History has recorded some notable and important rescues. In WWII alone, General MacArthur and his family were rescued from Corregidor in the Philippines by PT boats followed by a plane to Melbourne. The raid at Cabanatuan (Philippines) by the US Army 6th Rangers liberated over five hundred Allied prisoners and civilians from a Japanese camp. And who has not heard of the rescue of the British Expeditionary Force off the beaches of Dunkirk?
Biblical rescues certainly include Lot and his family from the four kings of the East by Abram and the 318 trained men of his household. And who can forget the rescue of baby Moses by his mother and Pharaoh’s daughter?
Important as those rescues were, there was another just as important and even more consequential. The account is given in 2 Kings 11 and 2 Chronicles 22 and 23. The situation was as follows: By God’s command and promise through Elijah, Ahab and Jezebel and their descendants were to be liquidated by Jehu for bringing the evil worship of Baal into Israel. This included King Ahaziah of Judah, whose mother was Athaliah, a daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. With the death of Ahaziah, and a good portion of the royal family already killed, Athaliah grabbed the throne for herself. To cement her power, she murdered all the remaining royal princes—her own grandsons!
Except for one. His name was Joash, and as an infant he was rescued by Jehosheba, a half-sister of Ahaziah, and wife of Jehoiada the high priest. Jehosheba stole Joash away from his intended fate and hid him and his wet nurse in a temple bedroom for six years! For six years the secret was kept inviolate. For six years the infant prince lived safely under the care and protection of Jehosheba and Jehoiada. Then on the seventh year Joash was brought forth and crowned king over Judah. Bye-bye, Athaliah!
What is remarkable is the courage and understanding of that faithful couple. Athaliah’s murderous plan was nothing less than an attack on God’s redemptive plan, for God’s covenant promise stipulated that His Messiah would come from the lineage of King David. What an amazing rescue and so very important for us all!
Here we cannot help being reminded of the infant Messiah. Again, the murderous plan by Herod to kill Him was nothing but another attack on God’s gracious plan of salvation. For with a Jesus dead before His time, there would have been prophecies unfulfilled, no sinless life as our Substitute, no atonement for sin on Calvary, and no resurrection for our justification.
This time God intervened directly, sending an angel in a dream to warn Joseph to get out of town quickly. And so our infant Savior escaped to Egypt, not to return until Herod was dead. Thank God for His Baby rescue!
Can we be a Jehosheba and Jehoiada rescuing infants from death? We can certainly pray that the millions of abortion deaths in this country be stopped. With God nothing is impossible. We can steal away from murderous Satan the infants in our own families by bringing them to the Lord in Holy Baptism, where they are rescued from spiritual and eternal death, and hidden safely in the House of God.
What else? We certainly do not advocate any lawless action. But we can support Project Kinship, a sponsorship program which rescues overseas orphan children from homelessness. We might even consider adopting an orphan child ourselves. More, the data seems to suggest that pregnant women, considering an abortion, often change their minds upon seeing an ultrasound/sonogram of their child still in the womb. Funding for such might be something to consider and support.
History has given us amazing and consequential rescues. May God move our hearts to willingly join “Operation Infant Rescue” any way we can.
Can we be a Jehosheba and Jehoiada rescuing infants from death? We can certainly pray that the millions of abortion deaths in this country be stopped. With God nothing is impossible.
is a retired pastor. He lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.