CHAPTER XVIII.

JOASH OF JUDAH.

Coronation of Joash followed by solemn renewal of the Covenant Destruction of the temple of Baal and abolition of Baalism-Re-establishment in proper form of the Temple services by Jehoiada, and renovation of the Temple itself by Joash-Supposed "malversation' of the Levites not borne out by the narrative-Death and funeral of Jehoiada- Partial restoration of idolatry-Murder of Zechariah— Legend with respect to his blood-Judæa invaded by Hazael-Gath taken-Jerusalem purchases its safety-Illness of Joash-His murder by some of his household-His burial.

I

THE coronation of Joash, described in the last section, was followed by two scenes of striking interest. Jehoiada, whose position seems to have given him the regency without any need of formal appointment, took the opportunity of the great gathering in the Temple, and the general exaltation of feeling produced by the events of the day, to bind the people afresh to God by a solemn league and covenant, so that "the joyous festival of homage to the young king became on this occasion identical with that of renewed allegiance to Jehovah." Such a solemn covenant had been first made by the nation at Sinai (Exod. xxiv. 3-8); but there had been a repetition of it in the fifteenth year of Asa (2 Chron. xv. 9–15) after the half-apostasy of Rehoboam and Abijam ; and Jehoiada now, either following this example, or moved by his own feeling of what was right and fitting, caused the nation for the third time to renew the sacred engagement. Later in the history, Hezekiah (2 Chron. xxix. 10) and Josiah (ibid. xxxiv. 41) did the same, regarding such solemn renewal of obligations as necessary, or at any rate appropriate, whenever the nation generally had fallen away from God and lapsed into idolatry.

Ewald, "History of Israel," vol. iv. p. 136.

The other incident of importance was the fierce assault made upon Baalism. From the inner court of the Temple, which was the scene of the coronation, the multitudes, beyond all doubt encouraged by Jehoiada, streamed forth to the neighbouring seat of idol-worship, bent upon its complete demolition. "The people of the land went into the house of Baal, and brake it down" (2 Kings xi. 18). It was a popular outburst. A multi. tude is always ready to destroy, and few kinds of destruction are so agreeable to the mob, whether Eastern or Western, as those which come under the designation of iconoclasm. Baal's sanctuary was soon torn down, the altars and images which adorned it broken to pieces, and Mattan the high-priest slain as he officiated. Baal-worship was thus for a time completely rooted out of Judah, and the old religion resumed its place.

But much required to be done, before the destruction wrought by Athaliah could be repaired and obliterated. The venerable fabric of the Temple had suffered considerably at the hands of the wicked queen and those who are called "her sons" (2 Chron. xxiv. 7). Breaches had been broken in it (2 Kings xii. 5); its stones had been removed to be used elsewhere; and nothing had been done to check or hinder the progress of natural decay. As some understand an important passage of Chronicles,' its very foundations had suffered and required to be renewed. Its treasures had also been plundered, its "dedicated things" carried off, and its vessels employed in the service of Baal. The porters had been removed from the gates, and unclean persons allowed to enter in (2 Chron. xxiii. 19)—probably unclean things also, as will always happen when a place is uncared for. As the king was so young, the work of renovation and restoration fell to Jehoiada. His first care was to renew the personal staff on the old scale-the scale appointed by David; for which purpose he re-established the courses of the priests and Levites, set in order the sacrificial and the musical services (ibid. ver. 18), and once more placed porters in all the gates. To the fabric he appears to have paid less regard; and it was not until the young king was so far grown up as to be allowed a voice in the management of affairs, that the repair and renewal of the building was seriously taken in hand. Then, however, a great effort was made. A large portion of the offerings given by the

1 2 Chron. xxiv. 7. Comp. Stanley, "Lectures on the Jewish Church," vol. ii. p. 343.

faithful year by year for the service of the Temple and the support of the priests was, it was agreed, to be set aside and devoted wholly to the repairs, which would (it was thought) in this way be speedily completed (2 Kings xii. 4, 5; 2 Chron. xxiv. 4, 5). A delay, however, occurred, which is unexplained; and it required another impulse from the king for the matter to be placed on a sound footing, and the work begun and in a short time finished. The "repairs" seem to have amounted to an almost complete renovation of the edifice by carpenters, masons, and builders, who with "timber and hewn stone" (2 Kings xii. 12), and “iron and brass” (2 Chron. xxiv. 12), “mended " the house of the Lord, and "set it in its state and strengthened it" (ibid. ver. 13). When the repairs were completed, the overplus of the money subscribed was utilized for the holy vessels required in the various services, for "vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver" (ibid. ver. 14)-probably for "bowls of silver, snuffers, basons, trumpets" (2 Kings xii. 13), and the like—in fact, for replacing all those "dedicated things" of which the house of Jehovah had been plundered, and which had been irremediably desecrated by employment in the worship of Baal.

It has been supposed that, in the course of the proceedings with respect to the repairs, a suspicion of malversation on the part of the priests and Levites arose in the king's mind, who "gently but decidedly rebuked" the sacerdotal order for conduct which verged upon dishonesty, and made arrangements the object of which was to check and foil their rapacity for the future. But the accounts which have come down to us in Kings and Chronicles fail to justify any such "unpleasant" supposition, being incompatible with a belief in the dishonesty of the priests, if not expressly denying it.2 All that the priests and Levites are fairly taxable with, is a want of business-like capacity, which the king's arrangements remedied, and thus there was no rupture," open or secret, between the monarch and the sacerdotal order, so long as Jehoiada was alive. Jehoiada enjoyed the king's full confidence till the day of his death, which was at any rate later than the twenty-third year of his reign (2 Kings xii. 6, 7), probably several years later. Joash was guided by Jehoiada's "instructions" (ibid. ver. 2), took wives at his suggestion (2 Chron. xxiv. 3), and must have been a consenting Stanley, pp. 343, 344. 2 See 2 Kings xii. 15.

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party to the extraordinary honours which were paid him at his decease. As preserver of the royal dynasty, and as restorer of the Lord's house, the great high-priest was granted a distinction never allowed to any other subject during the whole period of the monarchy--he was buried in state within the walls of the city of David, in the sepulchres of the kings (2 Chron. xxiv. 16). It was subsequently to this event that troubles arose in the state in connection with religion, and the priestly order was alienated from the king by his apostasy from Jehovah. Accustomed from his childhood to lean upon some external support, Joash, on losing the adviser of his youth and middle age, accepted for guides and counsellors "the princes of Judah" or the heads of the Jewish aristocracy. These persons, though they had joined in the revolt against Athaliah (2 Chron. xxiii. 2), were now, five and twenty or thirty years later, ill-disposed towards the Jehovistic worship, and anxious for a toleration, at any rate, of the licentious and seductive rites connected with Baalism. They approached the king with soft speech, offering him obsequious homage (ibid. xxiv. 17), and obtained his consent to the re-introduction of "grove-worship" and other forms of idolatry. At once a fierce opposition was roused. The priests and the prophetical order raised their voices against the defection. A multitude of fierce denunciations—“ burdens," in the language of the time (2 Kings ix. 25; 2 Chron. xxiv. 27)—were uttered, and perhaps written and circulated,' by persons possessed with the spirit of prophecy, who predicted national calamities as the sure result of the national sin (2 Chron. xxiv. 19). Among these prophets of evil there was one conspicuous above all the rest. Jehoiada had been succeeded in the high-priesthood by his son Zechariah; and Zechariah was bound by the nature of his office to lead the opposition. Moreover, there fell upon him suddenly, as he stood raised above the rest of the people in the Temple court, the prophetic spirit, and he shouted out: "Thus saith God-Why transgress ye the commandment of the Lord, so that ye cannot prosper? Because ye have forsaken the Lord, He hath also forsaken you” (2 Chron. xxiv. 20), The words were reported to the king, and an order obtained from him for Zechariah's execution (ibid. ver. 21), which was at once carried into effect. In the Temple court, right in front

The writer of Chronicles had, apparently, seen the "burdens" (2 Chron. xxiv. 27).

of the holy edifice, and probably not far from the altar,' God's high-priest, the son of the man who had placed the king upon the throne, was, by that king's command, ruthlessly stoned to death, for vindicating God's honour and resisting a national apostasy. It has been charitably suggested, that by "the commandment of the king" we should understand some "hasty words" like those of Henry II. which led to the murder of Becket; but the expression will scarcely bear this interpretation. The murder is reckoned by the writer who records it as the sin of Joash (2 Chron. xxiv. 22), and on Joash, he tells us, it was requited (ibid. vers. 24, 25).

After ages declared, that the blood of Zechariah continually bubbled up from the part of the pavement on which he fell.3 When the Babylonian general, Nebuzaradan, after the capture of Jerusalem, entered the Temple court, he was struck by the phenomenon, and inquired into its cause. The Temple servants strove to persuade him that the blood was that of victims recently offered; but when he confuted them by himself slaying sacrificial animals, whose blood did not bubble, they confessed the truth. The blood was that of a prophet, priest, and judge, who had foretold all the calamities which Jerusalem had just suffered at his hands and at those of Nebuchadnezzar, and who for his plain-speaking had been done to death by his own countrymen upon the spot. On hearing this, the Babylonian general, bent on propitiating the martyr, slew on the place, by thousands, all the rabbis, the school-children, and the young priests, on whom he could lay his hands-but still the blood bubbled on. Then he cried—“O Zechariah, Zechariah; thou hast destroyed the best of thy people; wouldst thou have me destroy all?"—and the blood was quiet, and ceased to bubble.

The last words of Zechariah, as he gave up the ghost, were— "The Lord look upon this, and requite it" (2 Chron. xxiv. 22). Vengeance, he knew, was God's; and to God it belonged to exact a penalty for each act of wickedness. To God consequently he made appeal; and his appeal was heard and answered. Within less than a year, Hazael, the brave and warlike king of

1 See Matt. xxiii. 35. It is doubted whether our Lord referred to this Zechariah; but, on the whole, the arguments on the affirmative side preponderate. 2 Stanley, "Jewish Church," vol. ii. p. 345.

3 See the Talmud, Taanith, quoted by Bishop Lightfoot in his comment on Matt. xxiii. 35.