A few days ago, I was reading over there in in 2 Chronicles about how King Ahaziah began to reign in Jerusalem. His mother was Athaliah. She was a wicked woman— a daughter of Jezebel. The Bible tells us that “he walked in the ways of the house of Ahab: for his mother was his counsellor to do wickedly.” His mama was influencing him to do evil. We read how he ended getting wounded in battle and when he succumbed to his injuries, his mother rose up and slew all of the royal children (her own flesh and blood!) and set herself up on the throne. Meanwhile, the Bible tells us…” “Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) hid him from Athaliah.”
Little Joash’s aunt and uncle (the priest) knew that God had promised that a son of David would rule over Israel. Athaliah thought she had destroyed the last of the remnant! She thought any threat to her reign was gone!! Unbeknownst to the queen however, they rescued and hid their nephew, Joash, who was the rightful heir of the throne, for 6 years. They taught him, instructed him, and tried to instill a love for God and His Word deep down in his young, tender heart.
Despite the appearance that wickedness and evil was triumphant, there were still some people that were still true to Jehovah. They prepared themselves to one day take back the kingdom and restore it to the right heir.
For six years, they readied themselves and prepared for that day. Jehoiada the priest lead the insurrection. He had the little king-to-be and temple fully guarded at every side, but what I really want to look at here is verse #9
Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God.
In the temple, all the weapons from years gone by and past battles had been compiled into quite an armory. Long before, David, as king, recognized the importance of preserving the weapons that he and his men had used in battle …Those weapons still had usefulness. He had them stored in the house of the Lord as a remembrance of past victories but also, to be readily available if they were ever needed once again… Many years had past from the time David himself was using those weapons until that point but one thing was still certain—those weapons would still work!!
I am also reminded about the story of David when he was on the run from Saul… When he came into the tabernacle and asked Ahimelech, the priest, “ is there not here under thine hand spear or sword? … And the priest said, “The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it : for there is no other save that here.” And David said, There is none like that; give it me.
Even at a young age, David recognized them significance of using weapons that had already been “proven”. Remember when he was about to face Goliath? Saul tried to give him his armor, shield, and spear. What did David say?
1 Samuel 17:39 —And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.
1 Samuel 17:40— And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
David realized he could only trust in what had already proven worthy enough for the battle. New armor or new weapons wasn’t going to cut it! God had given him the victory over the lion and the bear with his staff, sling, and a few stones. David realized he didn’t need to try something new—he was confident in God and in his proven weapons!!
We see how God did indeed deliver Goliath into David’s hand. He drew out Goliath’s own sword to cut off the giant’s head. That sword would forever symbolize victory against insurmountable odds. So when Ahimelech, the priest, told him that Goliath’s sword was there in the House of God, I can imagine that David’s mind immediately flashed back to that day when the giant was lying on the ground. He remembered the great victory God had wrought against those impossible odds!! That sword respresented faith and God’s powerful hand!
David said “There is none like that; give it me.”
As I was studying this topic and thinking about it, I was reminded about all the victories that the previous generations of holiness people have won. They slew their own giants. They won great victories. The legacy they left behind shows us that they were not afraid to fight. God equipped them with weapons to war with and they became familiar with those weapons.
I got to thinking about some of the weapons that they used to fight with:
The weapon of prayer
The weapon of faith
The weapon of hope
The weapon of God’s Word!!
David himself recognized the Lord was his strength and the reason behind his victories. 2 Samuel 22:35-41 —[35] He teacheth my hands to war; so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms. [36] Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great. [37] Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; so that my feet did not slip. [38] I have pursued mine enemies, and destroyed them; and turned not again until I had consumed them. [39] And I have consumed them, and wounded them, that they could not arise: yea, they are fallen under my feet. [40] For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me. [41] Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies, that I might destroy them that hate me.
The Bible tells us that in 2 Corinthians 10:4-5
[4] (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) [5] Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
The Bible instructs us to Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. [12] For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. [13] Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. [14] Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; [15] And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; [16] Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. [17] And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: [18] Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Ephesians 6:11-18
God has given us some armor and some spiritual weapons to “fight back” against the onslaught of Satan!!!
Here in 2 Samuel 1:27, we see how David lamented over the deaths of Saul and Jonathan
How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war perished!
He was languished over their deaths but yet he is quick to point out how the weapons of war too had perished (or perhaps, people that weren’t afraid to fight).
In today’s world, we can relate to how David must have felt. We can look around us and see how good morals and common decency have fallen. The weapons of war have seemingly perished as well. There is no longer prayer in schools. The Ten Commandments have been removed from the courthouse walls. There is no absolutes anymore. Sadly, even among our churches, a lot of the “fight” has died in our pews. Our people are becoming carnal and being indoctrinated with a worldly mindset and are forgetting what made the church great!! We are not of those world! It is not our home!! We are a peculiar people!! We are of a Heavenly heritage!!
Isaiah 56:14–And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter
James Russell Lowell, an early American poet, wrote a poem, entitled This Present Crisis— one line of the poem reads:
Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,—
Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.
While sometimes, it does seem that truth is being persecuted and punished (Truth forever on the scaffold) and evil and wrong are triumphing (wrong forever on the throne), the poet reminds us to never despair.
(behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.)
God hasn’t forgotten about you. He is watching out for you. He has, in fact, equipped us for every battle and every struggle that we are going to face. We must remember who we are !! We are children of the King!! We have been equipped for the battles!! Like in our text, our weapons are stored in the house of God. They are those old weapons that have won victories in the past. We don’t need some newfangled thing. We don’t need any “unproven” weapons. We need to use what has always worked before!!
The weapon of prayer will still work!!
The weapon of Holiness will still work!!
The shield of faith will still work!!
The sword of the spirit will still work!!
( the Word of God)
The weapon of truth (honesty) will still work!
The breastplate of righteous will still quench those fiery darts of the wicked!!
This next generation is gonna have to see something out of us older ones. We have allowed the enemy to rock us into a sense of complacency. In the Bible, Amos tells us “Woe to them that are at ease in Zion”. We are on the battlefield!! If we were right in the middle of a real war, you wouldn’t see people playing around. You wouldn't see people that were careless or lackadaisical in their approach or in their preparation. No!! They would recognize that a wrong move or even a lack of preparation might mean the difference between life and death.
But the truth is, we ARE in a war! Yes, it may not be on physical battlefield, but it is no less dangerous. In fact, it is much more so! We are fighting for our eternal destinations!! We are in a war for our souls! We are in a war for our minds! We are in a war for our families/homes! We are in a war for our churches! We can’t sit idly by and allow Athaliah to just to kill off all the seed royal that is left. We must battle to keep a remnant that is true to Jehovah!!
Dear Sisters, let’s make up our minds to clean out some clutter in our (spiritual) closets and dust off those old tried and true spiritual weapons and get back to fighting the good fight of faith!! Too long we have allowed Athaliah ( the flesh/the world ) to rule on the throne of our hearts, it is high time we overthrow her and allow the rightful heir (God/the Spirit) to reclaim the throne in our lived… We must recrown Him King!!
It is going to take it to make it !!
-Tiphanie ♥️
Full text reading:
2 Chronicles 23:9-21 KJV
[9] Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that had been king David's, which were in the house of God. [10] And he set all the people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by the king round about. [11] Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king. [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.