Chronicles – Page 5 – Be Still…

2 Chronicles 23:12-21 – Bye-Bye Evil Queen

Read 2 Chronicles 23:12-21

With all the rejoicing underway, the evil queen was bound to realize some momentous occasion was happening in the temple. Before she could plot any sort of revenge, the priest, Jehoiada, had the queen removed from the festivities. Queen Athaliah met her demise that day, some distance away from the Temple.

How do you think the young king felt when he received so much attention? The Chronicler does a good job of describing the scene. It sounds like the people were fed up with the evil queen’s leadership. God had prepared their hearts to be ready for Jehoiada’s plan to play out. “Then Jehoiada made a covenant between himself and the king and the people that they would be the LORD’s people.” Note how the priest inserts himself into this covenant, it wasn’t just between the king and God. Jehoiada’s desire is clear. He wants to reinstate the godly kingship of David.

2 Chronicles 23:1-11 – Priestly Action

Read 2 Chronicles 23:1-11

Wasn’t the temple the perfect place for such an elite group of believers to meet for a planning session? The reigning Queen would never know since she would rarely, if ever, frequent that Holy place. You have to applaud the brave priest, Jehoiada for arranging this gathering. He was also likely instrumental in the plot to keep infant Joash alive. It’s good to remember Joash was his nephew, too.

We can learn a lot from this priest’s actions. Jehoiada bravely chose to make a move to hide the rightful king, the king who would further protect God’s promise to David about their forever kingdom. A high priority indeed for a good priest to be aware of. Do we make keeping God’s commands or trusting his promises our top priority?

2 Chronicles 22:1-12 – A Family Affair

Read 2 Chronicles 22:1-12

God will always make a way for his will to be done—especially when a divine promise is involved. Jehoram’s remaining and youngest son, Ahaziah had a very short, yearlong reign. His mother, Athaliah, interferes, but God doesn’t allow her to kill of the potential heirs to the throne as Ahaziah’s replacement. Brilliant!

It’s helpful to remember that Ahaziah’s mother was the daughter of King Ahab, the evil king that had ruled Israel. The evil of that nation had tremendous influence it seems with Judah’s last two rulers. The intermarriage between Israel and Judah a generation ago was wreaking havoc on God’s plan for his people.

2 Chronicles 12:1-16 – Bad Things Happen

Read 2 Chronicles 12:1-16

We see in this reading what can happen when leaders are not following God. All the efforts of fortifying cities Rehoboam did in our last reading could not stop the invasion when God was allowing it. The prophet “Shemaiah told them, “This is what the Lord says: You have abandoned me, so I am abandoning you to Shishak.” What does that say to us today?

The leaders accepted God’s response and promptly humbled themselves. Seeing this, God relented from his plan of destruction. What if these leaders had not understood God’s disapproval and discounted the prophet’s warning?

2 Chronicles 10:1-19 – The Revolt

Read 2 Chronicles 10:1-19

Solomon’s son, Rehoboam became the new king. Very quickly, it seems, his kingdom shrank to only two of the twelve tribes. Realizing that the revolt had to happen according to God’s will makes it a little easier to accept.

What’s hard for me is that the name of the king God chose for the northern tribes was Jeroboam. Couldn’t his name have been a little less similar? If you’re curious about how God called Jeroboam, you can read about that in 1 Kings 11:26-40.