Daily Manna 20 October
KEY VERSE: “And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.” – 2 Chronicles 23:21
TEXT: 2 Chronicles 23:12-21
12. Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD;
13. And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.
14. Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the ranges; and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the LORD.
15. So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king’s house, they slew her there.
16. And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the LORD’S people.
17. Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.
18. Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the LORD by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.
19. And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that none which was unclean in any thing should enter in.
20. And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the LORD; and they came through the high gate into the king’s house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.
21. And all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.
Read yesterday’s Daily Manna here
Hundreds of years before Athaliah, the word of God had been revealed to Job about the worthlessness of the prosperity of the wicked. He himself had once swum in great riches, but falling into Satan-inspired penury and bodily afflictions, the man considered “the greatest of all the men of the east” said: “How oft is the candle of the wicked put out! and how oft cometh their destruction upon them! God distributeth sorrows in his anger” (Job 21:17).
God’s anger having gone the way of Athaliah, she was deposed and laid bare for judgment here on earth before the eternal one in the presence of the Almighty whose laws she had rejected. In her pride and refusal to accept the reality of her fall and recognise the new King Joash, she put up a fight. But she was eventually caught and executed.
With Athaliah’s exit from the affairs of Judah, there followed a period of reforms characterised by the true worship of Jehovah. All the requirements of the Law of Moses in the house of the Lord were met. The singing ministry instituted by King David also resurfaced. The shrine of Baal was pulled down and his priest slain. Porters were placed at the gates of the house of the Lord to prevent any unclean thing from entering.
Above all, the people made a covenant that Judah “should be the LORD’S people”. That is the picture of the new life of the born-again child of God. When sin and wickedness disappear from their lives as a result of the work at Calvary, the Lord settles in with peace, righteousness and joy.
This is also a glimpse of what awaits us during the Millennium Reign of Christ here on earth. Joash symbolises Jesus the King who will drive away the wicked kings of this world, for Him to take over full universal authority. It will be a glorious time.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The throne isn’t for the wicked.
THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Isaiah 61-66
Thanks for reading Today’s Daily Manna – The Wicked Will Give Way- by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi.
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Daily Manna 20 October 2020 Devotional
