2 Chronicles 22

Jehoram had killed all of his brothers, and at the end of his life his enemies killed all of his sons but one. This youngest son, Ahaziah, became the new king in the line of David. He was king for only one year, and like his father, he was an evil ruler. Both men were heavily influenced by the corrupt kings of Israel and their wicked advisers. The Lord's displeasure touched not only these wicked kings to the north of Judah, but Ahaziah as well. The new king of Judah was put to death by Jehu, the Lord's appointed agent in God's judgment against the house of Ahab.

With the death of Ahaziah there was no king in Jerusalem. Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, usurped the throne, consolidating her power by destroying the entire royal family. What she did not know was that one of the sons of Ahaziah, Joash, had been secretly saved from his grandmother's murderous plot.

The Lord knows how to preserve the life of His anointed during the most desperate times. When the Messiah was born in Bethlehem, a powerful king attempted to destroy the One who was born to be king of the Jews. Yet God was using whatever means necessary to preserve the coming King.

Even when our Lord's adversaries thought that they had accomplished their purposes by handing Jesus over to the Romans for Him to die on the cross, they were only doing what God had determined to accomplish long ago according to His own perfect plan. This is how it came to pass that Jesus died for our sins.

The continuity of God's kingdom does not rest in our goodness or in our own ability to keep ourselves alive. The Lord will be faithful to His own promises. Jesus will come again in glory.