II Chronicles 22:10-24:27; II Kings 13
“Treason! Treason!” (II Ch. 23:13)
So screams Athaliah, who herself treasonously stole the throne of Judah — how familiar that sounds! — when Jehoiada the priest reveals Joash/Jehoash as the rightful king of Judah. Joash, rescued as a baby by Jehosheba/Jehoshabeath, Jehoiada’s wife and Joash’s aunt, grows up hidden away in the Temple. Under Jehoiada’s protection, Joash comes to his throne at the age of seven. The first order of business is the execution of Athaliah, so for her fans it may indeed look like treason, but in reality it is restoration — restoration of the Davidic line to the throne, as well as restoration of the worship of the LORD. (II Ch. 23:16-21)
Growing up under Jehoiada’s godly tutelage, Joash does well, making repairs to the Temple, replacing utensils and vessels of gold and silver, and otherwise practicing the proper sacrifices to the LORD. (II Ch. 24:14) But when Jehoiada dies, Joash falls away into idolatry. He even kills Jehoiada’s son, Zechariah, in the Temple courts. (II Ch. 24:17-22) Again we see a good beginning — but a poor ending.
So what about us? Am I living someone else’s faith and convictions? Am I going through the motions of Christianity to please my parents or my spouse or my pastor/priest or anybody else? Am I just doing what someone else is guiding me to do? Or is my faith truly my own? Am I convinced within my own heart of God’s love? Do I, myself, truly believe in the Resurrection? No one else’s faith will do.
Whew. I don’t know about y’all, but my head starts spinning during many of the readings lately—using the same names for children and grandchildren in both Judah and Israel is confusing me! And it doesn’t help that the names are spelled differently or even changed completely in different verses…
For example: Jehoram, king of Judah, had one son left to him—“Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons” (2Chronicles 21:17).
2 Chronicles 22:2 states, “Ahaziah was 42 years old when he became king …” (the same youngest son has a second, totally different name here? Evidently, yes.)
But Jehoram “was 32 years old when he became king. He reigned 8 years…” before he died (2 Chronicles 21:22). That makes him 40 years old at his death. How was his youngest son 42 when he started his reign? What am I getting confused here?
Yes, it is definitely confusing. And we need to allow for the possibility of the occasional minor transcription error, which goes to say that “42 years old” is evidently incorrect. II Kings 8:26 says he was 22. The Septuagint Greek version of II Ch. 22:2 (as opposed to the Masoretic Hebrew) says 20…