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2 Chronicles 24:25-27 Society run amok - Day 354

Good afternoon faithful readers,

Today we see another example of what happens to a nation with the best moral foundation (The Ten Commandments) when they stray from the Lord. It is worth pondering how the gospel is the only hope for peace with God and restoration of peace between individuals and nations.

Blessings,

Jeff

A Moabite and an Ammonite are the servants who assassinate a good king gone bad. What does this say about the Jews?

These two conspired because of the blood of Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest who had established Joash as king.  Why are these two foreigners offended by the bold of the priest who prophesied against Joash?  I am not a lawyer, but I have heard of the concept that a person has to have "standing" in order to sue.  Essentially, unless you actually suffered damages you cannot sue somebody.  So how were these two guys harmed by the fact that the king had murdered Zechariah?  It seems that the Jews were the offended party, but they did not seek justice.

All goes back to v17 where it was the princes of Judah who influenced Joash after the death of Jehoiada.  They led him to abandon the Lord.

So what should we learn from the bad end of another king?  Does this justify assassination of a wicked king? As a historical account, this tells us what did happen not what should happen.  We cannot take the actions described as justification for actions contrary to the law.  For example, polygamy was practiced by many OT leaders.  This does not set a precedent because it is conflict with marriage ordinance from Genesis.  God allowed these things because of the hardness of man's heart.  I think that the point here is that when Judah strayed from following the Lord, the social structure collapses.  Joash thought it was acceptable to murder Zechariah.  The legal system did not have a means of convicting the king.  So these two outsiders take matters into their own hands.


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