Readings:
2 Kings11-12
Wisdom 8

2 Kings 11-12

When the queen mother hears about her sons death in the north she does something incomprehensible; she kills all the males of the royal family. Her own grandchildren and maybe great grandchildren. This was to secure her spot on the throne against any possible claimants. All except for Joash (also known as Jehoash), who is hidden away by his aunt. The fact that this truly evil queen is the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel makes it all more understandable because that’s just the nature of evil.

Joash is raised by his aunt and her husband, the priest Jehoiada. When he’s seven they reveal he’s alive and overthrow the evil queen, cutting her down with swords. The queen had fully institutionalized Baal worship in Judah, erecting temples and instituting priests in her six years on the throne, but when Joash is crowned the people begin tearing down the altars to Baal, his temples and kill his priests.

Jehoiada rededicates the people to God and rededicates the covenant between God and the king and people. And during his reign the temple is repaired and restored after a lot of stops and starts due to funding.

When the king of Syria threatened Jerusalem, Joash emptied the treasury of the king and the temple to send as tribute to prevent the siege of Jerusalem.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
2 Kings 13-16
Wisdom 9
John 5:1-29