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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>S E C O N D C H R O N I C L E S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXIV.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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We have here the history of the reign of Joash, the progress of which,
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and especially its termination, were not of a piece with its beginning,
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nor shone with so much lustre. How wonderfully he was preserved for the
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throne, and placed in it, we read before; now here we are told how he
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began in the spirit, but ended in the flesh.
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I. In the beginning of his time, while Jehoiada lived, he did well;
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particularly, he took care to put the temple in good repair,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:1-14">ver. 1-14</A>.
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II. In the latter end of his time, after Jehoiada's death, he
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apostatized from God, and his apostasy was his ruin.
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1. He set up the worship of Baal again
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:15-18">ver. 15-18</A>),
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though warned to the contrary,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:19">ver. 19</A>.
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2. He put Zechariah the prophet to death because he reproved him for
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what he had done,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:20-22">ver. 20-22</A>.
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3. The judgments of God came upon him for it. The Syrians invaded him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:23,24">ver. 23, 24</A>.
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He was struck with sore diseases; his own servants conspired against
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him and slew him; and, as a mark of infamy upon him, he was not buried
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in the burying-place of the kings,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:25-27">ver. 25-27</A>.</P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>The Temple Repaired.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 855.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Joash <I>was</I> seven years old when he began to reign, and he
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reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also <I>was</I>
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Zibiah of Beer-sheba.
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2 And Joash did <I>that which was</I> right in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
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all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
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3 And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and
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daughters.
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4 And it came to pass after this, <I>that</I> Joash was minded to
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repair the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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5 And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and
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said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all
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Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year,
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and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened
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<I>it</I> not.
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6 And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto
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him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of
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Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, <I>according to the
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commandment</I> of Moses the servant of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and of the
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congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?
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7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up
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the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house
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of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> did they bestow upon Baalim.
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8 And at the king's commandment they made a chest, and set it
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without at the gate of the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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9 And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to
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bring in to the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> the collection <I>that</I> Moses the servant of
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God <I>laid</I> upon Israel in the wilderness.
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10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought
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in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.
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11 Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought
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unto the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and when they
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saw that <I>there was</I> much money, the king's scribe and the high
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priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and
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carried it to his place again. Thus they did day by day, and
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gathered money in abundance.
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12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of
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the service of the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and hired masons and
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carpenters to repair the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and also such as
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wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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13 So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them,
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and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.
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14 And when they had finished <I>it,</I> they brought the rest of
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the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels
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for the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, <I>even</I> vessels to minister, and to
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offer <I>withal,</I> and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And
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they offered burnt offerings in the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> continually
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all the days of Jehoiada.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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This account of Joash's good beginnings we had as it stands here
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+12:1-21">2 Kings xii. 1</A>,
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&c., though the latter part of this chapter, concerning his
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apostasy, we had little of there. What is good in men we should take
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all occasions to speak of and often repeat it; what is evil we should
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make mention of but sparingly, and no more than is needful. We shall
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here only observe,
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1. That it is a happy thing for young people, when they are setting out
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in the world, to be under the direction of those that are wise and good
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and faithful to them, as Joash was under the influence of Jehoiada,
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during whose time he <I>did that which was right.</I> Let those that
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are young reckon it a blessing to them, and not a burden and check upon
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them, to have those with them that will caution them against that which
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is evil and advise and quicken them to that which is good; and let them
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reckon it not a mark of weakness and subjection, but of wisdom and
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discretion, to hearken to such. He that will not be counselled cannot
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be helped. It is especially prudent for young people to take advice in
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their marriages, as Joash did, who left it to his guardian to choose
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him his wives, because Jezebel and Athaliah had been such plagues,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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This is a turn of life which often proves either the making or marring
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of young people, and therefore should be attended to with great care.
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2. Men may go far in the external performances of religion, and keep
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long to them, merely by the power of their education and the influence
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of their friends, who yet have no hearty affection for divine things
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nor any inward relish of them. Foreign inducements may push men on to
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that which is good who are not actuated by a living principle of grace
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in their hearts.
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3. In the outward expressions of devotion it is possible that those who
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have only the form of godliness may out-strip those who have the power
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of it. Joash is more solicitous and more zealous about the repair of
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the temple than Jehoiada himself, whom he reproves for his remissness
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in that matter,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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It is easier to build temples than to be temples to God.
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4. The repairing of churches is a good work, which all in their places
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should promote, for the decency and conveniency of religious
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assemblies. The learned tell us that in the Christian church,
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anciently, part of the tithes were applied that way.
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5. Many a good work would be done that now lies undone if there were
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but a few active men to stir in it and to put it forward. When Joash
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found the money did not come in as he expected in one way he tried
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another way, and that answered the intention. Many have honesty enough
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to follow that have not zeal enough to lead in that which is good. The
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throwing of money into a chest, through a hole in the lid of it, was a
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way that had not been used before, and perhaps the very novelty of the
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thing made it a successful expedient for the raising of money; a great
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deal was thrown in and with a great deal of cheerfulness: they all
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rejoiced,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:10"><I>v.</I> 10</A>.
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An invention to please people's humour may sometimes bring them to
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their duty. Wisdom herein is profitable to direct.
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6. Faithfulness is the greatest praise and will be the greatest
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comfort of those that are entrusted with public treasure or employed in
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public business. The king and Jehoiada faithfully paid the money to the
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workmen, who faithfully did the work,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:12,13"><I>v.</I> 12, 13</A>.</P>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="2Ch24_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Joash Slain by His Servants.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 845.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>15 But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died;
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a hundred and thirty years old <I>was he</I> when he died.
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16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings,
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because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward
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his house.
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17 Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah,
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and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto
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them.
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18 And they left the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of their fathers,
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and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and
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Jerusalem for this their trespass.
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19 Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>; and they testified against them: but they would not give
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ear.
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20 And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of
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Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto
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them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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he hath also forsaken you.
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21 And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones
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at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which
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Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when
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he died, he said, The L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> look upon <I>it,</I> and require <I>it.</I>
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23 And it came to pass at the end of the year, <I>that</I> the host
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of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and
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Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among
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the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of
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Damascus.
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24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of
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men, and the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> delivered a very great host into their hand,
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because they had forsaken the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of their fathers. So they
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executed judgment against Joash.
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25 And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in
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great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the
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blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his
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bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but
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they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.
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26 And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son
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of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a
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Moabitess.
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27 Now <I>concerning</I> his sons, and the greatness of the burdens
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<I>laid</I> upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold,
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they <I>are</I> written in the story of the book of the kings. And
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Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We have here a sad account of the degeneracy and apostasy of Joash. God
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had done great things for him; he had done something for God; but now
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he proved ungrateful to his God and false to the engagements he had
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laid himself under to him. <I>How has the gold become dim, and the most
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fine gold changed!</I> Here we find,</P>
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<P>
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I. The occasions of his apostasy. When he did that which was right it
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was <I>not with a perfect heart.</I> He never was sincere, never acted
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from principle, but in compliance to Jehoiada, who had helped him to
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the crown, and because he had been protected in the temple and rose
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upon the ruins of idolatry; and therefore, when the wind turned, he
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turned with it.
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1. His good counsellor left him, and was by death removed from him. It
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was a mercy to him and his kingdom that Jehoiada lived so long-130
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years
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
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by which it appears that he was born in Solomon's time, and had lived
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six entire reigns before this. It was an encouragement to him to go on
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in that good way which Jehoiada had trained him up in to see what
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honour was done to Jehoiada at his death: <I>They buried him among the
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kings,</I> with this honourable encomium (perhaps it was part of the
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inscription on his grave-stone), that <I>he had done good in
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Israel.</I> Judah is called <I>Israel,</I> because, the other tribes
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having revolted from God, they only were Israelites indeed. Note, It is
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the greatest honour to do good in our generations, and those who <I>do
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that which is good shall have praise of the same.</I> He had done good
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towards God; not that any man's goodness can extend unto him, but he
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had done good towards his house, in reviving the temple service,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+23:8"><I>ch.</I> xxiii. 8</A>.
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Note, Those do the greatest good to their country that lay out
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themselves in their places to promote religion. Well, Jehoiada
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finished his course with honour; but the little religion that Joash had
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was all buried in his grave, and, after his death, both king and
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kingdom miserably degenerated. See how much one head may sustain, and
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what a great judgment to any prince or people the death of godly,
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zealous, useful men is. See how necessary it is that, as our Saviour
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speaks, we <I>have salt in ourselves,</I> that we act in religion from
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an inward principle, which will carry us on through all changes. Then
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the loss of a parent, a minister, a friend, will not involve the loss
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of our religion.
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2. Bad counsellors got about him, insinuated themselves into his
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affections, wheedled him, flattered him, <I>made obeisance</I> to him,
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and, instead of condoling, congratulated him upon the death of his old
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tutor, as his release from the discipline he had been so long under,
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unworthy a man, a king. They tell him he must be priest-ridden no
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longer, he is now discharged from <I>grave lessons and restraints,</I>
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he may do as he pleases: and (would you think it?) the princes of Judah
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were the men that were so industrious to debauch him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>.
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His father and grandfather were corrupted by the house of Ahab, from
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whom no better could be expected. But that the princes of Judah should
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be seducers to their king was very sad. But those that incline to the
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<I>counsels of the ungodly</I> will never want ungodly counsellors.
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They <I>made obeisance to the king,</I> flattered him into an opinion
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of his absolute power, promised to stand by him in making his royal
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will and pleasure pass for a law, any divine precept or institution to
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the contrary in any wise notwithstanding. And he hearkened to them:
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their discourse pleased him, and was more agreeable than Jehoiada's
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dictates used to be. Princes and inferior people have been many a time
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thus flattered into their ruin by those who have promised them liberty
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and dignity, but who have really brought them into the greatest
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servitude and disgrace.</P>
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<P>
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II. The apostasy itself: <I>They left the house of God, and served
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groves and idols,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
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The princes, it is likely, had a request to the king, which they tell
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him they durst not offer while Jehoiada lived; but now they hope it
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will give no offence: it is that they may set up the groves and idols
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again which were thrown down in the beginning of his reign, for they
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hate to be always confined to the dull old-fashioned service of the
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temple. And he not only gave them leave to do it themselves, but he
|
|
joined with them. The king and princes, who, a little while ago, were
|
|
repairing the temple, now forsook the temple; those who had pulled down
|
|
groves and idols now themselves served them. So inconstant a thing is
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man and so little confidence is to be put in him!</P>
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<P>
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III. The aggravations of this apostasy and the additions of guilt to
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it. God <I>sent prophets to them</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>)
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to reprove them for their wickedness, and to tell them what would be in
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|
the end thereof, and so <I>to bring them again unto the Lord.</I> It is
|
|
the work of ministers to bring people, not to themselves, but to
|
|
God--to bring those again to him who have gone a whoring from him. In
|
|
the most degenerate times God <I>left not himself without witness;</I>
|
|
though they had dealt very disingenuously with God, yet he sent
|
|
prophets to them to convince and instruct them, and to assure them that
|
|
they should find favour with him if yet they would return; for he would
|
|
rather sinners should <I>turn and live</I> than <I>go on and die,</I>
|
|
and those that perish shall be left inexcusable. The prophets did their
|
|
part: <I>they testified against them;</I> but, few or none <I>received
|
|
their testimony.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
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|
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|
1. They slighted all the prophets; they would not give ear, were so
|
|
strangely wedded to their idols that no reproofs, warnings,
|
|
threatenings, nor any of the various methods which the prophets took to
|
|
convince them would reclaim them. Few would hear them, fewer would heed
|
|
them, but fewest of all would believe them or be governed by them.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
2. They slew one of the most eminent, <I>Zechariah the son of
|
|
Jehoiada,</I> and perhaps others. Concerning him observe,</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(1.) The message which he delivered to them in the name of God,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:20"><I>v.</I> 20</A>.
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|
|
|
The people were assembled in the court of the temple (for they had not
|
|
quite left it), probably on occasion of some solemn feast, when this
|
|
Zechariah, being filled with the spirit of prophecy, and known (it is
|
|
likely) to be a prophet, stood up in some of the desks that were in the
|
|
court of the priests, and very plainly, but without any provoking
|
|
language, told the people of their sin and what would be the
|
|
consequences of it. He did not impeach any particular persons, nor
|
|
predict any particular judgments, as sometimes the prophets did, but as
|
|
inoffensively as possible reminded them of what was written in the law.
|
|
Let them but look into their Bibles, and there they would find,
|
|
|
|
[1.] The precept they broke: "<I>You transgress the commandments of the
|
|
Lord,</I> you know you do so, in serving groves and idols: and why will
|
|
you so offend God and wrong yourselves?"
|
|
|
|
[2.] The penalty they incurred: "You know, if the word of God be true,
|
|
you cannot prosper in this evil way; never expect to do ill and fare
|
|
well. Nay, you find already that <I>because you have forsaken the Lord
|
|
he hath forsaken you,</I> as he told you he would,"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+29:25,31:16,17">Deut. xxix. 25; xxxi. 16, 17</A>.
|
|
|
|
This is the work of ministers, by the word of God, as a lamp and a
|
|
light, to expose the sin of men and expound the providences of God.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(2.) The barbarous treatment they gave him for his kindness and
|
|
faithfulness in delivering this message to them,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>.
|
|
|
|
By the conspiracy of the princes, or some of their party, and <I>by the
|
|
commandment of the king,</I> who thought himself affronted by this fair
|
|
warning, they stoned him to death immediately, not under colour of law,
|
|
accusing him as a blasphemer, a traitor, or a false prophet, but in a
|
|
popular tumult, <I>in the court of the house of the Lord</I>--as horrid
|
|
a piece of wickedness as perhaps any we read of in all the history of
|
|
the kings. The <I>person</I> was sacred--a priest, the <I>place</I>
|
|
sacred--the court of the temple (the inner court, <I>between the porch
|
|
and the altar</I>), the <I>message</I> yet more sacred, and we have
|
|
reason to think that they knew it came from the spirit of prophecy. The
|
|
reproof was just, the warning fair, both backed with scripture, and the
|
|
delivery very gentle and tender; and yet so impudently and daringly do
|
|
they defy God himself that nothing less than the blood of the prophet
|
|
can satisfy their indignation at the prophecy. <I>Be astonished, O
|
|
heavens! at this,</I> and <I>tremble, O earth!</I> that ever such
|
|
villany should be committed by men, by Israelites, in contempt and
|
|
violation of every thing that is just, honourable, and sacred--that a
|
|
king, a king in covenant with God, should command the murder of one
|
|
whom it was his office to protect and countenance! The Jews say there
|
|
were seven transgressions in this; for they killed a priest, a prophet,
|
|
a judge, they shed innocent blood, and polluted the court of the
|
|
temple, the sabbath, and the day of expiation: for on that day, their
|
|
tradition says, this happened.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(3.) The aggravation of this sin, that this Zechariah, who suffered
|
|
martyrdom for his faithfulness to God and his country, was the son of
|
|
Jehoiada, who had done so much good in Israel, and particularly had
|
|
been as a father to Joash,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
The affront done by it to God, and the contempt put on religion, are
|
|
not so particularly taken notice of as the ingratitude there was in it
|
|
to the memory of Jehoiada. He remembered not the kindness of the
|
|
father, but slew the son for doing his duty, and what the father would
|
|
have done if he had been there. Call a man ungrateful, and you can
|
|
call him no worse.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
(4.) The dying martyr's prophetic imprecation of vengeance upon his
|
|
murderers: <I>The Lord look upon it, and require it!</I> This came not
|
|
from a spirit of revenge, but a spirit of prophecy: <I>He will require
|
|
it.</I> This would be the continual cry of the blood they shed, as
|
|
Abel's blood cried against Cain: "Let the God to whom vengeance belongs
|
|
demand blood for blood. He will do it, for he is righteous." This
|
|
precious blood was quickly reckoned for in the judgments that came upon
|
|
this apostate prince; it came into the account afterwards in the
|
|
destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans--their misusing the prophets
|
|
was that which brought upon them ruin without remedy
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+36:16"><I>ch.</I> xxxvi. 16</A>);
|
|
|
|
nay, our Saviour makes the persecutors of him and his gospel answerable
|
|
for the blood of this Zechariah; so loud, so long, does the blood of
|
|
the martyrs cry. See
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mt+23:35">Matt. xxiii. 35</A>.
|
|
|
|
Such as this is the cry of the souls under the altar
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+6:10">Rev. vi. 10</A>),
|
|
|
|
<I>How long ere thou avenge our blood?</I> For it shall not always go
|
|
unrevenged.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. The judgments of God which came upon Joash for this aggravated
|
|
wickedness of his.
|
|
|
|
1. A small army of Syrians made themselves masters of Jerusalem,
|
|
destroyed the princes, plundered the city, and sent the spoil of it to
|
|
Damascus,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:23,24"><I>v.</I> 23, 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
God's people, while they kept in with God, had often been conquerors
|
|
when the enemy had the advantage of the greater number; but now, on the
|
|
contrary, an inconsiderable handful of Syrians routed a <I>very great
|
|
host of Israelites, because they had forsaken the Lord God of their
|
|
fathers,</I> and then they were not only put upon the level with their
|
|
enemies, but opposed them with the utmost disadvantage; for their God
|
|
not only departed from them, but <I>turned to be their enemy and fought
|
|
against them.</I> The Syrians were employed as instruments in God's
|
|
hand to <I>execute judgments against Joash,</I> though they little
|
|
thought so,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:6,7">Isa. x. 6, 7</A>,
|
|
|
|
and see
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=De+32:30">Deut. xxxii. 30</A>.
|
|
|
|
2. God smote him with great diseases, of body, or mind, or both, either
|
|
like his grandfather
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+21:18"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 18</A>),
|
|
|
|
or, like Saul, an evil spirit from God troubling him. While he was
|
|
plagued with the Syrians he thought that, if he could but get clear of
|
|
them, he should do well enough. But, before they departed from him, God
|
|
smote him with diseases. If vengeance pursue men, the end of one
|
|
trouble will but be the beginning of another.
|
|
|
|
3. His own servants conspired against him. Perhaps he began to hope
|
|
his disease would be cured--he was but a middle-aged man and might
|
|
recover it; but <I>he that cometh up out of the pit shall fall into the
|
|
snare.</I> When he thought he should escape death by sickness he met it
|
|
by the sword. They slew him in his bed <I>for the blood of the sons of
|
|
Jehoiada,</I> by which it should seem that he did not only slay
|
|
Zechariah, but others of the sons of Jehoiada for his sake. Perhaps
|
|
those that slew him <I>intended</I> to take vengeance for that blood;
|
|
but, whether they did or not, this was what God intended in permitting
|
|
them to slay him. Those that drink the blood of the saints shall have
|
|
their own blood given them to drink, for they are worthy. The regicides
|
|
are here named
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:26"><I>v.</I> 26</A>),
|
|
|
|
and it is observable that the mothers of them both were foreigners, one
|
|
an Ammonitess and the other a Moabitess. The idolatrous kings, it is
|
|
likely, countenanced those marriages which the law prohibited for the
|
|
prevention of idolatry; and see how they resulted in their own
|
|
destruction.
|
|
|
|
4. His people would not bury him in the sepulchres of the kings because
|
|
he had stained his honour by his mal-administration. <I>Let him not be
|
|
written with the righteous,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+69:28">Ps. lxix. 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
These judgments are called the <I>burdens laid upon him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+24:27"><I>v.</I> 27</A>),
|
|
|
|
for the wrath of God is a heavy burden, too heavy for any man to bear.
|
|
Or it may be meant of the threatenings denounced against him by the
|
|
prophets, for those are called <I>burdens.</I> Usually God sets some
|
|
special marks of his displeasure upon apostates in this life, for
|
|
warning to all to <I>remember Lot's wife.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
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