Today’s Scripture Reading (February
23, 2016): 1 Chronicles 3
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt fell sick when he was vacationing in New Brunswick, Canada. The
diagnosis, which some have questioned in recent years, was polio. The disease
left him permanently paralyzed, although he never accepted that diagnosis. FDR
left politics for several years and concentrated on his private law practice.
When he returned to public life, the rumor was the FDR was recovering from his
illness. Unfortunately, the rumor was nothing more than wishful thinking. FDR
had taught himself how to walk with braces on his legs and a cane, but it was a
laborious and awkward process. So for the rest of his life he simply did not
walk in public. There are very few photographs of FDR either walking or in his
wheelchair. For the protection of his image (something that would be impossible
in our TMZ dominated society) he was only photographed either standing or
sitting in a chair. Sometimes it is what you don’t see that is important. Of
course, FDR luckily lived in a day when we were willing to allow people to have
their little secrets.
Sometimes in
reading the Bible, it is what we don’t see that is the story. The chronicler has
made great pains to follow the lineage of kings, but the one queen who reigned
in Judah is notably missing. Her name was Athaliah, and she was actually the
daughter of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel who ruled in the northern country of
Israel. Athaliah first became Queen as the wife of Jehoram of Judah (just to
make it a little more confusing, Athaliah also had a brother named Jehoram who
ruled as King in Israel). When Jehoram of Judah died, their son Ahaziah began
his reign and Athaliah began her role as the Queen mother. But the reign of
Ahaziah was cut short. After watching his uncle, Jehoram of Israel, be
murdered, Ahaziah fled for his life. But he also was injured in his attempt to
escape and died. In the end, the reign of Ahaziah lasted only one year.
Following
Ahaziah’s death, Athaliah seemed to tire of the roles of Queen of the reigning King
and Queen Mother. She decided to grab the throne of Judah for herself. And in
the process of grabbing the throne, she ordered all of the possible claimants
to the throne killed, including her own grandchildren. One grandchild, Jehoash,
was hidden away out of her reach. And with her throne securely in her hands, the
reign of Athaliah began.
Of course,
Athaliah was not just the only female to reign in Judah by her own authority,
but she was also the only non-descendant of David to sit on the throne of
Judah. Of course, because she was not of the line of David, she is not included
in this list of David’s descendants. But one might have thought that as the
Queen mother of the reigning line of David, and being the murderer of some of
David’s descendants, she might have at least deserved a mention. But the
chronicler apparently decided that Athaliah didn’t even deserve that. She was a
non-entity, and her reign would have been best if it could be simply forgotten.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1
Chronicles 4
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