CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

 

21:20:  “Thirty and two years old was he when he began to reign” = Here is my Second Kings 8:26 Note:  “Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign” = Second Chronicles 21:20 & 22:2 states that he was 32 and 42 respectively.  However, it should state that he was 22, as this verse states correctly, meaning that the Second Chronicles 21:20 & 22:2 statements are a scribal error.  The reason that 22 years old is correct is plain to see when we consider that Jehoram, his father, began to reign when he was thirty-two years old, and reigned eight years, and so died, being forty years old (see 2Ki. 8:17), bringing us to the conclusion that his very own son (42 years old) could not have been older than his father (40 years old) when he began to reign (22 not 42).

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

 

 

22:2:  “Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign” = See 2Ki. 8:26 Note.

 

22:10:  “all the seed royal” = I have no problem with “all the seed royal,” because Christ came in the servant hood lines of Nathan, representing the Messiah, although of royal seed, just as much as He came in the kingly lines of Solomon, representing the Kingly David.

 

22:11:  “put him and his nurse in a bedchamber” = Here is the Christmas story.  Jehoshabeath, representing Joseph, because there is no room in all of Israel’s inn’s for their child king, therefore, she must put “Him [Jesus] and His nurse [representing Mary, His new earthly mother] in a bedchamber,” or rather, “a manger,” Luke 2:7.  Notice also that Jehoshabeath was “the wife of Jehoiada the priest.”  This signifies the uniting of the kingly line of Judah with the priestly line of Levi, enabling Christ to qualify as our High Priest, for the preposition “the,” in “the priest” is the usual pre-exilic term for the then High Priest (see Selman’s Commentary, Second Chronicles, p. 442).

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

 

 

23:1-2:  “captains of hundreds” = Commenting on this section, in 5BC:272 it states, “Five men are named.  Their names are not given in Kings, where, however, the information is given that Jehoiada ‘fetched the rulers over hundreds, with the captains and the guard’ (2 Kings 11:4).  The five men were probably captains of the 500 men comprising the bodyguard of Athaliah.  The primary responsibility of the royal bodyguard was, of course, to guard the life of the king.  The parallel passage in 2 Kings 11:4 adds the interesting detail that Jehoiada ‘took an oath of them in the house of the Lord, and shewed them the king’s son.’  Having seen the real king, the captains of the bodyguard now entered into a covenant with Jehoiada that their loyalty henceforth would be pledged to him.”

 

The fact that Jehoiada “gathered the Levites” along with “the chief of the fathers of Israel,” indicates that the spirituality of the nation of Judah as a whole, still had respect for Godly things, represented in the priestly tribe of Israel.  For the fact that such a large group, of prominent people no less, could get together so easily, and seemingly without Athaliah’s notice, suggests that her rule had little popular support.

 

I would also suggest to you that, as we shall see from verse 4, that Jehoiada’s “Treason,” verse 13, was to take place upon “the sabbath,” verse 8.  And this being the case, I would suggest that it was a “High Sabbath,” one in which “three times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God,” Exo. 23:14-17; 34:23; Deu. 16:14-17, 23.  This “High Sabbath” gathering concept is further established by the fact that they all ended up by “the temple,” verse 10.  Also, the fact that Athaliah had not destroyed “the house of the Lord,” verse 12, indicates that she was not quite influential enough with her Baal worship to do so, as were the Israelites when they and their religion took over (read verse 17).  Thus Jehoiada was able to use the still existing religious values of the people of Israel to over through the wicked influences of Athaliah.

 

23:3:  “sons of David” = See Psa. 89:4, then Luke 1:31-32.

 

23:4:  “This is the thing that ye shall do” = The writer of Second Chronicles is concerned mainly with what the religious leaders were to do, and treated his narrative with this respect; that since the high priest, Jehoiada, was giving the orders, directing “the priests and of the Levites,” shows that the religious economy of the Hebrew nation was still intact, and that Jehoiada, who had “strengthened himself,” verse 1, was now taking charge of the Nation.  However, in the Second Kings account, Chapter 11, verses 5-8, all of the leading personnel have a part to play.

 

Verse 9 in Second Kings teaches us that this was the army, or rather, the royal bodyguard that was to assemble on this day.  If we come back here and look at verse 8, we see “dismissed not the courses” -- That is, the outgoing entourage of priests and Levites, who were replaced by the incoming same, were not really to leave, but would provide, as it were, a doubling capacity of available souls for the events to follow.  Thus in the Second Kings account of what the royal guard was to do, again, the outgoing company would not really go out, while the incoming company would be a double guard for the young king Joash.

 

The two company’s proper business would be to serve as the royal escort beyond the palace walls.  By contrast, Jehoiada orders them to enter into the temple court (read verses 9-10), and surround the entrance into the temple.  The new king would be surrounded by the priests and the Levitical guard (read verse 6).  By the time that this was noticed by any opposing factions, it was too late.

 

23:5:  “gate of foundation” = The “gate of foundation” or “the gate of Sur,” as it is called in Second Kings 11:6, “Sur” meaning “foundation,” was at the eastern entrance (or western side) into the temple court, and was so called because it stood lower than the rest of the doors or entrances.  Standing at the foot of the steps, which entered into the temple court, it was the gate that arched over and closed off the way in which one would go up from the king’s house into the temple court.  It was the fastest and most economic way for anyone coming from the palace to enter into the temple’s outer court.

 

“king’s house” = In Second Kings 11:5 the “king’s house,” applies to the palace, where a part, in this case, a “third part,” of the royal guard would be expected to be on duty.  However, here in Second Chronicles, the term probably applied to the quarters where the young king Joash was concealed in the inner temple court precincts.  Otherwise, for a group of Levites to have been stationed at the palace would have created instant suspicion and given Athaliah the opportunity to take effective retaliatory measures against the conspirators.  This view is backed up by reading verse 6.

 

23:6:  “the house of the Lord” = The priests and Levites were instructed to be inside the temple itself.  What “house of the Lord,” really stands for and means, is that of the inner court of the Temple, as opposed to the Temple Proper (with the Holy and Most Holy Pace).  The inner court is where the ministering priests and Levites are people who were considered “holy,” could be, as opposed to the outer court where all the common people could assemble.  This inner court would be where the Alter of Burnt Offering was, and then the Laver -- going east.  Therefore, what “they that minister of the Levites,” were to do, was to also guard against that no one would enter into the Temple Proper.

 

23:7:  “the Levites shall compass the king round about” = Remembering that the people, which were other than the ministering Levites and the priests, were to guard against any attempt that might be made by the Baal-worshippers to force their way through the outer court into the temple’s inner court, this is where the priest’s, Levites, and hidden king Joash were.

 

23:8:  “Jehoiada the priest dismissed not the courses” = The fact that these men would have usually gone home after their allotted time period of service, and that no suspicions were aroused, is further evidence to me that this was indeed one of the three annual Sabbaths in the year, and all males would be expected to be milling in or around the temple courts.  Now herein lies another key point.  The changing of the guard and the priests and Levitical servants to the priests were done on the last day of the week.  That is the seventh-day Sabbath day.  Jehoiada’s choice of the Sabbath day to perform this insurrection was however, more directed at the fact that at this time more men could be positioned into place, without suspicion that anything was out of place, but orderly as usual, with the distribution of duties passing along as normally would.

 

23:9:  “spears, and bucklers, and shields” = The arrangements made for defense are these.  The people were divided into three bodies; one attended as guards to the king, one was posted at all the doors and gates, especially guarding “the gate of foundation,” which is the quickest route into the temple courts from the palace; and the other took up their position in the palace.  The captains and military officers, of the palace guard that was supposed to be the outgoing force, who entered into the temple unarmed, lulled the suspicion of any observers, and were furnished with weapons out of the sacred armory, where David had deposited his trophies of victory and which was reopened on this occasion.

 

23:10:  “the right side of the temple” = If we are facing east, “the right side of the temple” would be the southern portion, and “the left side of the temple,” would be the northern portion, “along by the alter” being the clue that we are facing the “Alter of Burnt Offering,” or “Brazen Alter.”  From verse 13 we learn of “the king stood at his pillar.”  The king’s pillar was in the people’s court, opposite that of the priests’.  The young king, arrayed in the royal insignia, had been brought out of the inner, to stand forth in the outer court, to the public view.

 

In Second Chronicles 6:12-13 we read:  “And he [Solomon] stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:  For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court:  and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven.”  Being erected beside the pillar, it may be that Joash stood on this brazen scaffold of Solomon’s so that he could be in full view of the entire entourage of people present.

 

23:11:  “gave him the testimony” = The Hebrew word for “testimony” here and in 2Ki. 11:12 is “eduth,” which is commonly used of the Ten Commandments.  It may have been a “Book of the Law,” 2Ch. 17:9, which is, “a Book of the Law of the Lord given by Moses,” that was found in 2Ch. 34:14.  The use of this Law in the coronation ceremony was to denote the king’s devotion to the law of the Lord, according to which he would regulate his life and rule his people.  It is interesting to note that this passage of Scripture is the basis of the custom of placing a copy of the Bible in the hands of British monarchs during the coronation service.

 

23:12-14:  “she came to the people into the house of the Lord” = These verses amaze me, because here we have all these men who are stationed to “and whosoever else cometh into the house, he shall be put to death,” verse 7.  Yet in rushes Athaliah, untouched by the guards in the outer court, or palace guards, and untouched by the guards of the gates, and allowed to pass through into the inner court.  The fear of her was still upon this entire backup support of men, and it is not until the high priest, representing God Himself, instructs them to “Slay her,” verse 14, that they come out of their stupor and do so.  However, the indication from both accounts in Second Kings and here in Second Chronicles, which by the way are almost identical, indicate that Athaliah came running into the temple alone, without her royal guard.  This means that she may have summoned her personal guard that was stationed about her to come with her, but true to Jehoiada and the new king, they no longer obeyed her orders, but stayed where they were in the palace.  When Athaliah saw her own royal body guard that had just been relieved by the new guards, standing by the usurper king, she knew all was lost and she “rent her clothes,” verse 13 in acknowledgement.

 

23:15:  “the horse gate” = They slew her by “the horse gate.”  Now, we are not to suppose that horses came into the king’s house of residence.  Actually, Solomon had built for his many horses, on the southeast side of the temple, in the immediate vicinity of the valley of Kedron, a gate that became the entrance into the palace grounds.  The Kedron valley was at this time a kind of desecrated place because of the destruction of the many idols and their associated worship memorabilia.  It was thus a more suitable place to “Slay her,” verse 14, than at the more closely associated “foundation” gate.

 

23:16-17:  “made a covenant. . . that they should be the Lord’s people” = And so should it be with us.  Are we going to dedicate ourselves as being the “Lord’s people,” and are we going to rule Satan out of our Lives?  I hope for your sakes that this will be so.

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

 

 

26:5:  “and as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper” = After reading this verse, should we not always seek the Lord?

 

26:16:  “he transgressed” = “The sin that resulted so disastrously to Uzziah was one of presumption. . . Neither his exalted position nor his long life of service could be pleaded as an excuse for the presumptuous sin by which he marred the closing years of his reign, and brought upon himself the judgment of Heaven.”  RH, March 4, 1915; PK:304.

 

26:19:  “the leprosy even rose up in his forehead” = Representing the place where his rebellion started; in his mind.  Uzziah went where God never sent him; wanted what God never gave him; and attempted to occupy a position that God never qualified him for.

 

 

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

 

 

28:15:  “anointed” = This is a type of anointing that literally means, “washed” them, according to the Targum.  In other words, we are to clean up, feed, and clothe our enemies once they are in our control to do so.

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY

 

 

30:5:  “Beersheba even to Dan” = The meaning is, “All of Israel.”  The tribe of Dan and its northern most city of Dan was in the northern most part of Israel, while the tribe of Simeon was in the southernmost part and Beersheba was its southernmost city.  It would be like saying (in the United States) “From New York to San Francisco,” meaning the entire United States.

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

 

 

32:15:  “nation or kingdom” = See my 1Ki. 18:10 Note.

 

32:16-17:  “his servants spake” = “The Assyrian representatives, after taking leave of the chief men of Judah, communicated direct with their king who was with the division of his army guarding the approach from Egypt.  Upon hearing the report, Sennacherib wrote (verse 17 quoted).”  RH, May 27, 1915; PK:354-355.

 

32:21:  “cut off all the mighty men” = “Tidings of this terrible judgment upon the army that had been sent to take Jerusalem, [see 2 Kin. 19:35] soon reached Sennacherib, who was still guarding the approach of Judea from Egypt.  Stricken with fear, the Assyrian king hasted to depart.”  RH, June 3, 1915; PK:361.

 

32:31:  “Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon” = “The visit of the ambassadors to Hezekiah was a test of his gratitude and devotion.  The record says, [verse 31 quoted].  Had Hezekiah improved the opportunity given him to bear witness to the power, the goodness, the compassion of the God of Israel, the report of the ambassadors would have been as light piercing darkness.  But he magnified himself above the Lord of hosts.  He ‘rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up.’  Disastrous were the results, which were to follow.  To Isaiah it was revealed that the returning ambassadors were carrying with them a report of the riches they had seen, and that the king of Babylon and his counselors would plan to enrich their own country with the treasures of Jerusalem.  Hezekiah had grievously sinned; ‘therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem.’  Verse 25. . .

 

“Filled with remorse, ‘Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.’  2Ch. 32:26.  But the evil seed had been sown, and in time was to spring up and yield a harvest of desolation and woe.  During his remaining years the king of Judah was to have much prosperity because of his steadfast purpose to redeem the past and to bring honor to the name of the God whom he served; yet his faith was to be severely tried, and he was to learn that only by putting his trust fully in Jehovah could he hope to triumph over the powers of darkness that were plotting his ruin and the utter destruction of his people.”  RH, May 13, 1915; LHU:285; PK:347.

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

 

 

34:14:  “found a Book of the Law” = See Second Kings 22:8 Note.

 

Based upon Second Chronicles 34, verses 30-32, this was following the instruction of gathering all the people together to hear the Words of the Lord, in Deuteronomy 29:10 (through 15).  Thus we can conclude, that the “Book” that was found is that of Deuteronomy.

 

34:18:  “read it” = “Nearly a century before, during the first Passover celebrated by Hezekiah, provision had been made for the daily public reading of the book of the law to the people by teaching priests.  It was the observance of the statutes recorded by Moses -- especially those given in the Book of the Covenant, which forms a part of Deuteronomy -- [Deu. 31:6; 32:1-10, 15-35; 33:26-27] that had made the reign of Hezekiah so prosperous.  But Manasseh had dared to set aside these statutes; and during his reign the temple copy of the book of the law, through careless neglect, had become lost.  Thus for many years the people generally were deprived of its instruction. . . Josiah was deeply stirred as he heard read for the first time the exhortations and warnings recorded in this ancient manuscript.  Never before had he realized so fully the plainness with which God had set before Israel ‘life and death, blessing and cursing’ (Deu. 30:19); and how repeatedly they had been urged to choose the way of life, that they might become a praise in the earthy, a blessing to all nations.”  RH, July 22, 1915; PK:393.

 

34:29-32:  “all the elders” = See Second Kings 23:1-3 Note.

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

 

 

35:20-22:  “Josiah went out against him” = See Second Kings 23:29 Note.

 

 

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

 

 

36:9:  “Jehoiachin was eight years old when he began to reign” = See Second Kings 24:8 Note.

 

36:21:  “until the land had enjoyed her Sabbaths” = How did the land enjoy “her sabbaths” when most of the people were not in Babylon for 70 years?”  The fact is that Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem 3 times.  The first time was in and around B.C. 607, when Daniel and other of the royal seed were taken into exile.  This still left most of the people left in the land under the vassal king, Jehoiachin.  Then, in the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign, which would have been about B.C. 597, Nebuchadnezzar came again and took Jehoiachin and thousands of others to Babylon and left Zedekiah as the vassal king.  Finally Nebuchadnezzar came in B.C. 587 and destroyed Jerusalem and took all but a very few of the poorest.  

 

The KEY is found in PP:533-534:  “After ‘seven sabbaths of years,’ ‘seven times seven years,’ came that great year of release -- the jubilee.  ‘Then shalt thou cause the trumpet of the jubilee to sound. . . throughout all your land.  And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout all the land unto all the inhabitants thereof:  it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.’  Leviticus 25:9, 10.

 

“ ‘On the tenth day of the seventh month, in the Day of Atonement,’ the trumpet of the jubilee was sounded.  Throughout the land, wherever the Jewish people dwelt, the sound was heard, calling upon all the children of Jacob to welcome the year of release.  On the great Day of Atonement satisfaction was made for the sins of Israel, and with gladness of heart the people would welcome the jubilee.

 

“As in the sabbatical year, the land was not to be sown or reaped, and all that it produced was to be regarded as the rightful property of the poor.  Certain classes of Hebrew slaves -- all who did not receive their liberty in the sabbatical year -- were now set free.  But that which especially distinguished the year of jubilee was the reversion of all landed property to the family of [534]

 

“the original possessor.  By the special direction of God the land had been divided by lot.  After the division was made no one was at liberty to trade his estate.  Neither was he to sell his land unless poverty compelled him to do so, and then, whenever he or any of his kindred might desire to redeem it, the purchaser must not refuse to sell it; and if unredeemed, it would revert to its first possessor or his heirs in the year of jubilee.”

 

Thus we can see that it was the “land” that was to enjoy its “sabbaths” for 70 years; which must be based upon the first captivity of the people.  The “land” of Israel was no longer in the possession of God’s chosen people, nor were the fruits of it owned by its inhabitants; but it was owned by the king of Babylon.

 

“threescore and ten years” = See Ezra 1:1; Isaiah 23:15, 17; Jeremiah 25:11-12; 29:10; Daniel 9:2; Zechariah 1:12; 7:5.

 

36:22:  “Cyrus” = Critics of the Bible were once again silenced by their claims of “Cyrus” not being an historical figure, when in 1879, Hormuzd Rassam discovered “The Cyrus Cylinder.”

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36:23:  “let him go up” = Originally this is the true end of the Old Testament.  The next Book in order of events would then be the Book of Matthew.