The True Spirit of Athaliah by Chris White

Athaliah is the only  known queen to have sat on the throne of David during the period of Israel’s monarchies (Her story is found in 2 Kings 8:16-11:16 and 2 Chronicles 22-23).  Neither the Bible or known histories say much about her ability as a ruler but  much about the evil she promulgated during her reign.  As far as pedigree is concerned, Athaliah came from the first family of idolatry as she was the daughter of King Ahab and Jezebel who worked tirelessly to lead their subjects away from God and to follow the idol known as Baal.  King Jehoram was fixed up with Athaliah through an alliance between Israel and Judah.  As queen consort she had no real legal power but had the power of example and the power of the womb both of which she used to lead her nation into greater depths of devotion to the idol Baal.  When her husband passed (a terrible disease of his bowels) her son Ahaziah inherited the throne but ruled for only a year when he was cut down in battle as a judgment from the Lord.  With no title to the throne,  Athaliah had all potential successors from the house of David assassinated thus securing the throne of her husband and son for herself.  Unknown to Athaliah was that the nearest relative of her son (still an infant) was hidden from her coup and was secretly raised under the protection of the high priest of Jerusalem Jehoida.  When the child became a young boy, he was brought out of hiding and publicly anointed king.  The trumpets were blown and it was proclaimed from the temple that King Joash was the new and rightful ruler over Judah.  When Athaliah heard the great noise and acclamation of the new king she came out in public and cried out “Treason! Treason!” but was unable to stem the tide of events.  Before the day was over, Athaliah was executed for her crimes and the house of David was restored as the royal family and rightful heirs of the throne.  The irony and lesson of this story is really found in Athaliah’s end.  She who would cry treason was guilty of the same on two counts.  First she used her influence to lead as many people as possible to commit treason against God by following after the local god of prosperity and fertility.  Second she used her power to try and destroy the house of David through treacherous murder.   When we encounter such dark characters in scripture, we are reminded that the story we find ourselves in today includes the forces of evil.  The Bible is clear that God did not create evil or that evil will prevail in the end, but for now evil exists by permission.  I can’t help but see in Athaliah the same spirit that sought to tempt and destroy Jesus.  Was it not the devil working in the heart of Herod the Great that stirred within him a murderous genocide of all male children in hopes of wiping out the most important descendant of King David?  And was it not also the same spirit that sought to lead Jesus astray by offering Him all temporal power if He would only bow down to him who was not God?  This spirit of darkness, the devil continues to lead the nations astray even today, but like Athaliah, he prevails only temporarily and his rule will come to a complete and abrupt end with the appearance of Jesus, the Son of Man and Son of David.

Influence: The Church or Hollywood?

This may come as a shock to you but Hollywood has far less influence on our culture than does religion. Yes they have prominence in what you see on TV, but then again Hollywood virtually controls the medium. But prominent visibility doesn’t necessarily equate influence. As a nation, 120 million of us attend Church on a regular basis which is far more than the number who attend movies in a given week. When you consider that less than 25% of Americans read one book a year, and only 1% of them are in college, it is a safe assumption that listening to the weekly sermon is still the most widely practiced form of intellectual activity in America. If one were to look just at expenditures, Americans give 25 times more money to their houses of worship than they do to their local movie houses. So if the Church is so influential in our culture, why is it so seemingly invisible? The late news anchor Peter Jennings, himself a Canadian, was baffled by this. He thought it was odd that America was so deeply religious and yet it was nearly invisible to the news media. I have a couple of theories as to why this is so. First of all, unless you do something exceptionally weird, good, or flashy at your church, it’s of no value to the media. Every Sunday the vast majority of us come together and pray, worship, hear God’s Word, and fellowship with one another. It’s a good thing, but doesn’t create the kind excitement that plays well on film or television. Secondly, Americans consider their freedom to worship almost as sacred as their actual religion. In the name of respecting the freedom of others that we enjoy ourselves, we don’t make this an overt part of our personal or national discourse. It doesn’t mean our faith has no influence on America, it simply comes in through the back door of personal relationships which once again is hardly a media event. Perhaps a better gauge of understanding the Church’s influence in America would be to imagine if it didn’t exist or were suddenly removed (which would be a dream-come-true for militant homosexuals and radical atheists). Not to be over celebratory here, but the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches of this country were huge partners in the building of our civilization and to this day provide countless hours of community services and emergency food and relief without any government help or incentive. The only real motivation is Christ’s great law: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and you shall love your neighbor as yourself. If this great influence were removed from our society, America would be less like itself and more like the Hollywood Babylon that some think we should be.