In January’s and February’s blog posts and February’s newsletter (sneak peek link below), I shared some distinctions between Truth, Fact, and Fiction in my first series, Treasures of His Love: Love Amid the Ashes (LATA), Love’s Sacred Song (LSS), Love In a Broken Vessel (LBV), and In the Shadow of Jezebel (ITSOJ). Today’s post will focus on the fourth and final novel in the series (ITSOJ). We’ll meet Athaliah, the 2nd-most-wicked woman of the Bible. I would consider her mother, Jezebel, the WORST!
**Click on any of the titles above to see its page on my website. There, you’ll find study questions, sneak peeks, and other free stuff.
Here are a few insights about the Treasures of His Love series as a whole:
- Each book was written as a stand-alone novel so they can be read in any order.
- If you’d like to read the Treasures of His Love series in chronological biblical order, I’ve listed them below. (Because I’m an Amazon advertising affiliate, a small commission is earned when purchases are made using these Amazon links.)
- Love Amid the Ashes – The Story of Job & Dinah (Job & Genesis 34, 36)
- Love’s Sacred Song – Solomon and his first true love (1 Kings & Song of Songs)
- In the Shadow of Jezebel – Queen Athaliah, High Priest Jehoiada, Jehosheba (2 Kings 11 & 2 Chronicles 22)
- Love In a Broken Vessel – Hosea & Gomer (Hosea & 2 Kings 15ff)
- Though these books don’t meet the literary criterion for love stories, every book includes romance. And, as the series title indicates, LOVE is the essence of every plot. Yes, you’ll see the journey of a man’s and woman’s earthly struggle to overcome obstacles and see their love triumph. Even more importantly, however, the Treasures of His Love series shows God’s unconditional love through every Old Testament Truth, historical Fact, and creative piece of Fiction.
If you’d like to read the Truth, Fact, & Fiction posts on the first three books:
- CLICK HERE to read Truth, Fact, & Fiction in Treasures of His Love – Part 1 (Love Amid the Ashes (LATA).
- CLICK HERE to read Truth, Fact, & Fiction in Treasures of His Love – Part 2 (Love’s Sacred Song (LSS).
- CLICK HERE to read Truth, Fact, & Fiction in Treasures of His Love – Part 3 (Love In a Broken Vessel (LBV).
Book #4, In the Shadow of Jezebel (ITSOJ)
Truth
Jezebel–queen of Israel–and her daughter, Athaliah–queen of Judah–create some really hard stories in the Bible. Let’s look at a little backstory about Jezebel even though ITSOJ really focuses on the heroic actions of a young princess and a faithful high priest–Jehosheba and Jehoiada–who stop Athaliah from wiping out Yahweh worship in Judah and completely end Athaliah’s attempt to rule all of Israel and Judah. (You can read the TRUE story in 2 Kings 8:16-11:21.)
Summary of 2 Kings 8:16-11:21
Ahab and Jezebel have turned all of Israel toward Baal worship. (Remember Elijah and the 400 prophets of Baal on Mount Caramel?) They hope to spread Baal into Judah by arranging the marriage of their pagan daughter, Athaliah, with Crown Prince Jehoram. He’s the son of the faithful-to-Yahweh, Jehoshaphat–King of Judah. Jehoram and Athaliah marry. Athaliah secretly shares her pagan practices with Jehoram and others. When Jehoshaphat died, Jehoram and Athaliah openly spread Baal worship throughout the whole land of Judah but allowed Yahweh worship to continue alongside it.
Years later, King Jehoram dies of a strange illness. Though their son (Ahaziah) inherits the throne, Athaliah is the one who reigns behind the scenes. When Ahaziah dies in battle, Athaliah refuses to concede Judah’s throne to any “son of David.” Instead, she names herself as the first-ever Queen of Judah and immediately murders all of Ahaziah’s heirs–her grandchildren. Or so she thinks.
Only One Is Saved.
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. 2 Kings 11:2–3 (emphasis added)
Jehosheba is the main character, depicted by the lovely young woman on the cover of In the Shadow of Jezebel. Following the names in this book can be challenging, so I’ve used nicknames throughout. The Hebrew spelling of Athaliah in the book–Atalyah–is shortened to “Taly” by her ima Jezebel and a short list of others who love her deeply.
Check out this family-tree chart that will help you keep names, relationships, and spellings straight: CHARACTER LIST–FAMILY TREE.
Fact
Using past research in multiple books is key to making deadlines!
Since I’d written three novels before In the Shadow of Jezebel, and two of them had similar locations and cultural distinctions, I used a lot of past research for this book. However, NEW research is always spiritually impactful. For ITSOJ, I delved more deeply into the various duties of the priests and their maintenance of Yahweh’s Temple in Jerusalem. The schedule of sacrifices–daily, weekly, monthly, and then the feast days on top of all that. Worshiping Yahweh, according to His Law, is a HUGE commitment for priests and worshipers. I’m using this chart now as I write Loyal: The Story of Haggith (Bk #3 in King David’s Brides) because in my story (fiction), Haggith is a high priest’s daughter.
Tunnels Beneath the Temple?
One of the other most astounding facts I discovered while writing ITSOJ is the secret tunnels that remain under the Temple Mount today! Here’s a recent video to explain…
Fiction
Remember all the “labor tax” King Solomon required in Book #2 of this series, Love’s Sacred Song? The tunnels, likely built during Solomon’s reign (alternate theories are that they were built during Hezekiah’s reign) MAY have (FICTION) provided shelter during the six years High Priest Jehoiada and Princess Jehosheba kept the only descendant of David safe from Athaliah’s murderous plan.
All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had been slain with the sword at the palace. Joash was seven years old when he began to reign. 2 Ki 11:20–21
Blending together biblical TRUTH, historical FACT, and common-sense FICTION is my deepest privilege and such a joy to share with those who love reading. Thank you so much for reading the stories God lays on my heart!
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If you have any questions about the post, please ask in the comments below or email me directly at mesu@mesuandrews.com. I love chatting with my newsies! And it’s especially rewarding when we talk about the deep things in God’s Word. Have a fantastic week!
