2 Kings 11

The proverbial saying about absolute power corrupting absolutely conveys the opinion that, as a person’s power increases, their moral sense diminishes. It is a known fact that unlimited power tends to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.
The most atrocious power-hungry bible character with no morals was Athaliah (the wicked queen), ironically, her name means “the Lord Yahweh is great”. She was the daughter of dastardly King Ahab of Israel and Jezebel who married Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram with disastrous spiritual results. Being the daughter of two very wicked people meant she was not only born into but grew up in an atmosphere that completely denied God.
How inhumane that a grandmother, who she was, could be so callous and power-hungry to kill her grandchildren just so she can become queen.
She exploited the death of her son to have all males of the royal stock killed, then assumed power. When her husband died, she murdered her grandchildren, but Jehoash was taken away and hidden by his aunt, Jehosheba.
I feel like if I look up the word “wickedness in the high place,” I’ll find one name, Athaliah. Her hunger for power was so great that she went to extreme lengths to take and to keep it. Athaliah is the representation that absolute power corrupts absolutely.
She took measures to place herself on the throne by removing all rivals, and then proceeded to make the worship of Baal, Pheon and the cult of Sidonia Baal predominant in the land, she also used the dedicated things for the worship of God for her deities according to 2 Chronicles 24:7. She usurped the Davidic throne for 6 years because Judah had never had a ruler who was not a descendant of David as mentioned in 1 Kings 9:5 and the only woman in history on the throne, even though illegally.
Christians are called to be servants, willing to be last to lead according to Matthew 20:26. Everyone, including believers, wrestles with the desire to be powerful and influential, even if through dishonest and perverse means.
Resisting the many temptations of power can be extremely challenging, and many have fallen prey to them. Power can turn a good man in private life into a tyrant in office, viewing such power as all-in-all is too intoxicating that it is almost too difficult for individuals not to abuse it. Undoubtedly, those who attain power (whether legitimately or not) have repeatedly been depicted as woefully deficient in empathy, intimidating and instilling fear in others, and willing to initiate violence—or encourage others to undertake violence on their behalf.
Athaliah’s wicked and violent reign came to an end when she stumbled upon the secret coronation ceremony of Jehoash and the high priest asked that she be dragged outside the city gate and stoned to death, “there’s no rest for the wicked, heh” God says in Psalm 5:4 that there’s no pleasure for those who are hungry for wicked power. Plato quotes “The measure of a man is what he does with power.” Believers have been given power in Acts 1:8 and 1 Corinthians 6:14 to be responsible people of power and not power-hungry people who abuse power. Don’t be power but God hungry.
Shalom