"When Athaliah heard the noise made by the guards and the people, she went to the people at the temple of the Lord. She looked and there was the king, standing by the pillar, as the custom was. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her robes and called out, 'Treason! Treason!'" (2 kings 11:13-14) The author of 2 Chronicles relays the same information and adds that musicians were also there, playing music and signing hymns to the Lord: "And musicians with their instruments were leading the praises." (2 Chronicles 23:12-13)
Athaliah marches into the temple courtyard shouting, "Treason!" But the only genuine treason that's been committed in Judah was the attack of six years earlier when Athaliah ordered all her grandsons killed when she found out that her son, King Ahaziah, was dead. What has happened here, instead of treason, is that the people have righted a wrong. It's true they are overthrowing her rule but she had no right to rule in the first place.
"Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of the troops: 'Bring her out between the ranks and put to the sword anyone who follows her.' For the priest had said, 'She must not be put to death in the temple of the Lord.' So they seized her as she reached the place where the horses enter the palace grounds, and there she was put to death." (2 Kings 11:15-16, 2 Chronicles 23:14-15) Athaliah has reigned unopposed for six years and expects people to do what she says. When she cries, "Treason!" she thinks the royal guards and many other supporters will rush to her defense. Indeed they might have if someone other than a rightful heir to the throne had laid claim to the throne and tried to usurp her. But when she is seized and brought out of the temple, no one steps up to defend her. Jehoiada didn't know whether anyone would draw his sword in an attempt to protect her or not, so he ordered the soldiers to cut down anyone who did, but there is no evidence in the text that a single solitary person did anything to try to stop her from being arrested and executed.
"Jehoiada then made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people that they would be the Lord's people. He also made a covenant between the king and the people. All the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols to pieces and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars." (2 Kings 11:17-18a, 2 Chronicles 23:16-17) The people recommit themselves to the Lord and then tear down the primary site of pagan worship in Judah at this time. Athaliah has been maintaining a cult of Baal in Judah just as her parents, King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, maintained a cult of Baal in the northern kingdom of Israel. Now that Athaliah has been deposed, the people storm the pagan temple and render it unusable and put the high priest of Baal to death right in front of the altars, further desecrating the sinful site.
"Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the Lord in the hands of the Levitical priests, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the Lord as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered. He also stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the Lord's temple so that no one who was in any way unclean might enter." (2 Chronicles 23:18-19) These two verses suggest that things at the temple have not been what they should have been during the six years of Athaliah's reign. Perhaps she forbade offerings and sacrifices from being made to anyone other than Baal. It's clear that the priests have been going about at least some of their normal duties during those six years since the child Joash was able to be hidden and taught by them, but the fact that Jehoiada has to appoint various men to their duties suggests that there had been a cessation of some of the temple activities that were prescribed by God.
After assigning duties and posting guards at the temple, Jehoiada installs the king in the palace, accompanied by many other guards and the people of Jerusalem. "He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, the guards and all the people of the land, and together they brought the king down from the temple of the Lord and went into the palace, entering by way of the gate of the guards. The king then took his place on the royal throne. All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had been slain with the sword at the palace. Joash was seven years old when he began to reign." (2 Kings 11:19-20)
A new chapter has begun in the lives of the people of Judah. A godly king is on the throne---the first godly king since Joash's great-grandfather Jehoshaphat wore the crown. Joash will reign for forty years. Unfortunately, he will start far better than he finishes, but for now joy is restored to the land.
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