2 Chronicles 24 — Borrowed Zeal, Tested Hearts
Under Jehoiada, Joash repairs the temple with a chest set at the gate. The text calls it an aron—same everyday Hebrew word for “chest,” also used for Joseph’s coffin and the Ark, hinting at memory and money meeting at God’s house. The levy recalls Moses’ half-shekel; archaeologists have found tiny stone weights marked “bq‘” (beqa) from this era—worship was funded with real, weighed silver.
But when Jehoiada dies, Joash’s borrowed faith collapses. Courtiers seduce him; prophets warn; Zechariah (his name means “The LORD remembers”) is stoned in the court. He cries that God will “require” it—the verb darash, a Chronicler theme: what we seek, God will also “seek/require” (2 Chron 15:2). A small Aramean force defeats a large army: covenant calculus, not military math (2 Kings 12; Heb 2:1; Gal 3:3; Matt 23:35/Luke 11:51).
Takeaways: - Sustain zeal beyond mentors; cultivate first-hand obedience. - Steward money as worship, not merely maintenance. - Trust the God who remembers—and who requires.
Hymn: Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing.
Prayer Lord, keep us from drift. Teach us to seek you when no Jehoiada stands near. Make our giving clean, our counsel wise, our courage steady. Remember mercy; require truth in our inward parts, through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Narrated version of this devotional on 2 Chronicles Chapter 24