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2
Chronicles Chapter Twenty-three
2 Chronicles 23
Chapter Contents
Joash crowned, and Athaliah slain.
To look upon ourselves and each other as the Lord's
people, should make us earnest in the discharge of our duty both to God and
man. Thus was this happy revolution brought about, and the people rejoiced.
When the Son of David is enthroned in the soul, all is quiet, and joyful. See 2 Kings 11.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Chronicles》
2 Chronicles 23
Verse 5
[5] And
a third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the gate of the
foundation: and all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD.
Foundation — At
the east gate, so called because it stood lower than the rest of the doors at
the foot of the steps, by which they went up from the king's house to the
temple.
Verse 11
[11] Then they brought out the king's son, and put upon him the crown, and gave
him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him,
and said, God save the king.
His sons —
And Zechariah among the rest, whom afterwards he ungratefully slew, chap. 24:21.
Verse 13
[13] And
she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and
the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land
rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of
musick, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and
said, Treason, Treason.
Rejoiced — To
see a rod sprung out of the stem of Jesse! To see what they despaired of ever
seeing, a king of the house of David.
Verse 16
[16] And
Jehoiada made a covenant between him, and between all the people, and between
the king, that they should be the LORD's people.
Him —
The Lord, as is expressed, 2 Kings 11:17.
Verse 18
[18] Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the LORD by the hand
of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the
LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the law of
Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.
Appointed —
Or, as it is in the Hebrew, put the offices of the house of the Lord into the
hand, that is, he restored the priests and Levites to the exercise of their
office.
Verse 21
[21] And
all the people of the land rejoiced: and the city was quiet, after that they
had slain Athaliah with the sword.
Rejoiced, … —
The generality of the people rejoiced, the rest were quiet and made no
opposition. When the Son of David is enthroned in the soul, all therein is
quiet, and springs of joy are opened.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2 Chronicles》
Reformation that Lacked
Devotion—King Joash
1.
Coronation of the Lord’s Anointed—God save the king (v.11)
The usurper was dislodged
2.
Covenant of the Lord’s people with their God (v.16)
3.
Consecration of the Lord’s priests to offer burnt-offerings (v.18~19)
4.
collection for the Lord’s House in a chest at the gate (v.8~14)
The
revival lasted until the death of the faithful priest, Jehoiada. Soon after,
the king and the people displayed ‘an evil heart of unbelief in departing from
the living God’ (Heb. 3:12)
23 Chapter 23
Verses 1-21
Verse 21
And the city was quiet, after that they had slain Athaliah with
the sword.
A wicked woman
Is it possible that a time may come when people will rejoice that
we are dead? Will some pulpits be more honoured by emptiness man by occupancy?
Will some businesses have a chance to recover their character when the
principals are dead, but not so long as those principals initiate and conduct
the policy of the house? Is it possible that a throne may be a fountain of
mischief? Questions such as these, penetrating, unsparing, we should thrust
into ourselves, that they may work first painfully and then curatively. Is
there no explanation given of all this rejoicing over the death of Athaliah?
The explanation is given in 2 Chronicles 24:7 --“that wicked
woman.” This is an alliteration which the grammarian might detest, the
rhetorician avoid as a vice in eloquence, but which the moralist must look at
with a sense of ineffable shame. “Wicked woman”--it is impossible! It ought to
be an affront to the very genius of creation; say dark sun, say waterless sea,
say flowerless summer, and the irony might be tolerated, for it might be only a
discord in words; but “wicked woman” indicates a possibility that makes all
hell easy of belief. This is the moral explanation of the physical disaster.
Athaliah was slain with the sword--cry, Murder then! Arrest the homicide, the
regicide! But wait; you know not all; the explanatory word found in the
context--“that wicked woman.” (J. Parker, D.D.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》