In that seventh year, Jehoiada the priest organizes a covenant renewal that will restore the Davidic kingdom. He places the boy king Joash on the throne (2 Chronicles 23).<\/p>\n
The covenant renewal is a double or even a triple covenant renewal.<\/p>\n
The first covenant involves Jehoiada the priest and five captains of hundreds. They enter a covenant to carry out a restoration of the Davidic monarchy (v. 1). Then, in what may be a second covenant, the high priest and these five chiefs enter into a covenant with the king in the temple (v. 3). They commit themselves to put the king on the throne.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s significant that the whole thing is organized by a priest, and that he gathers Levites from all the cities of Judah to assist him (v. 2). Levites are at the center of the Chronicler\u2019s vision of Israel. He\u2019s telling the history of the Davidic kingdom, but the Davidic kingdom only is what it\u2019s called to be, and does what it\u2019s called to do, when the king is surrounded by Levitical priests who carry on the ministry of the temple.<\/p>\n
Their presence highlights the fact that this restoration isn\u2019t merely a political act. It\u2019s an act of worship, a liturgical act.<\/p>\n
During the coronation, Levites gather to protect the king, each with his \u201cweapons\u201d in his hand (v. 7). Specifically, they are equipped with spears and shields. Jehoiada wants them to be like Phinehas, who speared a fornicating couple that was defiling the holy camp (Number 25). Jehoiada wants to restore the Davidic kingdom, and he knows that it will be a failure if any unauthorized person enters the house (v. 7). The restoration won\u2019t be successful if they restore Yahweh\u2019s prince but defile Yahweh\u2019s house.<\/p>\n
Levites have killed before, and not just Phinehas. Levites were granted priestly status because of their zeal in slaughtering idolaters at the foot of mount Sinai, in the incident of the golden calf. They \u201cfilled their hands\u201d with swords, and so Yahweh \u201cfilled their hands\u201d to carry out priestly duties. Here again, they are called to \u201cfill their hands\u201d with spears in order to kill.<\/p>\n
They will use those weapons, but there\u2019s another layer here. The Hebrew word for \u201cweapons\u201d (keliy<\/em>) also means \u201ctemple vessel\u201d and \u201cmusical instrument.\u201d And the Levites use these musical weapons too: Priests trumpet, people rejoice, and the people with their musical weapons lead the praise (v. 13).<\/p>\n Joash is protected by the Levitical bodyguard. Joash also ascends to his throne on the praises of the Levites.<\/p>\n Armed Levites form a ring around the king, on the right and left side of the temple, by the altar and the house. The king is surrounded by Levites as Yahweh\u2019s own throne is surrounded by Levites.<\/p>\n Jehoiada places a crown on his head. This is not the normal word for a king\u2019s crown. It\u2019s instead used of the crown of the high priest. The word is nezer<\/em>, which reminds us of the separated, dedicated Nazirite holy warriors.<\/p>\n It also looks ahead to prophesies about a \u201cnetzer<\/em>,\u201d a branch, that would spring from the stump of Jesse. That is what Joash is: Fresh growth from the roots of Jesse, the unexpected green sprouting from the dry, dead ground of the house of David.<\/p>\n All this takes place in the midst of an assembly, a qahal<\/em>, like\u00a0the assembly to bring the ark into Jerusalem. There too you had Levites gathered with musical instruments, shouts and songs of praise, trumpets blowing. The ark is the ark of the \u201ctestimony,\u201d and Joash is given something called \u201cthe testimony\u201d along with his crown.<\/p>\n Joash\u2019s coronation isn\u2019t simply a restoration of a fallen dynasty. It\u2019s a restoration of Yahweh\u2019s kingship in Judah, with the human ark-throne, Joash, ascending to the chosen city, ascending to the throne of David, which is Yahweh\u2019s throne. Joash\u00a0is crowned to be the bearer of the Lord\u2019s presence. He becomes a living ark, the throne of the Lord in Judah.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In that seventh year, Jehoiada the priest organizes a covenant renewal that will restore the Davidic kingdom. He places the boy king Joash on the throne (2 Chronicles 23). The covenant renewal is a double or even a triple covenant renewal. The first covenant involves Jehoiada the priest and five captains of hundreds. They enter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3021,"featured_media":7681,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-ot-chronicles"],"yoast_head":"\n