Today’s Reading: 2 Kings 10:18-31; 11:13-16; 12:2-3; 2 Chronicles 22:10-12; 23:1-11, 16-21

Imagine being the foster (better, the adoptive) parents of a king. That is precisely what Jehoiada and Jehosheba were to Joash. In the face of a satanic attack on the line of David (which, had Satan and Athaliah succeeded, would have wiped out all hope of a saviour in Jesus Christ!), this couple took great risks to preserve the last of the true heirs to the throne: raising the baby (certainly less than a year old) two doors down from the very (self-appointed) monarch that had raised her sword to kill him!

Think of the social consequences they may have faced: who do you trust to keep the secret or babysit? Perhaps only one of them could be out of the house at any time; and it must have been hard to refrain from sharing all the cute little stories of what the little one was up to.

Consider, also, the potential for suffering and scorn when they finally revealed the child as the legitimate heir to the kingdom! Very few had seen Joash, and everyone knew that Athaliah had killed all the legitimate heirs (but, maybe rumours of Joash’s survival circulated like they have about Anastasia Romanov of Russia?). Who would believe Jehoaida and Jehosheba’s claim that this boy was in the royal Davidic line?

But this little-known couple, who was devoted to their God and to His promises and acted on them, is almost entirely unknown! Many more of us remember Joash, fewer of us remember his foster parents. Nevertheless, God delights in people who are willing to give their all for Him, even if they are never remembered for their actions. No doubt this need is even greater in our generation of self-publicity.