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[0:00] 2 Corinthians chapter, I mean not 2 Corinthians, 2 Kings chapter 11. 2 Corinthians is Sunday morning. This is not Sunday morning. 2 Kings chapter 11. That's what happens when you're preaching in second of each one, right? 2 Kings chapter 11 and we just finished up 2 Corinthians chapter 11.

[0:18] So there you go. 2 Kings chapter 11. Far different passage than 2 Corinthians, but 2 Kings chapter 11.

[0:30] Set ourselves in a little bit of context here and we'll try to do it quickly because we will look at the entire 11th chapter, though it's not a large amount of verses. It is still a number of them.

[0:43] Last time we were together, we looked at two chapters, really a chapter and a half. We finished up the 9th chapter and all of the 10th chapter and we saw how Jehu was used of the Lord to bring about judgment upon the house of Ahab.

[0:55] The judgment upon the house of Ahab was not confined just to the northern kingdom. It was confined not just to the dynasty that is ruling there, but it spilled over into the southern kingdom because the king of the southern kingdom at that time.

[1:14] You need to know this because you understand in our text while of the lineage of David was also of the lineage of Ahab. That is, Ahaziah's mother was Ahab's daughter.

[1:30] So he was a seed of that lineage as well. So God was not just going around and judging people needlessly.

[1:42] We have seen how the Lord was sufficient in this and we've also seen how those who paid the consequences of that judgment was for their own sin. Now we see some astounding things that are going to be laid out for us and to really understand them, we have to go beyond the chapter that is confined here and that's why we'll kind of read chapter 11.

[2:02] We will not get into other chapters, but you see these as they coincide with the events that happen in 2 Chronicles. We will get there eventually if the Lord allows us to continue to preach and teach through scripture.

[2:14] So much of that we will hit tonight, but we won't go there in turning, but we have to kind of build the entire picture so that we can see what's going on. If you remember from your setting, 1 and 2 Kings demonstrate and declare to us why the nation went into captivity.

[2:34] That is, the failure of God's people to live in faithfulness, to walk in obedience, the judgment of God that fell upon them because of the deportation from the Assyrians and later on the Babylonians.

[2:45] We see the fall of the northern and the southern kingdom, the northern kingdom being Israel, the southern kingdom being Judah, and we see the reason of their failures and what led to the captivity. That's 1 and 2 Kings.

[2:56] It shows God's faithfulness, but it shows man's failure. And we see it very clearly by the time we get to the end. It is written very early, more than likely, in the early stages of the Babylonian captivity.

[3:11] 1 and 2 Chronicles, on the other hand, are written from the perspective of coming out of captivity. So while they show us what led to the captivity, they are really declaring in 1 and 2 Chronicles, God's faithfulness to preserve the remnant of David, and it is a look back upon the nation that is coming out of this discipline of God, that is the Babylonian captivity, and showing them and declaring to them the rightful reign of the household of David upon the people of Israel.

[3:44] So it bears repeating that when we read 1 and 2 Chronicles, we see more that pertains to the lineage of David than we do in 1 and 2 Kings.

[3:56] In particular, 2 Kings, at this point, we have been focusing a tremendous amount on the northern kingdom. Now we're beginning to see a little bit of the southern kingdom too, but we're really looking at failures.

[4:07] There we're looking at preservation and the reign, and there's just different, there's reasoning for them there. If we don't understand that, then we ask ourselves, why are there four books, which in Jewish scripture would have just been two books, why are there such large volumes which declare to us the same thing?

[4:23] It is because they were written at different periods in the history of Israel, and they declare to us kind of why we are in trouble, and now what it looks like coming out of trouble.

[4:34] What it looks like, we caused this, this was our discipline, this was our fault, but God was faithful to us in the midst of it, and this is what it looks like moving forward. So it bears looking at it that way.

[4:46] 2 Kings chapter 11, let's look at the chapter in its entirety, and then we'll go from there. 2 Kings chapter 11, 1 Kings chapter 12, 2 Kings chapter 12, 1 Kings chapter 12, 2 Kings chapter 12, 2 Kings chapter 12, 2 Kings chapter 12, 3 Kings chapter 12, 3 Kings chapter 12, 3 Kings chapter 12, 3 Kings chapter 12, 3 Kings chapter 12, 3 Kings chapter 12, 4, the Lord's people, also between the king and the people. And all the people of the land went to the house of Baal and tore it down, his altars and his images. They broke in pieces thoroughly and killed

[7:50] Matan, the priest of Baal, before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord. He took the captains of hundreds and the Karites and the guards and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord and came by way of the gate of the guards to the king's house. And he sat on the throne of the kings. So all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet, for they had put Athelia to death with the sword at the king's house.

[8:16] Jehoash was seven years old when he became king. 2 Kings chapter 11. I want you to see this evening a preserved dynasty. A preserved dynasty. When we have looked at the division of the land of Israel, we've seen the northern kingdom and the southern kingdom, we have noted that in the northern kingdom there was a constant succession of dynasties, that is, differing families which ruled over the land.

[8:46] At this point, Jehu is starting what will be the longest reigning dynasty in the northern kingdom when we are told that to the fourth generation of his children, he would have a man set upon the throne because he was used of the Lord to do all that the Lord had commanded him to do. We see that at the end of the 10th chapter. Besides him, there are a number of dynasties which are very short-lived.

[9:07] There are a number of constant changing dynasties. But what we have declared that in contrast to that, in the southern kingdom, there is but one ruling dynasty. Though the southern kingdom existed prior to its captivity being led away to Babylon, some nearly 200 years longer than the northern kingdom.

[9:27] The faithfulness of God maintained the Davidic dynasty and they continued to set upon the throne. There is one exception of a six-year period and it is here.

[9:39] But there is not an establishment of a different dynasty, but there is just a period of six years when a direct lineage of David is not setting upon the throne of Judah.

[9:52] From outside appearances, it looks as if the reign of David's family is over. By the efforts of mankind, it appears that it will be wiped out completely.

[10:04] And that shouldn't surprise us because that is the very thing and the very nature of things that are being done in the northern kingdom. That is, when a different family comes to power, they kill every offspring of this family and they assume power. They take over and they reign. And it seems to be that these matters are now happening here.

[10:24] But one reason we continually highlight the reality that even going into Babylonian captivity, I know we say that a lot, but there are periods in the nation of Israel which you must pay attention to.

[10:35] There are what we call earmarks, right? There is the Exodus event. There is the coming into the Promised Land. There is the Babylonian captivity. There is the 400 plus years of silence of what we call the Intertestament time.

[10:46] There is the coming of the Savior. There is the rejection of the Savior and the crucifixion and resurrection. And the birth of the church. You say, that is a lot of earmarks. There are. That is a lot of history, right? But there are things that we need to pay attention to.

[10:58] And as we will see this evening, the reason we need to pay attention to it is because Scripture tells one story. The Word of God does not declare to us a multitude of stories.

[11:10] It is not a number of books telling a different number of stories. Scripture, that is from Genesis to Revelations, tells one grand story.

[11:21] And it tells it with such consistency and such accuracy, it astounds us. The reality that God uses such a number of authors scattered throughout different environments and in different settings with different circumstances going on around them.

[11:39] To tell the same consistent story over and over and over again is one of the great apologetics to Scripture. If you and I sat down to write a book and you flew halfway around the world and I told you that I would write the first half of the book and you would write the second half of the book and we never communicated after that, I didn't even tell you the theme of my book, I didn't even tell you what I was starting, but you picked up seamlessly from where I left off and completed accurately the very account which I had started in the very first half of the book, the odds of that happening, I've heard the number once before, I want to think that it is like one in 100 million that it would ever happen.

[12:25] It is an unimaginable, unthinkable, unfathomable, odd chance. To the extent that if it was to happen, people would declare to us that we were cheating.

[12:38] That indeed we did not do it that way. Yet when we come to Scripture and we find the number of authors that are used to write 66 different books and throughout so many different spans of history, throughout so many different ruling empires, throughout so many different events, some written in wilderness wandering, some written in city metropolises, others written in different locations, some from dungeons and some from temples.

[13:05] But what we find is the complete accuracy of Scripture which tells the same story. Here we have highlighted for us events which hopefully we see application being played out in a grander scheme in the New Testament.

[13:20] And it is the reality that God can and does indeed preserve the dynasty according to His promise. Now, the preservation of that dynasty must also be coupled with the attacks against it.

[13:32] So number one, I want you to see the plan of the enemy. The plan of the enemy. It tells us when Athelia, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead. Now, you need to stop right there for just a minute and set it in historical context.

[13:45] Because if we don't accurately set it in historical context, we have no idea why Athelia is going to go around and kill a bunch of people. Right? It just seems like she's going to be another one of these wicked people who does all these wicked things.

[13:56] But again, you need to know these things. This is why we always want to take Scripture in context. Take your text in context and do your cross-references and do it accurately. Not that you would ever come to the full understanding, but that maybe we could come to a better understanding.

[14:12] I have already told you we need to know who Athelia is. Athelia is the daughter of Ahab. She was married to one of the good kings of Judah.

[14:22] That would be Jehoram, same man. She was married to one of the good kings who did what was right in the side of the Lord, led the nation back to historical worship, actually established the reigning and the teaching of the covenants of God.

[14:37] He had one grand fault, and that is he married someone from the northern kingdom and happened to be the daughter of Ahab. This is what led to the union of the two tribes, why Ahaziah himself was with the king of Israel at the very moment Jehu showed up, because that was his uncle.

[14:56] He was there to visit family members. But we need to understand this, that Athelia also did that. And after her husband dies and her son sits upon the throne, because he is of the lineage of David, she introduces into Judah something that is very prevalent into Israel, and that is Baal worship.

[15:18] Baal worship, if you remember, when Jehu brought disciplined action of God predicted by Elijah, what he did is he went to Samaria and destroyed the temple of Baal. What he did not do is go into Jerusalem and destroy the temple of Baal that was there.

[15:33] And the reason there is a temple of Baal in Jerusalem is because of Athelia. She had established Baal worship, and that should not surprise us very much, because her mother is Jezebel, who is from the reign and the region of historical Baal worship.

[15:51] So she's brought the foreign god into Jerusalem, so much so that history tells us that they plundered the temple in Jerusalem to build the temple of Baal. She said, take some of the stuff out of there, build this one.

[16:06] So she desecrated the temple, she used it to build right across the street, essentially a temple for Baal, and established that. Now, her only right to authority rests in the life of her son.

[16:22] She is the queen mother. This is why we find out that as soon as her son dies, she has one great last, what we call, desperate effort to maintain power.

[16:37] Because when the son dies, she loses the position of queen mother, and the queen mother title would fall to the widow of Ahaziah.

[16:50] Because one of his offspring would sit up on the throne. So now all of a sudden, we meet the enemy who has power, but we meet the enemy who is being removed from their power, and does one great last effort to try to maintain that power.

[17:04] You should be thinking consistently through scripture in this reality. If not, then you can read Ezekiel, and see how there was one who bore the angels of garments of light, and was cast off his throne because he wanted the other throne, and he had one last ditch effort, and he found that grand effort in the garden with mankind.

[17:22] We see here this enemy now has a motive, and that is she is about to lose her authoritative power, and with that, every influence that she has had over the people, and to false worship.

[17:33] So she goes to desperate measures. It tells us, here's the plan. She destroyed all the royal offspring. Because the lineage of the throne is tied to a person.

[17:45] That person is the family of David. Now, she destroys the royal offspring. Now, we know, as Paul Harvey would say, the rest of the story, and that's a wonderful thing. Because we know that the lineage of the true king doesn't flow through Solomon.

[18:02] The true king, that is Christ, does not flow through Solomon. This is why, when you open up the pages of your New Testament, you have two lineages of Christ. One would be, more than likely, the lineage of Joseph found in the book of Matthew.

[18:17] That lineage does indeed flow through Solomon, but it includes a man, and I say this just because this is one of my, you can understand it, this is one of my favorite nuances, if you have to say that of Scripture, and that I love the consistency of Scripture.

[18:30] Because in that lineage, you find Jeconiah, or also referred to in the Old Testament as Coniah, the king who was reigning when they went into Babylonian captivity, and the one who was still sitting upon the throne during the Babylonian captivity.

[18:42] And in the lineage of Matthew, we see that Joseph is of that lineage. He is the earthly father of Christ, and therefore, writing to the Jewish males and the Jewish society, that's who the lineage would have went through.

[18:56] Therefore, Matthew, writing to the Jews, included it. The problem is with Jeconiah, is that we find that there is a declared judgment against Jeconiah by the Lord in the Old Testament, which declares that a descendant of Jeconiah would never reign upon the throne of Israel.

[19:11] So therefore, when we look at our lineage of Matthew, and as soon as we come upon the name Jeconiah, we say, wait a minute, Christ does not qualify spiritually. He may qualify physically, because the Jewish men say, yes, he's of the right family.

[19:23] But he does not qualify spiritually, because God had declared judgment that no descendant of Jeconiah would reign upon the throne. Then we turn our pages, and we go to the book of Luke, and we find in Luke chapter 3, a second genealogy of Christ, in which most people would declare is the genealogy of Mary.

[19:40] Why? Because Luke is not so concerned, I know I'm throwing a lot of information at you, it's a Wednesday night, and I'm glad you're ready for it. Luke is not so concerned about maintaining Jewishness, he wants to maintain rightness, right?

[19:51] Not saying that Matthew is wrong. Again, know the context of who it's writing to. Luke records his genealogy, and what we find there is the genealogy of Christ, as traced through Mary, which, by the way, he is the seed of a woman.

[20:04] It's astounding, not the seed of a man. Go all the way back to Genesis. You cannot really have the seed of a woman, but God declares that's how it would happen. So the lineage flows. He is that singular seed, who flows through Mary, and not Joseph.

[20:18] And there, not only do we not find Jeconiah, we also don't even find Solomon, because the lineage traced there goes through one son of David that's only announced one time, because he is the offspring of one of the multitude of wives, which he took when he went into Jerusalem, and it is the son Nathan.

[20:36] Now I say all of that, because even if this one son was not saved in 2 Kings 11, the enemy still would not have one, because she's killing the descendants of Solomon, but Nathan's still over there living his life, and everybody's leaving him alone.

[20:54] See, God always, always overrules the plan of the enemy. You need to understand that. This is why we have these names in Scripture.

[21:05] I know they're not always very easy to read, but someone told me once very wisely, and it was your pastor's wife, when I was very young in the faith, and I would get so frustrated I would skip over those names, she said, you know what, God said that there was a reason for having those names there, maybe you ought to study them.

[21:22] That's why I started studying the names. I wasn't a pastor yet, but that's when I started looking at the names. So what we understand here is God overrules the plan of the enemy.

[21:34] Athelia decides she wants the power, so she's going to kill the seed. Friend, think about that. When the enemy of our souls wanted to maintain power, the way he tried to do it was to kill the seed.

[21:48] He could not kill that seed through the rebellion, because the moment they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would die. God maintained that in spite of their sin through the seed. He said it would be the seed of a woman.

[21:59] So the enemy started attacking the seed. The enemy started attacking the seed. Yeah, Cain and Abel. Then all of a sudden Seth is born, and you have the lineage of the righteous, and the lineage of the unrighteous, and then there's the days of Noah. Guess what? There's the preservation of the seed there in Noah, and then we just keep going, and we keep going, and we keep going.

[22:15] Throughout the ages, the plan of the enemy has been to kill the seed, the seed of the royal offspring. We get into the New Testament, and Christ is led into the wilderness of temptation.

[22:30] Forty days and forty nights, what is he doing? The enemy is trying to kill the seed. But Christ resists the enemy, strengthened and empowered by the presence of the angels at the end of that temptation, lays down his life and claims his victory.

[22:48] We see here the plan of the enemy. This is the same thing that we find happening. He says, So, she destroyed all the royal offspring.

[22:59] So she thought. Here's the plan of the enemy. The second thing I want you to notice is the protection of the seed. God always has in place a manner to fulfill his promise.

[23:15] When the wise men from the east came and declared to Herod that they had followed the star that would announce the coming of the king. Herod, we know the story, right?

[23:27] Said, Go and find this seed, for I too want to go and worship him. We know that that was conniving and planting. And we also know that he sought to kill this seed and destroy this seed because this is a threat to his throne.

[23:39] Think Othelia, right? The consistency. I told you, Scripture tells but one grand story. This is why we see these things. And so his plan was to go wipe out everyone from two years old and under according to the number of days he had heard from the wise men.

[23:52] What we find in that account is they were brought gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Very valuable gifts. Why does a baby need very valuable gifts? Well, God funded their deportation and departure into Egypt.

[24:04] You ever thought, what did a carpenter live upon when he was in Egypt? Probably some gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The very means of the preservation of the seed were the gifts that were laid at his feet immediately preceding the slaying of the children.

[24:21] God always has a way of overruling the enemy and here we see it. It says, but Jehoshabba. Now we don't even know about Jehoshabba, right? Jehoshabba is a daughter of Joram or a sister of Ahaziah.

[24:34] Now, the Jewish historian Josephus, who's not a believer, so we don't, or was not a believer, he is not a believer when he writes it, and we don't want to hold his writings up as scripture, but we can look back and see what even secular historians were writing about that time.

[24:50] Josephus tells us that Jehoshabba was a daughter of Joram, but not from or through Athelia. That is, she was one of the daughters born from another wife.

[25:00] So this isn't her mother that's doing this, but she is a daughter that up until this time we know nothing about, just like Nathan. Up until this time, we have no knowledge of her because she has no right to the throne.

[25:14] It is her brothers who will reign upon the throne. Ahaziah is the firstborn. That's why he's up on the throne. But there is a daughter, and the daughter is there, and it is a daughter of the righteous seed, right, of Joram, her father who had turned to the Lord.

[25:30] As a matter of fact, what we need to know about Jehoshabba is her husband, is this Jehoshabba, the priest. That's who she's married to. So in case we wonder if God has, we see that in 2 Chronicles, by the way, I'm not just pulling that out of the air.

[25:46] We see that recorded for us in 2 Chronicles, parallel passage. What we find is that God had so preserved the protector of the seed and maintained her righteousness, she was not only living in the temple, she was married to the priest.

[26:02] She is not influenced by bell worship. She's not influenced by any of the wickedness that's going on in the world because God is preserving the seed. This seed, who will fulfill the promises and purposes of maintaining the Davidic covenant, will reign in righteousness as long as Jehoshabba is alive.

[26:22] As long as he is walking according to the word. I mean, he was literally brought up in the temple. It says that she took him and stole him away.

[26:33] He was one year old. He was a single year old at this period of time when all the other offsprings were being slaughtered. She stole him and his nurse away and brought them into the temple and put them in a bedroom.

[26:47] You'd be surprised how many interpretive passages there are. What does it mean by bedroom? Is that just a closet where they kept the beds or is it an actual bedroom? We don't really know. She threw them in a room and they stayed there. It really doesn't matter.

[26:59] But they're in the temple which, if they're in all places or any place in Jerusalem which more than likely Athelio would not go into, it would be the temple. And so he's there.

[27:11] So think of this reality that God always has a way. The plan of the enemy was to kill the royal offspring. The promise of God was that the royal offspring would remain.

[27:23] The preservation and the protection of that seed was maintained in righteousness. Not only to be preserved physically but also to be protected spiritually.

[27:40] This was not just some outsider who is protecting an innocent child. This is one who is bringing this child into the temple so that he may be instructed. We see he has six years of growing and he's anointed king as a seven year old and he's instructed constantly.

[27:56] We will see as we read on in the ways of the Lord, the word of the Lord, the word of God, the influence of godliness. He reigns for 40 years. The majority of that in godliness and righteousness.

[28:07] The end of his life after the influence of the priest passes away he falls short. He fails. He's judged for that. We're getting ahead of ourselves. That's a great sermon. By the way when we look at the influence of the godly around us and how we ought to have that.

[28:19] We ought to pay attention to that. But anyway, we see here that God has a way of protecting his promises. Don't ever let the enemy fool you in that they can thwart or change the promises of God.

[28:33] Because one thing that we see consistently told us and declared to us in scripture is the enemy is always seeking to change what God has declared but yet always fails to do so.

[28:46] Over and over and over again. this is the theme from what we refer to as the proto-evangelium that is the first mentioning of the gospel in Genesis 3.15 where the seed of a woman would crush the head of the serpent and the serpent would bruise his heel.

[29:01] That is in biblical talk referred to as the proto-evangelium or the first mentioning of the gospel. From that moment on we see the enemy using various means various ways and various manners to try to kill this seed.

[29:14] but God made a promise. See this goes further than the Davidic covenant. This goes to the very first covenant which is often referred to as the Adamic covenant.

[29:27] That God had made a promise that man would be redeemed through the seed of a woman. When we follow scripture that seed goes from Adam to Abraham to David and on down through the line until we find that seed.

[29:44] It's always singular. Always singular. We find it in Christ. Here we see the protection of the seed. He is hidden in the house of the Lord.

[29:55] He is there. Finally we see the presentation of the king. In this passage we have before us the presentation of the king because after six years when this child is now seven this six year period is the only time in Judah where no one of the lineage of David is sitting upon the throne.

[30:14] After six years we now have Jehodiah the priest who sends for a delegation of officers. We are not really sure who the Karites are. I kind of like them. They seem to be kind of mercenaries.

[30:24] I hate to say that but I love the fact the scripture tells us there are men out there who can act like men. So he brings in the Karites he brings in these guards and he equips them and he equips them with the armor which David had left in the temple.

[30:37] It's a good place to keep spears and shields and stuff like that. Right? So he equips them for a purpose and he puts swords in their hands and he commands them but before he shows them anything he enters into a covenant with them.

[30:48] If you read it in the literary it says that he cut a covenant with them. That is he drew a line in the sand and said once we cross this line you're not going back and they entered into a covenant he bound them by covenantal relationship right?

[30:59] An agreement that you're going to do what I show you to and then he brings out this young boy and he tells them I like the way Josephus declares it Josephus says that when he brought the child out he looked at the men and he said there's your king.

[31:16] Here's the king. Athelia is sitting upon the throne as the queen mother but there's your king. For six years no one has known other than this man his wife and the nurse.

[31:28] No one has been aware from all outside perspectives it seems like the lineage of David has been annihilated and wiped out. It seems as if the promises of God have failed.

[31:39] Now all of a sudden there's an introduction to these men who would protect and guard this individual and he presents this young boy to them and says this is your king. He is there.

[31:51] God has maintained faithfulness. God has kept his word and then he establishes an order of protection how they should do it. He divides them into fifths. Right? And he says that some of you are going out on the Sabbath some of you are coming in we're going to maintain this guard.

[32:05] We're going to keep it. As a matter of fact he sets up such an order he stations them all the way across the temple. It says from wall to wall he establishes them and he makes this ordinance. He says no one is to carry a weapon inside the temple but you.

[32:18] And if anyone else carries a weapon into the temple kill them. Right? He knows that they're in the battle because when you're dealing with an enemy trying to destroy the seed you don't deal gently you deal intentionally.

[32:29] So he sets up for what we would refer to as spiritual warfare and he declares this rightful king will hold his place. He presents the king and he's there and all of a sudden the coronation day comes they do it in the temple and in the temple it says that they brought him in then he brought the king's son out verse 12 and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony.

[32:52] Don't pay don't miss that they put the crown on him and then they gave him the testimony. Most Bible scholars believing Bible scholars are in agreement that the testimony is the copy of what we would call the Pentateuch.

[33:06] He was given the first five books of the Bible. Why? Because God had declared in the book of Deuteronomy that the king of the land should read the words and writings of Moses and commit them to his heart.

[33:18] That he should write them down. That he should write the covenants and promises of God. So from the very beginning of his reign he is put under the testimony of God as he reigns over the people of God.

[33:30] So he's given a crown but he's put under the testimony right? He is now maintaining rightful position. Just get ahead of ourselves a little bit. It's when he supersedes that or steps out of that proper order he gets in trouble.

[33:45] As long as the testimony of God has a great prominent place then the king can reign with the crown thoroughly and fully. But it is when we try to put ourselves above the testimony that we get in trouble.

[33:56] So he gives him the testimony they make him king they anoint him king and they shout and declare the trumpeters are there long live the king. Athelia hears this comes into the temple but they're a guard stationed there to preserve the holiness of the temple they don't want to shed her blood there.

[34:18] Some wonder did they actually lay hands on her or did they just escort her out either way she was persuaded to leave and when she got to the horse gate she was killed.

[34:30] The enemy is defeated because the king notice this that the presentation of the king changes the power of the enemy. That is when the king has the crown on his head the enemy loses authority.

[34:47] up to this point Athelia has controlled events. Bell worship has been introduced the seed has been wiped out she is serving as the queen mother everybody has to obey her as soon as the king is presented the allegiance changes and the presentation of the king diminishes the power of the enemy because now she is helpless she declares treason treason which is astounding because she is the very one who has committed treason but she is making this accusation against those who are presenting the king that matters little because they escort her out and she loses her life when the king shows up the enemy disappears it's a great biblical theme by the way the presentation of the king changes the power of the enemy if you don't believe me read the book of Revelation the enemy is reigning and ruling until the day when the king shows up on the white horse and when the king shows up on the white horse he slays them with the sword that is coming out of his mouth which is the word of God and the power of the enemy is diminished why because the king is present and we see this reality that the moment the king shows up everything changes and the reason it changes not only did they diminish the enemy they went and destroyed the false worship of Baal they went now they're cleansing Jerusalem much like

[36:10] Samaria was cleansed they tear down the temple of Baal they slay the priest of Baal let's not feel bad for the one who is living in really rampant idolatry and false worship and all the atrocities that are there they rebuild or reconstruct the worship in the temple they have guards now set up in the temple and notice what it says so all the people of the land rejoiced and the city was quiet why because the rightful king is on the throne ruling and reigning in the proper way in the proper order but the presentation of the king changes not only the power of the enemy but it also changes the circumstances of the people they all rejoice and the city is quiet because worship is restored and the rightful king is now upon the throne and in case we lose our perspective and we think these events happen because of the goodness of man we read this declaration

[37:18] Jehoash was seven years old when he became king the preservation of the seed and the preserved dynasty is a work of the Lord God Almighty not the goodness of man's ability one thing we will find is that the people of Judah were no better than the people of Israel as a matter of fact when you read the book of Ezekiel God declares to us through the prophet Ezekiel that the two sisters Judah and Israel Israel sinned but Judah did worse this is the faithfulness of God to the promises of God he is faithful even against the grand enemy of his people and sometimes even in spite of his people he is a faithful God to maintain his word which gives us over and over and I know I threw a lot of information at you this is why I have the utmost confidence that I can trust scripture because if God can do it this way in that circumstance then surely he can do things in my life even if I don't know how or when or in what manner

[38:33] I still can trust him what we find in scripture is not the complete history I explained this to someone you know about a year ago on the phone we don't have the complete history of God's interaction with man but what we have is the character of a holy God in which we live in covenantal fellowship through the blood of Jesus Christ his son and if this is the character of God then I can count on the character of God he keeps his word he maintains his promises and therefore I walk in humble adoration of him because man has a way of messing it up but God never does the character of God is an astounding thing in which we rely upon for his glory and his glory alone we see it recorded for us in 2nd Kings chapter 11 thank you my brothers so Thank you.

[40:26] Thank you.