Preached Sunday, February 13, 2011
from
2 Chronicles 22:10-23:21
Theme: Even in times of great evil, God will fulfill all His promises to us in and through Christ.
(Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New King James Version; copyright 1982, Thomas Nelson, Inc.)
This morning, we come to one of the most fascinating of all the stories of the kings of Judah—the story of Joash, the little boy who survived, during a great time of turmoil, to became ruler of his people. His story was a real-life adventure—with lots of drama, intrigue, and suspense. And that was just during the first seven years of his life!
But there’s a greater and even more dramatic aspect to his story—one that touches directly on you and me today. His narrow escape from death was the keeping of God’s promise to provide His people with a Savior. Joash was born into the lineage of King David; and was—at the time—the only surviving heir of the royal throne. He barely escaped an attempt to completely wipe out the royal line of David; and because God protected him, the promise was preserved, and the Lord Jesus was eventually born into the world.
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To appreciate how important Joash’s story is to us, we need to go back to the time of his great ancestor King David—and to the story of God’s great promise to him.
After God removed wicked King Saul from power, and established David’s rule over His people, He had made a remarkable promise to David. That promise is found in 2 Samuel 7:12-16. It had been David’s wish to built a glorious temple to honor the mighty God who had honored him; but God sent His prophet Nathan to David to tell him that it would not be he who would build the temple, but his son Solomon. Nevertheless, God promised that He would—in a sense—Himself build a great "house" for David. God said;
“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (2 Samuel 7:12-13).
This was a promise concerning a royal offspring that would be born from David’s own body. It’s a promise that God would establish, through that offspring, a kingdom for David that would remain forever. This, of course, is a promise that was ultimately fulfilled in our Savior and David’s descendant—King Jesus. But along with it was the promise of that David’s royal lineage would endure all the way up to the time that Jesus was born.
As if with respect to each one of the descendants of David, God said;
I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men. But My mercy shall not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever" (vv. 14-16).
What a great promise this is. And really, it’s the great promise that runs through the whole story of the Kings of Judah. Each of the kings had his own individual story to tell. Some were bad kings, and some were good; but all were imperfect. Nevertheless, God had made a promise to King David that this lineage of kings—some good and some bad—would endure, and would lead all the way up to the birth of King Jesus. That’s a promise that God was going to keep, no matter what.
How grateful we should be that He did! Because of God’s faithfulness to His own promise, our Lord Jesus was born into this world; and we have a Savior who, as the first verse of the New Testament tells us, is "Jesus Christ, the Son of David . . ."
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But we also need to remember that the devil hates this promise with all his being. The keeping of this promise means our salvation; and our salvation means Satan’s eventual doom. And so, throughout the centuries before Jesus was born, the great enemy of our souls opposed this great promise from God, and fought to prevent the Savior from being born from the Jewish people and into this world.
The Book of Revelation gives us a stunning illustration of this. In Revelation 12, the apostle John was given a heavenly vision of "a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars" (Revelation 12:1). This woman is symbolic of Israel—God’s chosen people, composed of its twelve tribes. We’re told that "being with child, she cried out in labor and pain to give birth" (v. 2). This is a picture of Israel in travail during the Old Testament era—about to give birth to the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised offspring of David.
And in this same vision, we’re told of "a great, fiery red dragon having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads" (v. 3). This is a picture of the devil—scheming and plotting through the empires and governments of this world. We’re told, "His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth" (v. 4a); which is a picture of the hoards of demonic beings that fell from glory with him, and that were cast upon the earth to do his evil bidding. We’re then told, "And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her Child as soon as it was born" (v. 4b).
This is the great story that lay behind the world events that occurred in the centuries before Jesus was born. The devil waited—poised and ready to destroy the Jewish people and devour our Savior and prevent Him from coming into this world to redeem us from our sins. But its also a story of God’s providential protection of His chosen people, and of the keeping of His great promise to David, and of the provision of the birth of Jesus our Savior into the human family.
And that, really, is what the amazing, adventurous story of King Joash—the boy king of Judah—is about. It teaches us that, even in times of great evil, our mighty God is able to fulfill all His promises to us in and through His Son Jesus Christ.
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Now; little Joash’s story begins in 2 Chronicles 22 with the death of his father King Ahaziah, and the rise to power of his grandmother Athaliah. She is one of the most wicked, devil-inspired women in all of Scripture.
Athaliah was the daughter of wicked King Ahab of the northern kingdom of Israel—and of Ahab’s wife, the notorious Queen Jezebel. This woman Athaliah married one of the previous kings of Judah; and she brought along the wicked ways of her family into the royal household of Judah with her. She taught her husband to walk "in the way of the kings of Israel, just as the house of Ahab had done" (2 Chronicles 21:6). What’s more, she brought her evil influences on her son King Ahaziah; for, as the Bible tells us, she "advised him to do wickedly" (22:4).
She even learned from her wicked mother Jezebel how to murder in order to get what she wanted. So, as 2 Chronicles 22:10 tells us;
Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs of the house of Judah (2 Chronicles 22:10).
She immediately seized the opportunity to usurp the royal throne of David—a throne to which she had no right whatsoever. And think of it! In order to secure her position, she was willing to kill off every one of her own grandsons that she could find—every child whose existence, as the offspring of David, might threaten her position of power.
And it’s not hard to see the devil’s unseen hand in her plan, is it? He used her in an attempt to wipe out the lineage of David—and God’s promise that our Savior would be born.
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Someone has characterized Athaliah—and I believe rightly—as a ‘female antichrist’. And like the Antichrist that the Bible says is yet come, she introduced a seven-year tribulation period upon the Jewish people. Her rule was aggressively paganistic in nature; and she attempted to fill the land of Judah with the worship of the false god Baal—just has her parents had done in the northern kingdom of Israel. She built up a temple to Baal in the land; and established a priest to direct the people in the worship of Baal. The extent of her wickedness is even shown in 24:7; where we’re told that "the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken into the house of God, and had also presented all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD to the Baals." The temple of the true God was allowed to go to ruin; God’s law was ignored; and God’s priests lived in constant fear for their lives. What a nightmarish reign of terror her rule was!
And think also of the dire question that must have been going on in the minds of the people of God! What had happened to His promise to David? This wicked woman seemed to have killed off all the living heirs of David; and now—with no legitimate heir left to take David’s place upon his throne—this wicked pagan woman of foreign descent sat upon the throne of David and wrought terror upon the land. Had God failed? Was His promise to David forgotten? Did the devil finally win? Was all hope gone for God’s chosen people?
But even in the darkest of times—even when it seems as if everyone has turned away from God; and that His ways are forgotten; and that the devil has at last won the day—we should never fear that God’s promises have failed. It was in the midst of those dark days of Athaliah’s reign—when it seemed that all hope was lost—that we’re shown that His promise was not forgotten at all. Verse 11 tells us;
But Jehoshabeath, the daughter of the king, took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king’s sons who were being murdered, and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she did not kill him (v. 11).
This woman was the daughter of King Jehoram—the sister of King Ahaziah. She was married to the high priest Jehoiada. And while Athaliah was busy murdering all of her other royal grandsons, this courageous woman "stole" Ahaziah’s infant son Joash away—while he was just a short time away from his first birthday—so that he was kept alive for the throne.
Because she was the wife of the high priest, she knew of lots of places where she and her godly husband could hid her little nephew and his nurse, and protect him from the murderous rampage of his bloody grandmother. We’re told;
And he was hidden with them in the house of God for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land (v. 12).
What a God we serve! Even though it seemed as if the devil had cast a dark vale of death over the promises of God, God kept a tiny flame of His promise to the world burning still—flickering away ever so faintly, somewhere in a secret temple nursery!
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Now; for the six long years of Athaliah’s reign, Jehoshabeath and Jehoiada kept caring for little Joash. They brought food and clothing to him within the temple without anyone knowing. And we can be sure that godly old Jehoiada taught the growing boy who he really was, and how he was destined to sit one day upon the throne of his godly ancestor David.
But what a tense time it must have been. For anyone to have discovered the boy would have meant his immediate death—as well as, most certainly, death for the couple that protected him! But Jehoiada went on with his business as priest—carefully watching, carefully strategizing, carefully waiting for the perfect time.
And then, at the beginning of Chapter 23, we’re told;
In the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and made a covenant with the captains of hundreds: Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri. And they went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the chief fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 23:1-3).
Jehoiada gathered these leaders together—in the utmost secrecy—and revealed Joash’s existence to them. What a moment of joy that must have been to them! God’s promise had not failed! Athaliah had not killed off the royal line after all! A son of David yet lived to reign!
Then all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said to them, “Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the LORD has said of the sons of David" (v. 4).
Jehoiada was a wise organizer; and I believe he had carefully worked out—over the previous six years—just what should be done. As high priest, he knew that many of the Levites and priests would be coming to the temple to serve on the Sabbath—replacing those who where about to go off duty. No one would suspect anything of so many of them coming in to the temple at such a time. So; he commanded that those who were coming would be divided into three groups. The first group would keep watch over the doors of the temple (where the boy was hidden and would soon be coronated); the second group would keep watch over the palace (where the boy would be brought, after his coronation, to begin his reign); and the final third would be at the Gate of the Foundation (through which the boy would be transported from the temple to the palace). All the people coming for Sabbath would be kept in the court of the temple of the Lord (where the announcement of Joash’s coronation would be declared); and all the remaining Levites and priests—who were going off duty, but whom Jehoiada would not dismiss from the temple—would have weapons in their hands and would be with the king "when he comes in and when he goes out" (v. 7).
We’re told that "the Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded" (v. 8). And arming each of the men for this task didn’t prove to be difficult; because long ago—by the providence of God—King David had taken the spears and the large and small shields of a conquered enemy and put them in storage in the temple.
And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains of hundreds the spears and the large and small shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of God. Then he set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, along by the altar and by the temple, all around the king. And they brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, gave him the Testimony [that is, the copy of the law of God—given through Moses—that all kings were to have in their possession1] and made him king. Then Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, “Long live the king!” (vv. 9-11).
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What a moment it must have been! It wasn’t simply a celebration of the end of the dreadful reign of a usurper. It was the celebration of the keeping of God’s unfailing promise to David! There was a great deal of cheering about it!
But not everyone was happy. The Bible tells us;
Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people in the temple of the LORD. When she looked, there was the king standing by his pillar at the entrance; and the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, also the singers with musical instruments, and those who led in praise. So Athaliah tore her clothes and said, “Treason! Treason!” (vv. 12-13).
There was, of course, no ‘treason’ about it. No one was overthrowing the kingdom. She was a wicked, murderous usurper who had no right to the throne she occupied; and it was now being restored to the one to whom it had been promised by God long ago.
And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, “Take her outside under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not kill her in the house of the LORD" (v. 14).
Jehoiada didn’t want the temple of God to be defiled by her presence—let alone by her death.
So they seized her; and she went by way of the entrance of the Horse Gate into the king’s house, and they killed her there (v. 15).
Thus ended Athaliah’s seven-year reign of terror.
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It’s then that godly old Jehoiada immediately went about the work of removing the paganism that Athaliah had spread over the land of God’s people. We’re told;
Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the people, and the king, that they should be the LORD’s people. And all the people went to the temple of Baal, and tore it down. They broke in pieces its altars and images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars (vv. 16-17).
Jehoiada’s work, however, was not just a work of destroying what Athaliah had done to the people of God. It was also a work of restoring what Athaliah had taken away from them:
Also Jehoiada appointed the oversight of the house of the LORD to the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had assigned 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 singing, as it was established by David. And he set the gatekeepers at the gates of the house of the LORD, so that no one who was in any way unclean should enter. Then he took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from the house of the LORD; and they went through the Upper Gate to the king’s house, and set the king on the throne of the kingdom (vv. 18-20).
And look particularly at the last verse:
So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet, for they had slain Athaliah with the sword (v. 21).
Athaliah’s wicked reign brought much turmoil to the land. And her death brought it peace—along with the restoration of hope in God’s great promise to David.
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Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; we bask today in the light of that hope—a hope preserved for us by the story of what God did for Joash. God kept His promise to David in that his royal lineage was not wiped out. The devil did not succeed. David’s glorious Son Jesus was born into this world. He has died on the cross as our Savior; and God has raised Him from the dead to prove that He is completely satisfied with His sacrifice for us.
But there is still much of that glorious promise to David yet to be fulfilled. Jesus has ascended to the right hand of the Father; but He is not yet seated upon the earthly throne of David. He’s been take away from sight. The world thinks it’s done with Him. He’s been gone for two-thousand years; and it seems sometimes as if the world boasts of its independence from Him—and as the promise of God has been forgotten, and as if the devil has truly won the day. "Nevertheless," as Jesus told Pilate, "I say to you; hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven" (Matthew 26:64).
Just when it seems as if all hope is gone, and that evil is at its strongest, God proves that He is able to fulfill all His promises to us in and through Jesus Christ. Let’s take courage from this story of King Joash—and be confident of this very thing: "that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ" (Philippians 1:6).
1See Deuteronomy 17:18-20.