It Takes A Village Series

IT TAKES A VILLAGE TO RAISE A CHILD (2 CHRONICLES 22:10-24:27)

I enjoy reading bumper stickers on cars and one caught my attention more than most. It was on the back of a car that was in front of me at a red traffic light. The “Dear God” beginning made me curious and I read the rest before the light turned green and car sped away.

The first line on the bumper sticker was direct and challenging. It says, “Dear God, why do you allow so much violence in our schools? Signed, A concerned student.”

On the second line was a thought-provoking and eye-catching answer. It says, “Dear concerned student, I am not allowed in schools. Signed, God.”

Judah had a taste of what the kingdom was like under the evil queen Athaliah. After the excellent king Jehoshaphat’s death, his son Jehoram, the fifth king of Judah, succeeded him, with queen Athaliah by the new king’s side. Jehoram reigned for eight years, and upon the unpopular Jehoram’s death (2 Chron 21:10) his son Ahaziah, the sixth king, inherited the throne, with his mother pulling the palace strings and encouraging him to evil (2 Chron 22:2-3). When Ahaziah died a year after coronation, Athaliah seized the throne for herself and murdered all the royal babies except one who escaped and survived. Into such a family was the escapee Joash born, but he had help, the most sacrificial kind.

What if life throws you a lemon? What if life throws you a sucker punch? What if the world around you collapses? Are there good people and kind left in the world today? How do you respond if others around you are selfish, uncaring and ambitious?

Repair The Emotional Damage

22:10 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. 11 But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him. 12 He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land. 23:1 In the seventh year Jehoiada showed his strength. He made a covenant with the commanders of units of a hundred: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zicri. 2 They went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites and the heads of Israelite families from all the towns. When they came to Jerusalem, 3 the whole assembly made a covenant with the king at the temple of God. Jehoiada said to them, “The king’s son shall reign, as the LORD promised concerning the descendants of David. 4 Now this is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who are going on duty on the Sabbath are to keep watch at the doors, 5 a third of you at the royal palace and a third at the Foundation Gate, and all the others are to be in the courtyards of the temple of the Lord. 6 No one is to enter the temple of the Lord except the priests and Levites on duty; they may enter because they are consecrated, but all the others are to observe the Lord’s command not to enter.[a] 7 The Levites are to station themselves around the king, each with weapon in hand. Anyone who enters the temple is to be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes.” 8 The Levites and all the men of Judah did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each one took his men—those who were going on duty on the Sabbath and those who were going off duty—for Jehoiada the priest had not released any of the divisions. 9 Then he gave the commanders of units of a hundred the spears and the large and small shields that had belonged to King David and that were in the temple of God. 10 He stationed all the men, each with his weapon in his hand, around the king—near the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple. 11 Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; they presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!” (2 Chron 22:10-23:11)

A man wrote a letter to a small hotel in a Midwest town he planned to visit on his vacation. He wrote: “I would very much like to bring my dog with me. He is well-groomed and very well behaved. Would you be willing to permit me to keep him in my room with me at night?”