In Friday's study the priest Jehoiada revealed to the army commanders and the leaders of Israel the existence of an heir to the throne. He showed them Joash, the only surviving son of Ahaziah, who has been hidden at the temple for six years, ever since the priest's wife Jehosheba (the child's aunt) managed to escape the palace with the infant when Ahaziah's mother, Athaliah, ordered the execution of all of Ahaziah's sons. Athaliah has been reigning on her own ever since, not realizing that one of the children escaped the slaughter. But now the time has come to reveal the child's existence, to declare him king, and to rid the nation of the wicked Athaliah.
Now that Jehoiada has gathered many supporters who have taken an oath in the Lord's name to give their allegiance to Joash as king, he lays out his plan for placing the rightful heir on the throne. "Jehoiada said to them: 'The king's son shall reign, as the Lord promised concerning the descendants of David.'" (2 Chronicles 23:3b) Not only does Joash have a familial/political right to reign due to being the only living direct descendant of the late King Ahaziah, but he has the spiritual right to reign too. The Lord promised David that he would always have a direct descendant to sit on the throne. If all the sons of Ahaziah had been wiped out, this would not be possible, but there is a surviving heir thanks to the bravery of the godly Jehosheba. Through this woman the Lord preserved the line of David and kept His promise; now Jehoiada and these men who are on his side have an obligation to obey the Lord and place the crown on the head of David's descendant.
Jehoiada continues: "Now this is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who are going on duty on the Sabbath are to keep watch at the doors, a third of you at the royal palace and a third at the Foundation Gate, and all the others are to be in the courtyards of the temple of the Lord. No one is to enter the temple of the Lord except the priests and Levites who are on duty; they may enter because they are consecrated, but all the others are to observe the Lord's command not to enter. The Levites are to station themselves around the king, each with weapon in hand. Anyone who enters the temple is to be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes." (2 Chronicles 23:4-7)
Jehoiada has chosen the Sabbath day to declare Joash king. This is the day of the week when far more people would be in the vicinity of the temple than normal, thus the crowd called together by Jehoiada in yesterday's passage won't draw attention or suspicion. Also it is the day of the week when more priests and Levites would normally be on hand. The group on duty would change out every Sabbath day with an incoming group but not until evening, so the incoming group and the outgoing group would be present all day together. This is another reason for choosing the Sabbath as the day to crown the king because the people are used to seeing double the number of priests and Levites on the Sabbath. In verses 4 through 7 above it appears that all of the priests and Levites of the kingdom of Judah are present and divided into three groups, so there are actually three times the number of them in town on the Sabbath, but they will be stationed at three different places. Athaliah's allies won't notice that an unusual number of priests and Levites are in Jerusalem because they won't all be in the same place.
To emphasize to these men that they are doing the Lord's work by ensuring that a descendant of David's is preserved and proclaimed as king, the priest gives them special weapons and shields. "The commanders of units of a hundred did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each one took his men---those who were going on duty on the Sabbath and those who were going off duty---and came to Jehoiada the priest. Then he gave the commanders the spears and shields that had belonged to King David and that were in the temple of the Lord." (2 Kings 11:9-10) Bearing the spears and shields of David reminds these men that this is a "holy war". Athaliah---the Baal-worshiping daughter of the evil King Ahab and Queen Jezebel---has no right to rule the land. She has no right familialy, politically, or spiritually. Only Joash has any claim to the crown and if these men are on the Lord's side then they must be on Joash's side. Taking up the shields and spears commissioned by David gives them the assurance that the Lord fights with them as they fight for David's descendant.
Jehoiada orders them to encircle the child with weapons at the ready. No on in Jerusalem is in more danger than Joash, for Athaliah has proven in the past that she will stop at nothing to retain power. She was willing and eager to have all her grandsons killed and it's only by the mercy of God and by the obedience of those who still serve God that one grandson escaped and has been protected ever since. "He stationed all the men, each with his weapon in his hand, around the king---near the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple." (2 Chronicles 23:10)
"Jehoiada brought out the king's son and put the 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!'" (2 Kings 11:12) The author of 2 Chronicles adds the information that Jehoiada was accompanied by his sons. "Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king's son and put the crown on him." (2 Chronicles 23:11a)
The "copy of the covenant"---the law given to the people by the Lord through Moses---was commanded to be in the possession of each of the nation's kings. Each king was to read from his copy of the covenant every day of his life. The Lord said of each man who would become king: "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 Levitical priests. 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 fellow Israelites 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." (Deuteronomy 17:18-20)
Writing out his own copy of the covenant would make it feel more personal to the king. It would also enhance his understanding of it. Since Joash's copy is already finished, Jehoiada must have tutored him all these years in reading and writing so the child could begin writing out his own copy in the weeks or months leading up to his coronation. When the people assembled at and around the temple on the Sabbath day hear the news that Ahaziah has a surviving heir, and when they see the crown placed on his head and the copy of the covenant placed into his hands, and when they hear the priest proclaiming him as king, a great shout of joy goes up. The people clap their hands and praise the Lord that a direct descendant of David is alive after all and will sit on David's throne just as the Lord promised.
During the six years in which the child was hidden, the people must have wondered how the Lord was going to keep that promise. They must have assumed, as the wicked Athaliah did, that all the male heirs of Ahaziah were dead. How, then, was the Lord going to make His words come true? They must have wondered at times whether they could still trust the word of the Lord. They may even have been angry at the Lord. They have endured six very long and very dark years and there may have been days when they couldn't envision things ever getting any better. I've been through times like that, haven't you? In fact, I've been going through the darkest winter of my life so far and there have been days when I've almost despaired of ever feeling joy again. But just as the Lord wasn't through with the dynasty of David, the Lord isn't through with me either. And He isn't through with you! Right now we may have no idea when or how He is going to shine a bright and beautiful light into our darkness but we must keep trusting that He will because it is His nature to turn darkness into light. It is His nature to bring joy out of sorrow. Any day now we will be able to say to Him: "You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing Your praises and not be silent. Lord my God, I will praise You forever." (Psalm 30:11-12)
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