Chronicles of the Past Dynasties_Chapter 24

Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem for forty years. His mother’s name is Zebiah, from Beersheba.

When Jehoiada the priest was alive, Joah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.

Jehoiada married him two wives and had children and adopted daughters.

Afterwards, Joash intended to rebuild the temple of the Lord,

And he called together all the priests and Levites, and commanded them, saying, Go to all the cities of Judah, and let all Israel donate money, that ye may repair the temple of your God every year. You need to expedite this matter. It’s just that the Levites didn’t rush to handle it.

The king summoned the high priest Jehoiada and said to him, “Why didn’t you ask the Levites to bring the cost of the temple from Judah and Jerusalem according to the provisions that Moses, the servant of the Lord, made for the tabernacle of the Testimony and the congregation of Israel?”?

Because the sons of Athaliah the wicked woman had destroyed the temple of God and offered to Baal the holy things from the temple of the Lord.

So the king ordered that they make a cabinet and place it outside the door of the Lord’s temple,

And it was announced to the people of Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the Lord the donation that Moses, the servant of God, commanded the children of Israel in the wilderness.

The leaders and the people all brought the silver with joy and threw it into the ark until it was fully donated.

When the Levites saw that there was a lot of money, they brought the ark before the chief steward appointed by the king. The king’s secretary and the staff of the high priest came to empty the cabinet and left it in its original place. It’s like this every day, accumulating a lot of silver.

The king and Jehoiada gave silver to the people working in the temple of the Lord, and they hired stonemasons and carpenters to repair the temple of the Lord, as well as blacksmiths and coppersmiths to repair the temple of the Lord.

The workers worked and gradually completed the construction, making the temple as strong as before.

After the project was completed, they brought the remaining silver to the king and Jehoiada to make vessels and spoons for the worship of the Lord’s temple, as well as vessels of gold and silver. During the lifetime of Jehoiada, people often offered burnt offerings in the temple of the Lord.

Ye Heye died of old age, satisfied with his days. At the age of 130 when he died,

Buried in the tombs of the kings in the city of David. Because he did good among the Israelites, served God, and repaired God’s temple.

After the death of Jehoiada, the leaders of Judah came to pay homage to the king. The king obeyed them.

They abandoned the temple of the Lord their ancestral God and went to serve Asherah and idols. Because of their sin, wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem.

But God still sent prophets to them, guiding them back to the Lord. This prophet warned them, but they refused to listen.

At that time, the spirit of God moved Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest, and he stood up and said to the people, This is what God said: Why have you disobeyed the commandments of the Lord, so that you may not prosper? Because you have abandoned the Lord, he has also abandoned you.

The people conspired against Zechariah with one heart, and as the king commanded, they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s house.

So King Joash did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, the father of Zechariah, had shown him, and killed his son. When Zechariah was about to die, he said, May the Lord examine and seek justice.

At the end of a year, the army of Aram came up to attack Joash and came to Judah and Jerusalem, killing all the leaders of the people and bringing the plunder to the king of Damascus.

Although a small army of Aram came, the Lord handed over a large army into their hands because the Jews had abandoned the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and therefore punished Joash through the Arameans.

When the Arameans left Joash, he fell seriously ill. My servants betrayed him to avenge the blood of the son of Jehoiada, the priest. They killed him on the bed and buried him in the city of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.

Those who betrayed him were Sabad son of Shimeab the Ammonite woman and Jozabad son of Shimiel the Moabite woman.

As for his sons and the warning he received, as well as the rebuilding of the temple, it is written in the biography of the kings. His son Amaziah succeeded him as king.