2 Chronicles 24

1 Joash was 7 years old when he began to rule, and he ruled for 40 years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah from Beersheba.

2 Joash did what the LORD considered right, as long as the priest Jehoiada lived.

3 Jehoiada got Joash two wives, and Joash had sons and daughters.

4 After this, Joash wanted to renovate the LORD's temple.

5 He gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, "Go to the cities of Judah, and collect money throughout Israel to repair the temple of your God every year. Do it immediately!" But the Levites didn't do it immediately.

6 So the king called for the chief priest Jehoiada and asked him, "Why didn't you require the Levites to bring the contributions from Judah and Jerusalem? The LORD's servant Moses and the assembly had required Israel to give contributions for the use of the tent containing the words of God's promise."

7 (The sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into God's temple and used all the holy things of the LORD's temple [to worship] other gods--the Baals.)

8 The king issued an order, and they made a box and placed it outside the gate of the LORD's temple.

9 Then they issued a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem that the contributions should be brought to the LORD. (In the desert the LORD's servant Moses had required Israel to make contributions.)

10 All the officials and all the people were overjoyed. They brought the money and dropped it into the box until it was full.

11 Whenever the Levites brought the box to the king's officers and they saw a lot of money, the king's scribe and the chief priest's officer would empty the box and put it back in its place. They would do this every day, so they collected a lot of money.

12 The king and Jehoiada would give the money to the foremen who were working on the LORD's temple, and they hired masons and carpenters to renovate the LORD's temple. They also hired men who worked with iron and bronze to repair the LORD's temple.

13 As the men worked, the project progressed under the foremen's guidance. They restored God's temple to its proper condition and reinforced it.

14 When they finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, who used it to make utensils for the LORD's temple. They made dishes and gold and silver utensils for the service and for the offerings. As long as Jehoiada lived, they sacrificed burnt offerings in the LORD's temple.

15 When Jehoiada was old and had lived out his years, he died. He was 130 years old when he died.

16 He was buried in the City of David with the kings because of the good he had done in Israel for God and the temple.

17 After he died, the officials of Judah bowed in front of the king with their faces touching the ground. Then the king listened to their advice.

18 They abandoned the temple of the LORD God of their ancestors and worshiped idols and the poles dedicated to the goddess Asherah. This offense of theirs brought God's anger upon Judah and Jerusalem.

19 The LORD sent them prophets to bring them back to himself. The prophets warned them, but they wouldn't listen.

20 God's Spirit gave Zechariah, son of the priest Jehoiada, strength. Zechariah stood in front of the people and said to them, "This is what God says: Why are you breaking the LORD's commands? You won't prosper that way! The LORD has abandoned you because you have abandoned him."

21 But they plotted against Zechariah, and by the king's order they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the LORD's temple.

22 King Joash did not remember how kind Zechariah's father, Jehoiada, had been to him. Instead, he killed Jehoiada's son. As Zechariah died, he said, "May the LORD see [this] and get revenge!"

23 At the end of the year, the Aramean army attacked Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the people's leaders. The Arameans sent all the loot they took from Judah and Jerusalem to the king of Damascus.

24 The Aramean army had come with a small number of men, but the LORD handed Joash's large army over to them because Joash's soldiers had abandoned the LORD God of their ancestors. So the Arameans carried out [the LORD's] judgment on Joash.

25 When the Arameans withdrew, they left him suffering from many wounds. His own officials plotted against him for murdering the son of the priest Jehoiada. They killed Joash in his bed. When he died, they buried him in the City of David, but they didn't bury him in the tombs of the kings.

26 These were the men who conspired against him: Zabad, son of an Ammonite woman named Shimeath, and Jehozabad, son of a Moabite woman named Shimrith.

27 The record about his sons, the many divine revelations against him, and the rebuilding of God's temple is in the notes made in the Book of the Kings. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.

2 Chronicles 24 Commentary

Chapter 24

Joash, of Judah, The temple repaired. (1-14) Joash falls into idolatry, He is slain by his servants. (15-27)

Verses 1-14 Joash is more zealous about the repair of the temple than Jehoiada himself. It is easier to build temples, than to be temples to God. But the repairing of places for public worship is a good work, which all should promote. And many a good work would be done that now lies undone, if active men would put it forward.

Verses 15-27 See what a great judgment on any prince or people, the death of godly, zealous, useful men is. See how necessary it is that we act in religion from inward principle. Then the loss of a parent, a minister, or a friend, will not be losing our religion. Often both princes and inferior people have been flattered to their ruin. True grace alone will enable a man to bring forth fruit unto the end. Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, being filled with the Spirit of prophecy, stood up, and told the people of their sin. This is the work of ministers, by the word of God, as a lamp and a light, to discover the sin of men, and expound the providences of God. They stoned Zechariah to death in the court of the house of the Lord. Observe the dying martyr's words: The Lord look upon it, and require it! This came not from a spirit of revenge, but a spirit of prophecy. God smote Joash with great diseases, of body, or mind, or both, before the Syrians departed from him. If vengeance pursue men, the end of one trouble will be but the beginning of another. His own servants slew him. These judgments are called the burdens laid upon him, for the wrath of God is a heavy burden, too heavy for any man to bear. May God help us to take warning, to be upright in heart, and to persevere in his ways to the end.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 2 CHRONICLES 24

This chapter begins with the reign of Joash king of Judah, son of Ahaziah, 2Ch 24:1-3, relates his concern and care to repair the temple, 2Ch 24:4-14, the death of Jehoiada the priest, during whose life he reigned well, but after his death sadly apostatized, 2Ch 24:15-19, for which, being reproved by Zechariah, he was so wroth with him as to order him to be stoned, 2Ch 24:20-22, wherefore for these evils enemies were raised up against him; he was smitten with diseases, and his servants conspired against him and slew him, and would not bury him among the kings, 2Ch 24:23-27.

This, and the following verse, are the same with 2Ki 11:21, 12:1,2 \\See Gill on "2Ki 11:21"\\. \\See Gill on "2Ki 12:1"\\. \\See Gill on "2Ki 12:2"\\. 19637-950120-2110-2Ch24.2