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Review: As we've considered Chronicles, beginning with David and now his descendants as kings, we've noted that the writer, Ezra, is concerned with the godliness of the monarch. There are several reasons for this: (1) the monarch has spiritual as well as political and governmental responsibilities; if he's leading the people toward God, he's a king God approves. If he raises altars to the Baals or other pagan gods, the people follow, and God is grieved. (2) The king is to remind the people that they are a covenant people; that is, they have a special relationship with God. And as a part of the covenant, they are to obey God's law, worship as God prescribed, and thereby, enter into all the blessings God promised. (3) Ezra writes with a priestly point of view to a group newly returned to Jerusalem from exile in Babylon. He wants to show them how faithfulness brings blessings and disobedience brings disaster. It is on a foundation of faith and obedience that he hopes to rebuild Jerusalem and the monarchy. The monarchy began with Saul in 1050 B.C.; his successor was David, who reigned from 1010-970 B.C. His son Solomon followed and reigned until 930 B.C. Solomon began with great faith and ended by building pagan temples and altars; God punished the nation by giving leadership of 10 tribes to Jeroboam. So in 930, the kingdom split into northern Israel (10 tribes) and southern Judah (2 tribes). We read about all 19 kings of Israel and all 20 kings of Judah in I and II Kings. But in Chronicles, we're reading almost exclusively about the descendants of David, and therefore, about the kings of Judah. And a month ago, we left the history of Judah at the death of Jehoram - a king who died after a two-year very painful illness, and no one cared enough to hold a great memorial service or even bury him with other kings.
II Chronicles 22: Jehoram's son Ahaziah becomes king and reigns for one year, doing evil, "walking in the ways of the house of Ahab," thoroughly influenced in pagan ways by his grandmother and mother. In the NT, we know a godly mother (Eunice) and grandmother (Lois) taught Timothy; Paul commends them for their having raised Timothy with a desire to serve God (II Tim 1). Here we see that mothers' influence can also be against God. The women were aided by counselors from Ahab's court in their effort to turn this son away from God. He was advised by these men to go to war with Joram, king of Israel, against Hazael, king of Aram at Ramoth-Gilead (contested earlier by Ahab and Jehoshaphat). There Joram is wounded, and Ahaziah goes to visit him while he's recovering. Jehu, son of Nimshi, becomes the Lord's avenger and kills Ahaziah's sons while he's visiting Joram, along with other relatives, and then went after Ahaziah himself, caught him and put him to death. Ahaziah was buried in Israel, and when Athaliah, his mother heard of it, she tried to destroy all remaining children and grandchildren - potential heirs to the throne. And this is when Joash is spared, hidden by Jehosheba, daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada. Joash is hidden in the Temple for six years, and as we recall, he's made king when he's 7 years old.
II Chronicles 23: Jehoiada the high priest has protected and taught the heir to the throne during Athaliah's unanointed reign. She is the only woman to be a ruler in either Israel or Judah, and she's a humdinger. As a daughter of Ahab, she copies his ways, and her 6-year reign must have been made possible through intimidation and violent enforcement. Jehoiada has had enough, and when Joash is 7, he takes into his confidence all the Temple guards, other Levites and priests. Recall that when David organized the priests and Levites into divisions of service, 4,000 were designated as Temple guards. They have been put into rotations so that there's always someone guarding gates and treasuries. Now Jehoiada tells them that he's been hiding a prince, a descendant of David, and it's time for him to take the throne. The guards are told to form a phalanx around the young child, he's taken to the Temple, anointed, given a copy of the law, crowned, and hailed by the people. The shouts of the crowd, happy to know that there was relief from Athaliah, and that one of David's descendants would again occupy the throne, alert the queen. She begins her own shouts "treason, treason," Jehoiada tells the guards to take her out of the Temple court and kill her. They do. The people were overjoyed at her death and the prospect of a king acquainted with the law, and in their enthusiasm, they went to the nearby temple of Baal, tore it down and murdered its priest. Notice the final verse: "All the city was quiet because Athaliah had been slain with the sword." This is not to say that they were quiet because they missed her; the city was quiet with relief that this wicked woman and her reign of terror were gone.
II Chronicles 24: Joash is 7 at the beginning of his reign (835 B.C.), and he reigns for 40 years. While Jehoiada the high priest is his mentor, he is a faithful, godly king. When he matures, he marries and has children. And when he's mature, he sends for the Temple leadership and tells them to collect Temple taxes to repair this central symbol of God's presence in Judah. The Levites delay; eventually, Joash calls them back and tells them he's serious about repairing the Temple whose many treasures had been looted by Athaliah for her pagan temples. Joash decides that money which should have been used for maintaining the Temple has been diverted. So to be sure that the offerings designated for repair are kept separate, he builds a chest and locks it, leaving just a hole in the top for donations. People give generously, and as the chest fills, a Temple official as well as a government official counted and distributed the money to the craftsmen working on the Temple. And finally the work is done. The money that remained went to utensils and vessels for service. Temple worship was regular and as God directed; and then Jehoiada died. He was 130 when he died - very old for that time. God had kept him sharp and alive for the sake of the nation. Once Jehoiada died, Joash's faithfulness went down hill. Jehoiada's son Zechariah went to the king to ask him why he was disobedient, warning that obedience brings prosperity but disobedience brings disaster. The king is so angry at this news, he kills the messenger. We're told: "Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah's father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying 'May the Lord see this and call you to account.'" This is another example of the Chronicler's linking behavior and faithfulness. Doing what God wants results in blessings; not doing what God wants results in pain for all concerned. Ezra wants this new group of Jerusalem citizens to understand that as God's chosen people, it's their duty to obey God. He knows the law; he knows that God gave them rules for their own safety and well being. God honors obedience of these laws; God punishes those who do not obey. The divided kingdom is an example of punishment for disobedience; the disease and death of Jehoram and Ahaziah were due to their disobedience; war and famine come from disobedience (see Deut. 28 for the full account of promised blessings and curses).
II Chronicles 24:23: And indeed, Judah is now invaded by the army of Aram or Syria, and many leaders were killed, the country looted, and Joash was wounded. The Bible tells us "Because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash." As Joash was lying wounded, his own staff, who were angry with him for killing Zechariah and forgetting Jehoiada, conspire to kill him. Those people are named, foreshadowing their own deaths.
II Chronicles 25: Amaziah became king as son of Joash, and reigned 29 years. We're told "he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not wholeheartedly." Amaziah's first act is to kill the men who killed his father (remember, they were named at the end of ch. 24). He then mustered a large army and hired 100,000 Israelite soldiers to augment his own forces (many of whom had been killed in the not so distant battles with Aram which had wounded his father). A prophet (unnamed) went to the king and told him not to depend on troops from Israel because they were not godly. In addition, the prophet implies that no king should rely on an army or the machines of war. It's God who fights for Judah as we saw in II Chron. 20, when Jehoshaphat and the army merely stood and watched God throw their enemies into confusion, killing each other. The battles are God's not theirs. Amaziah is upset at having already paid those men, but he tells them to go home. (On their way back to Israel they raided as many Judean towns as they could and left 3,000 dead). And then he musters his own men and goes after Edom, quelling a rebellion there. This was a great victory, but Amaziah makes a couple of mistakes: first, he brings home pagan gods and appears to give them credit for the victory. Second, he becomes proud of having defeated the Edomites and challenges Israel's king to battle. Once again we see a king who denies God's hand in his victories. The king of Israel sends a message in the form of a parable to Amaziah to be content with his victory over Edom; he'll never defeat Israel. But Amaziah disregards all the advice he's given and goes to war with Israel. He's soundly defeated. Jerusalem pays the price, too, with a section of the wall destroyed and the Temple looted and prisoners taken. Jerusalem's people were unhappy with Amaziah and he runs for his life to Lachish, but he's pursued and killed there. He forsook the Lord, and he failed as king.
II Chronicles 26: Amaziah's son Uzziah becomes king, and it is during his long reign (52 years) that Isaiah begins his work as prophet. Isaiah continues to prophesy in Judah through the reigns of his successors, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. Uzziah is only 16 when he becomes king; it's clear he needs a strong voice for God since Amaziah, his father, certainly was no role model as a godly king. Uzziah had a lot of rebuilding to do to the wall, Temple, fortified cities, gates, and his building program is extensive. "As long as he sought the Lord, God gave him success," we're told, and this continued even in wars against the Philistines. He became powerful, kept a large standing army (which he equipped very well), liked gardening and farming, and so had many vineyards and fields. We're given some unique details here so that Uzziah's personality and interests stand out. And then we read "But after Uzziah became powerful his pride led to his downfall" (v. 16). How often has pride been the cause of a decline? The Chronicler makes this point over and over because he's saying "trusting in yourself or in human strength, the implements of war or your own judgment is NOT what pleases God." Sure enough, Uzziah's pride was demonstrated by a very foolish act. He went into the Temple (and no one but priests was allowed to go inside), and attempted to burn incense there. The priests tried to escort him out saying it was against God's law for him to be there. He apparently believes he's above the law, and won't leave. As the priests watch, God strikes him with leprosy, a disease that cannot be hidden. The king leaves, and must live alone for the rest of his life.
II Chronicles 27: Jotham succeeded Uzziah, and it's clear from II Kings that he reigned as co-regent with Uzziah because of Uzziah's leprosy. He had a 16-year reign, and "he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord," but the people did not. They continued to worship the Baals and to build altars on high places. Jotham rebuilt gates, did work on walls, built towns and fortified them. He fought the Ammonites and defeated them "because he walked steadfastly before the Lord his God."
II Chronicles 28: Ahaz succeeds Jotham and he does not do what pleases God. In I and II Kings, we found that David was the model for a good king (meaning he followed God with all his heart), and Jeroboam was the model for a bad king (he had led Israel to idolatry). Always the king, when his reign was summed up, was compared to one or the other, and here Ahaz is compared to the kings of Israel (all 19 of which were sinful kings, though some much more wicked than others), so that we know just what it meant - he did not please God. He was eager to build altars to the Baals and to worship pagan gods, even sacrificing his own sons to a pagan god, Molech, whom God had said explicitly in Leviticus 20 they were never to do. And punishment came at the hands of the king of Aram in alliance with Pekah, king of Israel (as recorded in II Kings 15). Prisoners were taken to Samaria, the capital of Israel, and God's prophet Oded met the army cautioning them to send the prisoners back to Judah. He suggests that enslaving their own brothers was a violation of the law, and they ought to send them home now, or suffer the consequences. This message was echoed by others, and the soldiers released the prisoners and took them back to Jericho. Notice how they dressed the naked and tended to their wounds. Doesn't it sound like Jesus' story of the good Samaritan (Luke 10)?
II Chronicles 28:16: Ahaz doesn't acknowledge this return of prisoners as the work of God. Instead, he calls on the king of Assyria, a rising power, to help him against the Edomites (coming from the south and east) and the Philistines (from the west). Ahaz send took some of the nation's treasures and sent them to Tiglath-Pileser to buy his help, but he not only loses all the gold and silver, he doesn't get help. Ahaz could have turned to God here, but instead he shut the doors of the temple and set up altars all over town and country, burning sacrifices to other gods. He provokes God to anger. And because of his wickedness, he is not buried with the other kings.
Reflections: Judah's faithfulness follows its king's lead. We've seen some good kings, some with mixed records, and others who were thoroughly pagan. A good king is just around the corner. Hezekiah is one of the best in Judah's history.
Homework for those who want to go deeper:
1. Notice how often the Chronicler connects obedience to God's blessings and disobedience to punishment. In the case of Ahaz, what was the punishment on him and on the people?
2. Read the story of the Good Samaritan in Luke 10. Notice the details which relate to the return of the prisoners in II Chronicles 28.
3. Joash, like Solomon and other kings in Judah's history, starts well in that he's a faithful king for several years and then he falls to his own pride. In Joash's case, his mentor, the high priest Jehoiada, was the apparent cause of his faithfulness. Following Jehoiada's death, Joash fell away from God. How important is a spiritual mentor in your life?
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Let's close in prayer.
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