2 Chronicles 23 explained: A Hidden Boy Becomes King

A secret alliance forms (vv. 1-3)

Athaliah had seized the throne and killed the royal family, but the boy Joash had been hidden in the temple for six years. In the seventh year the priest Jehoiada gathered army commanders, Levites (the tribe that served at the temple) and family leaders, pointing to God's promise that David's descendants would rule.

Guarding the temple (vv. 4-10)

Priests and Levites served in weekly shifts that changed on the Sabbath, the weekly day of rest, and Jehoiada kept both the arriving and the leaving groups on duty, giving him a larger force. He still kept the rule that only consecrated temple workers could enter the sacred building, and he armed his men with old weapons of David's stored there.

Crowning the boy king (v. 11)

Joash received the crown, was anointed with oil to mark him as the chosen king, and the crowd shouted their loyalty. He was also given what the text calls the covenant or testimony; many think this was a copy of God's law, though some scholars think it was a royal emblem.

Athaliah is killed (vv. 12-15)

Hearing the celebration, Athaliah rushed to the temple and cried treason, but she was quickly seized. Jehoiada ordered that she not be killed in the temple, so she was taken out and put to death at a gate on the palace grounds.

A new covenant, Baal destroyed (vv. 16-17)

Jehoiada led the king and people in a solemn promise to be the LORD's people. The crowd then tore down the temple of Baal, a Canaanite god whose worship Athaliah had promoted, and killed its priest Mattan in front of its altars.

Order restored, king enthroned (vv. 18-21)

Priests, singers and gatekeepers went back to the duties David had arranged, with guards keeping out anyone ritually unclean, meaning not in the required state of purity for worship. Joash was led to the palace and seated on the throne, and the city was calm.

Key verse: 2 Chronicles 23:3

Something to think about

When, if ever, is it right to overthrow a ruler who took power by violence, and what lines should still not be crossed in doing it?