Speaker: Pastor Neil Lindwall

Additional Resources: Additional study resources are on this page and appear indented like this. Extra resources are also available at this link.

Bible Engagement Project

April 21-May 19, 2024:

Acts 1:8- But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere- in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. – NLT

Acts 1:8- But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” – NIV

2 Chronicles 24:1-3 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest. 3 Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.

Hey Friends! Pastor Neil put together a PDF with word studies of some of the key names and words in this chapter. It is available in the extra resources link. It can provide deeper insights and help you get much more out of it. It’s worth a look 😉

2 Chronicles 24:4-6 Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the Lord. 5 He called together the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God. Do it now.” But the Levites did not act at once. 6 Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why haven’t you required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the Lord and by the assembly of Israel for the tent of the covenant law?”

What’s Shocking: The King Had to Order the Priests to Do What They Should Have Been Doing All Along, Collecting the Temple Tax & Maintaining the Temple. He Told them to “Repair” = “Hazaq” the Temple. He Wanted to See the Temple Established and Strong, Fortified, Immovable. 

2 Chronicles 24:7 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.

Be Re-Minded. Be Reminded to Follow God. Renew Your Decision. Make it a Decision of the Heart! Confess with your Mouth, Believe In Your Heart!

Romans 10:9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

Hebrews 2:1 Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

2 Chronicles 24:8-12 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.

! Gladly is the Hebrew word sâmach & Means to:

“flourish with inner triumph supplied by the Lord – a mood-oriented inner awareness of the Lord's victory. You are celebrating inwardly because Living in faith means a believer always wins, no matter what the outcome because the Lord is glorified. You know God's plan always wins – in every circumstance. – inspired by the Helps Lexicon. See more in the Word study PDF.

2 Corinthians 9:7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

Cheerful: 2431 hilarós – properly, propitious; disposed because satisfied, describing someone cheerfully ready to act because already approving ("already persuaded"). 2431/hilaros ("won over, already inclined") is only used in 2 Cor 9:7 where it describes spontaneous (non-reluctant) giving. – HELPS Lexicon

2 Chronicles 24:13-14a 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.

Be Ready. True Faith Motivates Action. I Believe, I Love, I Act.  

Faith Living Inside Motivates Giving Outside. We See it Everywhere. 

2 Chronicles 24:14b-16 As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the Lord. 15 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.

2 Chronicles 24:17-19 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.

Abandoned = 5800a ʽāzan – properly, leave behind ("to loose"), especially to abandon or leave destitute. [Its related Arabic cognate means "be remote, absent." The Akkadian cognate is used of forsaking a marriage or other important commitment.] – HELPS Lexicon.

This Passage Is Heartbreaking & It Is As Relevant & Real Today As It Was Then. They Forsook Their Commitment to YHWH! Again & Again.  

2 Chronicles 24:20-22 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.”

Note: v.20 “commands” & v.21 “order” are the same Hebrew word “Mitzvah”. The Helps Lexicon defines it as: 70e (SN 4687) mitzvah – a command; preeminently, an order from God to direct people into His preferred-will. God's commands are often dynamic, spoken in the heart (mind) of believers by Him through His inworking of faith (see NT 4102/pístis).

The Terrible Irony: Joash Was In Power & Alive Only Because of Jehoiada’s Kindness, Hesed - covenant-loyalty / loyalty to friendship.

Kindness = ḥesed̠ (etymology unknown) – covenant-loyalty – preeminently, God's perfect loyalty to His own covenant. The Lord also requires full loyalty from believers who enter it to share unlimited blessings – even as disloyalty to His covenant brings condemnation. [This term is also used generally of loyalty to a friendship or agreement.] – HELPS Lexicon

2 Chronicles 24:23-26 At the turn of the year, 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. 26 Those who conspired against him were Zabad, son of Shimeath an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith a Moabite woman. 27 The account of his sons, the many prophecies about him, and the record of the restoration of the temple of God are written in the annotations on the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.

Being Conquered by a Smaller Army Was Proof They Chose the Curse. (Deuteronomy 32:30; Joshua 23:10; Isaiah 30:17)

Leviticus 26:8 Five of you shall chase a hundred, and a hundred of you shall chase ten thousand, and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. 

I Grieve Over this Nation as I See the People Rejecting God. 

How Could Joash Go From “Deciding to Restore the Temple” to “Ordering” the Murder of a Priest & Prophet of God, the Son of the Man Who Saved Him?

He Did Not Remember the Kindness!

They Are Saved, Protected, Provided for, Elevated, Blessed, Make a Decision to Commit to God, Then They Fall Away Hard, Reject God’s Mercy, & Receive His Judgment.  

Remember, Restore, Rejoice. 

• Remember God’s Kindness to Stay Full & Flourish in Grateful Obedience.
• Restore Your Life to Faithfulness. Strengthen Your Heart in Faith.
• Rejoice Because of the Living Faith Inside & Let Outside.

Additional study resources are on this page and appear indented. Extra resources can also be found here.