THE KING WHO WOULD NOT DIE
THE
KING WHO WOULD NOT DIE
By
Robert Allen
CHAPTER
SIX
Usually Jehoiada
was just Father to the boys. But not
when he dressed in all of his priestly robes.
Then he appeared as such a splendid figure they gazed at him in awe. Only his friendly eyes seemed familiar. Every priest in the temple wore loose-fitting
linen breeches which covered their legs, a tunic or coat which hung from their
shoulders to just about their knees, and a white cap or bonnet which covered
their hair. The entire outfit was held
together with a rope-like belt or girdle tied tightly around the waist.
The high priest’s garment looked
entirely different. Over his tunic Jehoiada
wore a dark blue robe open on each side and reaching down to his knees in front
and in back. On the hem of this robe had
been sewn blue, purple and scarlet pomegranates, alternating with golden bells
which tinkled as he walked. Seventy-two
bells and seventy-two pomegranates, the boys had counted them themselves. Over the robe he wore a breastplate, or ephod. The ephod was Zechariah’s favorite piece in
the entire costume. Woven with four
colors: white, blue, purple and scarlet, it looked to him like the map of a
square city with twelve beautiful temples inside. The twelve temples were actually twelve
stones, one representing each of the twelve tribes of Israel. But to Zechariah the breastplate resembled
the holy city, the city of God Himself.
Joash’s favorite piece was the
mitre. It looked like a crown, shaped
like a bell-flower turned upside down.
But it was much larger than a flower.
In fact, the mitre was bigger than the high priest himself. When he put on the mitre he was suddenly
twice as tall as he had been before.
Below the mitre and across his forehead ran a solid gold headband called
the Ziz which had on it the words, ‘Holiness unto Jehovah.”
The high priest’s garments were held
together by a girdle just like the other priests, but his girdle consisted of
gold cloth rather than white and when it was stretched out to its full length
it was forty-eight feet long.
On the day Jehoshabeath brought the
boys in to read Jehoiada had dressed in his full regalia.
“All right Zechariah and Joash, I
want your father to see how well you are doing.
Zechariah, you go first. Take the
scroll now, and do your best.”
Little Zechariah glanced at his
father, standing almost twelve feet high with the big mitre on his head, and
gulped. He almost had to lay down
backward to see the top of his father’s hat.
“Go on, Zechariah. Read for your father.”
Zechariah swallowed hard and plunged
in. “In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth.” He didn’t really
even need to read those words. The boys
had read them so many times they had them memorized. But after that the going became more
difficult.
“And the earth was without form and
d…d…”
“Darkness” prompted Jehoshabeath.
“darkness was upon the face of the
deep. And the s…s… spirit of God moved
up…upon the face of the waters.” He
paused and sucked in a huge breath of air.
“Very good, Zechariah. Now Joash, it is your turn.”
Joash took the scroll from
Zechariah, realized he had taken it upside down and quickly turned it
over. Then he couldn’t find the place
where Zechariah had quit reading and nearly started to giggle. One glance at the imposing figure of the
priest sobered him instantly.
Jehoshabeath came to his rescue. “Right here, Joash,” she said, pointing out
the place to him.
“And God said, let there be light,
and there was light. And God saw the
light that it was good, and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day and the darkness
he called Night. And the evening and the
morning were the first day.”
Jehoshabeath beamed.
And Jehoiada? He reached up very carefully and removed the
mitre from his head. Then sitting down
on the stairs he opened his arms wide enough to hug both boys at once. How proud he was that they were learning to
read from the Holy Scriptures.
A week later the boys found out what
school was really like. They graduated
from having Jehoshabeath as their teacher to an actual tutor. Every morning after breakfast they took a
clean piece of parchment and a small quill pen, walked across the courtyard to
Solomon’s porch, and joined a small group of other boys sitting by the
pillars. They had to sit absolutely
still, not talking at all, hands in their laps and legs crossed until Iddo
appeared.
Iddo was a good tutor, the very best
in the entire city of Jerusalem, people said.
So many people had said it in Iddo’s presence that he believed
them. So now he wanted everyone to know
his teaching talent. Every day he would
stand behind a pillar until all the boys were absolutely still. Then he would stride toward them with his
beautiful robe flapping behind. When the
boys saw him coming they would jump to their feet and bow so everyone in the
temple area realized how much they respected him. Zechariah and Joash thought it was kind of
silly, but they had to admit he was a good storyteller.
“Today,” he whispered when the boys
were seated again and absolutely still, “today, I am going to tell you the
story of how King Jehu got rid of all the Baal worshippers in the kingdom to
the north.”
Everyone in Jerusalem knew Iddo
believed in Jehovah. Otherwise the
priests would not have let him teach their sons. They also knew that he would never have been
allowed to teach in the palace. His
favorite stories were about how God’s people had won over the Baal
worshippers. Queen Athaliah hated him,
but she couldn’t do anything about his teaching in the temple. When he started to whisper, the boys all
learned closer, eager not to miss a single word.
“When Jehu became king in the
northern kingdom of Israel the nation had been serving Baal for many
years. Wicked Queen Jezebel and her more
wicked husband Ahab, along with all their wicked children, worshipped the false
god Baal. The priests of Baal enjoyed
the favor of the palace during their reign.
It seemed as if people had forgotten all about Jehovah. When Jehu became king he had Jezebel killed
as well as her son Joram. Immediately
some people assumed that he would worship Jehovah, so they were very disappointed
the first time he gathered all the people together to hear his first
proclamation.”
“Ahab served Baal a little,” he
shouted to the people from the top of the palace wall, “but Jehu will serve him
much.”
“What is he talking about,” the
people asked each other. “Ahab served
Baal a lot, not a little.” But Jehu was
not finished.
“Now therefore, call unto me all the
prophets of Baal, all his servants and all his priests. Let none be wanting, for I have a great
sacrifice to do to Baal. Whosoever shall
be missing, he shall not live.”
Iddo continued in his own voice,
much different from the one he used for King Jehu. “The priests of Baal were thrilled when they
heard that. They too had been afraid
that Jehu would worship Jehovah. Gladly
they helped the king gather together all the prophets, priests and servants of
Baal. On the appointed day they crowded
into the largest Baal temple in all the city of Samaria. Every Baal worshipper came because no one
wanted to miss this solemn assembly for Baal under the new king Jehu. When the king entered the vast hall, led by
the great high priest of the Baal worshippers, he realized immediately that
something was missing.”
“Vestments,” shouted the king. “Everyone must have a vestment. This is a high holy day.”
“The high priests, whose name was
Bel, clapped his hands together and called loudly, “Keeper of the vestry. Vestments for everyone.”
“Soon every Baal worshipper in the
entire building had donned a bright red vest which marked him as a follower of
the god of darkness. That fit King
Jehu’s plans completely.”
“Now,” he commanded the priest Bel,
“check carefully to see that no spies have entered the temple. Be certain everyone here stands as a true
follower of Baal.”
“Bel chose twenty of his most
trusted men. Walking through the entire
building they checked carefully to assure the king that all present were true
followers of Baal. That fit King Jehu’s
plans completely.”
“Next they locked the doors. What Bel did not know was that King Jehu had
eighty soldiers surrounding the temple with strict orders not to let anyone
escape alive. King Jehu waited until Bel
offered his sacrifice because he wanted everyone to know that the prayers of
Baal worshippers did them no good. Then
he gave the signal. The doors opened
from the outside. Into the temple strode
the eighty soldiers, swords in their hands.
“Slay them all,” King Jehu
shouted. “Let none escape. Smite them for the lives all the boys who
have died in the valley of Molech.”
The Baal worshippers tried to run,
but the doors had locked behind the soldiers.
They tried to hide but there was no place to hide. The soldiers of King Jehu destroyed every
one, pulled down the idols and broke the image of Baal into small pieces. Then the people of the city came with huge
battering rams and knocked down the entire temple. That fit King Jehu’s plans completely.”
When Iddo finished his story the
boys cheered. “Yeah for King Jehu! Long live King Jehu!” And that fit Iddo’s plans completely.
As Joash and Zechariah rushed back
into the house that evening they had to repeat the entire story of Jehoshabeath
and Jehoida. The boys took turns
whispering like Iddo and shouting like King Jehu. And then Joash had a question.
“Mother? Who is our king? If Jehu reigns in the northern kingdom, who
is the king in Jerusalem?”
Jehoshabeath glanced at her husband
before answering. How could they tell
him? If word that he was alive got to
Queen Athaliah, he would not be safe even in the temple. She would surely find a way to kill him.
“We don’t have a king right now,
Joash. But if we did have a king he
would be strong and good like Jehu. He
would worship Jehovah and destroy the followers of Baal from our land. That is the kind of king God wants to give to
us.”
Jehoiada nodded in agreement. Then he took Joash on his knee, put his arm
around the boy’s shoulders and said, “Joash, I have something very important to
tell you.”
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