Joash Repairs the Temple// 2 Kings 12:1–16
1Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. 2And Joash did what was right in the eyes of Yahweh all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3Jehoiada took for him two wives, and he had sons and daughters.
4Some time later, Joash set his heart on repairing the house of Yahweh. 5So he gathered the priests and Levites and said, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the house of your God. Do it quickly.”
The Levites, however, did not make haste. 6So the king called Jehoiada the high priest and said, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of Yahweh and by the assembly of Israel for the Tent of the Testimony?”
7For the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the house of God and had even used the sacred objects of the house of Yahweh for the Baals.
- 2CH 24:7[DEMONIC]Athaliah's sons give temple treasures to the Baals
8At the king’s command a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the house of Yahweh. 9And a proclamation was issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they were to bring to Yahweh the tax imposed by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness. 10All the officers and all the people rejoiced and brought their contributions, and they dropped them in the chest until it was full.
11Whenever the chest was brought by the Levites to the king’s overseers and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal scribe and the officer of the high priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this daily and gathered the money in abundance. 12Then the king and Jehoiada would give the money to those who supervised the labor on the house of Yahweh to hire stonecutters and carpenters to restore the house of Yahweh, as well as workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of Yahweh.
13So the workmen labored, and in their hands the repair work progressed. They restored the house of God according to its specifications, and they reinforced it. 14When they were finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the house of Yahweh—utensils for the service and for the burnt offerings, dishes, and other objects of gold and silver.
Throughout the days of Jehoiada, burnt offerings were presented regularly in the house of Yahweh.
Jehoiada’s Death and Burial
15When Jehoiada was old and full of years, he died at the age of 130.
16And Jehoiada was buried with the kings in the City of David, because he had done what was good in Israel for God and His temple.
The Wickedness of Joash
17After the death of Jehoiada, however, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. 18They abandoned the house of Yahweh, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherah poles and idols. So wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19Nevertheless, Yahweh sent prophets to bring the people back to Him and to testify against them, but they would not listen.
- 2CH 24:18[DEMONIC]Judah abandons God's house to serve Asherah poles
20Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest, who stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you transgress the commandments of Yahweh so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken Yahweh, He has forsaken you.’”
- 2CH 24:20[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → MT 23:35
- 2CH 24:20[ALLUDED TO]The New Testament refers to this → LK 11:51
- 2CH 24:20[NOTE]ZECHARIAH. Jesus spoke of the blood of Zechariah, killed between the altar and the sanctuary, Luke 11:51. Matthew 23:35 calls him the son of Berechiah, the father of the prophet Zechariah, Zechariah 1:1. Some think Jehoiada was his grandfather, some think Jesus meant the prophet, and some think a copyist added the name.
21But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of Yahweh.
22Thus King Joash failed to remember the kindness that Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had extended to him. Instead, Joash killed Jehoiada’s son. As he lay dying, Zechariah said, “May Yahweh see this and call you to account.”
The Death of Joash// 2 Kings 12:17–21
23In the spring, the army of Aram went to war against Joash. They entered Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the leaders of the people, and they sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus. 24Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, Yahweh delivered into their hand a very great army. Because Judah had forsaken Yahweh, the God of their fathers, judgment was executed on Joash.
25And when the Arameans had withdrawn, they left Joash severely wounded. His own servants conspired against him for shedding the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him on his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. 26Those who conspired against Joash were Zabad son of Shimeath the Ammonitess and Jehozabad son of Shimrith the Moabitess.
27The accounts of the sons of Joash and the many pronouncements about him, and of the restoration of the house of God, are indeed written in the Treatise of the Book of the Kings. And his son Amaziah reigned in his place.