2 Chronicles 23:1-11--Joash Made King

ORD2 Chronicles 23:1-11
English Standard Version

Joash Made King
23 But in the seventh year Jehoiada took courage and entered into a covenant with the commanders of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, Azariah the son of Obed, Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri. 2 And they went about through Judah and gathered the Levites from all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers' houses of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. 3 And all the assembly made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And Jehoiada said to them, “Behold, the king's son! Let him reign, as the LORD spoke concerning the sons of David. 4 This is the thing that you shall do: of you priests and Levites who come off duty on the Sabbath, one third shall be gatekeepers, 5 and one third shall be at the king's house and one third at the Gate of the Foundation. And all the people shall be in the courts of the house of the LORD. 6 Let no one enter the house of the LORD except the priests and ministering Levites. They may enter, for they are holy, but all the people shall keep the charge of the LORD. 7 The Levites shall surround the king, each with his weapons in his hand. And whoever enters the house shall be put to death. Be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out.”

​8 The Levites and all Judah did according to all that Jehoiada the priest commanded, and they each brought his men, who were to go off duty on the Sabbath, with those who were to come on duty on the Sabbath, for Jehoiada the priest did not dismiss the divisions. 9 And Jehoiada the priest gave to the captains the spears and the large and small shields that had been King David's, which were in the house of God. 10 And he set all the people as a guard for the king, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the south side of the house to the north side of the house, around the altar and the house. 11 Then they brought out the king's son and put the crown on him and gave him the testimony. And they proclaimed him king, and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and they said, “Long live the king.”

---

After seven years of hiding the only living son of King Ahaziah, Jehoiada, the high priest, was courageous and organized a coup where the religious leaders along with their guards and the military leaders along with their men would support the ascension of Joash to the throne.  The names of the military leaders that sided with Jehoiada are listed here and they went through all of Judah and assembled all the Levites (remember the Levites normally only served only when it was time for their order to be called up for services, but Jehoiada being in charge of the Levites can call all of them up under special circumstances such as these).  Also, the heads of the families of Judah were invited to this event so it was obviously something important if all the religious leaders, the heads of the army, and the heads of families were there--the only people not invited were Athaliah and the officers of her court, but they would certainly hear about it.  This whole group of people--the Levits and priests, the military commanders, and the heads of families all made a covenant before God and each other to support to coronation of Joash and the overthrow of Athaliah.

​Jehoiada then gives them the plan.  Every Sabbath, there was supposed to be a change in the order of priests and the order of Levites that would serve for the next week.  Instead of the priests and Levites going off duty when their replacements showed up, they would stay and take up positions with one-third watching the gates of the Temple, another third watching the front door of the king's house (where Athaliah had taken up residence, in case she came out the front door) and the other third watching the Gate of the Foundation (probably also the same as the Gate of Sur and maybe the Horse Gate).  If so, that would explain the extra guards there as this gate would be the king's private access to the Temple from the palace by way of a tunnel so that he did not have to go out in public to go to see the priest or make sacrifices.  So, this is likely the group that was assigned to watch the "back door."  It seems Jehoiada thought of everything.

Everyone that is a supporter of the covenant is to fill the Temple Courtyard so that there is no room left for agitators and potential assassins to slip in.  Everyone in the crowd will recognize who belongs and who doesn't, and they will all be a part of the protection detail in this way as well.  No one is to be allowed to enter the Temple proper other than the priests and Levites that are on duty at that time (so things will look like business as usual in that regards, but this also lowers the risk of someone being able to slip in and hurt Jehoiada or Joash who would likely be inside).  The Levites on duty will be the king's secret service detail that will immediately put to death anyone who enters the place where he is staying, and they will stay with him everywhere he goes and put to the sword anyone who approaches without permission.  They will not arrest people and ask questions later, they are to assume that anyone unauthorized who approaches is there to do harm because up to this point, no one knows that the king is there--the only assumption is that now everyone will know and that someone might come to make an assassination attempt so that the Joash cannot be made king.

Everything was done as planned, and Jehoiada gave the spears and shields in the Temple to the military commanders that were there to show their support.  Everyone that was there was a guard and had a weapon in hand ready to defend the king from Athalia and her supporters.  The entire Courtyard was filled and protected from the north side to the south side (remember the main entrance faced East, and there were walls on the North, South, and West sides).  Once all the guards were in place and the perimeter was secure, Joash was brought out, along with his protection detail, and they put the crown on his head and gave him a copy of the book of Deuteronomy (his own personal copy of the Law to read and study to know how to govern God's people well).  Then he was proclaimed king by all who were there, and the high priest and the sons of the high priest anointed Joash as king of Judah, and together the people cried out, "Long live the king!"  If she had not heard the commotion before this, this phrase would have certainly been heard in the palace and struck fear in the heart of Athaliah and her supporters.  Who is the one whom they have made king when they thought they had killed all of Ahaziah's heirs?  Certainly, any king would be coming after her, so she has two choices--fight or flight.  Which will she choose?  (It doesn't much matter as all potential exits from the palace are covered as well as all potential entrances to the Temple as well as the entire Courtyard of the Temple--there's no way she's going to get to the king, but that may not stop her from trying if her heart is set on murder).  We'll see what choice she makes next time and how things end up for her as a result of that choice.