2 Chr 22.1-12 begins to tell us about the only son left to Yehoram named Yehoahaz, also known as Ahaziah (God has taken), who succeeds his father. He is the only son left to Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. They made him king because raiding Arabs had killed his older brothers. He would reign one year. He was wicked and was influenced by his mother and he eventually falls in judgment, along with Ahab’s house, by Yehu, the son of Nimshi. This was from the Lord (v 7). His connection with the house of Ahab was so close he entered an alliance with Israel against the Syrians and visited Yehoram when he was injured.
Yehu was raised up by Yehovah to bring judgment against the dynasty of Omri (2 Kings 9.7). He did not have a direct command to bring judgment on the King of Judah, but he does anyway (2 Chr 22.8). Ahaziah, a blood relative of Ahab, was under God’s judgment against Ahab and his descendants. He failed to separate from Yehoram and suffered the consequences. Now, the Queen Mother (the givorah-22.2) was Athaliah (afflicted of Yehovah) and she will be a picture of Ha Satan and the False Messiah. We have discussed her and the eschatological implications earlier in 2 Kings 11, but we will go over these concepts briefly again because they are important to our understanding.
2 Chr 23.1-21 gives us the same story as 2 Kings 11, and we know that this story is a picture of the 7000 year plan of God. When Athaliah saw that her son was dead, she tried to destroy all the royal offspring, just like Ha Satan, Pharaoh and Herod tried to do. The False Messiah will try to do the same thing.
Yehosheva (Yehovah is an oath), the daughter of King Yehoram, the wife of Yehoyada (Yehovah knows) the priest is the last remaining son named Yoash (fire of Yehovah) and hidden in the Temple for six years. Yoash is a picture of Yeshua, the only son who could be king, who survived Herod’s persecution. He is hidden from view in heaven’s Temple for 6000 years. In the seventh year, Yehoyada brings Yoash out for the captains and hundreds of the guards to see. They kept him safe for six years. In the same way, Yeshua was “hidden” in the house of Yehovah where his enemies cannot go, but he will reveal himself to believers. At the end of the sixth year and going into the seventh year, the king’s son is brought out. After 6000 years and going into the last thousand years called the Day of the Lord, Yeshua, the king’s son, will be revealed. They coronated Yoash, and on Rosh Ha Shanah, year 6001 from creation, Yeshua will be coronated as king (Dan 7.9-10; Rev 4-5).
Now, Athaliah hears all the commotion in the Temple and realizes there is a legitimate king standing in the Temple. Ha Satan will also realize that his days are numbered when the legitimate king Yeshua is coronated in the Temple in heaven (Dan 7,9-10; Rev 4-5). Athaliah cries, “Treason! Treason!” However, her cries fall on deaf ears and she is taken out of the Temple and killed. In the same way, Yeshua will return to Jerusalem on Yom Kippur (Matt 24.29-31) and he will capture the False Messiah and will kill him outside of the Temple (Rev 19.20-21). This act is seen in the ceremony of the two goats on Yom Kippur (Lev 16). The goat called “L’Azazel” (a name for the False Messiah) is taken out and killed. This act is also pictured in Ezek 29.1-7 and 32.1-8 with Pharaoh, another picture of the False Messiah.
After the death of Athaliah, all the pagan houses of Baal, his altars and images were broken into pieces. They killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. In the same way, all Replacement Theology religions and systems will be destroyed when Yeshua returns, and the False Prophet (Mattan is a picture of him) will also be killed (Rev 19.20-21). For a more detailed look into the False Messiah, go to our teachings called “The False Messiah (Introduction)” and “Torah and New Testament Foundations-The False Messiah” on this website.
2 Chr 24.1-27 tells us about the reign of Yoash. He was seven years old when he became king and this chapter tells us about his rise and fall over his forty year reign. His reign was blessed by Yehovah but he (like all of us) fell short of complete commitment. However, the Kingdom of Judah advanced during his reign.
After his coronation, he decided to repair the Temple and he wanted the priests and the Levites to collect money annually from all Israel to do it. However, they did not do it quickly because they did not have the same passion about it that Yoash did. This is like us when there is a godly project but we drag our feet.
Why the Temple was in disrepair is explained in 2 Chr 24.7 where it says, “For the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God and even used the holy things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.” So the repair was not due to normal wear and tear. They defaced it and took the gold and silver vessels (2 Kings 12.13). Yoash ordered that a box was to be set outside the gate to the temple. This box seems to be different than the one in 2 Kings 12.6-13, which was by Yehoyada’s orders and set on the right side of the altar.
There is a possible explanation for these two boxes found in the book called “Divrei Ha Yamim II” (Chronicles) by Mesorah Publications, p. 179. It says, “v. 7 taught that Athaliah and her sons emptied the House treasury in order to use the money for Baal worship. The resources in the treasury consisted of the half-shekalim which every Jew sent annually to the House. Because the treasury was plundered and these shekalim were never used for their intended purpose, it now devolved upon Israel to send not only their current half-shekal to the House but also to make up the loss to the House treasury and send shekalim for previous years. When Yoash sent the Kohanim to travel around Judah in order to raise money for the restoration, he also charged them with collecting the shekalim for past years. Thus, there were two categories of shekalim pouring into the House. Current shekalim and those from previous years. The current shekalim are those dealt with in Kings. These were placed in the chest near the altar. Chronicles deals with those of previous years which were put in the chest near the entrance. The halachic status of these two categories is not the same. From the current ones, the daily sacrifices were brought, and only what remained after that was earmarked for the House repairs. The halachah requires that the dividing of the money between amounts required for the sacrifices and those which are to be used for other purposes, be done three times a year- this is the subject of the Kings passage. By contrast, the shekalim from past years are earmarked entirely for repair and upkeep, and from these moneys the required amount was to be withdrawn daily. This is the meaning of the Chronicles passage.”
This offering recalls the offering that was given in Exo 35 to build the Mishkan. God could have made the money “just appear” but he wanted this work funded through the gifts of the people. The project involved two activities, to rebuild and to repair. The word “restore” is “chadash” and chadash is the word used in the phrase “Brit Chadasha” meaning “New Testament/Covenant.” This tells us that the “new” covenant is part of the Torah (Deut 29.1 through 30.10) and is not a “new” covenant that replaces the Torah, or “instead of” but it is going to be restored/renewed in the hearts of the people through the circumcision of the heart (Deut 30.6; Jer 31.33).
The work “flourished under their hands” (v 13) and this is a term borrowed from the medical field. This is a healing process that brings life, vigor and power to a place where there had been sickness. Once the work was completed, they brought the money that remained to Yehoyada and it was used for new items for the Temple service (Avodah).
Yehoyada died at the age of 130 and he was the oldest guy since Moses. He helped restore the Davidic dynasty, stopped Athaliah and her plans and helped repair the Temple. There is an interesting phrase relating to this in v 16 where it says, “His House.” This is talking about the Temple, which is his house, but it also refers to the Davidic dynasty, the “house of David.” Of all the heroes up to this point, Yehoyada must rank near the top. It was he who made sure that Israel kept moving towards its destiny, which was to bring forth the Messiah and the Redemption, a destiny that goes all the way back to the Book of Genesis.
But after the death of Yehoyada, things began to change (v 17-18). Yoash begins to listen to the officials of Judah who were inclined to idolatry in their hearts. Yoash reveals himself to be a weak man and leader. He did good under the influence of Yehoyada, and evil under the influence of the leaders of Judah. These leaders did not want to come to the Temple anymore, and began to serve the Asherim and idols, so wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem.
The Lord sent prophets to them, but they would not listen (v 19). Then the Ruach Ha Kodesh (Holy Spirit) came upon Zechariah (Yehovah remembers) ben Yehoyada and he stood above the people in the Temple so they could hear him. He tells them that Yehovah has forsaken them because they have forsaken him. This is included in Chronicles and not in Kings because the returning exiles needed to remember why they were taken captive to Babylon in the first place, and that they needed to draw near to Yehovah now that they were back in the land.
But the people conspired against Zechariah about some legal issue, and by the command of Yoash, they stoned him in the court of the house of Yehovah. He is the last righteous one killed in the in the Tanak, and may be the one referred to in Matt 23.35. Yoash did not remember the kindness shown to him by Yehoyada when he saved him as an infant, and murdered his son in the same place Yehoyada anointed Yoash (v 21).
Jewish tradition in the Talmud, Taanit 4.5 says that Israel committed seven sins on this day. They killed a priest, a prophet, a judge, shed innocent blood, defiled the Temple, it was a Sabbath, and it was Yom Kippur. As Zechariah dies he says, “May Yehovah see and avenge” (v 22) in keeping with his principles of justice, and he does. A band of marauding soldiers came from Syria at “the turn of the year” (in Tishri) and destroyed (wiped out) the idolatrous officials of the people. They sent their spoils to Syria so that they would not look mercenary (v 23). They executed judgment on Yoash according to what Yehovah said in Lev 26.8, 17, 37.
When the Syrians left, Yoash was very sick and his own servants conspired against him because of the “sons of Yehoyada” (plural). This indicates that Zechariah’s murder wasn’t the only “son” of Yehoyada killed, or this refers to the “sons” or “grandsons” who would have been born. This concept can also be seen in the murder of Abel (“the voice of your brother’s bloods is crying to me from the ground”-Gen 4.10). Yehoyada saved Yoash’s future as an infant and the Messianic line, but Yoash robbed Zechariah of his future.
So, Yoash was murdered by his own servants on his bed. This was a fitting judgment because Zechariah considered himself safe in the Temple and he also did not figure that Yoash would have him killed because his father had saved him, but he was wrong and unprepared for what happened. In the same way, Yoash was killed on his bed where he was unprepared for an assassination. He was buried in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings because of his crime.
Those who conspired against him are listed in 2 Chr 24.26. They are Zabad (dowry, gift) the son of Shimeah (hears or obeys) the Ammonitess, and Yehozabad (Yehovah has given) the son of Shimrith (guarded) the Moabitess. It is not surprising that Yoash’s murderers would come from Ammon and Moab. They refused to help Israel in the wilderness, and Balaam was hired by Moab to curse Israel. Ammon and Moab did not know the meaning of thankfulness and gratitude, but neither did Yoash. So, Amaziah, the son of Yoash became king (v 27).
We will pick up in 2 Chr 25.1-28 in Part 7.
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