Jehosheba | Divine Incubator

² But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king’s sons which were slain; and they hid him, even him and his nurse, in the bedchamber from Athaliah, so that he was not slain.
³ And he was with her hid in the house of the Lord six years. And Athaliah did reign over the land.

2 Kings 11:2-3 NKJV

Requisite Reading: 2 Kings 11

God always reserves for Himself a silent remnant with whom He transacts in secret places.
He has stewards whom He deposits life | seed in raw form. Trusted servants who can incubate His divine mandates for a generation, midwifing it to maturity and bringing it forth for enthronement at the appointed seasons.

Jehosheba was such a steward. Through her example we see the working template of how a deep prayer closet in tandem with an intimate relationship with the Lord can be used to conceive -> incubate -> deliver kingdom profit unto a generation.

There are many noteworthy factors in her service but for the sake of concision we will limit ourselves to just a few.

Discipleship Learnings from the life of Jehosheba

1; She Arose and Acted.

• Jehosheba understood what was at stake!
  • not arising in ignorant zeal ^{Prov 19:2}.
  • Have you understood that ‘there is a cause‘ where your family, community, nation is concerned?
  • Are you willing to count the cost, die to self and pay the price to see Gods heritage preserved?
  • Are you yielding daily for Jesus to increase in you that you (your ambitions. ego. selfish pursuits) must decrease? ^{John 3:27-29}
    
• Jehosheba never used Joash (fire of Yahweh) as a bargaining chip to advance her personal agenda under the new regime. Far too often many stewards fall into the temptation of using the treasure/grace of God domiciled in them to advance their personal agenda at the expense of the kingdom purpose [often for fame; recognition; status; wealth].
  • Jehosheba refused to be like Judas who used his proximity to Jesus to curry favor with the political elite and earn 30 pieces of silver.
  • Jehosheba refused to be like Gehazi who used his platform to press Namaan for personal gain.
  • Jehosheba refused to be like Saul who attempted to supplant David to maintain his position.
  • Are you using the grace of God to advance kingdom agenda or personal agenda?
  • She was the model of self-restraint and faithfulness.
    
• Jehosheba Acted!
  • We have the book of Acts because the Apostles Acted.
  • Until you arise and act to defend the interest of God in your family, wickedness will continue to reign.
  • Until you arise and act to defend the interest of God in your community, they will continue to languish.
  • Until you arise and act to defend the interest of God in your nation, darkness will continue to prevail.
  • Acting under the new covenant dispensation is not a factor of flesh but by the leading of the Holy Ghost and operating in His power. ^{Luke 24:49}

2; She Leveraged Her Relationship with the Chief Priest.

• Jehosheba first hid him in her bedchamber where he was nursed for a time.
  • Are the chambers of your heart secure and peaceful enough to warehouse the mandate of God in its inception without miscarriage?
  • Have you tarried long enough in the word of God for it to produce nurturing milk fit to sustain a new convert in times of persecution?
  • Have you yielded long enough for the Holy Spirit to plough your heart and root out the stones and weeds which can arise to choke the purpose of God at inception?
• Jehosheba nurtured her relationship with the chief priest to such a depth of intimacy that she could co-opt him into rescuing Joash against the wrath of Athaliah
  • Abraham leveraged relationship for Lot and His people in Sodom Gen 18:23-33
  • Moses leveraged relationship with God to spare Israel from destruction Exodus 32:9-14
  • Do you realise that you can nurture your relationship with Jesus to such a depth of intimacy that you can negotiate for the soul of your family member? for the destiny of your father’s house? for the soul of your community? and for the preservation of your nation?
  • What depth of intimacy have you pressed into with Jesus so far?

3; She midwifed him till the 7th year for enthronement.

• Jehosheba took in a boy and brought forth a king!
• 7 is the number for perfection. He was enthroned in the 7th year. All conditions required for His enthronement were fulfilled.
  • In this age of haste and ease of access to global media, many disciples jeopardize the heritage of God in them because of haste and the need for spotlight. We have a lot of undone men with access to thousands of souls they have not developed the internal capacity to carry. We adopt lavish titles which have not been produced in the furnace of trials.
    Jehosheba’s operation emphasises the need for patience in the place of training and waiting until God’s set conditions are met for enthronement.
• She took him in as raw dough, she maintained the right ambient temperature in her loins to bring him forth as fresh bread. He was not prematurely undercooked – neither was he overcooked and burnt!
  • She did not permit the addition of yeast or potassium bromate which would make the gospel and call domiciled in her more attractive to the itchy ears of men, but inferior in substance and lacking in power!
  • She did not indulge in sexual sin and perversions which could create room for the devil to come in and build with her; thereby jeopardizing the heritage.
• John told us that Jesus would baptise us with the Holy Spirit and Fire! ^{Matt 3:11}
• Fire is required to purge, to refine and to produce requisite heat for divine incubation.
  • Have you been baptised with the Holy Ghost since receiving Christ? or are you still on the baptism of water like the believers Paul first met in Ephesus? Acts 19:1-7
  • If you have been baptised with the Holy Spirit, Have you been baptised with Fire?
    • Do you even realise that being baptised with fire is a separate matter?
    • Have you sustained the fire to generate the right ambient temperature?
      Remember on the isle of Melita, Many remained cold in the presence of fire because the fire was insufficient and because of the hidden operation of the viper in the midst of the fire! Until Paul arose and raised the ambient temperature by adding wood to the fire, men continued to be safe but cold!! Acts 28:2-

Conclusion

The bible dedicates just 1 short chapter out of 1,189 chapters to quietly showcase what faithful and fruitful stewardship looks like outside of the spotlight. You don’t need a global platform nor strive to be a popularly celebrated personality in church circles to be a notable and effective steward in the Kingdom of God.

Jehosheba’s life teaches us that our secret closet and place of quiet time when consecrated and faithfully nurtured into deeper depths of intimacy is a big enough platform to deliver victory to an entire nation and generation.