One Year Bible, Monday June 27th Joash Becomes King of Judah, Paul Spends Much Time in Corinth Proving Jesus is the Messiah!
At the end of Jehu's reign, King Hazael and Syria had taken over many key cities in Israel. Jehu died, and his son Jehoahaz took over. Jehu reigned for 28 years in Israel.
Queen Athaliah Rules in Judah
If you thought Queen Jezebel was bad, Queen Athaliah isn't far behind. Whereas Jezebel might have been murderous, Athaliah was a manipulative power monger with a violent side on top of it! As soon as Jehu died, she tried to kill off all of his sons who would be rightful heirs to the throne. But there was one son, Joash, who was hid by his aunt in a bedroom, so he avoided being killed. Then he was transported to the temple, where he was kept safe for 6 more years.
Revolt against Athaliah
Meanwhile Jehoida, the priest, recruited commander, palace guards, and other mercenaries to guard the temple and royal palace. They swore on oath to both Jehoida and future king Joash. He brought out spears and shields from the temple that were used by King David. Then Jehoida organized the coronation and anointing of the new king. They placed the crown on his head and gave him a copy of the Law.
Through the safekeeping and eventual crowing of Joash as the king of Judah, God kept his promise to King David that there would never fail to be a king from his line. This is the line that Athaliah tried to snuff out, but obviously no one could stop God's plan for the salvation of the world.
The Death of Athaliah
When Athaliah heard shouts for the new king, she quickly went to the temple to see what was happening. Jehoida instructed the commanders what to do and that they should not kill her in the temple. So they took her outside the temple and killed her. So ended her reign and her attempt to snuff out the royal line of David.
Jehoiada’s Religious Reforms
Jehoida renewed the covenant between the Lord and King Joash and the people. They also smashed the last remants of the evil kings and queen before them, the altars dedicated to Baal. The people rejoiced that Athaliah was dead, and a new king was on the throne. Joash was only 7 years old when he began to reign.
Jehoiada’s Religious Reforms
Joash ruled for 40 years and generally did what was right, though he did not completely destroy some of the pagan shrines and the people still worshipped there. Meanwhile the temple was in disrepair and the priests were apparently using the offerings for themselves rather than the upkeep of the temple.
So Joash order all of the money given to be used to repair the temple and pay for the constructino workers. Remember Joash had lived there for six years, so he was probably aware of what needed to be done. Some of the condition was due to the evil reign of Queen Athaliah, who along with her sons vandalized the temple.
King Joash got to the heart of the problem – the building project was plagued by poor administration and financial mismanagement. Through Jehoiada the priest, he implemented a system where the money would be set aside, saved, and then wisely spent for the repair and refurbishing of the temple. - Guzik
God not only calls us to be stewards of the gospel, but also the buildings where we assemble and worship! A church whose property is in bad shape either on the inside or outside is a poor reflection of the God they worship. We take care of our cars and our own homes, shouldn't the Lord's house be the most well cared for piece of property in our lives.
Maintaining a church property needs lots of hands and even hired laborers to keep it in good working order. God has given the spiritual gift of "helps, craftmanship, and administration", which all help the church to maintain its building to the glory of God.
While all of this happened the priests were also still taken care of too.
The End of Joash’s Reign
Toward the end of Joash's reign things went south. When King Hazael formed an attack aimed at Jerusalem, Joash brought all of the sacred articles from the temple and gold from the temple treasury to cut a deal with Hazael. Instead of trusting in the Lord, Joash tried to use his own way of protecting his people. In the end he was assassinated by his own trusted advisors.
“Thus ended a reign full of promise and hope in the beginning, but profligate, cruel, and ruinous in the end. Never was the hand of God’s justice more signally stretched out against an apostate king and faithless people, than at this time.” (Clarke)
Paul went from Athens to Corinth, where he met Priscilla and Aquilla who had been deported from Rome. He worked them as tentmakers to support their work as missionaries. Once again Paul went to the synagogue on the Sabbath and explained how Jesus was the Messiah. But the Jews opposed and insulted him, and he declared he was free of their blood and shook the dust off of his feet as a sign that he was done with them. From then on he focused on bringing the Good News to the Gentiles.
Not everyone rejected the message though. Crispus, a synagogue leader, and all of his household came to faith and were baptized.
Notice there are many times in the book of Acts, where a whole household comes to faith. This seems to be the model in the early church. Today we look at salvation as more of an individual decision each person makes. But it seems like there was a more communal aspect in coming to faith in Jesus in the first church. Maybe there is something to learn here!
The vision and words the Lord gave Paul was not to be afraid to speak out in Corinth, so he stayed there another full year and half. Corinth was a huge center of trade and also known for its immorality and idol worship. It would become one of the major centers of the early church.
Some Jews tried to stir up trouble for Paul, and he was brought before Gallio, the governor of Achaia. But after hearing their arguments, he threw the case out of court saying this was a matter of religious law that the Jews should figure out on their own. Then, oddly enough the Jewish synagogue ruler Sosthenes was beaten in the courtroom and Gallio paid no attention. Things had changed quickly.
Gallio looked the other way when angry Gentiles beat Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue. Probably, both the crowd and Gallio himself were more against the Jews than they were for Paul. - Guzik
Paul Returns to Antioch of Syria
Paul left Corinth with Priscilla and Aquilla, stopped at Ephesus, and then went on to Caesarea. Then he went up to visit the mother church in Jerusalem and then went back to Antioch.
He went down to Antioch: Leaving Jerusalem, Paul returned to his home church in Syrian Antioch. They must have been pleased to have Paul return and tell of all his work over the previous three years or so. = Guzik
Comments
Post a Comment