The Most Famous Woman In History
The Pop band – Alphaville – had this royal grandma in mind when they sang ‘Forever Young’.
Today’s saboteur isn’t your typical poor girl married into wealth and status. Who then forgets where she was coming from and tries to cling on to power at all costs
She was ROYALTY in caps. Babe held every major royal title;
- Princess
- Queen-Consort
- Dowager
- Queen-mother
- Regnant
- Monarch
Close your eyes and conjure up these historical royal females
- Catherine de’ Medici
- Hatshepsut of Egypt
- Nzinga of Angola
- Sofia of Spain
- Elizabeth of York
- Elizabeth II
- Amina of Zazzau
- Victoria Eugene of Battenburg
Yet, none of them come close. Combine all their titles and you have this one woman:
Enter Athaliah……
Notoriously etched into history as the Glanma who refused to give way to her grandsons.
We meet her for the first time as a queen…
“…..When he was 32 years old, Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, became king of Judah….and the daughter of Ahab was his wife”
2 kings 8: 17-18
Like Father, Unlike Daughter.
Let’s take a refresher here on her lineage;
Ahab’s daughter?
Ahab was that prince sent to Ivy League schools but majored in only one course – The Art of Wickedness
His father – King Omri – who knew the son’s sadistic tendencies, paired him up in a marital alliance with a woman of like streaks – Jezebel
After his father’s transition, Ahab became king.
Unfortunately, while Ahab was a passive-aggresive Beta, Jezebel was the choleric Alpha pulling the strings behind the throne
And their daughter, princess Athaliah watched. And knew which of her parents she wanted to be like.
Grandmothers Love Grandchildren?
Athaliah married a fellow prince – Jehoram- who in turn became king.
Their family multiplied exponentially as grandchildren littered the palace. She must have been a busy and proud Glanma, right?
Then she became a widow and her son, king
“Ahaziah was 22 years old when he began to reign. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of King Omri”
2 kings 8:26
The Stemming Tide of Time
Suddenly, the life that had been so good to Athaliah from birth, began to conspire against her
Her son, king Ahaziah was assassinated within a year in office!
Within a couple years, our icon had gone from Queen-Consort to dowager, queen-mother and now what?
Her 23 year old son left behind an infant.
That meant Athaliah could either become a placeholder regent or let the throne pass on to another son within the family.
Oh yes, she had other sons;
“On his way, Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah and asked them ‘who are you?’.
2 kings 10: 13
” We are the relatives of Ahaziah and we came down to visit the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother”
I would rather be a Regnant
Grief.
That searing word that takes us through an emotional topsy-turvy .. Denial, Anger, rage, depression……
Grief can change some in subtle ways and others profoundly.
We have no idea if this was grief or nature. But Athaliah’s next action was equivalent to shooting yourself in the guts.
She refused to be a regent or queen-mother and instead aspired for the throne.
Hold up, before you blame her. Remember her background?
The princess who watched her mother rule the throne behind her weak father.
The queen who watched her husband and son as kings enter unprofitable alliances which caused their untimely deaths
She probably was that control freak mother who knew that she emasculated all her sons.
But unlike she and her mother before her, was not willing to allow an Alpha daughter -in-law to decide her fate in the palace
Therefore, Athaliah seized the throne and slaughtered the royal family to secure her position. All of them….. Her sons and grandchildren…. All except one infant who was snuck away.
Lessons For Us
Athaliah’s sabotage wasn’t rebellion – it was control.
She believed that if she didn’t eliminate every threat, she would lose everything.
Control became her survival strategy.
Fear became her leadership style.
Destruction became her legacy.
But God preserved Joash — the child she missed.
Athaliah teaches us that control always overreaches. Destroying relationships and suffocates calling.
It blinds us to what God is protecting behind the scenes.
Her life warns us:
When control becomes your comfort, destruction becomes your fruit
Come back tomorrow to find out how her surviving grandson would eventually self-sabotage also.
Further Reading:
2 kings 11
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