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(The view expressed in this blog are my own and should not be taken as inspired in any way.)
2 Kings 11:4–12, “And the seventh year Jehoiada sent and fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard, and brought them to him into the house of the LORD, and made a covenant with them, and took an oath of them in the house of the LORD, and shewed them the king’s son. And he commanded them, saying, This is the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you that enter in on the sabbath shall even be keepers of the watch of the king’s house; And a third part shall be at the gate of Sur; and a third part at the gate behind the guard: so shall ye keep the watch of the house, that it be not broken down. And two parts of all you that go forth on the sabbath, even they shall keep the watch of the house of the LORD about the king. And ye shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand: and he that cometh within the ranges, let him be slain: and be ye with the king as he goeth out and as he cometh in. And the captains over the hundreds did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest commanded: and they took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that should go out on the sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. And to the captains over hundreds did the priest give king David’s spears and shields, that were in the temple of the LORD. And the guard stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, round about the king, from the right corner of the temple to the left corner of the temple, along by the altar and the temple. And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and gave him the testimony; and they made him king, and anointed him; and they clapped their hands, and said, God save the king.”
Even though Athaliah took control of Judah and acted as queen, the priests remained loyal to the Lord and His Law. They knew that the Lord had promised David that his descendants would retain the throne in Jerusalem, as long as the nation didn’t reject the Lord entirely. They also knew that the Lord had miraculously saved Joash from the Athaliah’s evil designs. When Joash had grown old enough to understand what he was doing they made a plan to save Judah from the evil plans of the wicked tyrant. The guards regiments in Judah were still loyal to the Davidic dynasty so Jehoiada, the priest made arrangements with the elite soldiers to proclaim him king in Judah. These men were honestly fulfilling their responsibilities before the Lord, according to the book of the Law. It is possible that Jehoiada spent some time training Joash in the Law (compare Deut 17: 14-20) but this isn’t stated. The soldiers chose the most appropriate time and brought Joash to the Temple to proclaim him the legitimate king of Judah.
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