2 Kings 11 – 15
Back into the mess Israel created deciding they needed a monarch in place of God. As you remember Saul was the first anointed king since he was the “image” people wanted. David became anointed king and for about 15 years before taking the throne. Even he failed the people eventually, showing man cannot have unlimited power on their own. From this we see the beauty of the present system of government in the USA, and it’s flaws … but that could be a book if we went into it too much.
Verse 11:12 has a young man hidden from his mother who was driven with power becoming king:
Jehoiada then escorted the king’s son and placed the crown atop his head. He gave him the testimony of dedication, and he anointed Joash as king. In that moment, his kingship was made official. Then every one clapped and cheered.
Athaliah mother of king Ahaziah killed all the heirs to the throne when she found Ahaziah had been killed. Joash was very young but hidden from the queen for 6 years until this “coronation” ceremony. As you may guess, Athaliah finds out and confronts the young king only to be killed with all her supporters. God is great, but unless we are willing to surrender to him fully man tends to mess things up.
Which gets me back to the good ‘ole US of A. Here we have a great system of government to ensure that no one person can gain control as a monarch. Unfortunately, one could argue the last few presidents seem to do as they wanted, ignoring the established checks and balances. I argue it’s not one man, but rather an underlying evil all driven by money. Money has corrupted the system that was once creating a great nation. Now it’s in a rapid state of decay, all because our leaders turned away or were forced from God.
The rest of the reading gets very confusing since Joash of Judah was also called Jehoash. As we get into his 37th year of reign, another Jehoash also became king of Israel.
Anyway during this story one of the most amazing stories in the Bible is told involving Elisha. Verse 13:21 talks about a dead man being tossed on Elisha’s bones:
During the springtime, while a group of men were out burying a man, they spied a gang of bandits approaching them. They became afraid, so they threw the dead man’s body into Elisha’s grave. As soon as the dead man’s body touched the bones of Elisha, the dead man miraculously came back to life and stood up.
This was a man just touching Elisha’s bones! He had already been dead a while since he had decayed to bones, so that makes this an amazing story. Imagine being there and tossing the dead man into the pit only to have him arise. That would freak me out for sure!!