November 4, 2022

2  Kings 11-12 (HCSB)
Athaliah Usurps the Throne
11 When Athaliah, Ahaziah’s mother, saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to annihilate all the royal heirs. 2 Jehosheba, who was King Jehoram’s daughter and Ahaziah’s sister, secretly rescued Joash son of Ahaziah from the king’s sons who were being killed and put him and the one who nursed him in a bedroom. So he was hidden from Athaliah and was not killed. 3 Joash was in hiding with Jehosheba in the Lord’s temple six years while Athaliah ruled over the land.
Athaliah Overthrown
4 Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent messengers and brought in the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, and the guards. He had them come to him in the Lord’s temple, where he made a covenant with them and put them under oath. He showed them the king’s son 5 and commanded them, “This is what you are to do: a third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath are to provide protection for the king’s palace. 6 A third are to be at the Sur gate and a third at the gate behind the guards. You are to take turns providing protection for the palace. 7 “Your two divisions that go off duty on the Sabbath are to provide protection for the Lord’s temple. 8 You must completely surround the king with weapons in hand. Anyone who approaches the ranks is to be put to death. You must be with the king in all his daily tasks.” 9 So the commanders of hundreds did everything Jehoiada the priest commanded. They each brought their men—those coming on duty on the Sabbath and those going off duty—and went to Jehoiada the priest. 10 The priest gave to the commanders of hundreds King David’s spears and shields that were in the Lord’s temple. 11 Then the guards stood with their weapons in hand surrounding the king—from the right side of the temple to the left side, by the altar and by the temple. 12 He brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, gave him the testimony, and made him king. They anointed him and clapped their hands and cried, “Long live the king!” 13 When Athaliah heard the noise from the guard and the crowd, she went out to the people at the Lord’s temple. 14 As she looked, there was the king standing by the pillar according to the custom. The commanders and the trumpeters were by the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Athaliah tore her clothes and screamed “Treason! Treason!” 15 Then Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders of hundreds in charge of the army, “Take her out between the ranks, and put to death by the sword anyone who follows her,” for the priest had said, “She is not to be put to death in the Lord’s temple.” 16 So they arrested her, and she went through the horse entrance to the king’s palace, where she was put to death.
Jehoiada’s Reforms
17 Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people that they would be the Lord’s people and another covenant between the king and the people. 18 So all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They broke its altars and images into pieces, and they killed Mattan, the priest of Baal, at the altars. Then Jehoiada the priest appointed guards for the Lord’s temple. 19 He took the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, the guards, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king from the Lord’s temple. They entered the king’s palace by way of the guards’ gate. Then Joash sat on the throne of the kings. 20 All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for they had put Athaliah to death by the sword in the king’s palace.
Judah’s King Joash
21 Joash was seven years old when he became king. 12 1 In the seventh year of Jehu, Joash became king and reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah, who was from Beer-sheba. 2 Throughout the time Jehoiada the priest instructed him, Joash did what was right in the Lord’s sight. 3 Yet the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.
Repairing the Temple
4 Then Joash said to the priests, “All the dedicated money brought to the Lord’s temple, census money, money from vows, and all money voluntarily given for the Lord’s temple, 5 each priest is to take from his assessor and repair whatever damage to the temple is found.” 6 But by the twenty-third year of the reign of King Joash, the priests had not repaired the damage to the temple. 7 So King Joash called Jehoiada the priest and the other priests and said, “Why haven’t you repaired the temple’s damage? Since you haven’t, don’t take any money from your assessors; instead, hand it over for the repair of the temple.” 8 So the priests agreed they would not take money from the people and they would not repair the temple’s damage. 9 Then Jehoiada the priest took a chest, bored a hole in its lid, and set it beside the altar on the right side as one enters the Lord’s temple; in it the priests who guarded the threshold put all the money brought into the Lord’s temple. 10 Whenever they saw there was a large amount of money in the chest, the king’s secretary and the high priest would go to the Lord’s temple and count the money found there and tie it up in bags. 11 Then they would put the counted money into the hands of those doing the work—those who oversaw the Lord’s temple. They in turn would pay it out to those working on the Lord’s temple—the carpenters, the builders, 12 the masons, and the stonecutters—and would use it to buy timber and quarried stone to repair the damage to the Lord’s temple and for all spending for temple repairs. 13 However, no silver bowls, wick trimmers, sprinkling basins, trumpets, or any articles of gold or silver were made for the Lord’s temple from the money brought into the temple. 14 Instead, it was given to those doing the work, and they repaired the Lord’s temple with it. 15 No accounting was required from the men who received the money to pay those doing the work, since they worked with integrity. 16 The money from the restitution offering and the sin offering was not brought to the Lord’s temple since it belonged to the priests.
Aramean Invasion of Judah
17 At that time Hazael king of Aram marched up and fought against Gath and captured it. Then he planned to attack Jerusalem. 18 So King Joash of Judah took all the consecrated items that his ancestors—Judah’s kings Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, and Ahaziah—had consecrated, along with his own consecrated items and all the gold found in the treasuries of the Lord’s temple and in the king’s palace, and he sent them to Hazael king of Aram. Then Hazael withdrew from Jerusalem. Joash Assassinated
19 The rest of the events of Joash’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings. 20 Joash’s servants conspired against him and killed him at Beth-millo on the road that goes down to Silla. 21 His servants Jozabad son of Shimeath and Jehozabad son of Shomer struck him down, and he died. Then they buried him with his fathers in the city of David, and his son Amaziah became king in his place.

BJ Stahlin
Meanwhile, back in Judah, a spiritual revival breaks out. Joash, a mere boy, is raised in the ways of the Lord by priests in the Temple, and crowned king at age seven. During his forty-year reign, due to the disrepair of Solomon's temple, he started his own “Legacy Campaign.” It turns out the neglect of the temple was only outdone by the neglect of those in charge of the repair. By the time Joash was thirty, they hadn't replaced the first piece of drywall or 2x4. They changed tactics; Skilled men were paid for their work, the repairs commenced, and giving increased. Unfortunately, the unfaithfulness of God’s people strikes again and even though the temple had been restored, the precious consecrated treasures were turned over to the enemy in the name of peace. Father, please find us faithful as we build your “Temple” in White House, TN!