Jehoida’s Leadership

Synopsis     2Chron 23:4-13     4/16/2020 

Jehoida served as the high priest in Jerusalem. And he was married to Jehosheba, who was the princess daughter of King Jehoram. After Jehoram died, her brother Ahaziah became king. But he served for only one year before Jehu assassinated him at Jezreel.  

When news came of Ahaziah’s murder, his mother took action. Her name was Athaliah. And she attempted to murder all of Ahaziah’s children in order to remain in power. With no apparent heir, she declared herself queen over the southern kingdom.  

However, Athaliah failed to kill all of the heirs. In fact, Jehosheba and Jehoida had hidden away one remaining son from the king’s line. This child’s name was Joash. And, because Jehoida was the High Priest, they hid Joash in the temple. They raised him there until he was seven years old.  

After this, Jehoida realized he could no longer hide the child. So, he formed a conspiracy that included the priests and the Levites. Together, they planned to declare Joash king and depose Queen Athaliah.  

Prior to the coup, he made a secret covenant with co-conspirators from around the kingdom. He organized the coup by ensuring there were extra temple serving Levites and priests in Jerusalem. And then, on the fateful day, he risked his life by revealing Joash at the temple. He quickly anointed the new king and put a crown on his head. Thankfully, the people embraced Joash as their new king.  

Now, the palace was located next to the temple. So, Queen Athaliah heard the commotion and came to the temple. Once there, she witnessed the child Joash with his crown. And she declared treason. In this way, she condemned the entire assembly.  

Jehoida’s Leadership 

God promised to King David that one of his sons would remain in kingly succession forever. Jehoida and Jehosheba knew the promise. And so, they acted in a way that agreed with what they knew God intended. 

It was simple obedience.

Still, if their actions had been discovered too soon, Queen Athaliah would have killed them. So, the demand of obedience was that they risk everything to agree with God’s promise to King David. 

Leadership 

I’m a leader. I’m a father, so I don’t really have a choice. I have to lead at least my children.

As such, I sometimes feel the pressure to make things happen. Additionally, whether by my wit or my effort, my personal tendency is to want to understand everything before taking any action. My self-awareness wants to avoid making a mistake.

As a result, I’m the guy who says to Jesus, “And just who is my neighbor?” after Jesus has said, “love your neighbor”.  It feels cluttered and unnecessarily complex. More importantly, this natural way of responding keeps me in power. And it justifies my inaction while it simultaneously inflates my pride.

Even though God intends for me to lead my family, this is clearly not the way.

God is interested is in obedience. 

Like so much of God’s wisdom, it all boils down to a simple but culturally contradictory adage: obedient action is true leadership.  

“I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, brothers, so that you may learn from us not to go beyond what is written, so that none of you will be inflated with pride in favor of one person over against another.” 1Cor 4:6