Chapter 23
In the seventh year, Jehoiada takes courage and makes an alliance with the military commanders. They go around and gather up a lot of Levites and also some of the leading men of Judah, and all show up in Jerusalem. So the King is to be in the Temple, in a place off limits to the people. As the Levites go off duty on the Sabbath, they are to station themselves in three places. Some guard the king, some the court, some the gate. As near as I can make out...Not only are those Levites that are going off duty hanging around, but the ones to go on duty are present also. Lots and lots of Levites. Jehoiada the priests hands out the spears and the large and small shields that were from David and still stored in the temple to all these Levites. Once all is in place, the young King is brought out, crowned, and declared King of Judah.
Athaliah hears the noise, and those shouting "Long live the King" and goes to the temple and yells that it is treason. Hard to tell exactly what happens then, but somehow she gets to the King's house, and is killed there by the military commanders.
This was a long morning of reading!
Jehoiada makes a covenant with the military, the King, the people, and himself that they will all serve the Lord. They tear down the temple of Baal, its altars and so forth and they kill Mattan, the high priest of Baal. Right there in Jerusalem. The law of Moses is re-established and the Levites begin sacrificing again. The King is escorted to his house, and "...the city was quiet after Athaliah had been put to death with the sword." So Queen Athaliah was actually the daughter of Ahab, and she was trying to rule in Judah. All because good King Jehoshaphat had made an alliance with Ahab through marriage of his son to Ahab's daughter.
I am still not clear about the lines of succession here, and cannot document it. I think too many people are using too many different names. A good study would be to take the chart of the Kings of Israel and Judah, and go through the relevant chapters of 2Ch and 2Kg and try to straighten it all out with the interchangeable names noted. This would be a good study, but a very tedious one I think.
First notes, 8/26/18
Jehoshaphat sets up judges throughout Judah and charges them to be fair and honest and follow Gods rules with all who come before them. He follows Gods teachings in all matters. Even so, God sends a huge army against him. A test? To see if he learned from allying with Azariah, evil king of Israel?
Jehoshaphat goes to God for help, not to man. He does not make the common mistake.
God does the fighting for him. The invading army turns against itself, they kill each other, and Judah loots the bodies with no loss of life.
Then, instead of being proud of themselves, they thank God for saving them. They give Him the credit and stay true to Him for the remainder of Jehoshaphat's reign.
We have to seek God even if it seems we're being punished by Him for doing good. We have to seek God's help before making our own plans to save ourselves. Sometimes, we must accept God's judgment of sin, even if it is not directly about us. That is, sometimes we are over run by the justice meted out to others. This is hard.
In the very next chapter, Jehoram is evil, and God brings an army from the south that takes Jerusalem and spoils it. Surely many died who had not joined Jehoram in his sin. Yet they were taken captive and became slaves. All but one son of Jehoram was killed. Were all bad? It is hard to see justice in being caught up in someone else's punishment.
The worst fate is Jehoram's disease. He dies in pain, and none are sad to see him go.
11/19/19
The MSB notes preceding Esther mention the many times that Satan has tried to wipe out the Jews, or to preclude the promises made to Abraham and David. It mentions this verse:
10 Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah. [2Ch 22:10 ESV]
Per that note, Athaliah killed every single royal descendant of David, almost shutting off the kingly line from which Christ was to be born. Had God not intervened here, prophecy could not be fulfilled. I don't remember EVER hearing this before! But then...a lot of the time, I didn't listen...