Thursday, August 4, 2016

Women in the Bible – Azubah – Wife of King Asa, 3rd King of Judah, and Mother of Jehoshaphat

Women in the Bible – Azubah – Wife of King Asa, 3rd King of Judah, and Mother of Jehoshaphat

1 Kings 22:41-42 (ESV)
Jehoshaphat the son of Asa began to reign over Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi.

2 Chronicles 20:32 (ESV)
Thus Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah. He was thirty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. He walked in the way of Asa his father and did not turn aside from it, doing what was right in the sight of the LORD.

The next name we consider is Azubah, wife of a king, and mother to a king. Royalty defined her life. Her name, as we saw last time with the first Azubah we considered, means “desertion or forsaking.” I’m not sure how someone could name a child that, but apparently they thought it sounded like a good name.

Azubah lived in an era where the kings were mindful of the things of the Lord. Both her husband and son “did what was right in the sight of God.” That can be a daunting task. The will of the people do not always correlate to what God has in mind. Most of the kings of Israel did not follow God’s plan for His people.


I know the affect a woman has on a man, her children, and household. It would not surprise me to find that Azubah had such an impact on her family, to keep them following after God’s ways. We don’t know much about Azubah, but the legacy left by her husband and son are a testament to her, and the life she enjoyed for so long as the “First Lady” of Judah.

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Women in the Bible – Azubah – Caleb's Wife

Women in the Bible – Azubah – Caleb's Wife

1 Chronicles 2:18-20 (ESV)
Caleb the son of Hezron fathered children by his wife Azubah, and by Jerioth; and these were her sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, who bore him Hur. Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel.

From what we know about Caleb, he had only one wife at a time. After his first wife died he married another. That was not common for that day. Azubah was Caleb’s first wife.
Azubah comes from the Hebrew word ʿazûbâ which means “desertion (of inhabitants), forsaking.

This passage in Chronicles is rather strange. Earlier in the chapter Caleb is referred to as Chelubai.

1 Chronicles 2:9 (ESV)
The sons of Hezron that were born to him: Jerahmeel, Ram, and Chelubai.

Then, when the wives and children of Caleb are given in verses 18-20, the writer appears to use two different names when referring to Azubah. The name Jerioth is also mentioned. I read many commentaries on this and there are about as many opinions as there are commentaries. Some think Jerioth was another wife of Caleb. Some think Jerioth was a concubine, some a maidservant of Azubah that bore Caleb’s children (like Hagar did for Sarah). Others think Jerioth was a daughter of Caleb by Azubah.

Because of the two-name references in this chapter I’m inclined to believe Azubah and Jerioth are the same person. Jerioth means “curtains.” It’s possible that someone (possibly Caleb) changed her name. After all, being married to “desertion” may not have been optimal. Perhaps she had long, flowing hair that resembled curtains. Obviously, we will never know.

Azubah was great-great-…-great aunt to King David. She had three sons. She died young. Apparently she had a husband in Caleb that honored her by being monogamous. Her name is forever remembered by being included in the Book. Let her be a testament to the truth that a name does not define you. In Azubah’s case, she overcame being “deserted” and became a wife, mother, and distant relative of one of the greatest kings of Israel.


What about you? Who do other “know” you to be? Determine now that in Christ you can become all that God has intended for you. Embrace your destiny and move forward.

Saturday, July 30, 2016

Women in the Bible – Athaliah – Queen of Judah During the Reign of King Jehoram

Women in the Bible – Athaliah – Queen of Judah During the Reign of King Jehoram, and Later Became Sole Ruler of Judah for Five Years.


2 Kings 8:26 (ESV)
Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah; she was a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.

2 Kings 11:1-3 (ESV)
Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus they hid him from Athaliah, so that he was not put to death. And he remained with her six years, hidden in the house of the LORD, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

2 Chronicles 22:1-12 (ESV)
And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, for the band of men that came with the Arabians to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah reigned. Ahaziah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Athaliah, the granddaughter of Omri. He also walked in the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother was his counselor in doing wickedly. He did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, as the house of Ahab had done. For after the death of his father they were his counselors, to his undoing. He even followed their counsel and went with Jehoram the son of Ahab king of Israel to make war against Hazael king of Syria at Ramoth-gilead. And the Syrians wounded Joram, and he returned to be healed in Jezreel of the wounds that he had received at Ramah, when he fought against Hazael king of Syria. And Ahaziah the son of Jehoram king of Judah went down to see Joram the son of Ahab in Jezreel, because he was wounded.

But it was ordained by God that the downfall of Ahaziah should come about through his going to visit Joram. For when he came there, he went out with Jehoram to meet Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the LORD had anointed to destroy the house of Ahab. And when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he met the princes of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s brothers, who attended Ahaziah, and he killed them. He searched for Ahaziah, and he was captured while hiding in Samaria, and he was brought to Jehu and put to death. They buried him, for they said, “He is the grandson of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart.” And the house of Ahaziah had no one able to rule the kingdom.

Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were about to be put to death, and she put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Thus Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of Jehoiada the priest, because she was a sister of Ahaziah, hid him from Athaliah, so that she did not put him to death. And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God, while Athaliah reigned over the land.

2 Chronicles 23:12-21 (ESV)
When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she went into the house of the LORD to the people. And when she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpeters beside the king, and all the people of the land rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and the singers with their musical instruments leading in the celebration. And Athaliah tore her clothes and cried, “Treason! Treason!” Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains who were set over the army, saying to them, “Bring her out between the ranks, and anyone who follows her is to be put to death with the sword.” For the priest said, “Do not put her to death in the house of the LORD.” So they laid hands on her, and she went into the entrance of the horse gate of the king’s house, and they put her to death there.

And Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and all the people and the king that they should be the LORD’s people. Then all the people went to the house of Baal and tore it down; his altars and his images they broke in pieces, and they killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. And Jehoiada posted watchmen for the house of the LORD under the direction of the Levitical priests and the Levites whom David had organized to be in charge of the house of the LORD, to offer burnt offerings to the LORD, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David. He stationed the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD so that no one should enter who was in any way unclean. And he took the captains, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the LORD, marching through the upper gate to the king’s house. And they set the king on the royal throne. So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword.

2 Chronicles 24:7 (ESV)
For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD for the Baals.

I don’t know how I have lived almost fifty-seven years and never knew that Judah had a queen. Did you know this? Athaliah was a member of royalty from birth. Apparently she took her position very seriously, to the point she tried to wipe out the entire royal family in order to make herself Queen of Judah. I know I included a lot of scripture in this post, but I wanted you to see the story for yourself.

Athaliah comes from the Hebrew word ʿatalyāhû and means “Jah has constrained.” This name is interesting because it appears she was relatively unconstrained in her actions after her son, Ahaziah, died. She had allowed her privileged life to cloud her perspective of what was important. She assumed that she was above the law and could do whatever was necessary to maintain power and control. Athaliah had a reputation of being evil. Undoubtedly it was an accurate depiction of her character.

However, she achieved something that most women of her day could not. She ruled Judah for five years as her Queen. She was not a worshiper of Jehovah. Instead she worshiped Baal. But like her name she was given, Athaliah was constrained by Jehovah. The people of Judah realized the error she had brought during her reign and revolted against her, and the god, Baal. They destroyed the temple that had been erected for Baal and restored worship in the House of David, worship to the one true God, Jehovah. Their rage continued until Athaliah had been put to death.

Her death marked the end of a very bad era for the nations of Israel and Judah. The last line in 2 Chronicles 23 tells it all. “So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword.” (2 Chronicles 23:21) The legacy left by Athaliah could have been totally different. She could have helped keep her son on track to worship Jehovah and spare him from a horrible death. She could have enabled another generation to worship the One True God, and help a nation seek the Lord’s counsel and live under the protection and blessing of God. Instead she chose a selfish path of power grabbing and inflicting pain and suffering on an entire nation of people.


I suppose that is the reason I’ve never heard of her until now. It is unfortunate that when people have the opportunity to really make an impact on their family, other people, and even an entire nation, they choose to think only of what can gain from it. Let us purpose to live differently.

Friday, July 29, 2016

Infinite Loop

Infinite Loop

There is an interesting phenomenon in the IT world known as an “infinite loop.” It is the state of a program that has no way of ending. I remember first learning of this from friends while visiting the Radio Shack stores way back in the day. Radio Shack released their first personal computer called the TRS 80. There was always one on display at the stores. Security was non-existent, so we would get on the computer and type in a simple BASIC program that would display our name on the screen “infinitely” until someone came along and stopped it.

Later in college, we learned that you could send a simple command to a printer that would cause it to do a page feed. Again, creating a simple program that would send this command to a printer “infinitely” would cause it to spew paper at a rapid pace until the operator could “kill” the program. If a printer was left unattended such a prank could empty a box of printer paper in seconds. We thought it was amazing that we had such power!

I recently re-entered the IT field. Much has changed. The languages are much more stable and sophisticated. I didn’t even consider the fact that they were still capable of getting into an “infinite loop” scenario … until yesterday. I ran a program that should have finished in seconds, but instead ran for several minutes before I stopped it. After further investigation I realized I had omitted a very important step in the logic.

Without getting too technical I’ll give a brief explanation. In SQL, which is what I’m using now, in order to “iterate” or loop through data, you create a “cursor” containing the information you wish to process. You then “fetch” a record from the cursor, test to see if you have reached the end of the cursor, and if not, process the data. At the end of the process you fetch another record from the cursor and repeat. Because of the test for “end of data” at the beginning of the process, this will continue until all data has been processed.

Yesterday I inadvertently left out the “fetch” at the end of the procedure. This caused it to look at the same data over and over with no end in sight. Because I never fetched a new record the test for end-of-data was never satisfied and it just looped. Had I not intervened it would continued running until it timed out.

As I began to consider this a few thoughts came to mind. There are many that live life this way. Like the movie Groundhog Day they live the same day over and over, not even realizing the missing “fetch” that needs to occur to give them new information, new inspiration, new definition, and renewed purpose. They grind out the same data over and over again, each time hoping for a different outcome. Unfortunately, some never realize it until they “time-out”. That is not a life.

My pastor, Bobby Gourley, has been trying to teach me something since his arrival in August 2014. He calls it “margin”. I call it “Sabbath”. They mean the same thing. The writer of Hebrews called it “rest”, as in “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:11) Regardless of what you call it, the meaning is the same. You have to take time to “fetch” some new information for your life.

Did you ever notice how Jesus was always pulling away from the crowd to spend time alone with Father? If Jesus needed to “fetch” from time to time I know I do. Moses would spend time alone with God in the Tabernacle in order to be refreshed and renewed as he led Israel through the wilderness. Paul, after his conversion, spent time away from Jerusalem to be taught by the Holy Spirit. We all need “fetch” time in order to stay spiritually, mentally, and physically alive.

“Fetching” can take on many forms. It will most likely be different for each person because our needs vary greatly based on our life experience and position. Regardless of where you are, or what you do, margin/Sabbath/rest is necessary. Without it we simply churn the same old information over and over, never progressing, never producing, just getting tired.


One day your life (process) will end. You will “time out”. Wouldn’t it be better to leave in the middle of a productive life cycle than simply on the treadmill? Find a way to recharge. You will never regret it.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Women in the Bible – Atarah – Second Wife of Jerahmeel

Women in the Bible – Atarah – Second Wife of Jerahmeel

1 Chronicles 2:25-26 (ESV)
The sons of Jerahmeel, the firstborn of Hezron: Ram, his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. Jerahmeel also had another wife, whose name was Atarah; she was the mother of Onam.

The woman’s name we consider today is Atarah. She most likely was born in Egypt during Israel’s captivity. Her name comes from the Hebrew word ʿaṭārâ, which means “a crown.” We know very little about her. Neither she, nor her husband or sons are mentioned anywhere else in scripture except here where the lineage of King David is being enumerated.


Atarah’s husband, Jerahmeel, was the great-great-grandson of Jacob (also known as Israel). Jerahmeel was the brother of Ram, whose son continued the lineage that would lead to David.