2 Kings - Chapters 11-12

In this recording, Julie Callio discusses the events in chapters 11 and 12 of Second Kings. She mentions how Hazael became the king of Syria and the harm he would do to the Israelites. She also talks about Jehu becoming the king of Israel and killing the descendants of Ahab and the priests of Baal. The focus then shifts to the southern tribes of Judah, where Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, tries to destroy the royal family but fails. Joash, the son of Ahaziah, is hidden and later anointed as the king of Judah. Athaliah is killed, and the people destroy the temple of Baal. Joash reigns for 40 years and does what is right in the eyes of the Lord, but the high places are not removed. Joash collects money to repair the temple and takes charge when the repairs are not done. The story then shifts to Hazael attacking Judah, and Joash gives I'm Julie Callio, your host, and thanks so much for taking time out of your busy schedules to tune in with me today. If by chance you want to contact me, you can do that at dab.bc.pc at gmail.com. Today ladies, we are covering chapters 11 and 12 of Second Kings. In our last lesson, Hazael became the king of Aram, also known as Syria, because he killed Ben-Hadad, the previous king. When Elisha told Hazael this, he began to weep because he knew the harm that Hazael would do to the Israelites. He said in chapter 8 verse 12b, You will set fire to their fortified places, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little children to the ground, and rip open their pregnant women. Good things are not in store for Israel, and the Lord has allowed this because of their sin of idolatry. We also learn that the king of Judah intermarried with the king of Israel and with their idolatry, which brought Judah down to their level. The Lord also anointed Jehu to be the new king of Israel, so he killed the son of Ahab, Queen Jezebel, Ahab's widow, and all the descendants of Ahab, and anyone who supported them. He also killed off all the priests of Baal and destroyed the temple of Baal. Since the king of Judah was also related to Ahab, he too was killed. Jehu is now king of Israel, and these two chapters focus on what happened in the southern tribes of Judah. Chapter 11 verses 1 through 3 tell us, When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family. But Jehoshibah, the daughter of King Jehoram, also known as Joram, and sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the royal princes, who were about to be murdered. She put him and his nurse in a bedroom to hide him from Athaliah, so he was not killed. He remained hidden with his nurse at the temple of the Lord for six years while Athaliah ruled the land. So, for a short time, one of the descendants of Ahab, and possibly Jezebel, reigned as queen in Judah, because of the intermarriage between families. One thing that Roy L. Honeycutt Jr. said in his commentary, the fact that the Deuteronomic editor makes no appraisal of her reign, as he consistently does with each of the kings, suggests that he considered Athaliah a usurper to the throne, which never achieved regnal status. The real king, the descendant of David, who was growing up in the temple, just wasn't old enough yet. In verses 4-11 we learn that the age which they considered old enough was seven years old. It was then that the priest Jehoiada revealed him to the commanders of the army, and they made a covenant to protect him, and then he shared the plan of how to anoint him as king of Judah. It happened during the changing of the guard around the temple, but instead of the soldiers who were supposed to leave, they also stayed, and they all surrounded the king, and were ordered to kill anyone who approached them. Verse 12, Jehoiada brought out the king's son, and put a crown on him. He presented him with a copy of the covenant, and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and shouted, Long live the king! He was given the kingly crown, the word of the Lord, and the declaration of the people. Way back in Deuteronomy chapter 17 verses 18-20, when Moses told the people what their king was supposed to be like, he said, When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law, taken from that of the priests who are Levites. It is to be with him, and he is to read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to revere the Lord his God, and follow carefully all the words of this law and these decrees, and not consider himself better than his brothers, and turn from the law to the right or to the left. Then he and his descendants will reign a long time over his kingdom in Israel. This means the united kingdom of Israel. The priests knew the importance that a godly kingdom needed to be grounded in the word of God, and when that is done, then there is peace. Well when Queen Athalia heard the noise, she went to the people at the temple of the Lord. It needed to be clarified, because there was also a temple of Baal thanks to Athalia. When she saw the king standing by the pillar, as was the custom, plus all the fanfare, plus all the rejoicing of the people, she tore her robes and cried out, treason, treason. Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders to take her out of the temple and kill her and anyone who follows her. Verse 17 says Jehoiada then made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people that they would be the Lord's people. He then made a second covenant between the king and the people. The people then went to the temple of Baal and tore it down, they smashed everything and they killed the priest of Baal, Matan. The priest and officials brought the king from the temple to the palace where he took his place on the royal throne. Everyone rejoiced and verse 20b says and the city was quiet because Athalia had been slain with the sword at the palace. Paul R. House said in his commentary, quiet now descends because of the re-emergence of Yahwehism, the priesthood and the Davidic covenant. How long will the quiet last? What can a seven year old king accomplish even with the aid of a veteran priest politician such as Jehoiada? Verse 1 of chapter 12 tells us he reigned for 40 years and his mother was Zibiah from Beersheba. Verses 2 and 3, Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoiada the priest instructed him. The high places however were not removed. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. This gives us a clue that he starts off strong but does not end that way. Joash told the priest to collect money so that they could repair the damage of the temple. The temple was built during the united kingdom of Solomon in 959 BC. King Joash who is also known as Jehoash reigned around 835-796 BC so is over 100 years old. Verse 6 tells us but by the 23rd year of King Joash the priest still had not repaired the temple. That puts Joash at 30 years old and now the king is taking charge. He asked why isn't it done? Then he took the responsibility away from the priest to fix the temple. Verse 9 we find that Jehoiada made an offering box and it was to the right of the entrance to the temple and when it was getting full the royal secretary and the high priest would count the money and that money went directly to the men who repaired the temple. In verse 13 we find that the items were no longer made of gold or silver like in Solomon's day but cheaper materials. We also learn that the men were completely honest with the finances. Verse 16 reminds us that the guilt offerings and the sin offering gifts were not given for the temple but this was what the Lord had designated for the priests. Then with verse 17 the story shifts to Hazael king of Aram. We learned at the end of chapter 10 that Hazael had overpowered the Israelites and he had taken all the land east of the Jordan river. So now we see that he is aiming to attack Judah. He first attacked a Philistine city called Gath which is on the border of Judah and Philistia. He conquered it and then he had eyes on Jerusalem. King Joash then took all the gold that was found in the treasuries of the temple plus in the royal palace and gave them to Hazael who then withdrew from Jerusalem. The rest of King Joash reign was written in other books but this book tells us in verses 20 and 21 that his officials conspired against him and assassinated him. He died and was buried in the city of David with his fathers. The last line says and Amaziah his son succeeded him as king. Ladies when we align ourselves up to the ways of the Lord, when we read his word every day so that we know it and therefore will obey it, there is peace. There is a prophet that will quickly be on the scene of our story named Isaiah and in his song of praise in Isaiah chapter 26 verses 1 through 4 he says, In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah. We have a strong city, God make salvation its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith. You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever for the Lord, the Lord is the rock eternal. Ladies if you have heard his voice today please don't harden your heart as we saw in this story that never ends well. Instead let's be the Lord's people who hear, trust and obey so that his perfect peace may rest in our hearts forever. Until next time and thank you so very much for listening.