# 2 Chronicles 24 📖: Joash Restores the Temple [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-2 Chronicles Overview]] | [[2 Chronicles 23]] | [[2 Chronicles 25]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ### Joash’s Reign [[#Verse 01.]] Joash was seven years old when he began to reign. He reigned for forty years in Jerusalem. His mother was Zibiah, who was from Beer Sheba.  [[#Verse 02.]] Joash did what the Lord approved throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.  [[#Verse 03.]] Jehoiada chose two wives for him who gave him sons and daughters. [[#Verse 04.]] Later, Joash was determined to repair the Lord’s temple.  [[#Verse 05.]] He assembled the priests and Levites and ordered them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect the annual quota of silver from all Israel for repairs on the temple of your God. Be quick about it!” But the Levites delayed. [[#Verse 06.]] So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest, and said to him, “Why have you not made the Levites collect from Judah and Jerusalem the tax authorized by Moses the Lord’s servant and by the assembly of Israel at the tent containing the tablets of the law?”  [[#Verse 07.]] (Wicked Athaliah and her sons had broken into God’s temple and used all the holy items of the Lord’s temple in their worship of the Baals.)  [[#Verse 08.]] The king ordered a chest to be made and placed outside the gate of the Lord’s temple. [[#Verse 09.]] An edict was sent throughout Judah and Jerusalem requiring the people to bring to the Lord the tax that Moses, God’s servant, imposed on Israel in the wilderness.  [[#Verse 10.]] All the officials and all the people gladly brought their silver and threw it into the chest until it was full.  [[#Verse 11.]] Whenever the Levites brought the chest to the royal accountant and they saw there was a lot of silver, the royal scribe and the accountant of the high priest emptied the chest and then took it back to its place. They went through this routine every day and collected a large amount of silver. [[#Verse 12.]] The king and Jehoiada gave it to the construction foremen assigned to the Lord’s temple. They hired carpenters and craftsmen to repair the Lord’s temple, as well as those skilled in working with iron and bronze to restore the Lord’s temple.  [[#Verse 13.]] They worked hard and made the repairs. They followed the measurements specified for God’s temple and restored it.  [[#Verse 14.]] When they were finished, they brought the rest of the silver to the king and Jehoiada. They used it to make items for the Lord’s temple, including items used in the temple service and for burnt sacrifices, pans, and various other gold and silver items. Throughout Jehoiada’s lifetime, burnt sacrifices were offered regularly in the Lord’s temple. [[#Verse 15.]] Jehoiada grew old and died at the age of 130.  [[#Verse 16.]] He was buried in the City of David with the kings, because he had accomplished good in Israel and for God and his temple. [[#Verse 17.]] After Jehoiada died, the officials of Judah visited the king and declared their loyalty to him. The king listened to their advice.  [[#Verse 18.]] They abandoned the temple of the Lord God of their ancestors and worshiped the Asherah poles and idols. Because of this sinful activity, God was angry with Judah and Jerusalem.  [[#Verse 19.]] The Lord sent prophets among them to lead them back to him. They warned the people, but they would not pay attention.  [[#Verse 20.]] God’s Spirit energized Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood up before the people and said to them, “This is what God says: ‘Why are you violating the commands of the Lord? You will not be prosperous. Because you have rejected the Lord, he has rejected you!’”  [[#Verse 21.]] They plotted against him and by royal decree stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.  [[#Verse 22.]] King Joash disregarded the loyalty Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him and killed Jehoiada’s son. As Zechariah was dying, he said, “May the Lord take notice and seek vengeance!” [[Matthew 23|Matthew 23:35]] | [[Luke 11|Luke 11:51]] [[#Verse 23.]] At the beginning of the year the Syrian army attacked Joash and invaded Judah and Jerusalem. They wiped out all the leaders of the people and sent all the plunder they gathered to the king of Damascus.  [[#Verse 24.]] Even though the invading Syrian army was relatively weak, the Lord handed over to them Judah’s very large army, for the people of Judah had abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors. The Syrians gave Joash what he deserved. [[#Verse 25.]] When they withdrew, they left Joash badly wounded. His servants plotted against him because of what he had done to the son of Jehoiada the priest. They murdered him on his bed. Thus he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.  [[#Verse 26.]] The conspirators were Zabad son of Shimeath (an Ammonite woman) and Jehozabad son of Shimrith (a Moabite woman). [[#Verse 27.]] The list of Joash’s sons, the many prophetic oracles about him, and the account of his building project on God’s temple are included in the record of the Scroll of the Kings. His son Amaziah replaced him as king. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Joash reigned forty years (24:1). 2. The money for repairs came from the tax Moses had imposed (24:6, 9), likely the half-shekel offering of Exodus 30:12-16. 3. A chest was placed at the temple gate so people could bring their offerings, and they gave with joy (24:8-10). 4. Jehoiada lived to 130 and was buried among the kings because of the good he had done (24:15-16). 5. Zechariah's name means "the Lord remembers," yet Joash did not remember Jehoiada's kindness (24:22). 6. Zechariah was stoned in the temple courtyard, the same place where Joash had been crowned (24:21; 23:11). 7. Jesus spoke of the blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary (Luke 11:51; Matthew 23:35). 8. Because Chronicles is the last book in the traditional Hebrew Bible, Jesus' words "from Abel to Zechariah" likely span the first and last murders in the Hebrew Scriptures. 9. A small Aramean army defeated Judah's much larger army (24:24), a reversal of earlier victories God gave Judah against great odds. 10. Joash's assassins were sons of an Ammonite woman and a Moabite woman (24:26), and he was not buried in the royal tombs (24:25). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the One whose blood speaks a better word. The dying Zechariah asked God to avenge him (24:22), but Jesus prayed, "Father, forgive them" (Luke 23:34), and His blood speaks of mercy (Hebrews 12:24). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Joash did what was right all the days of Jehoiada the priest (24:2). What happens to faith that depends on someone else's influence? 2. After Jehoiada died, the king listened to the wrong voices (24:17-18). Who are the voices that shape your choices? 3. Joash forgot the kindness Jehoiada had shown him (24:22). Why is remembering God's past kindness so important for faithfulness? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 2: Joash does what is right as long as Jehoiada the priest lives. - 📖 verse 20: Zechariah warns that those who abandon the Lord will be abandoned by Him. - 📖 verse 22: Joash forgets the loyalty Jehoiada had shown him. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[2 Kings 12#Verse 01.|2 Kings 12:1-21]] - The parallel account of Joash's reign. - 🔗 [[Matthew 23#Verse 35.|Matthew 23:35]] - Jesus speaks of the blood of Zechariah. - 🔗 [[Luke 11#Verse 51.|Luke 11:51]] - From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah. - 🔗 [[Hebrews 12#Verse 24.|Hebrews 12:24]] - Jesus' blood speaks a better word. - 🔗 [[Luke 23#Verse 34.|Luke 23:34]] - Father, forgive them. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[2 Chronicles 24 - SOAP|We Don’t Do Hard Alone]] ## 📂 Internal Notes