2 Chronicles 24:1-27

2 Chronicles: God desires loyal people

The *Kingdom called Judah

2 Chronicles Chapter s 10 to 36

Ian Mackervoy

Chapter 24

While Jehoiada was alive – 2 Chronicles 24:1-16

v1 Joash was 7 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 40 years. His mother’s name was Zibiah, and she was from Beersheba. v2 Joash obeyed the *LORD as long as Jehoiada the priest was alive. v3 Jehoiada chose two wives for Joash, and Joash had sons and daughters.

v4 Some time later, Joash decided to repair the *LORD’s *temple. v5 He called the priests and the *Levites together. He said to them, ‘Go to the towns of Judah. Collect the money that the *Israelites have to pay each year. Use that money to repair the *temple of your God. Go and do it now.’ But the *Levites did not hurry to do it.

v6 So, the king called for Jehoiada, the chief priest to come to him. He said to him, ‘You should have made the *Levites bring in the tax money. The people in Judah and in Jerusalem should have paid this tax. Moses, the *LORD’s servant charged this tax on the *Israelites to use for the holy tent.’

v7 The sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into God’s *temple. And they had used the holy things to *worship the *Baals.

v8 The king ordered the *Levites to make a box. They put it outside, at the gate of the *LORD’s *temple. v9 Then they made a declaration in Judah and in Jerusalem. It ordered the people to bring to the *LORD the tax money. Moses introduced this tax on the *Israelites. They paid this tax while they were in the desert. v10 All the officials and all of the people were happy to bring their tax money. They put it in the box until the box was full. v11 The *Levites brought the box to the king’s officers. Each time they brought in the box, it contained a large amount of money. The royal secretary and the chief priest’s officer would come. They would take the money out of the box. And the *Levites would put the box outside the gate again. They did this each day and they collected a lot of money. v12 The king and Jehoiada gave the money to those who maintained the *temple. They hired workers in stone and in wood to repair the *LORD’s *temple. Also, they hired workers in iron and in *bronze to repair the *temple.

v13 These workers worked hard. And the work to repair the *temple was successful. They built again God’s *temple to be as it was before, but even stronger. v14 When the workers had finished, they had not spent all the money. They brought the rest of the money to the king and to Jehoiada. The king and Jehoiada used that money to make things for the *LORD’s *temple. There were things for use in the *temple *worship. There were things for use when the priests gave *sacrifices by fire. There were bowls and tools of gold and silver. While Jehoiada was alive, there were *sacrifices by fire every day in the *LORD’s *temple.

v15 Jehoiada grew old and he had lived many years. Then he died at the age of 130 years. v16 He had done many good things in *Israel, for God and for God’s *temple. So, they buried him with the kings in the city of David.

Verses 1-3 Joash was the young son of Ahaziah and the grandson of Athaliah. He was 7 years old when he began to rule. He ruled over Judah for 40 years, from 837 to 797 *BC.

During the earlier years of his rule, Joash was loyal to God. But he did not remove the high places for *worship in Judah (2 Kings 12:2-3). He ruled well while Jehoiada was alive. But in later years, he *turned from the *LORD and from the *temple. Jehoiada was still alive in the 23rd year of the rule of Joash. So, Joash *turned from the *LORD probably in his last 10 or 15 years.

Athaliah’s actions had left nobody in the family of David to be king after Joash. So, Jehoiada arranged for Joash to be married at a young age to two wives. Joash had sons and daughters by these wives. One of them was probably Jehoaddan from Jerusalem. She was the mother of Amaziah (25:1). Joash died at the age of about 45 years. His son Amaziah began to rule when he was 25 years old.

Verses 4-7 During the time of Jehoram and Athaliah, they neglected the *LORD’s *temple. Before she killed them, Athaliah’s sons had broken into the *temple. They had taken many things from the *LORD’s *temple to use in the *worship of the *Baals. So, the *temple was in a bad state and it needed repair.

There were several forms of the god called Baal. Also, the plural Baals seems to refer to images of the gods. The word baal meant *lord or god. Baal was a name that people gave to many gods. So, Athaliah may have *worshipped several different gods.

Joash decided to repair the *LORD’s *temple. He told the priests and the *Levites to go to all the towns in Judah. He told them to collect money from the *Israelites. That money would then pay for the repairs to the *temple. But the *Levites were slow and they did not do it.

There were three sources of income for the *temple. There was the money that people gave for the work of the *temple. Also, when people visited the *temple they gave gifts for the *temple. And there was the tax that Moses charged (2 Kings 12:4). This tax was half a *shekel of silver for everyone who was over the age of 20 years (Exodus 30:11-16). The *Levites did not collect this tax money.

Jehoiada ought to have made the *Levites go to collect the tax. Joash asked him why he had not done so.

Verses 8-12 By the 23rd year of Joash’s rule the repairs had not started. So, he ordered the priests and the *Levites not to take any more money from the *temple stores for themselves. But he ordered them to take money from these stores. And he ordered them to give it to those who would repair the *temple.

The king told them to put a large box outside the *temple near the *altar at the south gate. The box had a lid on it. There was a hole in the lid for people to put their money in. The leaders made a declaration through all Jerusalem and Judah. It ordered all the people to bring their tax money and to put it in the box at the *temple. The leaders and people were happy and they paid this tax.

Each time that the box was full, the *Levites took it to the officers. There were two officers. One was the king’s secretary and the other was the chief priest’s officer. They counted the money and they put it into bags. The king and Jehoiada gave the money to those who repaired the *temple. And the *Levites put the empty box back in its place.

Verses 13-14 Those responsible for the work, the workers in stone, wood, iron and *bronze all worked hard. And they completed the task. The *temple was as good as it had ever been. All these workers were honest. There was no need to check how they used the money.

At the end of the job, they still had a lot of money. They brought this money to the king and to Jehoiada. With this money, they replaced all the holy things that Athaliah’s sons and other people had taken. They made all that they needed in the work of the *temple.

While Jehoiada was alive, they gave daily *sacrifices by fire to the *LORD.

Verses 15-16 Jehoiada lived for a long time. He died at the age of 130 years. This was older than Moses, who lived to 120. And it was older than Aaron, who lived to 123. Jehoiada probably became chief priest when the chief priest Amariah died (19:11).

Jehoiada had done many good things and the people respected him. He had been loyal to the *LORD and to the royal family all his life. He was an important helper to the king because Joash was not a strong king. While Jehoiada lived, he kept Joash loyal to the *LORD. As a special honour, they buried Jehoiada with the kings in the city of David.

Joash *turns away from the *LORD – 2 Chronicles 24:17-27

v17 After Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah came to the king. They fell down in front of him and he listened to them. v18 So, the king and these leaders did not *worship in the *LORD’s *temple. They did not *worship their *ancestor’s God. Instead, they *worshipped the *Asherah poles and false gods. Because they were guilty of this *sin, God was angry with the people in Judah and in Jerusalem. v19 The *LORD sent *prophets to the people to *turn them back to him. The *prophets warned them but they refused to listen.

v20 Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest. Zechariah stood in front of the people and he spoke to them. ‘God says: “You do not obey the *LORD’s commands. So, you will not be successful. Because you have left the *LORD, he also has left you.” ’

v21 But the people plotted against Zechariah. And the king ordered them to kill Zechariah with stones. They killed him in the outer area of the *LORD’s *temple. v22 King Joash did not remember how kind Jehoiada had been to him. And Joash killed Zechariah, Jehoiada’s son. But as Zechariah died, he said, ‘I pray that the *LORD will see this. And I pray that the *LORD will punish you because of it.’

v23 At the beginning of the year, the army of Aram came against Joash. They attacked Judah and Jerusalem. They killed the leaders of the people. And they sent all the valuable things that they had taken to their king in Damascus. v24 The army that came from Aram was small. But the *LORD caused them to defeat the much larger army of Judah. The people in Judah had *turned from the *LORD, the God of their *ancestors. That is why the *LORD punished Joash. v25 When the people from Aram went away, they left Joash very sick. Joash’s officials plotted against him because he had killed Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest. So, they killed Joash in his own bed. And when he was dead, they buried him in Jerusalem. However, they did not bury him in the graves of the kings.

v26 The officials who plotted against Joash were Zabad and Jehozabad. Zabad was the son of Shimeath, a woman from the country called Ammon. And Jehozabad was the son of Shimrith, a woman from the country called Moab. v27 There are records of the story about Joash’s sons and of the *prophecies about him. There is a record of how he made repairs to God’s *temple. These records are in the book of the kings. And Joash’s son Amaziah replaced him as king.

Verses 17-19 While he was alive, Jehoiada gave good advice to King Joash. Jehoiada was like a father to him. From the age of about one year old, Jehoiada and Jehoshabeath brought him up. Jehoiada had shown Joash how he ought to live and how to rule Judah. Now that Jehoiada was dead, the weak king needed other advice.

The officials of Judah had supported the plan to make Joash king. They had agreed to Jehoiada’s plan. They hated the rule of Athaliah. And they were glad when she died. But in their hearts and minds, they had not *turned from the false gods of *Asherah and Baal. Now they came and they fell down in front of King Joash. They made him feel great and important. They tried to replace Jehoiada and they gave their advice to the king. And he followed their advice.

The leaders persuaded the king that it was not necessary to *worship God in the *temple. So, they and the king did not *worship in the *LORD’s *temple. Instead, they *worshipped at the high places. There they *turned from the *LORD and they *worshipped *Asherah and Baal. Then the people in Judah did the same as their leaders. This made the *LORD angry with the people.

The *LORD sent *prophets to warn the people. There were several *prophets from the time when Jehoshaphat ruled. These *prophets taught the people what God said. Among these were Elisha, Micaiah, Jehu, son of Hanani, Jahaziel, son of Zechariah, (20:14), and Eliezer, son of Dodavah (20:37). Then the *LORD sent Zechariah, son of Jehoiada. But the people refused to listen to the *prophets. The people would not *repent of their *sin. They would not *turn back to the *LORD.

Verses 20-22 The *LORD spoke to the people by Zechariah. He told the people that God had *turned away from them. That was because they had *turned away from God. Without God’s help, they could not be successful.

Zechariah was like a brother to Joash. Joash was alive and he was king only because of Jehoiada the priest. But that was not important to Joash. When the people plotted against Zechariah, Joash ordered them to kill him. They killed him with stones in the outer square of the *temple.

As Zechariah died, he prayed. He prayed that the *LORD would see it. And he prayed that the *LORD would punish Joash because of it.

Verses 23-25 Less than a year after Zechariah died, the army of King Hazael of Aram attacked Judah. They *captured the city called Gath. Gath was a city to the west of Judah in the territory of the *Philistines. Then Hazael’s army turned and it attacked Judah and Jerusalem. They killed many of the leaders of Judah. These leaders had led the people to *turn away from the *LORD.

Then Joash took all the valuable things from the *LORD’s *temple. Since the days of King Asa, the kings and people had given these as gifts to the *LORD. But Joash sent them all to King Hazael (2 Kings 12:17-18). The soldiers of Aram took all these things to King Hazael in Damascus. Damascus was the capital city of Aram. Then Hazael’s army went away from Jerusalem.

The army of Hazael was small. But they defeated the much larger army of Judah. That was a punishment from the *LORD because Joash and the people in Judah had *turned from him. They were not loyal to the God of their *ancestors.

In the battle, Joash received a bad injury. He lay in his bed in the house of Millo (2 Kings 12:20). That was probably in Jerusalem. Some of his officials came and they killed him in his bed. That was because Joash had killed Zechariah, son of Jehoiada. They buried Joash in Jerusalem. But they did not bury him in the graves of the kings. He was not good enough for that honour.

Verses 26-27 The two officials who killed Joash were sons of foreign women. Because they murdered the king, Amaziah killed them (25:3). Amaziah was Joash’s son.

In the book of the kings, there was a record of Joash’s life. It told how he ordered the repairs to the *LORD’s *temple. It recorded the *prophecies against him. And it contained details of his family.

Amaziah replaced his father, Joash as king.

Amaziah – 2 Chronicles 25:1-28

kingdom ~ the place or territory where a king rules; or, the people that a king rules over.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It means that God has always been.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
temple ~ a special building for the worship of God or of other gods. The Jews had one in Jerusalem for the worship of the real God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
Jews ~ another name for the *Israelites.
Levite ~ a person who belongs to the tribe of Levi.
tribe ~ the *Israelites were divided into the 12 families of the sons of Jacob. These families are the 12 tribes of *Israel.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
bronze ~ a metal that glows when it is in a fire. When a person polishes it, it shines in the light. And it is very strong.
sacrifice ~ something that people give to God. If it was an animal, the priests would burn all or part of it on an altar. That was to say thank you to God, or to ask him to forgive. God made Jesus to be a sacrifice because of our sins. To sacrifice is to give a sacrifice.
altar ~ the special table that someone made out of stone or wood or metal; on it they burnt animals or they offered other gifts to God or to false gods.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
BC ~ years before Christ was born.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
LORD ~ ‘LORD’ is the special name that God gave to himself. It means that God has always been.
lord ~ someone with authority such as the king.
shekel ~ equal to 0.4 ounces (11 grams) in weight.
altar ~ the special table that someone made out of stone or wood or metal; on it they burnt animals or they offered other gifts to God or to false gods.
ancestors ~ people in history that your family has come from.
Asherah ~ a female god.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
prophet ~ person who speaks on behalf of God. He or she can sometimes say what will happen in the future. Some prophets worshipped false gods. So, not all prophets spoke words from God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
prophecy ~ a message from God; a gift of the Holy Spirit. But sometimes false prophets tried to speak a prophecy.
prophet ~ person who speaks on behalf of God. He or she can sometimes say what will happen in the future. Some prophets worshipped false gods. So, not all prophets spoke words from God.
worship ~ to praise God and to give thanks to him; to show honour to God and to say that we love him very much. But some people worship false gods instead of the real God.
repent ~ to change the mind; to turn away from sin and to turn to God.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are sinners.
turn ~ to decide to support someone. Or, to decide to oppose someone. If a person ‘turns away from God’, that person decides not to be loyal to God. If a person ‘turns to God’, that person decides to be loyal to God.
capture ~ to fight for something and to make it yours as a result; or, to make somebody a prisoner.
Philistines ~ people who lived to the south and west of Judah. They were a nation that fought with the *Israelites.