Verses 1-7, “In the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and made a covenant with the captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri. And they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the chief fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, 'Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord has said of the sons of David. This is what you shall do: One-third of you entering on the Sabbath, of the priests and the Levites, shall be keeping watch over the doors; one-third shall be at the king’s house; and one-third at the Gate of the Foundation. All the people shall be in the courts of the house of the Lord. But let no one come into the house of the Lord except the priests and those of the Levites who serve. They may go in, for they are holy; but all the people shall keep the watch of the Lord. And the Levites shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whoever comes into the house, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.' ”
Jehoiada the priest was married to Jehoshabeath, the sister of Ahaziah. His wife had hid her nephew, the royal heir, in the house of the Lord to protect him from Athaliah, the self proclaimed queen. Jehoiada could have remained safe in the house of the Lord and done nothing, but he was inspired to act in righteous anger, in order to restore the throne to the house of David. He got the Levites to agree to guard the king’s son (who was only 6 years old) on all sides, and to kill anyone that attempted to enter the house of God.
Verses 8-15, “So the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. And each man took his men who were to be on duty on the Sabbath, with those who were going off duty on the Sabbath; for Jehoiada the priest had not dismissed the divisions. And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of God. Then he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and by the temple, all around the king. And they brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, gave him the Testimony, and made him king. Then Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, 'Long live the king!' Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people in the temple of the Lord. When she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, also the singers with musical instruments, and those who led in praise. So Athaliah tore her clothes and said, 'Treason! Treason!' And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, 'Take her outside under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.' For the priest had said, 'Do not kill her in the house of the Lord.' So they seized her; and she went by way of the entrance of the Horse Gate into the king’s house, and they killed her there.”
The plan was to make the move to anoint the new king on the Sabbath when the groups were changing guards, so that both groups could be assembled without any questions. The captains were given spears and shields that belonged to David, and they were arranged all around the boy to protect him. They brought out a crown, gave him the Testimony, and anointed him as king. When the boy's grandmother, Athaliah, heard the people rejoicing and praising the new king, she came to the temple. She was removed from the temple and killed by the entrance of the Horse Gate.
The fact that the people were rejoicing at the new king, leads us to believe that they were tired of being ruled by the wicked Athaliah. A little bit of sin may seem tempting at first, but a steady diet can grow sickening fast. Unfortunately, the nature of sin is that you only need to compromise a little for Satan to get a foothold. It seems that the longer you remain in it, the harder it can be to get out, when you become more and more entrenched. Proverbs 5:22, “His own iniquities entrap the wicked man, And he is caught in the cords of his sin.” For this reason, we should never be slow to repent. The sooner we do, the easier; and the less damage and consequences we will have to face.
Verses 16-21, “Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the people, and the king, that they should be the Lord’s people. And all the people went to the temple of Baal, and tore it down. They broke in pieces its altars and images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. Also Jehoiada appointed the oversight of the house of the Lord to the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had assigned in the house of the Lord, to offer the burnt offerings of the Lord, as it is written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was established by David. And he set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the Lord, so that no one who was in any way unclean should enter. Then he took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of the Lord; and they went through the Upper Gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the throne of the kingdom. So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword.”
After removing the evil queen and putting a proper king in place, the nation renewed their covenant with God. Jehoiada reinstated the temple practices as given by God through Moses, including burnt offerings. The freedom from sin's control should cause us to desire to do what's right, not return to wallow in our filth some more, thinking that grace will cover it. If that is the case, you have not been trained by grace and should not expect to receive salvation. Titus 2:11-14, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.”
And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of God. Then he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and by the temple, all around the king. And they brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, gave him the Testimony, and made him king. Then Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, “ Long live the king!”
ReplyDelete2Ch 23:9-11
Athaliah had planned to kill all the living heirs after her son died, and she thought she had done just that. She reigned for six years, before Joash was brought before the people. When they brought Joash out to the people, Athaliah was not expecting it. She was probably in shock and angry, and she tried saving her throne, that had slipped right out her hands. Unfortunately for her there was nothing that she could do and she endedup being killed. She was a wicked woman and in the end she did not get away with what she had done. She might have thought she did for six years, but she came to realize she had not. The Lord did not allow her to get away with anything and He had a plan even though it looked like there was no heir left.
When wicked people do evil things, we should not be afraid of them. The Lord is fully in control and won't allow anything to happen that outside of it. The Lord allows knows what's going to happen and nothing ever surprises Him. We should never fear man, but rather fear God. People can think they are getting away with stuff, but they aren't. Sometimes they can get away with it here on earth, but they will pay for their sins when they die. For us, we need to just trust that God will protect us and that people only can do what the Lord allows.
In this chapter, Jehoiada came up with a plan to reinstate the true heir to the throne. His wife hid Joash, the one remaining heir for 6 years before this plan came to pass. Athaliah had proclaimed herself queen over Judah because there had been no one from the house of David to take her place. This was a wicked women who led all the people into wickedness and sin. She had killed all of the sons of Ahaziah, but Joash was hidden from her. This was her own grandson!
ReplyDeleteWe always have a choice to serve God or serve sin. Everyone has a choice every day. Joshua 24:15- "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord , choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord .” When we let sin take over our life, it continues to spread and grow. The longer we are in sin, the harder our heart becomes. We no longer get convicted over what we used to get convicted over. We need to be careful today, that we watch out for sin, and not let it come into our life. We should provide no opportunity for our flesh to sin. I Peter 2:15-16- "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God."
Jehoiada had this plan to bring out out this heir on the sabbath, surrounded by guards on all sides. This was when they changed out the guards, so no one would question why they were all at the house of the Lord. When the people of Judah saw this heir, they crowned him as king and anointed him. They also renewed a covenant with the Lord to put away sin. They destroyed the temple of Baal and killed the priest of Baal.
Athaliah could not have liked to see all of this take place. Once this new king was reveled, they brought her out and killed her and anyone who would try to follow her. The way to get rid of sin is to fully get rid of all of it! If you leave any behind, it can grow and eventually take root again. When we repent for sin in our life, we need to fully get rid of it, and ask God to change our hearts. Sometimes our flesh wants to hold on to just a little bit of it, but that is not true repentance!
In this chapter, Jehoiada came up with a plan to reinstate the true heir to the throne. His wife hid Joash, the one remaining heir for 6 years before this plan came to pass. Athaliah had proclaimed herself queen over Judah because there had been no one from the house of David to take her place. This was a wicked women who led all the people into wickedness and sin. She had killed all of the sons of Ahaziah, but Joash was hidden from her. This was her own grandson!
ReplyDeleteWe always have a choice to serve God or serve sin. Everyone has a choice every day. Joshua 24:15- "And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord , choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord .” When we let sin take over our life, it continues to spread and grow. The longer we are in sin, the harder our heart becomes. We no longer get convicted over what we used to get convicted over. We need to be careful today, that we watch out for sin, and not let it come into our life. We should provide no opportunity for our flesh to sin. I Peter 2:15-16- "For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God."
Jehoiada had this plan to bring out out this heir on the sabbath, surrounded by guards on all sides. This was when they changed out the guards, so no one would question why they were all at the house of the Lord. When the people of Judah saw this heir, they crowned him as king and anointed him. They also renewed a covenant with the Lord to put away sin. They destroyed the temple of Baal and killed the priest of Baal.
Athaliah could not have liked to see all of this take place. Once this new king was reveled, they brought her out and killed her and anyone who would try to follow her. The way to get rid of sin is to fully get rid of all of it! If you leave any behind, it can grow and eventually take root again. When we repent for sin in our life, we need to fully get rid of it, and ask God to change our hearts. Sometimes our flesh wants to hold on to just a little bit of it, but that is not true repentance!