Chapter 9: Treason! Treason!

Athaliah heard the noise. Trumpets, shouting, the roar of a crowd. She had never heard anything like this. She moved toward the Temple.

A GUARD (seeing her approach)“The queen. She is coming.”— 2 Chronicles 23:12

When she arrived, the sight stopped her cold. A boy stood by the pillar, the position where the kings of Judah had always stood. A crown on his head. Captains with trumpets at his side. The people of the land rejoicing, singers leading the praise.

ATHALIAH (tearing her robes)“Treason! Treason!”— 2 Kings 11:14

The woman who murdered her own grandchildren to steal the throne now accused others of treason. The usurper called the rightful king a traitor.

Jehoiada did not hesitate.

JEHOIADA (commanding the captains)“Bring her out between the ranks. Whoever follows her, put to the sword. Do not kill her in the house of the Lord.”— 2 Kings 11:15

Even now, the priest protected the sanctity of the Temple. After everything it had endured, it would not be stained with her blood.

The soldiers seized her. They led her out through the horses' entrance, the passage where the king's horses entered the palace grounds. Not the royal gate. Not with ceremony. Through a path meant for animals.

There, on the grounds of the palace she had occupied for six years, Athaliah was put to death.

The daughter of Jezebel. The woman who brought Baal worship into Judah. Who counseled her son in wickedness. Who massacred the heirs of David. She died at the threshold of the house she stole.