2 Chronicles 24
24:1 a Joash reigned from 835 to 796 BC.24:3 b Jehoiada chose two wives for Joash, probably to ensure that David’s royal line would be replenished with plenty of descendants.
Summary for 2Chr 24:4-8: 24:4-8 c There is no indication regarding when Joash first attempted to refurbish the Temple. However, after the first failure to raise funds, Joash summoned Jehoiada a second time, in the twenty-third year of his reign (2 Kgs 12:6 d). The inaction of the priests might have resulted from a disagreement over who should fund the restoration work and who should oversee it. The king censured Jehoiada for his failure to act and then proposed a plan that put the offering on a more voluntary basis.
Summary for 2Chr 24:12-14: 24:12-14 e The book of Kings indicates that the funds collected for repairing the Temple were used only for wages (2 Kgs 12:13-14 f); Chronicles further explains that the funds were used for Temple artifacts only after the repairs were completed.
Summary for 2Chr 24:15-16: 24:15-16 g A lifespan of 130 years indicates that Jehoiada received great blessing by the Lord. Further, his royal burial as a priest-king shows great honor from the people.
Summary for 2Chr 24:20-22: 24:20-22 h Jehoiada had scrupulously preserved the courtyard of the Lord’s Temple from bloodshed and the dynasty of David from extinction. Yet ironically, Zechariah his son was murdered in the very place and by the very king, Joash, who was protected during the coup. Jesus made reference to this murder when he was criticizing the religious leaders (Matt 23:35 i; Luke 11:51 j).
• “May the Lord ... avenge my death!” This prayer for vengeance was similar to those that King David himself had prayed against the injustices done to him by Saul (cp. Pss 5:10 k; 7:9 l; 9:19-20 m; 28:4 n; 56:7 o; 139:19 p; see also thematic note for Prayers for Vengeance at end of chapter).
Summary for 2Chr 24:23-26: 24:23-26 q God could use war to render judgment on Israel just as surely as on any other nation; one of the characteristics of a “holy war” was a small force’s defeat of a much larger army.
Summary for 2Chr 24:25-26: 24:25-26 r Jehoiada had received a royal burial (24:15-16 s), but Joash was buried in disgrace.
24:27 t The Commentary on the Book of the Kings that the Chronicler used as a source is no longer available to us (see also 9:29 u).
Thematic note: Prayers for Vengeance
The psalmists sometimes asked the Lord to execute vengeance against their adversaries. It was not unusual for a psalmist to pray for the violent destruction of their enemies as a manifestation of God’s justice. How can this kind of prayer be okay?
These prayers for the destruction of the wicked arose out of concern for justice and righteousness and out of confidence in God. Divine justice is defined in Psalm 1:6 v: The Lord loves the righteous and destroys the wicked. The wicked are subversive, corrupt, and thoroughly committed to evil; they live in opposition to God and to everything that God does. The wicked shake the foundations of ethics, of society, and of God’s kingdom. The psalmists argued that evil is inconsistent with God’s nature and that the removal of evil is the only way for his kingdom to thrive. However, the poets of Israel did not simply invoke God’s judgment on anyone with whom they could not get along. Instead, the psalmists were guided by God’s standards of justice and righteousness, to which God holds all humans accountable.
The psalmists were intimately acquainted with grief. They had suffered and been oppressed and marginalized by bullies, leaders, and kings from inside and outside of Israel. Their prayers were full of faith and hope, asking how long the Lord would tolerate their suffering and confessing that the Lord alone could rescue them from evil. They expressed deep longing for his redemption. By the principle of retribution, they asked the Lord to inflict upon the wicked the suffering that they had endured (Ps 5:10 w; 6:10 x; 7:9 y; 9:19-20 z; 28:4 aa; 56:7 ab; 104:35 ac; 137:7-9 ad; 139:19 ae). Through these prayers for justice and vindication, the godly may rest in peace as they await God’s rescue.
Do we truly see evil as evil, or do we perceive it merely as an inconvenience? Prayers for the end of evil are appropriate as long as we recognize God as arbiter, judge, and executor. The prayer for the coming of God’s Kingdom implies the removal of evil. But now the cruelty inflicted on the wicked has been transformed through the cruel crucifixion of Jesus Christ. This act of God informs how we pray for those who oppose us. Jesus will indeed judge and bring an ultimate end to evil (see Rev 19:11-21 af), but while Christians await that final judgment, they are to love as Christ loved (John 13:34 ag), pray for their enemies, and forgive them (Matt 5:38-48 ah; Col 3:13 ai).
Passages for Further Study
2 Chr 24:22 aj; Neh 4:5 ak; Pss 3:7 al; 9:19-20 am; 10:15 an; 12:3 ao; 41:10 ap; 55:15 aq; 69:22-28 ar; 79:6 as; 109:6-20 at; 110:5-6 au; 137:1-9 av; Isa 61:2 aw; Jer 11:20-23 ax; 18:19-23 ay; 51:35 az; Lam 1:22 ba; 3:64-66 bb; Acts 1:20 bc; Rom 11:9-10 bd; Rev 6:10 be
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