Jehoiada the High Priest
Historical context. Judah and Israel are in a perpetual state of decline from the Glory days of David and Solomon who ruled over a united nation of Israel. Jehoiada was High Priest at the time of Jehoash the 8th King after David of the Southern Kingdom of Judah. Jehoiada may have been as old as 90 years at the time of Jehoash's kingship. He would have witnessed I believe the kingships of Jehosophat, Jehoram, Ahaziah and Jehoash.
That unity and glory of Israel and Judah has been decimated in large part due to the unfaithfulness of both Judah and Israel and especially their kings who led the nation into sin. This sin manifested itself especially in the idolatry that occurred as early as Solomon, the wealthiest and wisest king and last king over a united Israel and Judah. Strangely enough it is Solomon who would have built the temple of God , witnessed God's presence fill that Temple and heard God's speaking to him directly in a dream after the dedication of this temple.
1 Kings 9 When Solomon had finished building the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had achieved all he had desired to do, 2 the Lord appeared to him a second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. 3 The Lord said to him: “I have heard the prayer and plea you have made before me; I have consecrated this temple, which you have built, by putting my Name there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there. 4 “As for you, if you walk before me faithfully with integrity of heart and uprightness, as David your father did, and do all I command and observe my decrees and laws, 5 I will establish your royal throne over Israel forever, as I promised David your father when I said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.’ 6 “But if you[a] or your descendants turn away from me and do not observe the commands and decrees I have given you[b] and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 7 then I will cut off Israel from the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. Israel will then become a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 8 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All[c] who pass by will be appalled and will scoff and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 9 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord their God, who brought their ancestors out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why the Lord brought all this disaster on them.’”
Solomon initially followed the Lord and did many great things but then 1 Kings 11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. 4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. 5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done7 On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. 8 He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.9 The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. 10 Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command. 11 So the Lord said to Solomon,“Since this is your attitude and you have
Literary Context
Daily Sacrifice of Praise
Devoted to the Word
Don't Desecrate the Temple
Diligently repair the Temple
Developing the next generation
SO the Kingdom is seperated and gradually this idolatry worked its way into both kingdoms but in an especially big way under Ahab and Jezebel in the northern kingdom *( If you all remember the story of Elijah slaughtering the 450 prophets of Baal at Mt Carmel and subsequently being threatened by Jezebel)* and then in the intermarriage that occured between the Northern and Southern Kingdoms.
Jehoash the King of Judah that Jehoiada the High Priest saved from his murderous grand mother, his Father was Ahaziah and His Ahaziah's Father that is was Jehoram who was married to Athaliah, It actually says in 2 Chronicles 22 2 Ahaziah was twenty-two[a] years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem one year. His mother’s name was Athaliah, a granddaughter of Omri. 3 He too followed the ways of the house of Ahab, for his mother encouraged him to act wickedly. 4 He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, as the house of Ahab had done, for after his father’s death they became his advisers, to his undoing.
Its surprising that Jehoram would have married Athaliah, since his father Jehosophat was known as one of the faithful king's in Judah who trusted in God, but even he Jehosophat that is had begun to encourage a relationship with Ahaziah the son of Ahab and Jezebel, who had become king after them. He entered into business with him and had built ships for trading but which never set sail. So its not surprising that if they were doing business together that this marriage between Jehoram and Athaliah would have been possible. Jehoram himself after his father's death, murdered all of his brothers to secure his Kingship, In my opinion his wife Athaliah would have been influential in this decision making, as she to after the death of her own son, murdered all of her grand children except Jehoash whom Jehoiada and his wife Jehosheba saved and kept in the temple of God. (Jehosheba, Jehoiada's wife may have been Athaliah's daughter since she is described as the daughter of Jehoram the king in 2 Chronicles 22:11).
2 Chronicles 22: 10 When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah. 11 But Jehosheba,[e] the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehosheba,[f] the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him. 12 He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.
Big Idea; The church is a kingdom of Priests and we follow our High Priest Jesus, Jehoiada teaches us that once we hold onto our priestly functions there is hope for the Kingdom of God to manifest even in the most chaotic circumstances.
Conclusion: In conclusion, as we face up to the challenges of our time, when truth doesn't seem to matter and the idea of what is right and wrong is blurred and unclear. We have an example of Jehoiada to look to , to give us tips on how to navigate the chaos of our time.;1. Daily Sacrifice of Praise, 2. Devoted to the Word, 3. Don't Desecrate the teample, 4. Diligently repair the temple, 5. Develop the next Generation
Jehoiada said to them, “The king’s son shall reign, as the Lord promised concerning the descendants of David. 4 Now this is what you are to do: A third of you priests and Levites who are going on duty on the Sabbath are to keep watch at the doors, 5 a third of you at the royal palace and a third at the Foundation Gate, and all the others are to be in the courtyards of the temple of the Lord. 6 No one is to enter the temple of the Lord except the priests and Levites on duty; they may enter because they are consecrated, but all the others are to observe the Lord’s command not to enter.[a] 7 The Levites are to station themselves around the king, each with weapon in hand. Anyone who enters the temple is to be put to death. Stay close to the king wherever he goes.”8 The Levites and all the men of Judah did just as Jehoiada the priest ordered. Each one took his men—those who were going on duty on the Sabbath and those who were going off duty—for Jehoiada the priest had not released any of the divisions. 9 Then he gave the commanders of units of a hundred the spears and the large and small shields that had belonged to King David and that were in the temple of God. 10 He stationed all the men, each with his weapon in his hand, around the king—near the altar and the temple, from the south side to the north side of the temple. 11 Jehoiada and his sons brought out the king’s son and put the crown on him; they presented him with a copy of the covenant and proclaimed him king. They anointed him and shouted, “Long live the king!”12 When Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and cheering the king, she went to them at the temple of the Lord. 13 She looked, and there was the king, standing by his pillar at the entrance. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets, and musicians with their instruments were leading the praises.
7 Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals.
Then Athaliah tore her robes and shouted, “Treason! Treason!”14 Jehoiada the priest sent out the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of the troops, and said to them: “Bring her out between the ranks[b] and put to the sword anyone who follows her.” For the priest had said, “Do not put her to death at the temple of the Lord.” 15 So they seized her as she reached the entrance of the Horse Gate on the palace grounds, and there they put her to death16 Jehoiada then made a covenant that he, the people and the king[c] would be the Lord’s people. 17 All the people went to the temple of Baal and tore it down. They smashed the altars and idols and killed Mattan the priest of Baal in front of the altars.
18 Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the Lord in the hands of the Levitical priests, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the Lord as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered.**
19 He also stationed gatekeepers at the gates of the Lord’s temple so that no one who was in any way unclean might enter.**
20 He took with him the commanders of hundreds, the nobles, the rulers of the people and all the people of the land and brought the king down from the temple of the Lord. They went into the palace through the Upper Gate and seated the king on the royal throne. 21 All the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was calm, because Athaliah had been slain with the sword.
23 1: In the seventh year Jehoiada showed his strength. He made a covenant with the commanders of units of a hundred: Azariah son of Jeroham, Ishmael son of Jehohanan, Azariah son of Obed, Maaseiah son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat son of Zikri. 2 They went throughout Judah and gathered the Levites and the heads of Israelite families from all the towns. When they came to Jerusalem, 3 the whole assembly made a covenant with the king at the temple of God.
2 Chronicles 24:14b-15As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the Lord15 Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty. 16 He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple
8 At the king’s command, a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the temple of the Lord. 9 A proclamation was then issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God had required of Israel in the wilderness. 10 All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full. 11 Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king’s officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money. 12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who carried out the work required for the temple of the Lord. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the Lord’s temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple.
13 The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it. 14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the Lord’s temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the Lord.
2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest.
17 After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. 18 They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem. 19 Although the Lord sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.20 Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’”
21 But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. 22 King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, “May the Lord see this and call you to account.”23 At the turn of the year,[a] the army of Aram marched against Joash; it invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. They sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus. 24 Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the Lord delivered into their hands a much larger army. Because Judah had forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, judgment was executed on Joash. 25 When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash severely wounded. His officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
We ll we already have an idea of what Jehoiada did for Jehoash, saving his life, guiding him through his life to make wise decisions, he even chose 2 wives for him. As long as Jehoiada lived Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LOrd. However now we see upon his death how easily JOash was influenced in the other direction, it says in vs 17 "the officials" came and paid homage to him and he abandoned the Temple of the Lord. It makes it sound so simple, yet scary, how much of a crutch Jehoiada was to him, he didn't have the spiritual fortitude to hold to the convictions that Jehoiada tried to impart. We see a different story in Zechariah, Jehoiada's son, who confronted Joash and was in the end killed for striving to be the priest that his Father would have wanted him to be
What I believe was the foundation of Jehoiada's strength was his prayer life. He together with his wife hid and took care of Jehoash in the temple for 7 years. In later vs, when Athaliah found out she cried treason! treason! what do you think is the penalty for treason? Its death and Jehoiada and his entire family would have been living under this covert subterfuge, which if exposed would have resulted in certain death, I mean the woman killed her own grand children to secure the crown, what wouldn't she do? In 2 Chron 24:14b, it says As long as Jehoiada lived burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple.....This gives us some insight into the man that he valued worship towards God. He was All IN to have his prescribed worship as a priest, they were instructed to offer daily sacrifices, to keep the lamp burning in the temple and I could well Imagine that Jehoiada throughout this chaotic time and its seems even after, did not miss a beat as far as worshipping God was concerned.
This reminded me so much about Jesus in Hebrews 5: 7 During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.
Over the past year we have had amazing lessons and for me none more impacting than those on prayer. I really appreciated Jeff Hickman's lesson on Psalm 27 when he spoke about his time of contemplative prayer and then Tyrone sharing for the Disciplines of a Godly man series on his practice of prayer and lectio Divina ( the practice of letting the scripture read you), or when Nanieno shared about writing his prayers down All of these I've tried to incorporate into my own prayer life and I can't tell you the amount of times when I felt so overwhelmed but after falling on my knees in prayer, I was able to face up to whatever challenge was before me and to show my strength.
As a priest for God, I believe God is waiting on each christian individually to practice that relationship of love with Him, to get to know Him better and to trust in Him and His Unfailing love. As we face up to the challenges of our time I believe that strength will be more and more only available in our times of prayer with Our Father.
Jehoiada was very careful it seems to obey the Word of the Lord. In vs 3 he makes reference to the promise God made to David that he would not fail to have a son sitting on the throne of Israel. Hence Athaliah's reign as queen was not in keeping with the expressed will of God.
In vs 6 he made it clear that according to God's word only the levities were allowed to enter the temple of God. He probably would have read stories like those of Uzzah who not being a levite, touched the ark of the covenant and instantly died
In vs 11 when he proclaimed Jehoash king , he presented him with a copy of the covenant. Again this shows Jehoiada's high value for the WORD OF GOD. His hope was probably that Jehoash could have been one of those exceptional Kings who actually strove to obey the Word of the Lord as David did.
He was not prepared it seems to make a foolish mistake that could dishonor God and consequently bring them under judgement.
I'm reminded of Jesus when he was tempted by the devil after His 40 day fast said Matt 4“It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Again this shows even Jesus' attitude when it comes to the Words of God. -
I can't think of someone whom I personally know, who is more devoted to the word of God than our brother Tyrone. He reads the entire bible in a different version every year, his favorite psalm is Psalm 119, the longest chapter and psalm with 176 verses and its all about the Word of God, he together with Courtney Bailey formed the Damian Jean Baptiste Caribbean School of Ministry, which has equipped many of us to have a deeper understanding, appreciation and ability when it comes to drawing out the truths of God's Word and whenever you speak to him on a challenging issue, his point of reference is always the Word of God. And to top that all of he strives to be genuinely humble in his use of scripture. I use that word strive intentionally because as awesome as he is he's not Jesus and he has his faults , as we all do and he's open about them....but still what a tremendous and awesome example we physically have of someone devoted to the Word.
If we are to follow the example of Jehoiada in our times, we will have to be more devoted to the Word of God. False teachings abound and we are not immune to them. They are much more readily available on our smart phones and many of our favorite speakers and teachers online and even among us can possibly be wrong and even outright teaching a different gospel than the one that Jesus taught. We must be prepared to explore the Word of God and to challenge first and foremost the veracity of our own faith, so that when the time of testing comes we will be able to stand.
Jehoiada recognised the harm that Athaliah had brought on the nation of Judah through her murderous actions, her defilement of the temple of God through her sons in vs 7 and her introduction of Baal worship amongst the people and what she was likely to do if she continued to live, as a result he did not hesitate in having her put to death,.
Similarly in vs 17 the temple of Baal and its priest held worship within Judah's boundaries and provided an oppurtunity for the people to be idolatrous and to sacrifice their spirituality on the altar of greed, sexual immorality and impurity. The worship of these false gods oftentimes involved the sacrifice of one's children to bring about the prosperity that you were looking for. In vs 18-19, Jehoiada reinstated the levites and the gatekeepers and they were to watch out for anyone who was ceremonially unclean so that they could prevent them from entering so that they didn't defile the temple.
In the New Testament you see a similar theme of not defiling the temple of God because our bodies are the temple of God and as Christians God's Holy Spirit has taken up residence within us. If there is sin and unrepentant sin God warns us that there is a consequence for that let's take a quick look at Ephesians
Eph 2 :19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
Eph 5 1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God’s holy people. 4 Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving. 5 For of this you can be sure: No immoral, impure or greedy person—such a person is an idolater—has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.[a] 6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of such things God’s wrath comes on those who are disobedient. 7 Therefore do not be partners with them.
During my own Christian walk I have seen many things and experienced many things. I have battled with pornography, sexual immorality, the shame and the disgrace of feeling like God hated me and would destroy me, but instead I found that He was gracious, forgiving, kind and merciful and he used other faulty human beings, with their own struggles, sometimes similar to help me to shine a light on my sin. Personally I feel like have come a long way on my journey to overcome. I'm not naiive as to think that I am now some how impervious to sin, but i have grown to look forward to being open and to share that openess with my wife and to feel closer to her, to my brothers and sisters and ultimately God.
I have also been able to see how amongst our fellowship there those of us who remain hidden and whether it be because of shame, fear or pride, refuse to come into the light and as a result they jeopardize their relationship with God. Because make no mistake, God will not be fooled, we may think we can fool men but God is patient and kind, hoping that we would repent, but as we say in Trini parlance, "the longest rope have and end" These sins will not only affect you but us all, as the scriptures say, a little yeast works through the entire dough (Galatians 5:9)
I encourage us all to not defile the temple of God by staying in hidden and unrepentant sin. Pray to God for wisdom and then speak to someone today about your sin, Don't Desecrate the Temple
To maintain the temple took money. This is a simple fact. The value of what they receive I don't believe we can really quantify, especially since they are measured in spiritual and eternal terms. In Jehoiada's time the centrality of the temple to maintain worship for God and to help the Israelites to trust in and love God, so that they would be able to stand against any threat and be able to feel and know the provision of God Almighty was laid out in the blessings and curses He spoke to Solomon about when the temple was first consecrated. It reflected itself in Israel's and Judah's history. When they feared the Lord and obeyed His commands, things went well for them, when they neglected worship, their obedience fell and it resulted in foreign nations invading them and subjugating them again.
As a result, maintaining the temple encouraged worship, Let's look at characteristics of giving in Jehoiada's time in vs 10 the officials and the people gladly gave, till the chest was full
In vs 11 they collected a great amount of money.
In vs 13 the men in charge of the work were diligent, the built according to the design and they reinforced it. No shoddy workmanship here.
I think in these short verses we learn alot about building right. First of all Jehoiada and the king had a design, and what's more a design given by God.
The design was reinforced, which is probably music to a structural engineer's ears and it was well funded, so no cutting cost on cheap materials or leaving out work that needed to be done.
At present I want to start building a shed behind my house. I'm dreaming of when Covid is over, we could invite people over and have the space to entertain people.
Aneil, Anthony , a young man by the name of Johvan and I are doing a Construction Technology course together and I was able to do a design that I think can work, I am in the hardware trade, so I was able to cost out what this thing would cost, but I have one small problem, I don't have the money to do it. So if I really want it I will have to put aside the funds incrementally until God willing he'll provide the funds and I have two well trained brothers I know I can rely on.....to reduce the labor cost......
Seriously though, we as people are the temple of God,
we have to examine ourselves and look at the design and see what needs repairs in order for us to grow in our worship of God. We must all individually at the very minimum examine ourselves.At times we won't be able to do the work ourselves and like Jehoiada we'll have to delegate to skillful men and women who are diligent so that the kingdom of God in you individually and us all corporately will be built up.
I'm very grateful for Nanieno and Merlene and the Shepherds, their leadership during this Covid period has been stellar. THey have kept us connected and spiritually fed as much as they could have possibly done. It's really in our court now to see whether we would take advantage of the platfrms being presented to do our own necessary repair work.
Introduction : In 1 Peter 2:5 you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house[a] to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. We as Christians are called to be a Holy Priesthood, Today we look at a person from the old testament who was a priest, facing very turbulent times, but in spite of his challenges he was able to overcome and be All In for God. His name is Jehoiada.
As a priest, as we strive to spread the gospel of Jesus we will be and should be excited to pass the baton onto another generation. But as the old people would say "yuhcould make the child, but yuh cyar make the mind" All that we can do is to do our best to pass on the values and knowledge and love taught to us by Gd through HIs Word, His Spirit and Each other. It can sometimes be a nerve racking, heart wrenching journey, but as a priest we also know that this world is not our home and we set our eyes on things above and not what is on the earth, we choose the eyes of faith that looks to what is unseen and not what is visible.
“Since this is your attitude and you have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will most certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates. 12 Nevertheless, for the sake of David your father, I will not do it during your lifetime. I will tear it out of the hand of your son. 13 Yet I will not tear the whole kingdom from him, but will give him one tribe for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen.”