16 May

Bible In 365 Days                

2 Chronicles 21-24

2 Chronicles 21

With the passing of Jehoshaphat another period of degeneracy and darkness set in for the kingdom of Judah. He was succeeded by his first-born, Jehoram, who seems to have been a man of utterly evil nature. He attempted to secure the throne by the murder of his brothers. Perhaps the secret of his evil courses lay in the fact that he took to wife the daughter of Ahab. That would seem to be the thought of the chronicler expressed in the words, "He walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab; for he had the daughter of Ahab to wife." Trouble fell on his kingdom in the revolt of Edom and invasion by the Philistines and the Ethiopians.

In the midst of his wickedness a message came to him by writing from Elijah the prophet of fire, who had exercised so powerful an influence against Ahab in the kingdom of Israel. It contained a terrible message of judgment, which was fully carried out after eight years of reign. So evil were his courses that the nation loathed him, and the tragic words were written concerning his death, "he departed without being desired."

2 Chronicles 22

Jehoram was immediately succeeded by Ahaziah, his youngest son, His reign was brief, lasting only one year, and was influenced for evil by Athaliah, his mother. The story of his death is a solemn warning. It occurred directly through his friendship for the evil house of Ahab. Jehu, acting as the instrument of God's judgment on that house, found princes of Judah, and among them the king, and slew them all.

Then followed dark and terrible days in which the dead king's mother, Athaliah, reigned over the land. Her first act was a revelation of her character. It was the destruction of all the seed royal of the house of Judah. However, no evil anger is sufficient to frustrate divine purpose, and against the wickedness of one woman God set the compassion of another. Jehoshabeath rescued Joash, and for six years with patient persistence nursed him under the shelter of the Temple.

There are hours in human history when it seems as though evil were almost all powerful. It entrenches itself in great strength; it builds up great ramparts; it inaugurates policies of the utmost craft and cleverness. It seems to be able to bind together a kingdom which is invincible. All this is false seeming. There is no finality, no security, in the apparent might of iniquity. Sooner or later, irrevocably, inevitably, the trenches are broken through, the ramparts are flung down, the policies fail, and the kingdom which seemed so secure is dashed to pieces like a potter's vessel by the strength of God, which is ever the strength of righteousness and goodness. Neither powerful autocrat nor mighty confederacy of statesmen can establish a kingdom or an empire by fraud, by violence, by corruption. Other than truth and justice and purity, the things of goodness, which are the things of God, nothing will hold a kingdom or an empire or a commonwealth together in strength.

2 Chronicles 23

The story of Jehoida is one of devotion and courage. Doubtless he had known of the hiding place of Joash and his nurse. After six years of terrible experience, he took means to bring about the death of Athaliah, and the crowning of the boy, who was the true representative of the house of David.

There is dramatic power in one statement here concerning Athaliah, "She looked, and behold, the king stood by his pillar at the entrance." The boy king was brought out, anointed, and crowned amid the plaudits of the people. Athaliah, hearing the shoutings, came to the Temple, and "she looked, and, behold, the king stood by his pillar at the entrance." Then she knew the powerlessness of evil. In vain she cried, "Treason! Treason!" Her own treason against the true and abiding King of the nation was defeated.

Thus, sooner or later, and in ways equally dramatic, the moment arrives when those who plot and plan against heaven and righteousness find themselves looking at the evidences of the triumph of God and of goodness over all their wickedness.

Jehoiada commenced the reformation which followed during the forty years of the reign of Joash. Thus, in one way or another, God, in unceasing fidelity to His own purposes of love, moved forward toward ultimate realm.

2 Chronicles 24

The reform under Joash was really due to the influence of Jehoiada the priest. This is clearly indicated in the statement of the chronicler that "Joash did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest." During this period the king would seem to have been honestly zealous in endeavoring to re-establish the true worship of God.

The reform center is, as always in this Book, around the Temple. "They set up the House of God in its state, and strengthened it." Worship was maintained while Jehoiada lived. After his death the king passed under the influence of the princes of Judah, and the house of God was forsaken and idolatry again established in the land. The king, who had been zealous in reform, now became determined in his wickedness, refusing to obey the voices of the prophets, and encompassing the death of Zechariah, the son of his old friend, Jehoiada.

The study of the story of Joash offers a striking instance of how a weak man is easily influenced. All such men are illustrations of the absolute importance of strong individual character which can be created only where the soul had direct dealing with God and depends wholly on Him. All merely human influence, whether good or bad, is perilous. If a man has nothing more to lean on than the strength of another good man, and the latter should fail from any cause collapse is almost inevitable. All foundations may fail, save the one. When the will of man is yielded wholly to the will of God, and no other authority is sought or permitted, there is perfect safety. Where this is lacking, every changing tide of circumstances will alter the current of life.