mh_parser/vol_split/14 - 2Chronicles/Chapter 23.xml

<div2 id="iiCh.xxiv" n="xxiv" next="iiCh.xxv" prev="iiCh.xxiii" progress="84.76%" title="Chapter XXIII">
<h2 id="iiCh.xxiv-p0.1">S E C O N D   C H R O N I C L E
S</h2>
<h3 id="iiCh.xxiv-p0.2">CHAP. XXIII.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iiCh.xxiv-p1">Six years bloody Athaliah had tyrannised; in this
chapter we have her deposed and slain, and Joash, the rightful
heir, enthroned. We had the story before nearly as it is here
related, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.11.4-2Kgs.11.21" parsed="|2Kgs|11|4|11|21" passage="2Ki 11:4-21">2 Kings xi. 4</scripRef>,
&amp;c. I. Jehoiada prepared the people for the king, acquainted
them with his design, armed them, and appointed them their posts,
<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.1-2Chr.23.10" parsed="|2Chr|23|1|23|10" passage="2Ch 23:1-10">ver. 1-10</scripRef>. II. He
produced the king to the people, crowned him, and anointed him,
<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.11" parsed="|2Chr|23|11|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:11">ver. 11</scripRef>. III. He slew the
usurper, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.12-2Chr.23.15" parsed="|2Chr|23|12|23|15" passage="2Ch 23:12-15">ver. 12-15</scripRef>.
IV. He reformed the kingdom, re-established religion, and restored
the civil government, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.16-2Chr.23.21" parsed="|2Chr|23|16|23|21" passage="2Ch 23:16-21">ver.
16-21</scripRef>.</p>
<scripCom id="iiCh.xxiv-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23" parsed="|2Chr|23|0|0|0" passage="2Ch 23" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iiCh.xxiv-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.1-2Chr.23.11" parsed="|2Chr|23|1|23|11" passage="2Ch 23:1-11" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Chr.23.1-2Chr.23.11">
<h4 id="iiCh.xxiv-p1.8">Preparations to Restore
Judah. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p1.9">b. c.</span> 878.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiCh.xxiv-p2">1 And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened
himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of
Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of
Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of
Zichri, into covenant with him.   2 And they went about in
Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and
the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.
  3 And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in
the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king's son
shall reign, as the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p2.1">Lord</span> hath said
of the sons of David.   4 This <i>is</i> the thing that ye
shall do; A third part of you entering on the sabbath, of the
priests and of the Levites, <i>shall be</i> porters of the doors;
  5 And a third part <i>shall be</i> at the king's house; and
a third part at the gate of the foundation: and all the people
<i>shall be</i> in the courts of the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p2.2">Lord</span>.   6 But let none come into the house
of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p2.3">Lord</span>, save the priests, and
they that minister of the Levites; they shall go in, for they
<i>are</i> holy: but all the people shall keep the watch of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p2.4">Lord</span>.   7 And the Levites shall
compass the king round about, every man with his weapons in his
hand; and whosoever <i>else</i> cometh into the house, he shall be
put to death: but be ye with the king when he cometh in, and when
he goeth out.   8 So the Levites and all Judah did according
to all things that Jehoiada the priest had commanded, and took
every man his men that were to come in on the sabbath, with them
that were to go <i>out</i> on the sabbath: for Jehoiada the priest
dismissed not the courses.   9 Moreover Jehoiada the priest
delivered to the captains of hundreds spears, and bucklers, and
shields, that <i>had been</i> king David's, which <i>were</i> in
the house of God.   10 And he set all the people, every man
having his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the temple to
the left side of the temple, along by the altar and the temple, by
the king round about.   11 Then they brought out the king's
son, and put upon him the crown, and <i>gave him</i> the testimony,
and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and
said, God save the king.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiv-p3">We may well imagine the bad posture of
affairs in Jerusalem during Athaliah's six years' usurpation, and
may wonder that God permitted it and his people bore it so long;
but after such a dark and tedious night the returning day in this
revolution was the brighter and the more welcome. The continuance
of David's seed and throne was what God had sworn by his holiness
(<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p3.1" osisRef="Bible:Ps.89.35" parsed="|Ps|89|35|0|0" passage="Ps 89:35">Ps. lxxxix. 35</scripRef>), and an
interruption was no defeasance; the stream of government here runs
again in the right channel. The instrument and chief manager of the
restoration is Jehoiada, who appears to have been, 1. A man of
great prudence, who reserved the young prince for so many years
till he was fit to appear in public, and till the nation had grown
weary of the usurper, who prepared his work beforehand, and then
effected it with admirable secresy and expedition. When God has
work to do he will qualify and animate men for it. 2. A man of
great interest. The captains joined with him, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p3.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.1" parsed="|2Chr|23|1|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>. The Levites and the chief of the
fathers of Israel came at his call to Jerusalem (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p3.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.2" parsed="|2Chr|23|2|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>) and were there ready to receive
his orders. See what a command wisdom and virtue will give men.
<i>The Levites and all Judah did as Jehoiada commanded</i>
(<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p3.4" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.8" parsed="|2Chr|23|8|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:8"><i>v.</i> 8</scripRef>), and, which
is strange, all that were entrusted with the secret kept their own
counsel till it was executed. Thus <i>the words of the wise are
heard in quiet,</i> <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p3.5" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.9.17" parsed="|Eccl|9|17|0|0" passage="Ec 9:17">Eccl. ix.
17</scripRef>. 3. A man of great faith. It was not only common
equity (much less his wife's relation to the royal family) that put
him upon this undertaking, but a regard to the word of God, and the
divine entail of the crown (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p3.6" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.3" parsed="|2Chr|23|3|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>): <i>The king's son shall reign,</i> must reign, <i>as
the Lord hath said.</i> His eye to the promise, and dependence upon
that, added a great deal of glory to this undertaking. 4. A man of
great religion. This matter was to be done in the temple, which
might occasion some breach of rule, and the necessity of the case
might be thought to excuse it; but he gave special order that none
of the people should come into the house of the Lord, but the
priests and Levites only, who were holy, upon pain of death,
<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p3.7" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.6-2Chr.23.7" parsed="|2Chr|23|6|23|7" passage="2Ch 23:6,7"><i>v.</i> 6, 7</scripRef>. Never let
sacred things be profaned, no, not for the support of civil rights.
5. A man of great resolution. When he had undertaken this business
he went through with it, <i>brought out the king, crowned him, and
gave him the testimony,</i> <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p3.8" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.11" parsed="|2Chr|23|11|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:11"><i>v.</i>
11</scripRef>. He ventured his head, but it was in a good cause,
and therefore he went on boldly. It is here said that his sons
joined with him in anointing the young king. One of them, it is
likely, was that Zechariah whom Joash afterwards put to death for
reproving him (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p3.9" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.24.20" parsed="|2Chr|24|20|0|0" passage="2Ch 24:20"><i>ch.</i> xxiv.
20</scripRef>), which was so much the more ungrateful because he
bore a willing part in anointing him.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iiCh.xxiv-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.12-2Chr.23.21" parsed="|2Chr|23|12|23|21" passage="2Ch 23:12-21" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:2Chr.23.12-2Chr.23.21">
<h4 id="iiCh.xxiv-p3.11">Joash Crowned and Athaliah
Slain. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p3.12">b. c.</span> 878.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iiCh.xxiv-p4">12 Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the
people running and praising the king, she came to the people into
the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p4.1">Lord</span>:   13 And
she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the
entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all
the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also
the singers with instruments of music, and such as taught to sing
praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.
  14 Then Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of
hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them, Have her
forth of the ranges: and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with
the sword. For the priest said, Slay her not in the house of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p4.2">Lord</span>.   15 So they laid hands
on her; and when she was come to the entering of the horse gate by
the king's house, they slew her there.   16 And Jehoiada made
a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between the
king, that they should be the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p4.3">Lord</span>'s
people.   17 Then all the people went to the house of Baal,
and brake it down, and brake his altars and his images in pieces,
and slew Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars.   18
Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p4.4">Lord</span> by the hand of the priests the
Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p4.5">Lord</span>, to offer the burnt offerings of the
<span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p4.6">Lord</span>, as <i>it is</i> written in the
law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, <i>as it was
ordained</i> by David.   19 And he set the porters at the
gates of the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p4.7">Lord</span>, that
none <i>which was</i> unclean in any thing should enter in.  
20 And he took the captains of hundreds, and the nobles, and the
governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and
brought down the king from the house of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iiCh.xxiv-p4.8">Lord</span>: and they came through the high gate into
the king's house, and set the king upon the throne of the kingdom.
  21 And all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was
quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with the sword.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiv-p5">Here we have, I. The people pleased,
<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.12-2Chr.23.13" parsed="|2Chr|23|12|23|13" passage="2Ch 23:12,13"><i>v.</i> 12, 13</scripRef>. When
the king stood at his pillar, whose right it was to stand there,
<i>all the people of the land rejoiced to see a rod sprung out of
the stem of Jesse,</i> <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Isa.11.1" parsed="|Isa|11|1|0|0" passage="Isa 11:1">Isa. xi.
1</scripRef>. When it seemed a withered root in a dry ground, to
see what they despaired of ever seeing—a king of the house of
David, what a pleasing surprise was it to them! They ran in
transports of joy to see this sight, praised the king, and praised
God, for they had with them such as <i>taught to sing
praise.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiv-p6">II. Athaliah slain. She ran upon the point
of the sword of justice; for, imagining her interest much better
than it was, she ventured <i>into the house of the Lord</i> at that
time, and cried, <i>Treason, treason!</i> But nobody seconded her,
or sided with her. The pride of her heart deceived her. She thought
all her own, whereas none were cordially so. Jehoiada, as protector
in the king's minority, ordered her to be slain (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.14" parsed="|2Chr|23|14|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>), which was done immediately
(<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.15" parsed="|2Chr|23|15|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>), only care
was taken that she should not be <i>slain in the house of the
Lord,</i> that sacred place must not be so far disgraced, nor that
wicked woman so far honoured.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiv-p7">III. The original contract agreed to,
<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.16" parsed="|2Chr|23|16|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. In the
<i>Kings</i> it is said that Jehoiada made a covenant between the
<i>Lord,</i> the people, and the king, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.11.17" parsed="|2Kgs|11|17|0|0" passage="2Ki 11:17">2 Kings xi. 17</scripRef>. Here it is said to be
between <i>himself,</i> the people, and the king; for he, as God's
priest, was his representative in this transaction, or a sort of
mediator, as Moses was. The indenture was tripartite, but the true
intent and meaning of the whole was that <i>they should be the
Lord's people.</i> God covenanted by Jehoiada to take them for his
people; the king and people covenanted with him to be his; and then
the king covenanted with the people to govern them <i>as the people
of God,</i> and the people with the king to be subject to him <i>as
the Lord's people,</i> in his fear and for his sake. Let us look
upon ourselves and one another as <i>the Lord's people,</i> and
this will have a powerful influence upon us in the discharge of all
our duty both to God and man.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiv-p8">IV. Baal destroyed, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.17" parsed="|2Chr|23|17|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>. They would not have done half
their work if they had only destroyed the usurper of the
<i>king's</i> right, and not the usurper of <i>God's</i> right—if
they had asserted the honour of the throne, and not that of the
altar. The greatest grievance of Athaliah's reign was the bringing
in of the worship of Baal, and supporting of that; therefore that
must be abolished in the first place. Down with Baal's house, his
altars, his images; down with them all, and let the blood of his
priests be mingled with his sacrifices; for God had commanded that
seducers to idolatry should be put to death, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.13.5-Deut.13.6" parsed="|Deut|13|5|13|6" passage="De 13:5,6">Deut. xiii. 5, 6</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiv-p9">V. The temple service revived, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.18-2Chr.23.19" parsed="|2Chr|23|18|23|19" passage="2Ch 23:18,19"><i>v.</i> 18, 19</scripRef>. This had been
neglected in the last reigns, the priest and people wanting either
power or zeal to keep it up when they had princes that were
disaffected to it. But Jehoiada restored <i>the offices of the
house of the Lord,</i> which in the late times had been disturbed
and invaded, to the proper course and proper hands. 1. He appointed
the priests to their courses, for the due offering of sacrifices,
according to the law of Moses. 2. The singers to theirs, according
to the appointment of David. The sacrifices (it should seem) were
<i>offered with rejoicing and singing,</i> and with good reason. We
<i>joy in God</i> when we <i>receive the atonement,</i> <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Rom.5.11" parsed="|Rom|5|11|0|0" passage="Ro 5:11">Rom. v. 11</scripRef>. 3. The porters were put in
their respective posts as David ordered (<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.19" parsed="|2Chr|23|19|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>), and their office was to take
care that none who were upon any account ceremonially unclean
should be admitted into the courts of the temple.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iiCh.xxiv-p10">VI. The civil government re-established,
<scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.20" parsed="|2Chr|23|20|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:20"><i>v.</i> 20</scripRef>. They brought
the king in state to his own palace, and set him <i>upon the throne
of the kingdom,</i> to give law, and give judgment, either in his
own person or by Jehoiada his tutor. Thus was this happy revolution
perfected. The generality of the people rejoiced in it, and the
rest were quiet and made no opposition, <scripRef id="iiCh.xxiv-p10.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.23.21" parsed="|2Chr|23|21|0|0" passage="2Ch 23:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>. When the Son of David is
enthroned in the soul all is quiet and springs of joy are
opened.</p>
</div></div2>