Monday, November 3, 2014

Reflections on 2 Chronicles 24

 2 Chronicles 24 (Contemporary English Version)
  1. Joash was only seven years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled forty years from Jerusalem. His mother Zibiah was from the town of Beersheba.
  2. While Jehoiada the priest was alive, Joash obeyed the LORD by doing right.
  3. Jehoiada even chose two women for Joash to marry so he could have a family.
  4. Some time later, Joash decided it was time to repair the temple.
  5. He called together the priests and Levites and said, "Go everywhere in Judah and collect the annual tax from the people. I want this done right away--we need that money to repair the temple." But the Levites were in no hurry to follow the king's orders.
  6. So he sent for Jehoiada the high priest and asked, "Why didn't you send the Levites to collect the taxes? The LORD's servant Moses and the people agreed long ago that this tax would be collected and used to pay for the upkeep of the sacred tent.
  7. And now we need it to repair the temple because the sons of that evil woman Athaliah came in and wrecked it. They even used some of the sacred objects to worship the god Baal."
  8. Joash gave orders for a wooden box to be made and had it placed outside, near the gate of the temple.
  9. He then sent letters everywhere in Judah and Jerusalem, asking everyone to bring their taxes to the temple, just as Moses had required their ancestors to do.
  10. The people and their leaders agreed, and they brought their money to Jerusalem and placed it in the box.
  11. Each day, after the Levites took the box into the temple, the king's secretary and the high priest's assistant would dump out the money and count it. Then the empty box would be taken back outside. This happened day after day, and soon a large amount of money was collected.
  12. Joash and Jehoiada turned the money over to the men who were supervising the repairs to the temple. They used the money to hire stonecutters, carpenters, and experts in working with iron and bronze.
  13. These workers went right to work repairing the temple, and when they were finished, it looked as good as new.
  14. They did not use all the tax money for the repairs, so the rest of it was handed over to Joash and Jehoiada, who then used it to make dishes and other gold and silver objects for the temple. Sacrifices to please the LORD were offered regularly in the temple for as long as Jehoiada lived.
  15. He died at the ripe old age of one hundred thirty years,
  16. and he was buried in the royal tombs in Jerusalem, because he had done so much good for the people of Israel, for God, and for the temple.
  17. After the death of Jehoiada the priest, the leaders of Judah went to Joash and talked him into doing what they wanted.
  18. Right away, the people of Judah stopped worshiping in the temple of the LORD God, and they started worshiping idols and the symbols of the goddess Asherah. These sinful things made the LORD God angry at the people of Judah and Jerusalem,
  19. but he still sent prophets who warned them to turn back to him. The people refused to listen.
  20. God's Spirit spoke to Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, and Zechariah told everyone that God was saying: "Why are you disobeying me and my laws? This will only bring punishment! You have deserted me, so now I will desert you."
  21. King Joash forgot that Zechariah's father had always been a loyal friend. So when the people of Judah plotted to kill Zechariah, Joash joined them and gave orders for them to stone him to death in the courtyard of the temple. As Zechariah was dying, he said, "I pray that the LORD will see this and punish all of you."
  22. (SEE 24:21)
  23. In the spring of the following year, the Syrian army invaded Judah and Jerusalem, killing all of the nation's leaders. They collected everything of value that belonged to the people and took it back to their king in Damascus.
  24. The Syrian army was very small, but the LORD let them defeat Judah's large army, because he was punishing Joash and the people of Judah for turning away from him.
  25. Joash was severely wounded during the battle, and as soon as the Syrians left Judah, two of his officials, Zabad and Jehozabad, decided to revenge the death of Zechariah. They plotted and killed Joash while he was in bed, recovering from his wounds. Joash was buried in Jerusalem, but not in the royal tombs.
  26. (SEE 24:25)
  27. The History of the Kings also tells more about the sons of Joash, what the prophets said about him, and how he repaired the temple. Amaziah son of Joash became king after his father's death.

Ending well is of greater importance than starting well. With a good ending we can undo much or all of what we did in the beginning. This means that if we started bad we can undo much of it with a strong ending, or if we start good that also can be undone with a bad ending.

King Joash was in this later category. He started well by doing, "what was right in the LORD's sight." (24:2) But it would seem that he was easily influenced and failed to have strength of character to determine on his own where he stood. Because of his upbringing under Jehoiada's tutelage he stayed the course in doing what was right as long as Jehoiada was alive. During this time he "took it to heart to renovate the LORD's temple." (24:4) To cover the costs of renovation Joash had the priests and Levites re-instate collection of the temple tax that had been commanded by Moses. However, the Levites did not hurry with this assignment so Joash reprimanded them and then had a chest placed outside the gate of the temple to collect the money. The people contributed gladly to this purpose and what was collected was more than enough for the renovation.

Once the temple renovation was completed "they regularly offered burnt offerings" there, and it would seem that life was good. (24:14) But then Jehoiada died and things changed. Evidently many of the rulers of Judah were still inclined toward Idolatry and they influenced Joash toward this and "they abandoned the temple of the Lord" and served "Asherah poles and the idols." (24:18) This stirred the Lord's wrath against Joash, but the Lord withheld judgment to give mercy a chance. He "sent them prophets to bring them back to the LORD," but they would not listen." (24:19) Finally, the Lord sent Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest and Joash had him stoned. As Zechariah died he said, "May the LORD see and demand an account." (24:22)

The Lord's demanding an account was not long in coming. At the beginning of the next year the Lord sent a small Aramean army "to war against Joash." This small army going up against Judah's large army was no unimportant detail. The Lord was making it clear that He was behind this action against Judah and Joash. We are told in verse 24 that "the LORD handed over a vast army to them because the people of Judah had abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors. So they executed judgment on Joash." The Arameans left Joash seriously wounded, but his own servants killed him "because he had shed the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest." (24:25)

Despite his good beginning, Joash died in shame and the good he had done had been undone.

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