Latest / Scripture Central / 2 Chronicles 14-30 I Good Women and Wicked Women I Handmaidens, Harems & Heroines I Lynne Wilson

Transcript

2 Chronicles 14-30 I Good Women and Wicked Women I Handmaidens, Harems & Heroines I Lynne Wilson · Scripture Central

0:00
They're fasting, they're praying, and we can do the same
0:03
thing. When I was living in California,
0:05
we had a entire state of California fast to help overcome
0:09
our drought, and the Lord answered our prayers in
0:13
abundance. She destroys all the seed royal
0:18
that she could find. She's the only biblical female
0:22
to commit familicide. The women are still responsible
0:25
for their own faithfulness. They can't just blame it on, oh,
0:29
I married a bad guy or my husband was bad.
0:31
You know, they can't become a victim.
0:33
Families are joining their faith together in calling on God for
0:38
deliverance. So the king of Israel comes
0:40
down. He's striking the Judeans with
0:42
great force. We're told in verses 5 to 6 that
0:45
he kills 120,000 valiant men of Judah.
0:50
This happens, we're told, because they had forsaken the
0:53
Lord, the God of their fathers. Our accountability to God
0:58
transcends gender, and so she is known as the only woman's name
1:05
we have in the entire Old Testament.
1:08
Who marries? Hello, Welcome back to Scripture
1:14
Central. I'm Lynn Hilton Wilson, part of
1:17
the team that wants to build enduring faith in Jesus Christ
1:21
by defending and illuminating the Scriptures.
1:24
And for our scripture study this year in the Old Testament, I'm
1:29
focusing on the handmaidens and the harems and the heroines and
1:32
a lot of other women. Today we've got Queens and
1:35
princesses and nurses and some good women and some bad women
1:39
all thrown in together, starting in second chronicled Chapter 14,
1:44
going all the way through Chapter 30.
1:46
The tricky part is because we're in a different book of
1:49
Scripture, we have to go back 300 years from where we left off
1:53
last year, and we'll look at women who do not seek the Lord.
1:57
We're going to look at these wives of Judah who were attacked
2:00
with the rest of the community. We're going to look at the
2:02
terribly wicked Queen Athelia and the other wives of Joran.
2:07
We're going to look at the Princess Jehoshiba and Queen
2:10
Zibiya and the nurse Joash and the wives of the daughters of
2:14
Joash, these Judean women, and the daughters that are captured
2:18
by the Israelites before they're taken captive.
2:21
So we've got a 200 year period. We're mainly going to be in the
2:25
Southern Kingdom as we look at King Asa's reign in about 900
2:32
BC. He was a good king.
2:35
He covenants to reform and he decrees, mandates.
2:38
He wants to kill anyone who's not seeking the Lord, whether
2:42
man or woman, is what the text says in Second Chronicles 15,
2:46
verse 13. And I was really excited about
2:48
this because this means the explicit inclusion of women in
2:52
both covenant obligation and the severe penalty for those women
2:58
who are not for following the covenant.
3:01
The reason why this was exciting to me is because our
3:04
accountability to God transcends gender.
3:07
You know, even in ancient Israel, which most people would
3:10
say was an extremely patriarchal society, the women are still
3:14
responsible for their own faithfulness.
3:16
If they can't just blame it on, oh, I married a bad guy or my
3:19
husband was bad, you know, they can't become a victim and they
3:22
are going to be held accountable.
3:23
Yes, there's situations and circumstances that make it
3:26
difficult, but I absolutely love this message in chapter 15 that
3:31
the women had to have responsibility too.
3:33
In chapter 20 of Second Chronicles verse 13, we learn
3:38
about another group of women. This is now down about 50 years
3:42
later, about 850 BC, give or take a decade or two.
3:46
And all the wives of these southern tribes or the wives of
3:49
Judah, they call them, Oh, well, remember, during the time of
3:52
Solomon, anyone was allowed to go north or South.
3:55
And Chronicles and kings talk specifically about huge
3:58
migrations of people coming and going to the northern and
4:02
southern Kingdom. But at this time, we're talking
4:05
about the wives down in the southern Kingdom.
4:08
Quote, they stood before the Lord with their little ones when
4:12
King Jehoshaphat is calling a national fast and he you know
4:17
the the nation is facing this invasion from Moab and Ammon and
4:21
Mount Seir. I've got a map here to show you
4:23
some of these things on my slides.
4:25
We're told that this whole congregation demonstrates that
4:28
women are fully participating and are the children.
4:31
This is very different than the New Testament.
4:34
I just want you to notice these little details that the families
4:37
are joining their faith together in calling on God for
4:42
deliverance. They're fasting, they're
4:44
praying, and we can do the same thing.
4:47
When I was living in California, we had a entire state of
4:50
California fast to help overcome our drought and the Lord
4:54
answered our prayers in abundance.
4:57
And I see this happening during the time a King Jehoshaphat's
5:02
first national fast. Unfortunately, 2 kings later,
5:07
Judea has lost their righteous leadership and King Jehoram is
5:12
marrying all sorts of political allies.
5:15
And these political alliances bring a lot of wickedness into
5:19
the southern tribes. And Jehoram, remember, was the
5:23
5th king over Judah, and he only reigns for eight years.
5:26
But during this time, he marries the granddaughter of the king of
5:32
the Philistines. You know, this is Ahab and
5:34
Jezebel's daughter, Athelia. She's a bad one.
5:38
She's one of our worst. This is Second Chronicles 21.
5:42
And we're told that these wives of Jehoram are going to suffer
5:47
divine punishment for the wickedness that they did and
5:51
bring, being part of the plagues on all these people.
5:53
During this time of wicked King Dehorn's reign, the neighboring
5:58
countries attack Judah. And we're told that as the
6:02
Philistines come down, they carry away the King's substance,
6:06
the King's house, the King's sons, and also his wives.
6:10
That's verse 17. There's one son, though, that is
6:14
saved. It's just a baby Jehovah's and
6:19
but the rest of these wives are taken captive.
6:22
We are not told, though, that Athelia was taken captive.
6:25
We know she was not taken captive.
6:26
And I think it's because perhaps she was in cahoots with all
6:30
this. You know, she's from the
6:31
northern tribes and she was Ahab and Jezebel's daughter and then
6:38
the King's granddaughter of the Philistines.
6:40
So I think that she is spared, which gives her much more power
6:45
because the royalty is gone. So these women experienced a
6:49
double catastrophe. Not only are they now in foreign
6:53
captivity because the consequences of the wickedness
6:57
of their husband and others, but also there's a plague that sent
7:01
and they had to bear the collateral damage of the local
7:06
wickedness. Although I assume they will only
7:10
be culpable for what they were responsible for.
7:13
But I mentioned this Athelia because Jehoram is wanting to
7:17
make peace with the northern tribes.
7:19
They have this marriage between the Princess of the north and
7:23
them evil. But she is she is bad.
7:27
She is as bad as her mother Jezebel.
7:29
And they both did evil in the side of the Lord is what we're
7:33
told in Second Chronicles chapter 21 verse 6.
7:36
So the few that were not taken captive included the Queen
7:40
Athelia, the King Jehoram, and her son Ahazia.
7:44
And he becomes the 6th king of Judah when her husband is
7:49
killed. But she's the one who introduces
7:53
worship of all into the southern Kingdom, just like her mother
7:56
did up north. And she raises her son to do
7:59
wickedly. Chapter 22, verse 3 says, and he
8:03
becomes king at age 22, and he reigns as king for only one
8:08
year. And it says that he was awful
8:12
now. Now King James says his age is a
8:15
different age. But if you look back at the
8:17
Hebrew, when you look at the JST and the NIV and the ESV, it all
8:21
records that he's 22 years old. So I think we're in good shape
8:25
to say he begins reigning there. So after her son's one year of
8:29
reign, she herself has political desires and she wants to plot
8:34
the murder of any of his posterity.
8:37
And so upon his death it says in second Kings 11 she destroys all
8:44
the seed royal that she could find.
8:47
Now she's the only biblical female to commit familicide.
8:51
But Athelia's sister-in-law knows about 1 little baby, and
8:57
he goes in and saves this heir of King Hezeiah.
9:02
Now, King Hezeiah is only 22, but he's got several children.
9:08
I keep emphasizing they're marrying very young, and the
9:11
harems were large in the Wicked Kings.
9:15
But we'll get more on this wicked king, Queen Athelia.
9:19
As we get chronologically down to this point.
9:21
I would like to introduce first of all, a Princess Joshiba.
9:26
Now she is wicked King Haziah's half sister from a different
9:31
wife Jehoram not only marries this wicked Athelia that's
9:35
combining the 2 tribes and you can see this on my chart in my
9:38
hand out but she must have been a wife from the tribe of Aaron.
9:45
And the reason I say this is because they're combining again
9:48
the political and the and the temple authorities.
9:53
And we assume that her mother was a Levite because according
9:56
to Leviticus chapter 1, the high priest could only marry a virgin
10:01
from the from his people or the tribes of Levi or Aaron.
10:05
And so she is known as the only woman's name we have in the
10:11
entire Old Testament who marries the high priest Jehoshaba.
10:17
And she's best known As for her courageous work as the aunt who
10:22
saves her little nephew, the royal infant Jehovah.
10:27
And from this jealous, bloodthirsty Queen Athelia,
10:31
who's going around murdering all the heirs of her son, all of her
10:35
grandchildren and other wives children, this wonderful auntie
10:41
is able to kidnap this baby and bring him into the temple where
10:44
her husband has complete control.
10:47
And he is hidden for six years when with his nurse.
10:54
And this auntie and her husband, who's the high priest Jehoiada,
11:00
are able to conceal him and raise him in the temple.
11:04
I assume that the aunt maybe had been part of the reason why this
11:08
young king initially follows the Lord and later in life,
11:12
unfortunately he he turns from his faith to seek more power.
11:15
But initially he was good. Now this young baby's mother's
11:20
name is Zibya. Her parents are not mentioned by
11:24
name, but her name means a gazelle, and it often symbolized
11:28
when it was used as a name, grace or beauty, or perhaps
11:32
speed. But she grows up far South, so
11:36
we assumed this was another political marriage because it
11:39
came from a reigning family down in Beersheba on their southern
11:42
border of Judea, according to Second Chronicles chapter 24.
11:47
So as she becomes one of the harem Queen, Sibia in her
11:52
culture had no choice in her marriage.
11:54
It's completely arranged by her guardian, her father.
11:57
It's this political alliance. And I assume that it was
12:00
arranged when he is still the Crown Prince because remember,
12:04
he only reigns for one year and her son is 1 years old when he
12:08
died. So I assumed they were married
12:10
when he was just the Crown Prince.
12:13
Now, as you recall back in Second Kings Chapter 9, the Lord
12:16
calls Jehu up in the north to do his part to hunt down and kill
12:22
all the descendants of Ahab and Jezebel.
12:26
So King Ahazia is one of those because he comes through
12:31
Athelia, who is killed. Now why wasn't Athelia his
12:35
mother killed? Who's a direct descendant of
12:38
Jezebel? I don't know, but her son is
12:41
killed, so perhaps only the the sons are killed.
12:45
But this young widow then is left with a one year old boy.
12:48
She's probably extremely young and I don't know if wicked Queen
12:54
Athelia kills her as she is wiping out the royal house or if
12:59
this mother Sibia was able to go in the temple and hide with her
13:03
little son. Where the the text is silent,
13:06
you know, we don't know. But there's a lot of options
13:10
here. We're told in Second Chronicles
13:13
2210 that the wicked Queen Athelia not just destroys the
13:18
sons, but the royal family that took control of the Southern
13:22
Kingdom. So she now steps up and I assume
13:27
she also murdered Sibia, this mother of the baby.
13:30
For me, the heroine in this story is this nurse of Joash.
13:35
She is able to nurse this baby. She's able to help raise him and
13:39
keep him hidden for six years of life.
13:42
He's living in these quarters of Solomon's temples in the rooms
13:48
that were kept away from the Queen Athelia so that nobody
13:51
would have known of her heinous crimes.
13:55
But at the end of those six years, the high priest, Jehovah,
13:59
at his direction, he brings out this rightful Davidic heir,
14:04
Johosh. This is now we're into Second
14:06
Chronicles chapter 23, verse 13. And as this little 7 year old
14:11
comes out of the temple, he stands by the pillar at the
14:15
temple that are described back in the book of Leviticus.
14:18
And it says in Second Chronicles 23 verse 13, all the people that
14:23
land rejoiced and sounded their trumpets, all the singers with
14:27
instruments and music and such things as taught to sing and
14:30
praise. And the wicked Queen Athelia it
14:33
says, rent her clothes and cried treason, treason.
14:38
But this little 7 year old becomes king and he reigns in
14:42
Jerusalem for 40 years. We're again told his mother's
14:46
name, but we don't know if she is still there.
14:48
If she were, she would have seen him anointed king and she would
14:53
have become the Queen Mother. This is all speculation.
14:56
We do know, however, that this righteous high Priest, Jehovah,
15:00
was very involved in his reign and very involved in his
15:05
coronation, because we're told in Second Chronicles 24 that
15:08
this high priest lived to 130 years.
15:12
And we had a lot of longevity before the flood.
15:15
And then it got shorter and shorter.
15:18
You know, we have Isaac living 180 years, but this is now 1000
15:24
years later, and we've still got people living 130 years.
15:28
This high priest, Jehovah, the high priest, is the one who
15:31
arranges the marriage for this very, very young King Jehovah,
15:35
and he wants to have two women as his, as the wives.
15:40
But we only are told what are their names?
15:42
We're only told again the name of the woman who bore the next
15:45
king, and her name is Jehoa Dean.
15:49
According to chapter 24, verse three, we know that she's from
15:52
Jerusalem. We are probably aware that she's
15:55
involved with her husband's order to repair the temple and
15:59
to cleanse it after this wicked rule of these last few.
16:04
The high priest not only selected these wives, but I
16:07
assume he carefully selected them from very spiritually
16:10
based, Jehovah worshipping households.
16:13
You know these people are supporting God's covenant
16:16
because their identity and their names under score that these
16:22
women's marriages were very strategic to preserve God's
16:26
promises to the House of David. We're told that both of these
16:30
women are are fertile and are able to bear sons and daughters.
16:34
And we know that Jehoadine's son Amazia was chosen to sit on
16:39
David's throne after her husband's righteous reforms and
16:43
how he tried to change things. We also see her influence as the
16:47
Queen Mother in this statement from Second Chronicles 25 that
16:52
like her husband, her son did that which was righteous in the
16:57
sight of the Lord. But the Chronicles complained a
17:00
little bit. This is Second Chronicles 25,
17:03
that he was not wholeheartedly devoted.
17:06
In the book of Chronicles. We don't have the next couple of
17:09
Queens, but we did have them back in King's.
17:12
So we talked already last week about Uzziah's wife.
17:14
Chronologically that's where it fits in.
17:16
Now her name was Jerusha. She was a wonderful woman and we
17:20
talked. But we have to skip 2
17:22
generations down in Chronicles before we get King A has his
17:26
wife Abatja. But as we continue one and
17:29
Chronicles Second Chronicles chapter 24, we learn of a king 2
17:34
generations later, King Ahaz, who is also wicked.
17:38
Now remember this is at the same time that the northern tribes
17:41
are still there. The northern tribes have not
17:42
been taken away. And we see King Ahaz doing the
17:45
exact same wickedness that we'll see a few generations later in
17:50
this northern tribes that took their captivity.
17:53
But Ahaz, we're told, burned incense in the valley of Ben
17:57
Hinnam and sacrificed his sons in the fire.
18:02
So child sacrifice was part of wicked king A has his rule and
18:06
it's just down the hill from the temple in Jerusalem.
18:09
It's just at the bottom of Mount Moriah where these things, the
18:12
valley of Henan is taking place. It's it's horrific.
18:15
And the Lord punishes them. And so he sends the northern
18:18
tribes down. We're told in the Second
18:20
Chronicles 28 that A has and was delivered into the hands of the
18:25
king of Israel. So the king of Israel comes
18:28
down. He striking the Judeans with
18:30
great force. We're told in verses 5 to 6 that
18:33
he kills 120,000 valiant men of Judah.
18:38
And this happens, we're told, because they had forsaken the
18:41
Lord, the God of their fathers. However, once these hundred and
18:47
once all these Judean captives are brought up north to the
18:51
Israelites, there is a prophet in the north that we don't hear
18:54
about except for right here. We don't hear a lot about these
18:57
northern prophets because we don't have as many of their
18:59
records. But there's a prophet named Oded
19:03
and he sees these northern tribes bringing all these
19:07
captives with them. So the prophet Obed prophecies
19:10
in chapter 28 verse 13, ye shall not bring into the captives hit
19:15
her for whereas ye have offended against the Lord already, ye
19:19
intend to add more to our sins. So the Lord said this is wrong,
19:25
the Prophet says it, and surprisingly, the northern trend
19:29
tribes follow the prophet. These Judean women and daughters
19:33
who have been captured, we're down to about 731 BC, are
19:37
allowed to go back. We're told that they're taken
19:40
down to Jericho, right adjacent to the river Jordan.
19:46
The first river over on the side of Judea, or the first city on
19:50
this side of Judea is Jericho. And they released the captives
19:54
there. And we're told that they're
19:56
personally ministered unto these traumatized women and children.
20:00
They clothed their naked among them.
20:02
They arrayed them and shod them. They gave them food and and
20:06
drink, they anoint them, and they carried the feeble of them
20:10
upon their asses and brought them to Jericho to their
20:15
brethren. So this compassion of the
20:18
restoration of the Northern Aggressors.
20:21
To these women and children and and and of all ages and men as
20:25
well really reversed their treatment.
20:28
It it made me feel very good that they did see have dignity
20:33
and care and that these northerners, even though it's
20:36
only a decade or two from when they're destroyed.
20:39
Some of them were willing to cooperate.
20:42
As we look at the women and children at this time at in the
20:46
second Chronicles in Kings, I just want to remind you that the
20:51
vast majority of women in the Old Testament are unnamed.
20:55
And we have far more references to women that are unnamed than
20:59
we have the named. And these groups, though, I
21:02
think it represent many of us as we repeat history over and over
21:08
again as we live in a time of wars and rumors of war.
21:12
And these people have a Messiah that they should be following.
21:16
As these people have the law, we too have the Messiah that we
21:21
should be following. And we too have a law of God.
21:24
We have a prophet like this wonderful prophet opened.
21:28
And if we will follow and and organize ourselves so that we
21:33
can become voices for truth and righteousness, I feel that we
21:38
can make a difference in the world, whether we're male or
21:41
female, old or young. Every goodness that comes forth
21:46
is blessed by our Lord and Savior and we can be a blessing
21:51
to the world. We can cut short the calamities
21:53
the last days if we can learn to honor the prophet as these good
21:59
people did. In Second Chronicles chapter 28,
22:02
as the text continues on, we learn that the northern tribes
22:06
are taken captive and that within a century the southern
22:12
tribes are as well. And as we finish now the books
22:15
of Kings and Chronicles, these great history books will
22:21
continue on with some of the other historical records.
22:23
Ezra Nehemiah that discussed the time period of the Babylonian
22:27
captivity. It's a century where they were
22:29
taken and they come back and what happens in that process?
22:33
And we see some of the unfolding and what happened to the people.
22:37
And then we'll have to chronologically get all mixed up
22:40
as we go to the Psalms and the Proverbs and the Minor Prophets
22:43
and Major Prophets. But continue on in your reading
22:46
of the Old Testament. There is much to be gained from
22:49
this great book of scripture. I'm also grateful for the Book
22:53
of Mormon and the Doctrine Covenants and Living Prophets
22:55
messages that can inspire and direct us and are as important
23:00
today as Isaiah and Obadi. Whatever in these ancient days.
23:05
I hope that your scripture study can be filled with the Spirit of
23:09
the Lord and that you can receive revelation and
23:11
strengthen your testimony of Jesus as our Savior and Redeemer
23:16
in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.