Welcome to the club and the book of Second Kings.

Well, chapter 11 was disturbing. The line of David came very close to a tragic end, but we all know that the line of David won't end because that is ultimately where Jesus comes from.

But in Chapter 11, Queen Athalia went on a revengeful rampage and attempted to kill all of David's

descendants, including her own grandsons. Her goal was control over Judah. And with it, an end to the

Davidic covenant. Athalia failed. thankfully. God used a brave woman,

Jehocheba, to save just one of King Ahaziah's sons, Joash. She hid Joash in the temple for six years.

She was able to hide him in the temple because, providentially, she just happened to be married to a priest,

Jehoiada. Now, God used this bold priest Jehoiada to rally the troops and crown Joash king. Then,

he had Athalia executed. Jehoiada the priest, as Joash's protector and mentor, led Israel back to God,

eliminating Bail worship. Joash reigned and mentor led Israel back to God, eliminating bail worship.

Joash reigned as king from age seven until he was into his 40s.

He did right in the eyes of the Lord. While priest Jehoiada was alive, his primary achievement was the restoration of the temple.

But then after Jehoiada died, he failed to follow God and he was assassinated.

All right, let's review kings because I feel like we're kind of in the middle.

King Solomon died in 931 BC.

That same year, the kingdom divided.

Since that time, we have bounced back and forth between the

kings of Israel in the north and the kings of Judah in the south. Now, as we open our discussion

in this episode, it is estimated to be around 814 BC, almost 100 years since the kingdom divided.

And we are halfway through our list of kings. You can see that list in the show

notes. We'll put it in again. But the pace of rotating kings in the next few episodes is going to

escalate. And Israel is going to free fall into evil and exile. Another hundred years will pass in

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