anything about it. And if someone else were to stand up and say hey, that's wrong You'd be right up there going. Yeah, that's wrong, you know standing up there with them Don't wait for someone else you be that person You stand up and say I don't care if no one stands up with me we're gonna stand up against this I'm gonna stand up against this and in so doing you will encourage other people You will get other people to stand up with you It takes boldness though because you're gonna have to be the first one to do it You're gonna be after the one that just choose to know what I'm just gonna do this I'm gonna have the boldness to do this. I I Mean this is what happened when? Jehoiada said you know what we're deciding right now. We're choosing the Lord. We're making a covenant God We're gonna serve you and as soon as he did that he made the bold stance He's the one that showed Joe ash to the people and said hey now we've got the king Let's anoint him king and we're gonna follow the Lord As soon as he stood up and did that and then at the lie of the wicked Queen was was killed Then all of a sudden all these people are filled with the courage to go out and tear down the house of Baal And to slay Matan and do you know and to do all these great things? Jehoi didn't even have to command them anymore Why because they were all encouraged and then they all got on board, but it took the leadership of Jehoiada to do that It took that one person or two people a few people to stand up and actually Resist and actually resist the wicked Athaliah and not be afraid, but be bold enough to stand up and stand your ground And we need more of that today. We need people willing to stand up and not wait to just follow somewhere Following is great Leaders need followers, but you know what we need more leaders Every area every community needs someone to just say enough is enough. I'm gonna do something about it I'm not gonna wait for someone else to get the job done verse number 19 and he took the rulers over hundreds and the captains and the guard and all the people of the land and they brought down the king from the house of the Lord and came by the way of the gate of the guard to the king's house and he sat on the throne of the Kings and all the people land rejoiced and the city wasn't quiet and they slew Athaliah with the sword beside the king's house seven years old was Jehoash when he began to reign and you know in Proverbs, I don't have this referenced or memorized but basically that When it talks about when the wicked rule Right, the people the people are you know, they're not happy but when that when the righteous rule Then you know then there's peace and these types of thing and I'm totally butchering them I'm not I don't have the the verse memorized, but we see that happening here We see now we finally know that people are getting right and then what happens now, there's finally some peace coming There's rest why because they decided to follow the Lord All these I mean all this turmoil and problems and conspiracies and people being killed It's all a result of their wickedness and their sin. I mean, none of that would have happened if One of the predecessors to Jehoash actually just stood for the Lord and didn't let these wicked women Influence their lives so much and said no, we're gonna do what's right Let's bow our eyes have a word of prayer now dear heavenly father lord We thank you so much for for these stories in the Bible. God. I pray that you would please embolden us Fills with the Holy Ghost and with your spirit dear Lord and boldness to go preach your word Embolden us to go approach people to get them saved your Lord embolden us to stand up against the wickedness of this world To not just let things continue to happen the way they are God. I don't care. I mean if You know all the attacks come against us Lord help us not to become cowards and back down if one day maybe our names do appear in the spotlight because the the wicked workers of darkness want to Silence our voice and tell us not to teach and preach in the name of Jesus Christ and not to Not to stand for what your word says, but try to shame us dear Lord I pray that you would please just give us the strength to stand firm and that you would fill us with your Holy Ghost And with your power dear Lord that we can never ever back down on The truth but that we would boldly proclaim your words. It's in Jesus name we pray. Amen