ATHALIAH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ATHALIAH !!!!!!!!
# 1 _When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah.  (2 CHRONICLES 22:10)
Athaliah, daughter of Israel's wicked king Ahab, is one of the bad babes of the Bible. Instead of being a godly mother, Scripture tells us she encouraged her son, Ahaziah, to do wrong (See 2 CHRONICLES 22:3). After becoming king of Judah, Ahaziah joined his uncle Joram, king of Israel, in a battle against Hazael, king of Aram. Following the battle, the warrior Jehu, who had already killed many of Ahaziah's heirs, wiped out Judah's king, too.
# 2 _When Athaliah heard the news, she immediately sought to kill off all her grandchildren so she could gain the throne. Once she did that, her claim would be reasonably uncontested. This power-hungry woman literally sacrificed her family on the alter of her own ambition.
# 3 _Had she been successful, the line of the Messiah would have been destroyed. So God placed a faithful woman, Jehosheba, near Ahaziah's son Joash. This half sister of the dead king saved her nephew and his nurse, hiding them in a bedroom. For six years the child king remained in hiding at the temple while his gradmother ruled (See 2 KINGS 11:2__4).
# 4 _In the seventh year of Athaliah's rule, the priest Jehoiada introduced Joash to the Iraelite war commaders. They covernanted with Joash and protected him while Jehoiada anointed him king. Hearing heard the noise of her grandson's coronation, Athaliah called out, "Treason!" but the troops ignored her objections and obeyed the priest. Removing her from the temple, they took her life in Jerusalems Horse Gate.
# 5 _Athaliah's actions are shocking. Few of us would sacrifice our childern or grandchildren to gain power. But sometimes our fast-paced, twenty-first century existence causes us to shortchange our family of time and attention. If our jobs always come first, we travel incessantly, or we plce our children too often in the hands of others, perhaps we've begun to make the same mistake as this wicked queen. We don't have to serve a pagan god or want to rule a nation in order to get our priorities mixed up.
# 6 _If we fail, we aren't bad babes in the mold of an Athaliah__but we do need to repent, confess our wrongdoing, and find a way to make changes. Maybe that means reorganizing our time, refusing a promotion, or working a part-time job. Whatever it takes, let's not sacrifice our families to get ahead. Because, in the end, we won't be ahead at all__either with our loved ones or the God we serve.