II
C H R O N I C L E S
CHAP. XXIV.
We
have here the history of the reign of Joash, the progress of which, and
especially its termination, were not of a piece with its beginning, nor shone
with so much lustre. How wonderfully he was preserved for the throne, and
placed in it, we read before; now here we are told how he began in the spirit,
but ended in the flesh. I. In the beginning of his time, while Jehoiada lived,
he did well; particularly, he took care to put the temple in good repair, ver.
1-14. II. In the latter end of his time, after Jehoiada's death, he
apostatized from God, and his apostasy was his ruin. 1. He set up the worship
of Baal again (ver. 15-18), though warned to the contrary, ver. 19. 2. He put
Zechariah the prophet to death because he reproved him for what he had done,
ver. 20-22. 3. The judgments of God came upon him for it. The Syrians invaded
him, ver. 23, 24. He was struck with sore diseases; his own servants conspired
against him and slew him; and, as a mark of infamy upon him, he was not buried
in the burying-place of the kings, ver. 25-27.
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The Temple Repaired.
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B.
C. 855.
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1 Joash was seven years old when he
began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name
also was Zibiah of Beer-sheba. 2 And Joash did that
which was right in the sight of the LORD
all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 And Jehoiada took for him
two wives; and he begat sons and daughters. 4 And it came to pass
after this, that Joash was minded to repair the house of the LORD. 5 And he
gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto
the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of
your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the
Levites hastened it not. 6 And the king called for Jehoiada
the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to
bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the
commandment of Moses the servant of the LORD,
and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?
7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God;
and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD
did they bestow upon Baalim. 8 And at the king's commandment they
made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the LORD.
9 And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the
LORD
the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in
the wilderness. 10 And all the princes and all the people
rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an
end. 11 Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was
brought unto the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw
that there was much money, the king's scribe and the high priest's
officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place
again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.
12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of
the house of the LORD,
and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD,
and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the LORD.
13 So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set
the house of God in his state, and strengthened it. 14 And when
they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the
king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the LORD,
even vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and
vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of
the LORD
continually all the days of Jehoiada.
This account of Joash's good beginnings we had as it stands here 2 Kings xii.
1, &c., though the latter part of this chapter, concerning his apostasy,
we had little of there. What is good in men we should take all occasions to
speak of and often repeat it; what is evil we should make mention of but
sparingly, and no more than is needful. We shall here only observe, 1. That it
is a happy thing for young people, when they are setting out in the world, to
be under the direction of those that are wise and good and faithful to them,
as Joash was under the influence of Jehoiada, during whose time he did that
which was right. Let those that are young reckon it a blessing to them,
and not a burden and check upon them, to have those with them that will
caution them against that which is evil and advise and quicken them to that
which is good; and let them reckon it not a mark of weakness and subjection,
but of wisdom and discretion, to hearken to such. He that will not be
counselled cannot be helped. It is especially prudent for young people to take
advice in their marriages, as Joash did, who left it to his guardian to choose
him his wives, because Jezebel and Athaliah had been such plagues, v.
3. This is a turn of life which often proves either the making or marring of
young people, and therefore should be attended to with great care. 2. Men may
go far in the external performances of religion, and keep long to them, merely
by the power of their education and the influence of their friends, who yet
have no hearty affection for divine things nor any inward relish of them.
Foreign inducements may push men on to that which is good who are not actuated
by a living principle of grace in their hearts. 3. In the outward expressions
of devotion it is possible that those who have only the form of godliness may
out-strip those who have the power of it. Joash is more solicitous and more
zealous about the repair of the temple than Jehoiada himself, whom he reproves
for his remissness in that matter, v. 6. It is easier to build temples
than to be temples to God. 4. The repairing of churches is a good work, which
all in their places should promote, for the decency and conveniency of
religious assemblies. The learned tell us that in the Christian church,
anciently, part of the tithes were applied that way. 5. Many a good work would
be done that now lies undone if there were but a few active men to stir in it
and to put it forward. When Joash found the money did not come in as he
expected in one way he tried another way, and that answered the intention.
Many have honesty enough to follow that have not zeal enough to lead in that
which is good. The throwing of money into a chest, through a hole in the lid
of it, was a way that had not been used before, and perhaps the very novelty
of the thing made it a successful expedient for the raising of money; a great
deal was thrown in and with a great deal of cheerfulness: they all rejoiced, v.
10. An invention to please people's humour may sometimes bring them to their
duty. Wisdom herein is profitable to direct. 6. Faithfulness is the greatest
praise and will be the greatest comfort of those that are entrusted with
public treasure or employed in public business. The king and Jehoiada
faithfully paid the money to the workmen, who faithfully did the work, v.
12, 13.
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Joash
Slain by His Servants.
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B.
C. 845.
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15 But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days
when he died; a hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.
16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had
done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house. 17 Now
after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to
the king. Then the king hearkened unto them. 18 And they left the
house of the LORD God of their fathers, and
served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this
their trespass. 19 Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them
again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.
20 And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest,
which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why
transgress ye the commandments of the LORD,
that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you. 21 And they conspired against
him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of
the house of the LORD.
22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father
had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD
look upon it, and require it. 23 And it came to pass
at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and
they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people
from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of
Damascus. 24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company
of men, and the LORD
delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD
God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash. 25
And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,)
his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada
the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the
city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.
26 And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an
Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess. 27 Now concerning
his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him, and the
repairing of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of
the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
We have here a sad account of the degeneracy and apostasy of Joash. God had
done great things for him; he had done something for God; but now he proved
ungrateful to his God and false to the engagements he had laid himself under
to him. How has the gold become dim, and the most fine gold changed!
Here we find,
I. The occasions of his apostasy. When he did that which was right it was not
with a perfect heart. He never was sincere, never acted from principle,
but in compliance to Jehoiada, who had helped him to the crown, and because he
had been protected in the temple and rose upon the ruins of idolatry; and
therefore, when the wind turned, he turned with it. 1. His good counsellor
left him, and was by death removed from him. It was a mercy to him and his
kingdom that Jehoiada lived so long-130 years (v. 15), by which it
appears that he was born in Solomon's time, and had lived six entire reigns
before this. It was an encouragement to him to go on in that good way which
Jehoiada had trained him up in to see what honour was done to Jehoiada at his
death: They buried him among the kings, with this honourable encomium
(perhaps it was part of the inscription on his grave-stone), that he had
done good in Israel. Judah is called Israel, because, the other
tribes having revolted from God, they only were Israelites indeed. Note, It is
the greatest honour to do good in our generations, and those who do that
which is good shall have praise of the same. He had done good towards God;
not that any man's goodness can extend unto him, but he had done good towards
his house, in reviving the temple service, ch. xxiii. 8. Note, Those do
the greatest good to their country that lay out themselves in their places to
promote religion. Well, Jehoiada finished his course with honour; but the
little religion that Joash had was all buried in his grave, and, after his
death, both king and kingdom miserably degenerated. See how much one head may
sustain, and what a great judgment to any prince or people the death of godly,
zealous, useful men is. See how necessary it is that, as our Saviour speaks,
we have salt in ourselves, that we act in religion from an inward
principle, which will carry us on through all changes. Then the loss of a
parent, a minister, a friend, will not involve the loss of our religion. 2.
Bad counsellors got about him, insinuated themselves into his affections,
wheedled him, flattered him, made obeisance to him, and, instead of
condoling, congratulated him upon the death of his old tutor, as his release
from the discipline he had been so long under, unworthy a man, a king. They
tell him he must be priest-ridden no longer, he is now discharged from grave
lessons and restraints, he may do as he pleases: and (would you think it?)
the princes of Judah were the men that were so industrious to debauch him, v.
17. His father and grandfather were corrupted by the house of Ahab, from whom
no better could be expected. But that the princes of Judah should be seducers
to their king was very sad. But those that incline to the counsels of the
ungodly will never want ungodly counsellors. They made obeisance to the
king, flattered him into an opinion of his absolute power, promised to
stand by him in making his royal will and pleasure pass for a law, any divine
precept or institution to the contrary in any wise notwithstanding. And he
hearkened to them: their discourse pleased him, and was more agreeable than
Jehoiada's dictates used to be. Princes and inferior people have been many a
time thus flattered into their ruin by those who have promised them liberty
and dignity, but who have really brought them into the greatest servitude and
disgrace.
II. The apostasy itself: They left the house of God, and served groves and
idols, v. 18. The princes, it is likely, had a request to the king,
which they tell him they durst not offer while Jehoiada lived; but now they
hope it will give no offence: it is that they may set up the groves and idols
again which were thrown down in the beginning of his reign, for they hate to
be always confined to the dull old-fashioned service of the temple. And he not
only gave them leave to do it themselves, but he joined with them. The king
and princes, who, a little while ago, were repairing the temple, now forsook
the temple; those who had pulled down groves and idols now themselves served
them. So inconstant a thing is man and so little confidence is to be put in
him!
III. The aggravations of this apostasy and the additions of guilt to it. God sent
prophets to them (v. 19) to reprove them for their wickedness, and
to tell them what would be in the end thereof, and so to bring them again
unto the Lord. It is the work of ministers to bring people, not to
themselves, but to God--to bring those again to him who have gone a whoring
from him. In the most degenerate times God left not himself without
witness; though they had dealt very disingenuously with God, yet he sent
prophets to them to convince and instruct them, and to assure them that they
should find favour with him if yet they would return; for he would rather
sinners should turn and live than go on and die, and those that
perish shall be left inexcusable. The prophets did their part: they
testified against them; but, few or none received their testimony.
1. They slighted all the prophets; they would not give ear, were so strangely
wedded to their idols that no reproofs, warnings, threatenings, nor any of the
various methods which the prophets took to convince them would reclaim them.
Few would hear them, fewer would heed them, but fewest of all would believe
them or be governed by them.
2. They slew one of the most eminent, Zechariah the son of Jehoiada,
and perhaps others. Concerning him observe,
(1.) The message which he delivered to them in the name of God, v. 20.
The people were assembled in the court of the temple (for they had not quite
left it), probably on occasion of some solemn feast, when this Zechariah,
being filled with the spirit of prophecy, and known (it is likely) to be a
prophet, stood up in some of the desks that were in the court of the priests,
and very plainly, but without any provoking language, told the people of their
sin and what would be the consequences of it. He did not impeach any
particular persons, nor predict any particular judgments, as sometimes the
prophets did, but as inoffensively as possible reminded them of what was
written in the law. Let them but look into their Bibles, and there they would
find, [1.] The precept they broke: "You transgress the commandments of
the Lord, you know you do so, in serving groves and idols: and why will
you so offend God and wrong yourselves?" [2.] The penalty they incurred:
"You know, if the word of God be true, you cannot prosper in this evil
way; never expect to do ill and fare well. Nay, you find already that because
you have forsaken the Lord he hath forsaken you, as he told you he
would," Deut. xxix. 25; xxxi. 16, 17. This is the work of ministers, by
the word of God, as a lamp and a light, to expose the sin of men and expound
the providences of God.
(2.) The barbarous treatment they gave him for his kindness and faithfulness
in delivering this message to them, v. 21. By the conspiracy of the
princes, or some of their party, and by the commandment of the king,
who thought himself affronted by this fair warning, they stoned him to death
immediately, not under colour of law, accusing him as a blasphemer, a traitor,
or a false prophet, but in a popular tumult, in the court of the house of
the Lord--as horrid a piece of wickedness as perhaps any we read of in all
the history of the kings. The person was sacred--a priest, the place
sacred--the court of the temple (the inner court, between the porch and the
altar), the message yet more sacred, and we have reason to think
that they knew it came from the spirit of prophecy. The reproof was just, the
warning fair, both backed with scripture, and the delivery very gentle and
tender; and yet so impudently and daringly do they defy God himself that
nothing less than the blood of the prophet can satisfy their indignation at
the prophecy. Be astonished, O heavens! at this, and tremble, O
earth! that ever such villany should be committed by men, by Israelites,
in contempt and violation of every thing that is just, honourable, and
sacred--that a king, a king in covenant with God, should command the murder of
one whom it was his office to protect and countenance! The Jews say there were
seven transgressions in this; for they killed a priest, a prophet, a judge,
they shed innocent blood, and polluted the court of the temple, the sabbath,
and the day of expiation: for on that day, their tradition says, this
happened.
(3.) The aggravation of this sin, that this Zechariah, who suffered martyrdom
for his faithfulness to God and his country, was the son of Jehoiada, who had
done so much good in Israel, and particularly had been as a father to Joash, v.
22. The affront done by it to God, and the contempt put on religion, are not
so particularly taken notice of as the ingratitude there was in it to the
memory of Jehoiada. He remembered not the kindness of the father, but slew the
son for doing his duty, and what the father would have done if he had been
there. Call a man ungrateful, and you can call him no worse.
(4.) The dying martyr's prophetic imprecation of vengeance upon his murderers:
The Lord look upon it, and require it! This came not from a spirit of
revenge, but a spirit of prophecy: He will require it. This would be
the continual cry of the blood they shed, as Abel's blood cried against Cain:
"Let the God to whom vengeance belongs demand blood for blood. He will do
it, for he is righteous." This precious blood was quickly reckoned for in
the judgments that came upon this apostate prince; it came into the account
afterwards in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans--their misusing
the prophets was that which brought upon them ruin without remedy (ch.
xxxvi. 16); nay, our Saviour makes the persecutors of him and his gospel
answerable for the blood of this Zechariah; so loud, so long, does the blood
of the martyrs cry. See Matt. xxiii. 35. Such as this is the cry of the souls
under the altar (Rev. vi. 10), How long ere thou avenge our blood? For
it shall not always go unrevenged.
IV. The judgments of God which came upon Joash for this aggravated wickedness
of his. 1. A small army of Syrians made themselves masters of Jerusalem,
destroyed the princes, plundered the city, and sent the spoil of it to
Damascus, v. 23, 24. God's people, while they kept in with God, had
often been conquerors when the enemy had the advantage of the greater number;
but now, on the contrary, an inconsiderable handful of Syrians routed a very
great host of Israelites, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their
fathers, and then they were not only put upon the level with their
enemies, but opposed them with the utmost disadvantage; for their God not only
departed from them, but turned to be their enemy and fought against them.
The Syrians were employed as instruments in God's hand to execute judgments
against Joash, though they little thought so, Isa. x. 6, 7, and see Deut.
xxxii. 30. 2. God smote him with great diseases, of body, or mind, or both,
either like his grandfather (ch. xxi. 18), or, like Saul, an evil
spirit from God troubling him. While he was plagued with the Syrians he
thought that, if he could but get clear of them, he should do well enough.
But, before they departed from him, God smote him with diseases. If vengeance
pursue men, the end of one trouble will but be the beginning of another. 3.
His own servants conspired against him. Perhaps he began to hope his disease
would be cured--he was but a middle-aged man and might recover it; but he
that cometh up out of the pit shall fall into the snare. When he thought
he should escape death by sickness he met it by the sword. They slew him in
his bed for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada, by which it should seem
that he did not only slay Zechariah, but others of the sons of Jehoiada for
his sake. Perhaps those that slew him intended to take vengeance for
that blood; but, whether they did or not, this was what God intended in
permitting them to slay him. Those that drink the blood of the saints shall
have their own blood given them to drink, for they are worthy. The regicides
are here named (v. 26), and it is observable that the mothers of them
both were foreigners, one an Ammonitess and the other a Moabitess. The
idolatrous kings, it is likely, countenanced those marriages which the law
prohibited for the prevention of idolatry; and see how they resulted in their
own destruction. 4. His people would not bury him in the sepulchres of the
kings because he had stained his honour by his mal-administration. Let him
not be written with the righteous, Ps. lxix. 28. These judgments are
called the burdens laid upon him (v. 27), for the wrath of God
is a heavy burden, too heavy for any man to bear. Or it may be meant of the
threatenings denounced against him by the prophets, for those are called burdens.
Usually God sets some special marks of his displeasure upon apostates in this
life, for warning to all to remember Lot's wife.
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