The Course Of A Lifetime

[Walter and Deborah]

Tuesday 8-23-22 3rd. Day Of The Weekly Cycle, Av 24 5782 64th. Summer Day

The Course of a Lifetime

Read: 2 Chronicles 24:2, 13–16 | Bible in a Year: Psalms 113–115; 1 Corinthians 6
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Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest. 2 Chronicles 24:2


“There are different questions a young artist can ask,” says singer-songwriter Linford Detweiler of eclectic folk duo Over the Rhine. “One is, ‘What must I do to be famous?’ ” Detweiler warns that such a goal “swings the door open to all manner of destructive forces from both within and without.” He and his wife have instead chosen a less flashy musical road in which they “continue to grow over the course of an entire lifetime.”

The name Jehoiada isn’t readily recognized, yet it’s synonymous with a lifetime of dedication to God. He served as priest during the reign of King Joash, who for the most part ruled well—thanks to Jehoiada.

When Joash was just seven years old, Jehoiada had been the catalyst in installing him as rightful king (2 Kings 11:1–16). But this was no power grab. At Joash’s coronation, Jehoiada “made a covenant between the Lord and the king and people that they would be the Lord’s people” (v. 17). He kept his word, implementing badly needed reforms. “As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 24:14). For his dedication, Jehoiada “was buried with the kings in the City of David” (v. 16).

Eugene Peterson calls such a God-focused life “a long obedience in the same direction.” Ironically, it’s such obedience that stands out in a world bent on fame, power, and self-fulfillment.

How would you describe the direction of your life to this point? What changes might you want to ask God to help you make?

For further study, see Leadership Basics

Dear God, help me pursue You and Your wisdom for my life instead of the fleeting things I’ve been seeking.

INSIGHT
In the traditional Jewish order of Scripture, 1–2 Chronicles are placed as the last books of the Hebrew Bible—functioning as a summary of the Old Testament. First Chronicles begins with Adam (1:1) and 2 Chronicles concludes with Israel’s return from exile (36:22–23).

First and Second Chronicles retell much of the same history found in the books of Samuel and Kings but with a different focus. The Chronicles seek to give the returned exiles hope for the future by pointing to a coming Messiah through David’s line and restored worship in the temple. To inspire faithfulness to God and Scripture, the books of Chronicles also offer many character studies of both faithfulness and unfaithfulness. In 2 Chronicles 24, the high priest Jehoiada is a model of faithfulness, while King Joash was faithful only during Jehoiada’s lifetime, later persuaded by other officials to return to idolatry (vv. 17–18).

By Tim Gustafson|August 23rd, 2022

Obedience 2 Chronicles Twenty Four:2, 13-16

1 Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Zibiah of Beersheba.

2 And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest.

3 And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.

4 And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repair the house of the Lord.

5 And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.

6 And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the Lord, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?

7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord did they bestow upon Baalim.

8 And at the king's commandment they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the Lord.

9 And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the Lord the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness.

10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.

11 Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.

12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the Lord, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the Lord, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the Lord.

13 So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.

14 And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the Lord, even vessels to minister, and to offer withal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada.

15 But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.

16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.

Love, Walter and Debbie