The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 212

Vars. 1-21.-The history Qf J'oash. "In the seventh year," et.o. The whole s~ry of Joe.sh is soon told. He was a son of Ahaziah, and the only one of his children who escaped the murderous policy of Athaliah. "It would seem that this child, whom ~h~ pity &nd affection. of a pious aunt (Jehoshebe.) had preserved, was the only surv1V1?g male ~eprB?entat1ve of the line of Solomon. Jehoram, his grand- father, who roamed Atha~1ah, 1n order to strengthen his position on the throne, slew all h1~ brethren, e.nd all his own sons were slain in an incursion by the Arabians, except Ahaz1ah, the youngest, who succeeded him; while on the death of Ahaziah, his wicked moth~r, Ath~Jiah, 'arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house of Judah,' except the ht.tle child Joash, who was rescued from her grasp. So that the unholy alliances formed by the descendants of Solomon, and the manifold disorders then accruing, had reduced everything to the verge of ruin. Measures were concerted by Jehoiada, the high priest, for getting rid of Athalir.h, and placing J oash on the throne, after he had att.ained to the age of seven; and having in his youth the wise and the faithful round his throne, the earlier part of the reign of Joash was in accordance with the great principles of the theocracy. The Lord's house was repaired and set in order, while the temple and idols of Baal were thrown down. But after Jehoiada's death, persons of a different stamp got a.bout him, and, notwithstanding the great and laudable zeal whicb he had shown for the proper restoration of God's house and worship, a return was made to idolatry to such an extent as to draw forth severe denunciations from Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada. Even this was not the worst, for the faithfulness of Zachariah was repaid with violence; he was even stoned to death, and this, it is said, at the express command of the king. The martyred priest exclaimed as he expired,' The Lord look upon it, and require;' and it was required as in a whirlwind of wrath. For a Syrian host, under Hazael, made an incursion into Judma, and both carried off much treasure and executed summary judgment on many in Jerusalem, not excepting Joash himself, whom they left in an enfeebled state, and who was shortly afterwards fallen upon and slain by his servants. Such was the unhappy termiuatfon of a career which began in much promise of good, and the cloud under which he died oven followed Wm to the tomb, for while he was buried in the city of David, it was not in the sepulchres of the kings of Judah. He reigned forty years-from B.o. 878 to 838." The narrative, whether we regard it as inspired or not, reminds us of five things worth considering- the dilapidating influence of time upon the best material productions of mankind; the incongruity of worldly rulers busying themselves in religious institutions; the value of the co-operative principle in the enterprises of mankind; the potency of the religious element in the nature of even depraved people; and the power of money to suWue enemies. L THE DILAPIDATING !Nl"LUENCE OF TIHE UPON THE BEST MATERIAL PBODUOTIONB 01!' K.ANKIND. Joa.sh here called upon the priests and the people" to repair the breaches of the house," i.e. the temple. The temple, therefore, though it had not been built more than about a hundred and sixty years, had got into a state of dilapidation, there were breaches in it; where the breaches were we are not told, whether in the roof, the floor, the walls, or in the ceiling. 'l'he crumbling hand of time had touched it. No human superstructure, perhaps, ever appeared on the earth built of better materials, or in a. better wa.y, than the temple of Solomon. It was the wonder of ages. !TotwithBtanding thi.11, it was subject to the invincible law of decay. The law of dilapidation seems univeP1al throughout organic nature; tee trees of the forest, the OH, XII, 1- 21.] THE SECOND IlOOK OF THE KINGS. 255