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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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.
