Unsung Heroines-Joash's Aunt And Nurse

Introduction: These two ladies risked certain death to save the crown prince (and, it might be added, the ancestor of the Messiah!)

Text: 2 Chronicles 22:10-12, KJV: 10 But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not. 12 And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.

Thoughts: The kingdom of Judah was going through a dark period. Good kings Asa and Jehoshaphat were dead by now, and the good they had done was vanishing quickly. Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, was married to Athaliah, daughter of Ahab and Jezebel of the Ten Northern Tribes of Israel. Jehoram died, his son Ahaziah (his only surviving son) had been put to death by Jehu of Israel, and now Queen Athaliah was on the throne.

That she was half-Hebrew and half-Sidonian, and 100 percent wicked, was bad enough but she took evil to a whole new level: she murdered her own grandchildren! Had she learned or observed this from Jehoram’s own mass execution of his brothers (see 2 Chron 21:1-7), or, even worse, had she convinced him to do this?

But even as the search to kill the children “of the seed royal” continued (and may God have mercy on those who did this), there were two unsung heroines who literally saved the line of David, and the Messiah, from extinction! One of these was the nurse for Joash (the last remaining member of David’s line through Solomon) whose identity may never be known. Joash’s mother was Zibiah of Beersheba but she is only mentioned in 2 Kings 12:1 and 2 Chron. 24:1 as his mother. This nurse deserves special treatment, as she provided nourishment for Joash. She and Aunt Jehoshabeath kept Joash out of sight for six years!

And there’s one amazing thing further: Jehoshabeath somehow found it in her heart to save baby Joash in the first place. With her father gone, and her brother gone, “J” could have been in line for the throne once Mother Athaliah was gone. I mean, “J” could have assisted her mother in destroying all the children but she saw fit to save this baby, and, hence, the entire line of David and the Messiah.

Even more ominous, nothing more is said about “J” and the nurse after this. I don’t think this bothered them in the least. Were they believers in the God of Israel? Or did they still worship the “gods” of Athaliah, Jezebel, and the rest? We may never know, but we do know that she took action, and a risk, to save the life of an innocent child. Jehoshabeath and the nurse, we salute you! (Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV)).