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him, they buried him: Because, said they, he [is] the son of Jehoshaphat, who sought the LORD with all his heart. So the house of Ahaziah had no power to keep still the kingdom.

But when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the 11 house of Judah. But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, and put him and his nurse in a bedchamber. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of king Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest, (for she was the sister of Ahaziah,) 12 hid him from Athaliah, so that she slew him not. And he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.

CHAP. XXIII.

Jehoiada maketh Joash king; Athaliah is slain ; and Jehoiada restoreth the worship of God.

1

ND in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son 2 of Zichri, into covenant with him. And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. 3 And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son 4 shall reign, as the LORD hath said of the sons of David. This [is] the thing that ye shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the priests and of the Levites, [shall be] por5 ters of the doors; And a third part [shall be] at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the foundation : and all the people [shall be] in the courts of the house of the LORD. 6 But let none come into the house of the LORD, save the priests, and they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they 7 [are] holy but all the people shall keep the watch of the LORD. And the Levites shall compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his hand; and whosoever [else] cometh into the house, he shall be put to death: but be ye with the 8 king when he cometh in, and when he goeth out. So the Levites and all Judah did according to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them that were to go [out] on the sabbath for Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses. 9 Moreover Jehoiada the priest delivered to the captains of hun dreds spears, and bucklers, and shields, that [had been] king 10 David's, which [were] in the house of God. And he set all the VOL. III. Nan

people, every man having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the 11 altar and the temple, by the king round about. Then they

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brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and [gave him] the testimony, and made him king and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.

Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of 13 the LORD: And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of music, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes 14 and said, Treason, Treason! Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her forth of the rangers: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priests 15 said, Slay her not in the house of the LORD. So they laid hands on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by the king's house, they slew her there.

16

And Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the king, that they should be the 17 LORD'S people. Then all the people went to the house of Baal, and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces, 18 and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the LORD by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as [it is] written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with sing19 ing, [as it was ordained] by David. And he set the porters at the gates of the house of the LORD, that none [which was] un30 clean in any thing should enter in. And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought down the king from the house of the LORD: and they came through the high gate into the king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom. And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.

CHAP. XXIV.

Joash during the time of Jehoiada, reigns well, and repairs the temple; but afterwards apostatizes from God, and is slain.

'Jo

OASH [was] seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name 2 also [was] Zibeah of Beersheba. And Joash did [that which was] right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the

priest; but he did not take away the high places, 2 Kings xii. 3. he durst not attempt that, (they were not taken away till the time of Hezekiah) though he sacrificed only to the true God. 3 And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters; he was directed in his choice by this good high priest.

4

And it came to pass after this, [that] Joash was minded to repair the house of the LORD, which was gone to decay, having been neglected in the former reign, out of gratitude to God for having 5 been preserved there. 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. There was a spirit of carelessness and indevotion among them; and we read elsewhere, that nothing was done for twenty three years. The king therefore took another 6 method, and appointed other people. And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not requir ed 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 tab7 ernacle of witness? For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked wo man, 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 to adorn the temple and promote the worship of Baal. And at the king's commandment they made a chest, with a slit in the top to put in money, and set it without at the gate of the house of the 9 LORD. 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, for build10 ing the tabernacle. And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end, till they had brought in enough, for they offered free11 ly to this service. 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; this was done in the presence of the high priest's officer and the secretary of state, that there might be no fraud. Thus they did day by day, 12 and gathered money in abundance. And the king and Jehoia da 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 13 mend the house of the LORD. So the workmen wrought, and

It is called in 2 Kings xii. 4 the money of the dedicated things, what were, or should have been, devoted to God, beside the half shekel for all above twenty. Something was due on both these accounts, Lev. xxvii. 2. he therefore sends to solicit the acquittance of these debts, year by year, that something might be done every year till the temple was quite repaired, and that it should be done immediately.

†These were probably by another husband, whom she intended to advance, and therefore slew the house of David.

the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it; the work went on prosperously, the workmen were faithful, 2 Kings xii. 15. and the whole was 44 speedily completed. 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; nothing of this kind was done till the temple was put in repair, and what remained was laid out in furni ture and ornaments, 2 Kings xii. 13. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada; the sacrifices and worship were constantly and regularly carried on.

15 But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old [was he] when he died; this was a great age; he remembered Solomon, and lived in eight kinga 16 reigns. 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 he repaired the temple and restored the worship.

17

Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to Joash the king; they durst not come before, because they knew Jehoiada had great influence over lüm; but now they came with fine flattering speeches, complaining that Jerusalem was too far off, and desiring leave to worship Baal. 18 Then the king hearkened unto them. And they left the house of the Lord GoD of their fathers, and served groves and idols, worshipped idols in the groves and wrath came upon Judah 19 and Jerusalem for this their trespass. Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they, testified 20 against them: but they would not give ear. And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people; when the king and the people were assembled upon some public occasion, he felt a divine motion to speak and reprove them, 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 for 21 saken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the 22 house of the LORD. Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son; the son of him who saved his life, and the person who assisted to anoint and crown him; this was horrible ingratitude. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon [it]

Hazael came up and took Gath, which belonged to Judah in David's time; after that he intended to have come up to Jerusalem, but Joash sent him the treasures of the temple and the king's house, and he went away for that time, 2 Kings xii. 17, 18. but this had no effect, the. people persisted in their idolatry, with the king at the head of them.

This was an abominable crime, considering the person, the place, and the time it was done. They went after him into the court of the priests, where they were commanded not to enter, and slew him between the temple and the altar, see Matt. xxiii. 35. Barachiah was another name for Jehoiada, given him in honour, as the blessed of the Lord."

.

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and require [it ;] the Lord will look upon it; it was a prophetic motion, and the judgment immediately followed.

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, the princes who had flattered Joash and seduced him, and set up idolatry, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king 24 of Damascus. 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 25 fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash. And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases, he was greatly wounded, and probably in great anguish of spirit,) 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, because he had for26 saken God and slain one of his prophets. And these are they that

conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Am27 monitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess. Now [concerning] his sons, and the greatness of the burdens [laid] upon him, the tribute of the Syrians, or the afflictions from the hand of God, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they [are] written in the story of the book of the kings. And Ama ziah his son reigned in his stead.*

REFLECTIONS.

EARN what an happiness it is for young men to have good guides, to teach them what is useful, especially that which is right in the sight of God: Joash was good while Jehoiada lived. Let young people value such, reckon their instruction a blessing, and not a burden: following them in all the important affairs of life, especially in marriage, which is the most important, is a mark of wisdom, not of weakness. A child left to himself is generally ruined. He that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.

2. How careful should aged saints be that they do not grow indolent, and cloud the honour of their useful days. v. 6. And the king called for Jehaiada the chief, and said, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah, and out of Jerusalem, the collec tion according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the Lord? He was not sufficiently careful to quicken the priests, and see them perform their work faithfully. This is the case with too many aged christians. Let us guard against it; be fruitful and active as long as we are able; and never indulge a slothful temper, but show our zeal for God; because the time is short, and our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.

After this chapter, 2 Kings chap. xiii, may be read,