2CO 21-25Mamma. Jehoram was a very wicked king. He married the daughter of Ahab; and he walked in the wicked ways of Ahab. The first thing he did was to put his own brothers to death. His ways were so evil that the Lord would have destroyed him; but for David's sake He did not. The Edomites and others revolted against him, and a writing came to him from Elijah, saying that the Lord would punish him by sending a dreadful sickness upon him, and upon his family. He died a dreadful death, and they would not bury him in the sepulchers, of the kings. His son Ahaziah succeeded him, and was also a bad man; for his mother was the daughter of Ahab, and she gave him bad advice. He was found in company with the wicked sons of Ahab, and met the same terrible end. And when his mother heard that he was killed, she tried to kill all the royal children in her rage. But one of Jehoshaphat's granddaughters was married to Jehoiada the priest, and she took her little nephew and hid him, so that Ahab's wicked daughter could not kill him. He was quite a baby, and his name was Joash, he was hid in the house of God for six years; while the wicked Athaliah reigned over the land. But when the little Joash was seven years old, Jehoiada the priest thought it would be right to make him king; because he was the proper heir to the throne of David. So Jehoiada talked about him to all the people of Judah; and to the priests and Levites. They did not love the wicked queen, and they were very glad to do what the priest desired. Then he made the Levites form a guard round the person of the young king; and round the house of the Lord. Every man with weapons in his hand, for every man was to keep the watch of the Lord.
S. Why were they to carry weapons?
M. Because the wicked queen was reigning, and she would try to kill the royal child if she could. But he was wonderfully preserved by God, and the ministers of the house of the Lord were his bodyguard. Then they put the crown upon his head, and gave him the testimony, and made him king.
S. What a little king—only seven years old!
M. He was the youngest of all the kings. When Athaliah heard the noise of the people praising the Lord, and saw the king standing by the pillar of the temple, she was very angry and cried out: Treason, treason! But the people put her to death, and then the city was quiet; and they placed the king upon the throne. He reigned for forty years, and as long as Jehoiada lived the king did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. He repaired the house of the Lord, where the wicked sons of Athaliah had broken it up. Then the king put a chest, with a hole in the lid, at the gate of the house of the Lord, and said that every one who cared for the Lord's house might put his money in the chest. It was like a very large money-box. The people rejoiced at this, and they gave heartily. Then the king and Jehoiada took the money out of the chest to pay the workmen. But Jehoiada was very old—one hundred and thirty years, and he died. And they buried him in the city of David among the kings.
S. Why did they bury him among the kings?
M. Because he had been almost a king in Judah, and he did good in Israel, toward God and toward His house. After the death of this good old priest, the king took counsel from the princes of Judah, and they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers and served idols, and the wrath of God came upon Judah, and Jerusalem. The Lord still sent prophets to warn them, and the Spirit of God came upon the son of Jehoiada, and he spake against their wickedness; but they would not listen to him, and the king commanded him to be stoned in the court of the Lord's house.
S. Oh, how cruel and ungrateful!
M. It was indeed! The son of his old friend and protector the faithful Jehoiada; and only because he said they could not prosper if they forsook the Lord. But Joash forgot the kindness of Jehoiada, and what wonder when he first forgot the Lord his God In less than a year the Syrians came against Judah, and the Lord delivered them into their hands; so the Syrians executed judgment against Joash. He also suffered from disease, and his own servants slew him in his bed; one was an Ammonite and the other a Moabite, both people with whom a godly Israelite ought to have had nothing to do. But when God is forgotten and our own evil hearts do what they like, everything goes wrong. They buried Joash in the city of David, but not in the sepulchers of the kings—sad and terrible end for one who began his life with so much favor; a child hid in the house of the Lord; and watched over and preserved by Him.
Amaziah, the son of Joash, reigned for twenty-nine, years; he did what was right, but not with a perfect heart. God allowed the king of Israel to smite him, because he would not listen to His prophets; and he went after the idols of Edom. He too was slain, and buried not in the sepulchers of the kings.
S. Were there a few people who loved God in the time of all these wicked kings?
M. Oh, yes; there were the prophets, and those who tried to lead the people to do right. But God had said that all His favor should depend on the conduct of the king. While the king served the Lord, God prospered the nation. When the king forsook the Lord, God made him feel the consequence of losing His favor. The saddest part of this story is that very often those who once knew the favor and blessing of the Lord departed from Him more grievously than others.