When Athaliah, the mother of King Ahaziah of Judah, learned that her son was dead, she began to destroy the rest of the royal family. But Ahaziah’s sister Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took Ahaziah’s infant son, Joash, and stole him away from among the rest of the king’s children, who were about to be killed. She put Joash and his nurse in a bedroom, and they hid him from Athaliah, so the child was not murdered. Joash remained hidden in the Temple of the Lord for six years while Athaliah ruled over the land. [2 Kings 11.1-3]
I think it is necessary to stop and consdier here that Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, killed all her grandchildren! Now, that's what I call a bad grandma!
No doubt, modern (particularly western) cultures have no real idea how things were in the days of the characters depicted in today's OYCB reading. It is true that human life probably held at least somewhat less value than it does today. Pretty much pride and greed are still the same today as back then, but the value of human life has evolved to a more conservative position.
In fact, western culture ideology about human life has developed to the point that human life is now more important than principle. Think about this for a moment - there once was a time when principle dictated human life (if the principle was violated to a certain degree, it would come at the expense of human life. But now there has been much of a reversal and human life has begun to dictate principle.
What this means is that right and wrong are no longer as important as human life.
I am not saying that Athaliah was right in killing her grandchildren - not at all. But I am saying that her actions revealed a much different culture (from the side of evil) than we know today. Conversely, we also see her only surviving grandchild, Joash, at very least allowing his grandmother to be killed.
Father, it just seems that human life, in the days written about in the Bible, didn't have quite the sanctity as it does today... I'm not sure what that means, but I definitely see it...
