An Unhealthy Quest for Power

The Bible is full of interesting stories and can be a great learning tool.   Below is the store of a Queen Mother who had an unhealthy taste for power. She wanted that power so badly that she killed her grandchildren to get it. Though she was able to steal the throne from her son’s family, she was hated by the people and ultimately put to death for her crimes.

2 Kings 11:1-16

“ When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family. But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes, who were about to be murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah; so he was not killed. He remained hidden with his nurse at the temple of the LORD for six years while Athaliah ruled the land. In the seventh year Jehoiada sent for the commanders of units of a hundred, the Carites and the guards and had them brought to him at the temple of the LORD. He made a covenant with them and put them under oath at the temple of the LORD. Then he showed them the king's son. He commanded them, saying, "This is what you are to do: You who are in the three companies that are going on duty on the Sabbath--a third of you guarding the royal palace, a third at the Sur Gate, and a third at the gate behind the guard, who take turns guarding the temple and you who are in the other two companies that normally go off Sabbath duty are all to guard the temple for the king. Station yourselves around the king, each man with his weapon in his hand. Anyone who approaches your ranks must be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes." The commanders of units of a hundred did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each one took his men--those who were going on duty on the Sabbath and those who were going off duty--and came to Jehoiada the priest. Then he gave the commanders the spears and shields that had belonged to King David and that were in the temple of the LORD. The guards, each with his weapon in his hand, stationed themselves around the king--near the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple. Jehoiada brought out the king's son and put the crown on him; he presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and shouted, "Long live the king!" When Athaliah heard the noise made by the guards and the people, she went to the people at the temple of the LORD. She looked and there was the king, standing by the pillar, as the custom was. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her robes and called out, "Treason! Treason!" Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of the troops: "Bring her out between the ranks and put to the sword anyone who follows her." For the priest had said, "She must not be put to death in the temple of the LORD." So they seized her as she reached the place where the horses enter the palace grounds, and there she was put to death .”

We should learn from the Scriptures, but many times we don’t. And when we don’t adhere to the truth of God’s Word, history often repeats itself. That is the case in the life of Catherine d’Medici, the the wife of one king of France and the mother of three. She was the daughter of Lorenzo de’Medici, Duke of Urbino, and was born at Florence in 1519. In her fourteenth year she was brought to France , and married to Henry, the second son of Francis I. The marriage was a part of the political schemes of her uncle, Pope Clement VII, but as he died soon after, she found herself friendless and neglected at the French court.

It wasn’t until the accession of her eldest son, Francis II, in 1559, that she found some scope for her ambition. The Guises at this time were in power, and Catherine entered into a secret alliance with the Huguenots to oppose them. On the death of Francis II, in 1560, and accession of her second son, Charles IX, the government fell entirely into her hands.

She entered into a secret treaty with Spain for the annihilation of what she considered “heretics” and subsequently into a plot with the Guises, which resulted in the fearful massacre of St. Bartholomew’s Day. This event brought the whole power of the state into the hands of the queen mother, who boasted of the deed to Roman Catholic governments, and excused it to Protestant ones (Jackson, Women Who Ruled, p . 43).

About this time she succeeded, by money and intrigues, in getting her third son, afterwards Henry III elected to the Polish throne. But her arbitrary and tyrannical administration roused the opposition of a Roman Catholic party, at the head of which was her own fourth son, the Duke of Alencon. It is generally believed that she was privy to the plans that led to his death. Catherine was not well loved by her subjects and the queen mother died amidst strife and confusion of parties on January 5, 1589 , unlamented.

Power often comes at a price and many women will virtually sell their souls for it. But power gained at the expense of others leaves you unloved and alone.