You can turn in your Bibles to 2 Kings 11. 2 Kings 11, last week we saw the end of Jehu's purge in the northern kingdom, the destruction of Ahab and his, well, Ahab's house. Ahab had died previously. And here we're back to the kingdom of Judah in 2 Kings 11. When Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal heirs.
But Jehoshabah, the daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being murdered. And they hid him and his nurse in the bedroom from Athaliah so that he was not killed. So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord for six years, while Athaliah reigned over the land. In the seventh year, Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of hundreds of the bodyguards and the escorts, and brought them into the house of the Lord to him.
And he made a covenant with them, and took an oath from them in the house of the Lord, and showed them the king's son. Then he commanded them, saying, This is what you shall do. One third of you who come on duty on the Sabbath shall be keeping watch over the king's house. One third shall be at the gate of Sir, and one third at the gate behind the escorts.
You shall keep the watch of the house, lest it be broken down. The two contingents of you who go off duty on the Sabbath shall keep the watch of the house of the Lord for the king. But you shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand. And whoever comes within range, let him be put to death.
You are to be with the king as he goes out and as he comes in. So the captains of the hundreds did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded. Each of them took his men who were to be on duty on the Sabbath, with those who were going off duty on the Sabbath, and came to Jehoiada the priest. And the priest gave the captains of hundreds the spears and shields which had belonged to King David, that were in the temple of the Lord.
Then the escorts stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, all around the king, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, by the altar and the house. And he brought out the king's son, put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony. They made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, Long live the king. Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the escorts and the people, she came to the people in the temple of the Lord.
When she looked, there was the king standing by a pillar according to custom. And the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. So Athaliah tore her clothes and cried out, treason, treason.
Jehoiada, the priest, commanded the captains of the hundreds, the officers of the army, and said to them, Take her outside, under guard, and slay with the sword whoever follows her. For the priest had said, Do not let her be killed in the house of the Lord. So they seized her, and she went by way of the horse's entrance into the king's house, and there she was killed. Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people, that they should be the Lord's people, and also between the king and the people.
And all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They thoroughly broke in pieces its altars and images and killed Matan, the priest of Baal, before the altars. And the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord. Then he took the captains of hundreds, the bodyguards, the escorts, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king down from the house of the Lord, and went by way of the gate of the escorts to the king's house.
Then he sat on the throne of the kings. So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet, for they had slain Adaliah with the sword in the king's house. Jehoash was seven years old when he became king. Amen.
Introduction
So we're back to the line of David in the house of Judah. Specifically, this is the preservation of the Davidic line. Essentially, what we see here is in verses one to three, the promise made in 2 Samuel 7, that from David, there would rise up a king, ultimately pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ. That particular promise is in danger here.
This wicked, notorious, wretched woman tries to slaughter the entirety of the Davidic line, and we see how God preserves that. So we'll look at the chapter tonight under four considerations. First, the preservation of the Davidic line in verses 1 to 3. Secondly, the coronation of Joash in verses 4 to 12.
Third, the execution of Adaliah in verses 13 to 16, and then fourthly, the restoration of the covenant in verses 17 to 21.
Preservation of the Davidic Line
But notice first, with reference to the preservation of the Davidic line, I think verses 1 to 3 indicate something that's true not only here in about the year 840 BC, But it's something certainly true for us in this current day and age. We just read that section concerning China. Our brother prayed for Pakistan and for North Korea. Those persons understand the reality that there is opposition against the Kingdom of God Most High.
I think we understand that as well, but it's a bit more theoretical, and the sorts of opposition that we face are not anywhere near the sorts of opposition say, David's line faced here in chapter 11, or say, brethren in China or brethren in North Korea face. But certainly this opposition is a reality. Notice this Adaliah was the daughter of Israel's Ahab. according to 2 Kings 8, verse 18. This is another sort of miserable effect of Jehoshaphat's alliance with the north.
She comes into contact with the south and it was all as a result of Jehoshaphat, a good and godly king, but not one that was ultimately wise in terms of this alliance with the house of Ahab. Now, if she was not Jezebel's daughter genetically, we don't have proof that she was. Ahab certainly had more than one wife. She was certainly Jezebel's daughter ethically.
She was cut from the same swath. She was the same sort of godless woman. In fact, House says the daughter or this daughter of Ahab certainly imitates Jezebel's decisiveness, cruelty, and sheer pluck. She was also the wife of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat.
Again, we learn this in 2 Kings 8. And note that she destroys or attempts to destroy all the royal heirs. Now, you got to remember at this particular time, this probably wasn't a whole lot of people, and it was specifically her grandsons. Joram, Jehoram, the brothers of Jehoram were slain by Jehoram.
One wonders if perhaps she was whispering in his ear saying, secure the throne by murdering your own brothers. You can learn of that in 2 Chronicles 21. So the brothers of Joram were slain by Joram. The sons of Joram, except for Ahaziah, were slain by Arabians, according to 2 Chronicles 22.
And then the sons of Ahaziah's brothers were slain by Jehu. So the ones that are here still are her grandsons. So this Adaliah was, you know, just a real wretch in terms of, you know, she wasn't the grandmother of the year. She was seeking to secure power, to maintain hold on power.
She had ambition for rule and government, which, as John Gill suggests, she was probably entrusted with while her son went to visit Joram, king of Israel. So when her son goes to assist Joram, he leaves her in charge at this particular time. And so in an attempt to seize and maintain power, she undergoes this slaughtering campaign over all of these children, so that there would be no heir to the throne. Now, this falls in line with a lot of situations in the Bible, or several situations in the Bible, where it seems as if the kingdom of God is going to be sidetracked or sidelined.
You know, all the way back in Genesis chapter 38, Judah was supposed to make sure that his daughter-in-law Tamar was given seed. Well, he wasn't going to do that, so she undertook on behalf of the situation and ended up getting seed, so that continued the seed in that respect. We have this particular instance where this godless woman is trying to eradicate the line of David. It certainly typifies what you see at the time of the Lord Jesus Christ when Herod massacres the innocents.
And then I think Revelation 12 speaks to this also. You can turn to Revelation 12. It was recently in the news, Revelation 12. Some suggested that this sign would have been visible, I think, on October 23rd, but I don't think that's what it means.
I think it's a reference to redemptive history, and it's a visionary image of what God is doing in history, and it shows the rage of the devil against the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice in chapter 12 of Revelation, beginning in verse 1, a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of 12 stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth. And another sign appeared in heaven.
Behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail drew a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to give birth, to devour her child as soon as it was born." So the devil had this in play, this attempt to try and stop this Davidic line, to try and stop the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. And we see that here in 2 Kings 11.
You see it in Matthew 2, when Herod tries to destroy the Lord Jesus by butchering all of these babies. The same sort of thing is happening here. If she would have had her way, she would have stopped the line of David. So going back to 2 Kings 11, how does God respond to this particular situation, to this particular emergency where this godless, wretched, Jezebel-like woman is trying to destroy all the royal heirs?
Well, notice in the providence of God, He could have directly killed Adaliah. I mean, she could have choked to death on her spittle. She could have had an aneurysm. She could have had a heart attack.
She could have had any number of things that would have ended her days. But God, in His providence, raises up an unsung hero, a particular woman by the name of Jehoshabah. We see that in verse 2. Jehoshabah, also known as Jehoshabeth in the parallel in 2 Chronicles 22, says, The daughter of King Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash, the son of Ahaziah, and stole him away from among the king's sons who were being murdered.
And they hid him and his nurse in the bedroom from Adaliah, so that he was not killed. So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord for six years while Adaliah reigned over the land. And so you see that God in his providence raised up this particular woman. She is the daughter of Joram, though she is not the daughter of this godless woman. and she engages in this particular activity to spirit away this little baby, to put him into hiding, so that the murderous witch cannot get to him and destroy him.
Now, she probably didn't realize the significance of what she was doing, but it was a very significant act. One man says the second verse sets Ahaziah's sister as the savior of Ahaziah's baby son against Ahaziah's mother. And so she does this to preserve the royal line. Now the parallel in 2 Chronicles tells us that Jehoshaphat was married to this Jehoiada.
The Jehoiada of verse 4 is the priest, or the high priest, the priest at that particular time, and Jehoshaphat and him are married together. So we see the Lord's kindness in preserving the Davidic line in and through this particular woman. And in this we see God's promise. Again, the fact that he makes this promise in 2 Samuel 7, we need to realize that it is not going to go away.
It may be threatened, it may look compromised, it may look as if the opposition is winning, but God will always prevail. God will triumph. His word is sure. And notice, throughout this particular passage, it isn't a, thus saith the Lord, or the Lord did this directly, But it's God working in His providence to stop the opposition against His kingdom, using a regular woman and a regular man to advance the cause of the kingdom for His glory, for His honor, and for His praise.
So the persistent benefit of the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7 is seen all the way through the history of the kingdom. We have seen several promises in Kings. 1 Kings 11.36, 1 Kings 15.4, and then just most recently 2 Kings 8.19. Yet the Lord would not destroy Judah for the sake of his servant David as he promised him to give a lamp to him and his sons forever. So that lamp would never be extinguished.
It would never be removed. The promise will be realized in and through the Lord Jesus Christ as the one that 2 Samuel 7 ultimately pointed to. But again, humanly speaking, it came close. There was one hour left. one young baby named Joash, who is spirited away, hidden, probably not in a bedroom, necessarily a storehouse for bedding supplies, something like that, so that this Adaliah could not get to him, so that she could not have her way and secure the throne for her own wicked ends.
Now, I like the way Davis treats this particular chapter. He calls the chapter, the title of the chapter, The Lady Who Saved Christmas. the lady who saved Christmas, because that's precisely what's happening here, this is the means by which the Davidic line is preserved. And Davis says, you may not be much interested in baby Joash and his plucky aunt who saved him, but please try to see God's hand at work long before Luke 2. If Adaliah had had her way, there would have been no angels or shepherds of swaddling clothes or good news of great joy.
Today you'd better thank God for the lady who saved Christmas." And that's precisely what's happening here. So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord for six years while Adaliah reigned over the land.
Coronation of Joash
And then notice, we have the coronation of Joash in verses 4 to 12. So Jehoiada reveals that Joash is alive, according to verse 4. So it's been seven years. He takes the throne when he's seven years old.
It says, in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent and brought the captains of hundreds of the bodyguards and the escorts and brought them into the house of the Lord to him. and he made a covenant with them and took an oath from them in the house of the Lord and showed them the king's son." So this was a great revelation. The lion is not dead. The Davidic throne has not been given over to this particular wretched woman. Now, verses 5 to 7 are a bit confusing in terms of troop movement, in terms of where persons are stationed, and where persons are summoned from, and where persons are ultimately finding their place, but the end result is revealed in verse 8.
They are to secure and stabilize this boy. They are to make sure that no threat comes his way, that no harm comes to him. Notice in verse 8, you shall surround the king on all sides. Notice he's already announcing him as the king.
She is not the king, she is not the rightful heir, she is not the monarch. In fact, if you go back to verse 3 for just a moment, So he was hidden with her in the house of the Lord for six years while Adaliah reigned over the land. I mean, isn't that sort of the way the kingdom is at times? We don't always see the things that are hidden.
Well, obviously we don't see the things that are hidden, but there is that sense where we don't always see the fullness of the rule of God in time and history. And we're often inclined to think that because we don't see the fullness of the rule of God in time and history that it must not be true. And that's not true. Even though the case was that this particular woman was reigning over the land.
This isn't the typical sort of royal formula that she reigned for this amount of time and then she died and then she was buried in such and such a place. No, it tells us that she reigned over the land, but she was a usurper. She had stolen the throne. She was not the lawful monarch.
There was, behind the scenes, a king. And again, Joe Ash is going to start off well, but he's not going to end well. But nevertheless, he is typical of that behind-the-scenes king that does rule and reign over all things, even when our eyes might tell us something otherwise. even when our eyes might judge that it doesn't seem like the kingdom of God is here with power and with great impact. But it is the case that while the wretched men are on thrones in this world now, there is nevertheless the reign of God behind the scenes, and one day it will come in the fullness of power.
But back to verse 8, specifically, provides security for the king, And you shall surround the king on all sides, every man with his weapons in his hand, and whoever comes within range, let him be put to death. You are to be with the king as he goes out and as he comes in." And then notice, specifically, the details complies according to verse 9. And then I think the author here is showing us some connection, not only with David, but also with Moses. And that's going to lead to the covenant restoration, or rather the covenant renewal sort of portion in verses 17 to 21.
But notice this nod to David. not just in terms of the kingship and the fact that this man is from that royal line, but notice specifically in verse 10. And the priest gave the captains of hundreds the spears and shields which had belonged to King David that were in the temple of the Lord. Either David's own personal weaponry or those things he seized when he was in battle and placed in the temple by way of dedication to Yahweh. You can see that in 2 Samuel chapter 8.
And then notice that Joash is crowned. Verse 11, Then the escort stood, every man with his weapons in his hand, all around the king, from the right side of the temple to the left side of the temple, by the altar in the house. And he brought out the king's son, put the crown on him, and gave him the testimony. or gave him the covenant, or gave him the law. This is probably a reference to Deuteronomy 17.
The rules for the king was in Deuteronomy 17, 14 to 20. And one of the primary emphases in that sort of set of rules for the king is that the first order of business for the king was to pen out for himself, write out for himself, the law of God. That was supposed to have an effect upon the king that he would adhere to that law, that he would govern God's kingdom by that law, and that the persons within that kingdom were subject to that law. And so we've got this connection with David in terms of the weaponry or the armory of David, and then we have this connection with the Mosaic covenant.
So he puts the crown on him, gave him the testimony, they made him king and anointed him, and they clapped their hands and said, long live the king. Paul House makes this observation. Thus, Joash is swept to power in a movement that includes popular, religious, and military support. His coronation, like his coalition, combines a commitment to the Davidic dynasty, the Mosaic covenant, and to the people.
In other words, this scene embodies the best of Judah's sacred and secular institutions. In other words, not only is the Davidic line preserved, it's getting back on track. We'll see that it's gone grossly off track. Remember, we've been confined to the Northern Kingdom.
When Jehu destroys Baalism, it's in Israel. But as we see in the remainder of this particular text, Baalism has risen up in Judah. In fact, when they go to destroy Baal, the Temple of Baal, in this particular chapter, it's not in the north, it's not in Samaria, it's not the one constructed by Ahab back in 1st Kings 16, it's in Jerusalem. This wicked, wretched woman took a cue from Jezebel and instituted Baal worship right smack dab in Jerusalem.
And so the nation had gone astray. The nation had gone into idolatry. We've known things aren't well. with Judah, but this is new information that they are breaking a temple of Baal in the southern kingdom in 2 Kings chapter 11. So all of this stuff converges or builds upon, and then we see this restoration or rather covenant renewal in verses 17 to 21.
So Joash is crowned king.
Execution of Athaliah
When she, Adaliah, heard the noise of the escorts and the people, she came to the people. This is now the execution of Adaliah. She hears this, she comes to the people in the temple of the Lord. When she looked, there was the king standing by a pillar according to custom.
And the leaders and the trumpeters were by the king. Now she didn't know She obviously didn't have a secure hold upon the kingdom because she didn't have any sort of knowledge about this whatsoever. She hears the noise of the escorts and the people. When she hears the noise, she comes to the people in the temple of the Lord.
She gets there, she looks around, she sees. There was the king standing by a pillar according to custom. All these things were not known to her, so it would indicate that she was not the favored in terms of who would reign upon the throne there in Judah. She had no reconnaissance.
She had nobody whispering in her ear. She had nobody advising her of the situation. That's why as House points out, Joash has not only religious, not only military, but he has popular support. The people are for him.
They were not for her. And so she sees all that is happening. She sees all of the pomp and the show. She sees all of this display and this coronation scene.
All the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. So Adaliah tore her clothes and cried out. Now get this. She cries out, treason, treason.
You imagine that? The absolute absurdity of a usurper claiming that somebody else engaged in treason. She had no rightful authority to that throne. She seized upon the throne and then secured the throne by the blood of her own grandsons.
I mean, come on. This is a woman who does not have any moral authority whatsoever to say treason, treason. Matthew Henry said she herself was the greatest traitor and yet was first and loudest in crying treason, treason. Those that are themselves most guilty are commonly most forward to reproach others.
They call that projecting, don't they? I don't think Matthew Henry would have called it that, but that's sort of the popular parlance today. And I think that's exactly what she's doing. I mean, that she didn't just explode, calling out treason, treason, is pretty amazing.
In fact, Davis makes the observation. One marvels that a usurper could use that word with a straight face. Certainly, it is an expression of her lawlessness, her wickedness, and her true connection to Ahab and Jezebel. Again, if she had not been genetically spawned by Jezebel, she certainly had an ethical connection with Jezebel in terms of wretchedness and wickedness and ungodliness.
So Jehoiada, the priest, commands the captains of the hundreds, verse 15, the officers, the army, and said to them, take her outside, under guard, slay with the sword whoever follows her. For the priest had said, do not let her be killed in the house of the Lord. We don't want to defile the temple with godless blood. We don't want to defile the temple with this wretched woman's blood.
Take her outside. And then they seized her, according to verse 16. She went by way of the horse's entrance into the king's house, and there she was killed. Now, she's not killed the exact same way as Jezebel, but Jezebel had horses involved, and here this woman has horses involved.
At least it sort of reminisces for us that there is this connection, not only in their lives of wickedness, but in their death in terms of God's judgment over or upon them.
Restoration of the Covenant
And then notice finally the restoration of the covenant in verses 17 to 21. It's a covenant renewal ceremony. Verse 17. Then Jehoiada made a covenant between the Lord.
I don't think this is a brand new covenant. It's not the Jehoiadic covenant, but rather it is the covenant that had been previously made that is now being renewed. Remember, Israel swore fidelity to God in Exodus chapter 24. They renewed that covenant in the book of Deuteronomy on several occasions in the plains of Moab before they enter into the promised land.
Joshua at Shechem, in Joshua 24, they renew the covenant. That's precisely what's happening here. He makes a covenant between the Lord, the king, and the people that they should be the Lord's people and also between the king and the people. Now, Matthew Henry makes the observation, covenants are of use both to remind us of and to bind us to those duties which are already binding on us.
The idea being it's a renewal of the covenant that had been made but had been trashed. It had been wrecked, it had been ruined, it had been cast aside by both houses, Israel and Judah. Remember, we're focusing upon Judah. The line of David is preserved, they have a Davidic king now on the throne, and so Jehoiada says, we need to renew the covenant.
And note the parties in the covenant. It says, the Lord, the king, and the people. The Lord, the king, and the people. This would be necessary for them.
Because in the renewal ceremony they are swearing fidelity afresh to the living and true God. But in many respects they had forgotten Yahweh. They had turned to Baal. We'll see that in verse 18.
But they had turned to Baal. House says, they had forgotten who they were because they had forgotten who their God was. Covenant renewal restored then the proper sense of reality and identity for the people. In other words, it was a means by which they would sort of, you know, reboot the system.
They put things back in order. We, the people, the King who rules over us, and Almighty God, enter into this covenant in order to carry out the stipulations laid upon us by our Sovereign. We have gone a-whoring from this God, we have chased the bales, we have engaged in idolatry, and we renounce that, and we forsake that, and we want to follow the Lord. But also the King and the people.
Notice at the end of verse 17, and also between the king and the people. They'd had some pretty rotten kings. They had had some pretty rotten leadership, and this is an opportunity now, under Jehoiada's advisement, under his counsel, this boy king would indeed establish with the people the responsibilities outlined in Deuteronomy 17, verses 14 to 20, that he would execute what he was supposed to in the manner that Yahweh had commanded. Now, I know that it doesn't carry through.
I know that Joash doesn't end well. I know that there's going to be failure. But suffice it to say, this is the history of Israel. It's almost as if they go from one covenant renewal to another because they keep rejecting the living and true God.
I would suggest that in every covenant renewal, we don't just see in that the sort of fastidiousness of the human spirit. We're going to try it again. or the sort of stubbornness of the human soul. We're going to do this until we get this right. But the fact that there are so many instances of covenant renewal in the old covenant highlights, at least in my thought, the grace and the mercy and the kindness of God.
Isn't it? I mean, God doesn't say to them, here, oh, you're coming back to me again? You're going to try this again? No, the Lord renews covenant with them.
He does this relentlessly over and over again. You see this concept that it's the New Testament that reveals to us grace and mercy and kindness and forgiveness is a mindset that has no idea what the Old Testament actually teaches. Every instance of covenant renewal ought not to be seen as yippee for Israel because they're going to try again. But praise God that He hasn't utterly destroyed them and cast every last one of them into the flaming pit for their sin.
The fact that God allows them to stand before Him and again swear fidelity to Him is a sign of His grace, His goodness, and His mercy. It shows His longsuffering. It shows His patience. It shows the fact that He is forbearing with these people.
So the king swears to the people or renews the covenant between the king and the people.
Covenant Demands Destruction of Idols
Now note, after the renewal of the covenant, verse 18 naturally follows. What happens when you renew fidelity to God? You get rid of infidelity. What happens when you say to the Lord God Most High, I'm not going to look at that anymore.
Do you go back and look at that? No, you hopefully get rid of it. Or, Lord, I'm not going to smoke this anymore. What do you do?
You get rid of it. You don't keep coddling it or holding on to it. So when they renew this sort of covenant back to Yahweh, what does that mean for Baal? It should mean certain destruction for Baal and that is precisely what happens in verse 18.
And all the people of the land went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They thoroughly broke in pieces its altars and images and killed Matan the priest of Baal before the altars. and the priest appointed officers over the house of the Lord." Again, we're dealing with the temple of the Lord. We're dealing with the city of Jerusalem. We are dealing with the reality that there is this competing temple of Baal in the Holy City.
Robert Alter says, this is new information that during Adeliah's reign, a functioning temple of Baal stood in Jerusalem. We are probably meant to infer that she, in addition to her murderous lust for power, followed the pagan ways of her mother Jezebel and encouraged a cult of Baal in Jerusalem. See, that's pretty new information, as I, you know, I think Alter's right. We don't know at this point that there's an operative Baal temple in Judah, in Jerusalem, in the Holy City, and that is precisely what we find here.
So when this covenant is renewed, Baal is destroyed, which indicates that a true commitment to Yahweh necessarily includes a complete renunciation of idolatry. You see, God doesn't say it's okay to have God and Baal. Remember the challenge on Mount Carmel in 1 Kings 18? What does Elijah say?
Have a bit of Baal, have a bit of Yahweh. No. If Baal is God, serve him. If Yahweh is God, serve him.
Now, he's not actually saying go out and serve Baal. He is telling them that they need to get their act together. They need to quit trying to straddle the fence, having a bit of Yahweh and having a bit of Baal. Remember, this was the challenge for the children of Israel when they went in the land of Canaan.
They would see their next-door neighbors praying to Baal, and then it might rain the next day, and then they might conclude, hey, this Baal does deliver. We prayed to Yahweh last week, and we asked for rain, and it didn't rain. The Joneses next door, no offense to any Joneses. Sorry, that's just the most common name, I guess.
The Joneses next door, they pray to Baal, and it rained the next day. They get Chilliwack weather. We want some Baal. So we'll keep Yahweh because of our sort of ancestral traditions, but we'll also have some Baal because he waters our crops.
See, it probably wasn't, a lot of times in Israel, an utter renunciation of Yahweh, but it was a mingling of Yahweh and Baal. Now, I'm not suggesting there wasn't total renunciation of Yahweh from time to time, but it was what's called syncretism. Syncretism means I take a bit of this, I take a bit of that, I throw it together, and that's my religion. Syncretism would probably describe a lot of people in North America.
They like the teaching of Jesus, you know, the peacefulness of Hinduism and the tambourines and the orange sheets. They like the whatever of whoever and they sort of combine it all together and that's their religion. That's syncretism, bringing together several elements and combining it. And that's most likely what happened at least a lot during Israel's history.
But here they go and they destroy this temple of Baal. Listen to Davis. He says the sequence between verses 17 and 18 is important. Covenant leads to destruction.
If there is fidelity to Yahweh, verse 17, all that attempts All that attempts to sap and seduce that fidelity must be thrown down. Verse 18, when truth reigns, the false must be eliminated. And now I don't think it's difficult to see the connection between 17 and 18 and our own situation. It's not difficult to see that when we swear fidelity to the true and living God, we can't continue in patterns of sin.
We can't continue to bow to Baal. We can't continue to do those things that God's law condemns. We can't have God and our sin. We can't have God and our idol.
We are told in scripture that we cannot serve two masters. We'll either love the one and hate the other, you know, love the other and hate the one. We cannot do it. Jesus says it is mutually exclusive.
Jesus is in the long line of Israel's prophets. Choose ye this day whom you will serve. And so the obvious parallel between this and New Covenant religion, Davis goes on to say you can't have a solid Covenant victory unless all that sabotages the Covenant is eliminated. So 17 and 18 are a natural progression. 17 and 18 naturally follow.
We come to Jesus, what do we do with our sin or with our idols? We get rid of it. We destroy it. We don't put it in a closet and hide it for, you know, a time when we will visit it later.
That's not dealing with sin. That's not bashing down the temple of Baal. That's not destroying the priest, Matan. That's not getting rid of the images.
When we come to the Lord Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, through faith in him to be sure, that means a renunciation of all the things that at one time held our hearts sway, held our hearts captive. And this whole idea of idolatry runs from Genesis all the way to Revelation. I mean, idolatry is that perennial sin that continually rises up against the people of God. It's a continual temptation.
John the Apostle, the apostle of love, ends his first epistle on that note. My little children, keep yourselves from idols. He's talking about love, he's talking about righteousness, he's talking about truth, he's talking about all these great things. And he ends the epistle with, my little children, keep yourselves from idols.
What's that suggest? It suggests that we need to keep ourselves from idols. It's a constant temptation. You know, Baal is enticing.
These people went to Baal because he offered good things. Now, I realize there's no such thing as Baal. It's not that he was a real deity, but what he offered, persons wanted, and so they went after him. Well, the same is true for the idols that confront us.
It's not Baal, it's not Asherah, it's not Dagon, it's not those sort of Canaanite deities, but there's idols that plague our hearts that are enticing. Why do men go after these sorts of things? Because there is some degree of satisfaction or security or pleasure, at least in their own minds, as to why they pursue these things. John's admonition reigns true.
My little children, keep yourselves from idols.
Blessed Effects of Covenant Renewal
Now note, with reference to this covenant renewal ceremony under the restoration of the covenant, the blessed effects of all this in verses 19 to 21. Verse 19, then he took the captains of hundreds, the bodyguards, the escorts, and all the people of the land. And they brought the king down from the house of the Lord and went by way of the gate of the escorts to the king's house. Then he sat on the throne of the kings.
He's been crowned. He has been anointed. He has been now set into place on the throne here in the city. And then verse 20, it's beautiful.
So all the people of the land rejoiced. Why do you think they rejoice? Because it was a blessed regime change. You go from a wicked, ambitious, murdering wretch to this king, who's now under the tutelage of a godly priest, and the land rejoiced.
The people of the land rejoiced. Then verse 20, in the middle, the city was quiet. Kind of harkens back to judges. This is a pretty recurring theme in the book of Judges.
When a foreign oppressor was destroyed, it would say that the land had rest for however many years that there was. And so we have that very thing here, for they had slain Adaliah with the sword in the king's house. Jehoash was seven years old. This is seven years old when he became king.
So we have the grace of God in the preservation of the line of David, the restoration of the covenant with the people of God, and a man who, at least at this point, is sitting upon the throne, or a young man, a boy, who's sitting upon the throne, that's got good counselors, good wisdom surrounding him, that is going to administrate the kingdom, at least for a time, in a way that is pleasing to the Lord.
Application
Well, in conclusion, we've seen this, we ought to repeat it, the kingdom will be opposed. Not just the king, but his followers. How do we explain the sorts of things that are going on to brothers and sisters throughout the earth? It's that sort of murderous rage.
It's that sort of fury. Edward said men can't get to God. If they could, they would throw him off the throne and kill him. But because they can't get to God, they kill his people.
And Jesus says the same thing. If the world hated me, they're going to hate you. It's not going to be the case that persons say, hey, you're Christians, we're so thankful for you, we love you and we esteem you. That's not typical.
That's not the way it goes. The kingdom will be opposed. Secondly, the kingdom will have unsung heroes. You and I probably never think about Jehoshabba, do we?
You may have never even heard of her before tonight. But she did an amazing thing by stealing or spiriting away Joash, taking him, hiding him and protecting him for those years so that he could assume the throne. And at times I think, you know, we have this idea that, you know, we don't really make any significant contribution to the kingdom. You hear this with people, and you may think it yourself, you know, I'm just a this, or I'm just a that, and I really make no significant contribution to the kingdom of God.
She probably didn't think that this was that big of a contribution to the kingdom of God. I mean, it's sort of a maternal instinct. She's his auntie. She sees him there, and she knows what's happening in, you know, at least another part of the kingdom, and she picks the baby up and takes him and hides him.
In terms of the actual event or the actual activity, she didn't split the atom for the kingdom. She didn't vanquish enemies for the kingdom. She didn't lead a military assault upon this rebel usurper. No, she just took a baby and hid this baby, but it was a significant contribution.
And brethren, the kingdom of God is made up of a whole bunch of little details. And I think passages like this ought to encourage us that whatever the size of our contribution, God the Lord is able to take that and use it for good purposes. It ought to encourage us to step out in faith and do those things, not, again, necessarily, you know, we need to go here and single-handedly defeat, you know, Kim Jong-un and free all the Christians, and that's not going to be our job. That's not what we're going to do.
But, you know, if we're faithful parents and we take seriously our responsibility to bring up our children in the training and admonition of the Lord, we as fathers exercise that kingly, priestly, prophetic office to our kids. You know, as wives or mothers, we're faithful to pray for the children. We're faithful to set the gospel before the children. God saves one or two or five or ten of those children.
That's a significant contribution to the kingdom, isn't it? If you're that child, it sure is. If you owe your conversion to the faithfulness of your parents, you ask your parents, well, I'm just doing, you know, those basics that God calls me to do. Yeah, but it's through those basics that God exercises a saving grace and brings many sons to glory.
So you see, the size of the contribution isn't necessarily the issue. It's the contribution. It's the spiriting away the little baby to protect him from a murderous woman. It's being faithful to your calling as a husband or as a father, as a wife or mother.
It's being faithful to your calling in your workplace to serve your customers and to do so in a way that reflects the glory and the goodness of God and not some hypocritical Christian. It's a kind of constant refrain that you hear from people from time to time. I don't like doing business with Christians. Why?
They should love doing business with Christians because Christians should be honest and faithful and good kingdom citizens and therefore good citizens in this lower kingdom. Brethren, it's not the size of the contribution, it's the reality that by the grace of God, we do what we're supposed to do. I think this is Paul's point in 1 Corinthians 15, specifically verse 58. I love this language.
I think it enforces this point. Verse 58, Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. Isn't that a beautiful thing? Knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
As long as it meets this criteria, as long as it's this big, as long as it impacts... No, it's not in vain in the Lord. You do what you're supposed to do for the glory of God and the Lord God blesses. Thirdly, as mentioned previously in verse 3, the kingdom will have a contrary appearance.
A wicked woman is reigning over the land, the real king is hidden away. David says, you must see this as your anchor, not the secret reign of Joash, for there is a far greater than Joash who reigns now. David's descendant and Joash's descendant, Jesus the Lord. And the rulers of this age and the pagans around you don't know this secret, but you do if you've swallowed Ephesians 1, 20 to 22.
This is what puts iron in your guts and makes you able to resist any other power that tries to control you. Knowing there is a legitimate king who secretly reigns keeps you from despair while the pretenders carry on. That's an encouraging thought. Though there are wicked people at the helm, we know better.
We know what's behind the scenes. We know who is orchestrating all things. We know that he is, in the language of Revelation 1, the ruler over the kings of the earth. presently, currently, right now. Our naked eye or the physical eye will always betray us.
We need to walk by faith in the Son of God who loved us and who gave himself for us. Thanking God that His promise in 2 Samuel 7 is sure, that the lamp was never extinguished, that Christ did come in the fullness of the times, born of a woman, born under the law, and He did so to redeem those who were under the law. We can praise God for those second Samuel, seven realities that came to pass in that blessed time of the incarnation of the Savior. We can praise God that His reign, His rule, His authority is now absolute.
He has all power, all authority in heaven and on earth, and He rules and reigns, and He must do so until all of His enemies are made His footstool. And all of it, in many respects, humanly speaking, goes back to this Jehoshaphat. who picked up little Joash and hid him away for six years, seven years, so that he could just live. And when he lived, he took the throne, and by the grace of God, again, started well, didn't end too well, but there were some reforms and some good things at that particular time. Well, let us close in a word of prayer.
Closing Prayer
Our Father, we thank you for your word and we pray that you would help us to walk by faith and not by sight. Help us to see the God of absolute glory and power and sovereignty. Help us to realize that Christ is enthroned at your right hand where he must reign till all of his enemies are made his footstool. We pray that you would give us grace to serve you.
Help us not to get discouraged because our contributions seem small at times, but cause us to be faithful in the places that you have placed us. and to do all that we do for your glory, for your honor, and for your praise. With us now we pray through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.