II Chronicles Chapter 23
Please read: II Chronicles 23 –
It is rather ironic how people fantasize about what life was like for those who were kings and queens in the ancient world. But when we read the Biblical accounts of their lives it really does not seem very glorious. The people of Judah had lived under the rule of Queen Athaliah for six years. Those years were most likely brutal for them because when the new king was placed on the throne the people were overcome with joy. They had been feeling hopeless because they thought that there was no heir to the throne from the line of David. But a little seven-year-old boy was crowned king of Judah and Athaliah was executed.
We of course wonder just how much authority was exercised by a seven-year-old boy, but we can guess that the priest Jehoiada guided him in every decision. The man Jehoiada was exactly who Judah needed at this point in time. So much had been lost and broken in the last few years. It was time to give God His rightful place once again in leading the people.
Let's Reflect
1. Jehoiada had known the secret. We are not sure at what point he learned that the prior king had a living son, but he decided to take matters into his own hands. It was time to stand against Athaliah. He called for all the heads of households, and elders, military commanders, and Levites. Where did they all convene?
2. Can you imagine the surprised looks on the men’s faces when they were told the secret. How did Jehoiada announce the secret?
3. He was smart enough to organize round the clock protection for the new little king and organized the coronation to take place on the Sabbath when the first guard of Levites would be relieved of their duties and the second guard would be coming to take over. Jehoiada wanted maximum protection for the successor to David’s throne. What drew Athaliah into the temple where she saw the little boy made king? She was livid with anger when she saw him, the little boy she had not murdered because he had been hidden from her.
4. When they placed the crown on Joash’s head, they also gave him a book. What was this book called?
Deuteronomy 17:18-20 “And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.”
5. Jehoiada ordered the captains of the guard to take Athalia out of the temple to be executed. Where did they execute her?
6. Jehoiada then restored the organization of the Levites with all of the duties that David had set up for them according to the law. Apparently, it had all been stopped while Athaliah was in charge. She probably ordered it to be stopped since we read that there were places of worship to false gods. What gods or their idols are mentioned that were torn down?
7. The new king was placed on his rightful throne and the people rejoiced greatly. What was the city now like since Athaliah was gone?
