Burunche’s Blog

2 Chronicles 24 Joash Repairs the Temple (2 Kings 12:1-16) 2 Chronicles 24:1 – 27 “Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. Jehoiada took for himself two wives, and he had sons and daughters.

Some time later, Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the LORD. So he gathered the priests and Levites and said, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the house of your God. Do it quickly.”

The Levites, however, did not make haste. So the king called Jehoiada the high priest and said, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the LORD and by the assembly of Israel for the Tent of the Testimony?”

For the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the house of God and had even used the sacred objects of the house of the LORD for the Baals.

At the king’s command a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the house of the LORD. And a proclamation was issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they were to bring to the LORD the tax imposed by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness. All the officers and all the people rejoiced and brought their contributions, and they dropped them in the chest until it was full.

Whenever the chest was brought by the Levites to the king’s overseers and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal scribe and the officer of the high priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this daily and gathered the money in abundance. Then the king and Jehoiada would give the money to those who supervised the labor on the house of the LORD to hire stonecutters and carpenters to restore the house of the LORD, as well as workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the LORD.

So the workmen labored, and in their hands the repair work progressed. They restored the house of God according to its specifications, and they reinforced it. When they were finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada to make with it the articles for the house of the LORD—utensils for the service and for the burnt offerings, dishes, and other objects of gold and silver. Throughout the days of Jehoiada, burnt offerings were presented regularly in the house of the LORD.

Jehoiada’s Death and Burial

When Jehoiada was old and full of years, he died at the age of 130. And Jehoiada was buried with the kings in the City of David, because he had done what was good in Israel for God and His temple.

The Wickedness of Joash

After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. Nevertheless, the LORD sent prophets to bring the people back to Him and to testify against them; but they would not listen.

Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has forsaken you.’”

But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the LORD.

Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiada’s son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.”

The Death of Joash (2 Kings 12:17-21)

In the spring, the army of Aram went to war against Joash. They entered Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the leaders of the people, and they sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus. Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hand a very great army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash.

And when the Arameans had withdrawn, they left Joash severely wounded. His own servants conspired against him for shedding the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. Those who conspired against Joash were Zabad son of the Ammonite woman Shimeath as well as Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess. The accounts of the sons of Joash, as well as the many pronouncements about him and about the restoration of the house of God, are indeed written in the treatise of the Book of the Kings. And his son Amaziah reigned in his place.”

King Joash makes a very hopeful beginning. As long as Jehoiada, the high priest who has brought Joash to power, is alive, Joash does great things, repairing the temple and supporting worship services. But Jehoiada is already old when he arranges for Joash to be crowned as king. After Jehoiada dies at the age of 130, the rulers of Judah come to Joash. Evidently, enthusiasm for the One True Living God has cooled in Judah, and now all these rulers want is to return to Asherah worship with its sexual rituals and other foul practices. Flattered, Joash goes right along with the crowd, turning his back on the God who has crowned him as king. When Jehoiada’s son Zechariah tries to correct Joash, Joash has him stoned in the courtyard of the house of the Lord, thus grossly violating the temple premises. As Zechariah lays dying, he pronounces a final judgement on Joash: “May the LORD see this and call you to account.”

It doesn’t take long for God’s retribution to strike. The next spring, a tiny army of Syrians attacks Jerusalem, overcoming a much larger army, and conquering it. The Syrians kill all those leaders who have previously advocated a return to Asherah worship and send a great deal of plunder to Damascus. In the process, the Syrians wound Joash severely. Joash is in bed recovering when his own servants kill him for having incited the people to stone righteous Zechariah. God has even preserved the names of the two servants who murder Joash. The final indignity is that Joash is buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings; meanwhile, righteous Jehoiada has been buried with the kings “because he has done what was good in Israel for God and His temple.”

APPLICATION: If the test of character is how you behave when nobody is looking, Joash fails miserably. As long as Jehoiada is alive, Joash does well. But two seconds after Jehoiada is buried with the kings, Joash proves he is a weak man and easily swayed. The rulers of Judah also prove that they too are weak men who have only been waiting for that pestilential Jehoiada to die so that they can plunge back into ritual sex and temple prostitution with Asherah worship. Seems that all that shouting and worship at the Temple has been nothing but noise for the sake of making a good impression.

God is not deceived, neither is He mocked. God knows the human heart far better than we ever can. One of the tragedies of this story is Joash’s willingness to murder the son of the man who brought him to power, something that most pagan kings would have refused to do. Traditional loyalty even among pagans would demand that a ruler continue to assist children and even grandchildren of someone who has brought that ruler to power. This despicable lack of loyalty moves Joash’s servants to finish him off and moves the remaining leaders of Israel to refuse to bury Joash with the kings.

The obvious question for each one of us is this: how do we behave when nobody is looking? Do we remain true to our principles and beliefs, or do we immediately abandon those principles in pursuit of popularity? May God help us to remain true, no matter what!

PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, keep us true, no matter what! In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.

This entry was posted on November 8, 2022 at 12:01 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.