Contending for a Crown

By Jerry D. Ousley

Treachery!  The queen fled from the palace, racing to see what all the commotion was about.  Arriving in the temple, she saw the people of Israel who had authority under her, anointing her grandson whom she had thought for the past seven years had been executed along with all the other royal heirs of her son.  He had been murdered and she had seized the opportunity and had all the royal seed slain and then proclaimed herself as queen.

But the older sister of the infant, Joash, who was married to the high priest, stole him away before the soldiers working for Athaliah could find him.  In the haste and confusion of all the murder going on, they seemed to forget about the infant, and so he was hidden away for seven years.

Meanwhile, Athaliah, the wicked grandmother, took control of the nation and wickedly reigned during those seven years.  Unbeknown to her, as Joash grew, a plan was formed to end her wicked rule and have the one in the lineage of King David, rightfully restored as king of Judah.

With a small army of temple soldiers, they anointed Josiah as king and when Queen Athaliah heard the commotion, entering the temple, she cried, “Treason!  Treason!” But it was too late.  It had been done and the high priest commanded that they seize the queen and remove her from the temple.  She was duly executed and justice was restored to the kingdom.

It is a very intriguing story and you can read about the entire incident in 2 Chronicles 22-23.  It is a story of a volley for the crown.

There are many instances, not only in the Bible, but throughout history where battles, murders, treachery and war was fought for possession of a golden crown to sit atop the head of the victor as a symbol of complete rulership.

Jesus wore two crowns.  The first can be found in Matthew, Mark and John who recorded the incident of the crown of thorns pushed down on the head of Jesus.  It was without doubt an excruciatingly painful experience.  They did it in mockery in preparation for His crucifixion.  It was a wicked thing to do to a man who was getting ready to die one of the most horrible deaths possible.  What they didn’t know was that this crown significantly marked the victory of King Jesus over sin and death as He alone paid the penalty for sin on that Roman Cross.

When He returns for the final time in Revelation 14, He is wearing a golden crown, significant of His position as King of kings.  He will conquer and reverse the curse on the Earth once and for all.

Paul wrote about our race.  In his day, the Roman games included those who raced for a sort of crown, signifying their victory.  Paul used that as an example in 1 Corinthians 9:25, of our own race, but not against other people.  It is a race against sin and the devil.  He said, “And everyone who competes for the prize is temperate in all things.  Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for an imperishable crown.” 

There are other crowns mentioned in the New Testament that we can earn and wear.  Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:8 saying that there is laid up a crown of righteousness. In James 1:12 we are told that we can also receive a crown of life.  And in 1 Peter 5:4 we are told about a crown of glory.

Now, don’t get me wrong; I don’t believe that we become a Christian, live a life pleasing to our Lord and do good works for our fellow man just to earn crowns.  We should do these things because of our love for others.  When we begin to live a Christian life just for what we can get, then we have lost sight of what Jesus really wants from us.  It isn’t about gain or glory but about service and pleasing our Master.

But it is nice to know that we will be rewarded for our obedience.  However, if I understand the Book of Revelation correctly, in chapter 4 we are told of 24 elders who sit on thrones under God.  I’m pretty sure that those elders are representative of the Jews and Christians who have gone on to be with God, those who are already there waiting on us to arrive when its our turn.  If that is the case, and I believe it is, we are told that whenever the great sound of praise and worship goes up to God that these elders cast their crowns before the throne of God saying, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.” (Revelation 4:11).  So, thank God for the crowns He is giving us.  But are they important to our salvation?  Only if you want them to cast them at the feet of the true King.

Jerry D. Ousley is the author of ?Soul Challenge?, ?Soul Journey?, ?Ordeal?, ?The Spirit Bread Daily Devotional and his first novel ?The Shoe Tree.?  Visit our website at spiritbread.com to download these and more completely free of charge.