What I Noticed Today (2 Kings 12-13; 2 Chronicles 24)

2 Kings 12

In verses 1-3, the covenant between God and the seven-year-old king Joash was renewed.

• Joash became king of Judah and ruled from Jerusalem for 40-years. His mother’s name was Zibiah.
• Jehoiada, the priest, instructed the king, and he did right in the eyes of the Lord except that he allowed the high places to remain where people offered sacrifices.

In verses 4-16 at some point, Joash ordered the priests to begin making repairs to the temple with the money that was offered in the temple.

• After 23 years nothing had been done to repair the temple, so Joash ordered a locked collection box be placed at the entrance of the temple.
• After the money had been collected and counted, it was paid out to workmen who completed the work.
• All the temple was repaired except for replacing the temple bowl and fixtures.

In verses 17-18 Hazael, king of Aram marched against Gath and captured it and planned to march against Jerusalem.

• King Joash gathered all the consecrated items from the temple, all the gold from the temple treasury, and all the gold in the palace and sent it to Hazael as a bribe to keep him from attacking Jerusalem.

In verses 19-21, Joash was killed by rebellious servants, was buried in Jerusalem, and his son Amaziah ruled in his place.

2 Kings 13

2 Kings 13 records the reign of kings Jehoahaz and Jehoash in Israel, and the death of Elisha.

In verses 1-9, in Joash, king of Judah’s 23^rd year, Jehoahaz became king over Israel.

• He was a bad king, doing what was evil in the eyes of the Lord, just as his fathers had done.
• Jehoahaz did seek the favor of the Lord. The Lord listened to him and gave Israel some relief from the invading Syrians. But they did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam nor did they remove the Asherah pole in Samaria.
• When Jehoahaz died his son, Jehoash (also referred to as Joash) became king over Israel.

In verses 10-13, Joash became king over Israel in the 37^th year of Judah’s kings Joash.

• Joash, king of Israel, reigned 16 years in Samaria.
• He was a bad king, doing evil in the eyes of the Lord. He walked in the ways of Jeroboam, causing Israel to sin.
• Joash, king of Israel, died and was replaced by his son, Jeroboam.

In verses 14-22, is the record of the death of Elisha.

• Joash, king of Israel, visited Elisha because he had heard that Elisha was about to die. He wept over Elisha, so even though he was a bad king, he seems to have had a respectful relationship with Elisha.
• Elisha gave Joash an oracle that Joash would defeat the Syrians (Hazael and Ben-hadad) three times.

In verses 22-25, Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel during the reign of Jehoahaz.

• But because of His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the Lord did not allow the Israelites to be destroyed.
• Hazael, king of Aram, died, and his son Ben-hadad became king in his place.
• Then Jehoash recaptured the cities Hazael had taken from the Israelites.

Some thoughts for additional consideration:

• The future of David’s royal line was nearly obliterated when queen Athaliah killed off her descendants, but God worked miraculously to preserve the Davidic line through Joash. God worked out his purpose through one loyal woman and her husband.
• Sometimes we think that what little we can do for the kingdom doesn’t amount to much, but look what happened when one woman took action and saved a little boy. God can use us if we are faithful to Him, just like He used Jehoiada, the priest, and his wife, Jehosheba.

2 Chronicles 24

In verses 1-3, Joash was seven years old when he became king of Judah, and he reigned 40 years from Jerusalem.

• Throughout all the years of Jehoiada, the priest, Joash, did right in the eyes of the Lord.

In verses 4-7, as Joash grew older, he ordered the Levites to go out into the country and collect money to repair the temple (a restoration of the temple tax imposed by Moses (Exodus 30:14).

• The Levites did not carry out the king’s order quickly.
• So Joash had a chest placed at the entrance to the temple, and whenever the chest got full, the money was given to workman to repair the damage done to the temple.
• Repairs were made to the Lord’s temple, and when they were finished, the rest of the money was used to make utensils of gold and silver for use in ministering before the Lord.

In verses 15-22, Jehoiada the high priest, and Joash’s counselor died at 130 years old.

• Rulers from around Judah came to Joash and persuaded him to abandon the worship of God and return to the worship of Asherah and idols.
• The Lord sent them prophets to admonish them, but the people would not listen.
• Then the Spirit of the Lord took control of Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, the priest.
• Zechariah told the people the Lord had abandoned them because they had abandoned Him.
• Joash and the people stoned Zechariah in the temple courtyard.

In verses 23-25, the Arameans went to war against Joash. They entered Judah and killed all the leaders of Judah and plundered the land.

In verses 26-27, Joash was wounded, but killed by his own servants because he had killed Zechariah.

• Joash was buried in Jerusalem but not in the tombs of the kings.
• Amaziah, the son of Joash, succeeded him as king over Judah.

Some thoughts for additional consideration:

• The decline of these many kings is apparent when they abandon the Lord. The people rebelled against Jehoram because of Baal worship. Ahaziah reigned for only one year because he was wicked. Athaliah, a Baal worshipper, killed her own family in order to secure her place as queen. Joash began his reign as a very good king, but when Jehoiada, the high priest died, Joash abandoned God and reverted to idol worship.
• Jehoiada, the high priest, was faithful to God at a time when that was in direct opposition to the rulers. He dared to stand up to the false worship of the rulers and even put his own life at risk to hide young Joash until he was old enough to become king. Then he remained a faithful counselor to Joash throughout his life, and all during this time Joash and the people faithfully followed God.

Tomorrow: 2 Kings 14; 2 Chronicles 25