The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1904-11-03
JOash, the Boy King.

1T all came OF bad marriage. fOr
reasons of State, the good king Je
hoshaphat married his son to the
daughter of Jezebel. The chronicler
speaks of Alhaliah as that wicked
woman" Her phenomenal fierceness
was all the more conspicuous because
it appeared in one whose very sex is
supposed to stand for gentleness. She
was as INSCRIPTIONS as she was am
bilious, In opposition to all Hebrew
law and precedent she seated upon
the throne of Judah and fortified her
self in her usurpatiOn by cruelty muir
dering ell possible claimants, among
them her own grandchildren, thereby
proving herself atrocious and unnat-
ural. Never was royal blood so pro-
fusely shed. All kin to the crown
were supposed to by out of the way.
Thus, this Lady Macbeth of Jewish
history began her course of tyranny
and debauchery. Under her reign
Baalism had its innings, so much so
that a temple TO the foul Sidonian
god is known to have been built in
Jerusalem, if not within the temple
precincts. The temple was robbed of
its furniture, if not of its very stones
and timbers, to build the shrine to
the rival of Jehovah. No wonder it
was "a time of trouble, rebuke and
blaspheming:" Athaliah was wicked
daughter of wicked mother. She was
even more fierce, powerful, and I'M
sparing than Jezebel.
But there was one unsupported flaw
in the iron of her tyranny. In the
slaughter of the innocent, one little
intended victim was overlooked.
Jehosheba honored her sex as Atha-
liah disgraced it. What she did
stands high among daring deeds of
patriotism. BY her loyalty and cour-
age, she preserved the royal house of
David from extinction. In the midst
of the carnage, at the risk of her own
life, she hurried the infant prince
and his nurse into little-used store
room of the temple. Her husband,
the high priest, was a party to this
merciful plot, and from his command
ing position was able to insure the
success of it.
For six years the little prince was
hid away in the secret of the taber-
nacle. The temple was place which
Athaliah seldom troubled, and it is
easy at any rate for parts of a great
building to be overlooked. In this
obscurity Joash lived, although all
the while entitled to crown. He
was faithfully guarded as the nations
greatest treasure. In his remarkable
preservation the prophecy that Da-
vid's lamp would never go out h ad
fulfillment. But in this instance the
lamp was perilously near extinction.
Jehoiada is a star in the Hebrew
priesthood. Iadock and Abiathar
are the other exceptions to the rule
of dulmess. The nature of the office
is not such as to bring its holder in
to prominence. In this instance Je-
hoiada could not prevent the general
destruction of the royal stock. The
crime was SO unnatural that it could
not have been suspected. What he
did do was to bide his time and or
ganiZe a counter revolution. And
this he did with a prudence, caution,
and sagacity unsurpassed. The dis
interested character of his patriotism
| did not admit of question. He aimed
at nothing for himself. He averted
civil war and achieved a bloodless rev.
olution.
The story is told with pictorial pow
er. 1t makes one of the most vivid
and dramatic pages of human history.
The queen was allowed to weary and
wear out the nation by her despotism.
AT the same time she was encouraged
in a sense of security. Jehoiada, on
his part, was all the while fostering
the Jehovistic party. This he could
do the more effectively since the
/ queen had inadvertently left him in
possession of the temple with its
treasury, armory aud fortress. When
the time was ripe Jehoiada took the
five captains of the royal guard into
| his confidence and showed them the
infant heir to the throne Now, sol
diers who were willing to serve under
Alfalfa as long as they thought the
| house of David extinct, would waver
in their allegiance when they learned
/ that scion of the old royal stock
survived The next step was to Sc
cure the presence of the largest com
pany possible in the temple to wit
ness the coronation and protect the
kings person. This would be done
without creating suspicion by detain-
ing the Leyites who, according to
their course, would be going off duty.
Attention did not need to be attract
ed either by the carrying of arms in
to the temple Enclosure. A sufficient
/ supply could be had from the yotiye