“Trembling at men is a snare, but the one trusting in Jehovah will be protected.” — Proverbs 29:25 (NWT)

The temple corridors were quiet—eerily so. Somewhere beneath its gilded surfaces, the air carried the tension of a kingdom teetering on ruin. Blood had stained the palace floors. Screams had been muffled beneath royal decrees. And fear—yes, fear—had tightened its grip around Judah like a choking vine.

But not on everyone.

In a hidden chamber of the house of Jehovah, where daylight filtered through lattice and perfumed oil burned in steady pools of flame, a husband and wife stood watch over a sleeping child. His chest rose and fell with the peaceful rhythm of dreams, unaware that his very existence defied a queen’s decree of death.

The child’s name was Jehoash.

His protectors? Jehoiada the high priest, and his brave, lionhearted wife, Jehoshabeath—a daughter of the king, but more importantly, a daughter of courage.

It was a time when trembling was the norm. And who wouldn’t tremble? Athaliah, daughter of Jezebel and widow of King Jehoram, had seized the throne of Judah with claws bared. She wasn’t content with power. No, she needed assurance—control without challenge, supremacy without rival. To secure it, she ordered the extermination of every possible heir to the throne of David.

Her own grandchildren.

One by one, the royal children were hunted down—until the sword was dulled with innocence. But one child slipped through her fingers. Or rather, was plucked from her grasp—not by might, but by loyalty to a greater throne.

Jehoshabeath moved swiftly and silently. She wrapped her infant nephew in the folds of her robe and fled through the shadows, her heart pounding not for herself, but for the promise Jehovah had made—that the line of David would never be broken. Her destination was not just a hiding place. It was a sanctuary. A statement of defiance. A seed of hope.

For six long years, Jehoash was kept safe in the secret chambers of the temple—hidden beneath the very nose of the usurper queen. It was an act of astonishing bravery, but even more so, an act of profound trust. Trust that Jehovah’s word was more enduring than any throne stained by murder.

But then came the seventh year. And with it, the whisper of Jehovah’s timing.

Jehoiada, now older and seasoned in spiritual warfare, had waited long enough. The time for passive protection had ended. The time for action—righteous, dangerous, divinely backed—had arrived.

He summoned the commanders, the Levites, and the trusted heads of the priestly houses. Behind closed doors, in hushed but determined voices, a plan was born. Carefully. Prayerfully. Boldly. The boy-king would be crowned. And Athaliah would fall—not by treachery, but by justice.

Could it fail?

Yes.

Was Jehoiada afraid?

No.

For while trembling at men is a snare, this man trembled only before Jehovah—and in that reverent trembling, he found strength.

The day came. The courtyard filled with armed men—Levites in formation, soldiers standing shoulder to shoulder, eyes fixed on their high priest. Trumpets gleamed in the sun. And then, with the anointing oil still fresh upon his brow, Jehoash stood forth—no longer a hidden child, but the rightful king of Judah.

When Athaliah heard the sound, she rushed to the temple. Her shriek tore through the air like a curse: “Treason! Treason!”

But it was not treason.

It was truth reclaiming its throne.

Jehoiada gave the signal. Athaliah was seized and taken beyond the temple grounds. There, justice was carried out.

And the snare was broken.

In one act of fearless loyalty, the covenant with David stood unshaken, and Jehovah’s name was vindicated before a nation swaying in chaos.

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So what about us?

In times when tyrants roar and the fear of man crouches like a beast at our door, we are reminded: Jehoiada did not survive by cleverness alone, but by trust. His faith was not the absence of fear, but the refusal to let fear rule him.

Jehovah is still the same Protector.

The snares may look different.

The Athaliahs may change their masks.

But the outcome, when we trust Jehovah?

It is always freedom.

“The one trusting in Jehovah will be protected.” — Proverbs 29:25

And in that truth, like Jehoiada, we stand.