July 5: 2 Kings 12-13, 2 Chronicles 24

July 5, 2 Kings 12-13, 2 Chronicles 24

2 Kings 12 Joash begins to reign in Judah at the age of 7 and he reigned 40 years. “And Jehoash (Joash) did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all his days, because Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” Interesting, it was not because of his father, but another man… Jehoash (Joash) wanted to restore the temple. He put the Levitical priests in charge of it and not much had been done, Joash wanted to see some results. So, Jehoiada the priest put a chest in front of the temple and it was guarded. When there was a bunch of money in there, they would empty it and count it and pay the laborers and vendors. However, the temple was not returned to its former glory as they had no gold in it or anything of the like, just some minor repairs. The money came from extra offerings, as the guilt and sin offering money was for the priests. 

At that time Hazael (King of Syria) went up and fought against Gath and won, which was a nearby town. Hazael was thinking about attacking Jerusalem, so Jehoash (Joash King of Judah) took all the sacred gifts and money, even his own, and sent it to Hazael - then he left. Interesting military tactic. Long gone are the days of peace for Judah. 

We get a more detailed account of Joash’s death in 2 Chronicles 24, but what is recorded here is that 2 men conspired against him and killed him. Amaziah, his son, reigned in his place.

2 Kings 13 Back to Israel. God’s continual cycle of restoration continues.

Jehoahaz (Jehu’s son) was now King in Israel and he did so for 17 years. “He did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and followed the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin; he did not depart from them. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them continually into the hand of Hazael king of Syria and into the hand of Ben-hadad the son of Hazael.” The cycles continue. At one point Jehoahaz sought the Lord and the Lord had compassion on him and Israel, which allowed them to escape the Syrians, but they didn't depart from their wicked ways. They made Asherah poles and worshipped false gods. Their military was also reduced to a very small military. He died.

Now Jehoahaz’s son, Jehoash, reigned over Israel and he did so 16 years. “He also did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He did not depart from all the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, but he walked in them.”  Jeroboam was now King of Israel.

Elisha was sick and dying. Joash, King of Israel went down to him weeping and needed help from his enemies. Elisha blessed his bow and arrow for victory. Then he told him to strike the ground with a bunch of arrows and Joash stopped at 3, which frustrated Elisha, because that meant that Israel would only have victory over Syria 3 times. 

Elisha died and they buried him. Before they could close up the grave, another dead man was thrown into his grave, only to come alive again when his body touched the dead body of Elisha! Even when he is dead, God is still doing miracles through Elisha! 

Hazael (King of Syria) died and his son Ben-hadad reigned in his place. Israel did defeat Syria 3 times in battle… Prophecy fulfilled. 

2 Chronicles 24 expands on the account of Joash rebuilding the temple. The above comments apply, and we can add in that Jehoiada the priest grew old and died at 130 - and that they buried him with kings, because of how much good he had done. 

In addition, we learn that when Jehoiada the priest died, the people abandoned (with the King’s approval) God and served Asherah and idols. “And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim (Asherah) and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs.  Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention.” 

Joash makes a foolish mistake. The Spirit of God came upon Zechariah and he called out the people of Judah and said, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.” Joash acted poorly, and that was not wise.

Then the Syrians attack (with a much smaller army than Judah) and pummeled Judah and in doing so, Joash was wounded. Then his servants conspired against him “because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and killed him on his bed.” Joash had conspired to murder Zechariah, it was returned.

To sum it all up:

• God uses all people for His purpose. We see in the life of Jehoiada the priest that He had the most influence on Joash, and led him to live a godly (mostly) life.
• Joash started strong and finished weak. He did a lot of good, but it really matters how you finish. How are you planning to finish? Are your convictions strong enough to bring you in your faith through whatever God brings to you?