2 Chronicles 24 Study Notes
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24:15-16 Jehoiada the high priest, Joash’s adviser, died at the age of 130 years. He was buried with honor normally accorded only to kings.
24:17-18 The people who won Joash’s confidence had authority in various parts of Judah. They apparently preferred the old system, influenced by the kings of Israel. Like Rehoboam, Joash followed bad advice (10:8). They persuaded the king to abandon the Lord and to return to the idolatry that Joash along with Jehoiada had attempted to root out. The wrath of God cut into their prosperity (v. 20).
24:19 God did not give up on Joash but conveyed his will by way of prophets. Yet the king continued to support and encourage false worship.
24:20-22 Jehoiada’s son Zechariah made a speech confronting the people with their idolatry. The king enlisted a number of functionaries who stoned Zechariah to death in the courtyard of the temple. Zechariah invoked God’s vengeance on the faithless king. To this day, the tomb of Zechariah can be seen outside Jerusalem in the Kidron Valley. It was this Zechariah to whom Jesus referred when he accused the leaders of his day of hypocrisy (Lk 11:47-51).
24:23-24 Up to this point, Jehoshaphat and Ahaziah of Judah had participated in the northern kingdom’s war against the Arameans. But there had been no direct conflict between Judah and Aram since the time Asa bought off Ben-hadad. Now this situation changed. With a weak and confused King Joash on the throne, and absent the Lord’s protection, the Arameans were able to conquer Jerusalem with a small force and carry off valuables again.
24:25 The Arameans despised Joash so much that they left him to die after he was severely wounded. His servants took advantage of the situation and killed him as he was lying defenseless on his bed. Joash was buried unceremoniously outside the usual location for the tombs of the kings.
24:26 The two servants who assassinated Joash were Gentiles, sons of an Ammonite woman and a Moabite woman, respectively. Even these outsiders would not tolerate the king’s evil actions.