Sucession

Once a king gives birth to 
more than one child in the 
Bible, the royal house becomes 
split as any of the children could 
become King after the demise of 
their father. Oftentimes, the season 
after the death of a king was the 
most perilous for all the princes 
and princesses as the one who 
grabbed power first may decide to kill 
all his brothers and sisters 
to secure his throne. 
It happened to the children of Gideon 
in the book of Judges.

The Argument of Bathsheba and prophet 
Nathan to David was that Adonijah 
would kill them and Solomon if the 
King did nothing while Adonijah crowned 
himself king. A wise king would choose 
his successor, as David did so that 
the other members of the royal family 
would settle down and accept the chosen 
one as their king. That way a lot of 
lives would be saved and the royal family 
would not be butchered.

When Ahab ascended the throne with 
his foreign wife (Jezebel) we saw a 
shift in the dynamics. 
Jezebel's advisers were priests of Baal 
and her orientation was quite alien to 
that of Israel. 
She didn't understand the unique 
relationship between God, the King 
and the citizens of Israel. 
Her husband wanted Naboth's vineyard.
Naboth said No.
Jezekiel set Naboth up to be killed.
Ahab took over Naboth's vineyard.
God sent Elijah to Ahab. Elijah told 
Ahab that he and his wife would die 
miserable deaths. He also promised 
that their bloodline would be 
eradicated from Israel.

Ahab and Jezebel had a daughter named 
Athaliah. Athaliah had a son named 
Ahaziah. 
Elisha raised a man called Jehu with 
a mandate to fulfill the prophecy Elijah 
gave concerning Ahab and Jezebel.
Jehu went on a killing spree.
Ahab, Jezebel, and the entire royal 
house of Ahab was slaughtered
Jehu killed all the prophets of Baal, 
including Joram and Ahaziah.

When Athaliah heard that her son 
had been killed, she seized power in 
Judah and killed all the other members 
of the royal house that had a claim 
to the throne. Only Joash escaped due 
to the diligence of his nurse.

Once Athaliah assumed all the 
princes were dead, she settled into 
her role as the Queen of Judah and 
ruled with an iron fist. 
Like her mother, she favored the 
priests of baal and didn't want 
anything to do with God and His priests.

The Priests of God heard about the
young prince that was spared and 
decided to crown him king when he 
turned seven. 
Jehoiada, the priest had groomed the 
young man and prepared him for the 
throne.

One day Athaliah went on a trip.
The priests crowned Joash King.
Ataliah returned to the palace 
just as 
the coronation was taking place 
and she screamed "Treason" but 
the tide had turned.
She lost her life.
Joash had favorable reviews 
with the priests because he 
was a mere figurehead when 
he became king.

Jehoiada the priest was the one who 
really ruled over Judah. Joash was 
a mere rubber stamp who did 
whatever his mentor said.
Men, even as priests, cannot be 
trusted with power. Jehoiada made 
many decisions which he committed the 
young king to but ultimately everything 
he did favored only himself and his 
fellow priests. He made Joash repair 
the temple and ensured that the 
priests got a lot of bread on their 
table. 
Jehoiada the priest eventually grew 
old and died, guess what, he was 
buried in the tomb of KINGS!
He was not a king and had 
never been crowned one but 
he ruled the nation for almost 
thirty years through the young 
puppet king he installed.

After his death, the priests wanted 
to continue their pseudo-rule by 
surrounding Joash and advising him. 
Joash refused. He chose his own 
advisers and refused to be the 
lackey of the priests. 
He wanted to establish 
his own legacy and rule without 
anyone making him a rubber stamp 
or a figurehead.

The priests hated that, Of course, it 
was the "We made you syndrome"
They began to spread all sorts of 
rumors about him and their record 
of his deeds was coloured by their 
feeling of betrayal and bitterness 
towards him. Zechariah, Jehoiada's 
son came to him boldly to have a 
frank discussion. 
Zechariah refused to 
recognize that King Joash was no 
longer his boyhood friend whom he 
can talk to anyhow.

He practically warned the king that 
he would come to a bad end if he 
does not turn his course around 
and return to the status quo.
Joash's advisers killed Zachariah
They didn't want to be under the 
thumb of priests and they wanted to 
send the other priests a message 
that they should keep off the king 
and mind their offices.

The priests took the death of Zachariah, 
son of Jehoiada who grew up with 
the king as the final straw. 
They plotted and schemed until they 
found servants within the palace who 
could be compromised. 
Joash servants piled 
him with wine one evening until 
he was drunk and then murdered 
him in his bed.

As a final sign of dishonor to him, 
the priests refuse to bury him in 
the tomb of the Kings of Israel. 
They did this to spite him for 
daring to have a mind of his own 
and not following their lead as 
he did when he was a child. 
This is what power does to people.
Either they wield it directly or 
indirectly, power corrupts.
Nobody comes into power without 
having vested interests to satisfy
or contend with.

There are power brokers, power blocks, 
people of great influence and money 
who could frustrate the reign of any 
President. Somebody wrote a budget, 
someone else padded it.
The writer protested.
The padder refused to pass the budget. 
The people screamed that the writer 
did not perform. The writer turned 
to the people. 
The people said, this is politics 
not dictatorship, play by the rules 
of the game. The writer conceded, 
the budget and was passed, corruption 
continued to flow like a river.

A group came into the house, 
they had their Senate President and
House of Reps leadership mapped out. 
They were the President's men with 
whom policies and other things can 
be done easily. 
They called for a meeting 
at two different venues and another 
group hijacked the leadership of both 
houses.

Before you allow anyone place you 
on a poster and shout your name 
to the high heavens, please count 
the cost. There is no messiah 
that can save Nigeria, reality and 
fantasy are two different things. 
Democracy ties the hand of the evildoer 
as well as the do-gooder together, It 
ensures that nobody escapes unsoiled.

Are people not blaming the spare tyre 
for whatever evil the main tyre did in 
the past few years? Even though we 
all know that the constitution does 
not give the spare tyre the room to 
do anything while the main tyre is 
still functional.

That is how democracy works.
Was it not Chinua Achebe that
wrote so beautifully in Anthills of 
the Savannah that anyone who is willing 
to have his head on the currency of any 
country should be prepared to have 
the head chopped off!
It will sound like heeding the Call 
of duty until the people begin to 
shout "Crucify him"

-GSW-