Joash - The King Who Would Not Die Chapter Thirteen

THE KING WHO WOULD NOT DIE

THE KING WHO WOULD NOT DIE

By Robert Allen

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

            “Welcome to my humble abode,” Mattaniah bar-Mattan greeted the king and his guards.  “Sarah, Rechab, tell grandmother to prepare for six guests for supper.”
            Matt’s servants served a delicious meal soon after the men arrived and then showed them to their rooms.  Two of the guards stationed themselves at Joash’s door for the first watch of the night while two more lay down to sleep in preparation for the second watch.  No one realized that Matt had placed something in their drinks at supper causing all of them to fall asleep including those on the first watch.

            At four in the morning, the darkest part of the night, the door to the king’s sleeping chamber opened very slowly.  The guards on duty lay slumped to the floor on either side of the door.  Two other guards sprawled across the middle of the floor while King Joash slept on the bed.

            Matt crept slowly closer to the sleeping king, his sword at ready in his hand.  One of the guards turned over in his sleep and Joash’s mortal enemy froze until the guard resumed his heavy snoring.  The king, unaware of any danger, slept soundly just as he had done all night.  He had not been given the drugged drink but the events of the previous day had been exhausting.  With guards on duty he had no cause for fear.  When he did respond to someone shaking him he woke up staring at the business end of a sword.

            “What?”

            “Shhh!” hissed Matt.  “Not another word or it will be your last.”

            The young king stared calmly at the heavily bearded fact behind the sword.  Only the eyes looked familiar.  “Matt.”

            “Right you are.  Your old friend and hunting buddy.  Get up and throw on your robe.  We have a trip to take.”

            By that time the king recognized that something had happened to his guards.  He couldn’t depend on them for any help.  His only choice required obedience to the sword.  So Joash slowly climbed from the bed and reached for his robe, knowing his own sword lay folded inside.

            As he reached for the robe Matt kicked out a foot and slid the hidden sword across the room.  “You won’t need that where we are going,” he growled.  “Let’s get moving.”

            The two men walked past the guards, down the hallway and into the cold night air.  The rain had stopped, but a chilly, wet wind blew down from the Judean hills and the king cinched the belt on his robe even tighter.  At the end of the village Matt pointed towards a trail the zig-zagged up the side of a steep hill.

            “Can’t you at least grant me the privilege of knowing our destination?”

            “Certainly.  I am going to show you how well the worship of Jehovah flourishes now that you have become king.”

            King Joash glanced over his shoulder at the man who followed him up the path with his sword still at the ready.  “You are a worshipper of Jehovah?”

            “Of course.  Isn’t everyone?  You made the decree yourself.”

            “But your father.”

            “Mattan?  Unfortunate circumstance.  But I have learned that you carry no blame for his death.  He really should have known that Athaliah could not reign forever.   A nation used to a king will always need a king.”

            As he spoke they arrived at the top of the hill.  In the middle of a small stand of trees stood an altar.  A fire burned brightly and off to one side stood a lamb, tied to a bush.  The golden calf no longer appeared in the grove.

            “Behold the place where Jehovah receives worship by the people of Ramah,” Matt announced proudly.

            “But this is all wrong.  They are to worship at the temple in Jerusalem.  That is the law.”

            Matt raised the sword high in the air and with one quick movement of his arms severed the throat of the small lamb.  Lifting it by the hind legs he held it over a bowl to catch the blood.  The king watched as Matt expertly divided the lamb into five pieces.  One piece he placed on the altar and soon the smell of burning flesh filled the air.  Two of the pieces he placed on skins and set them down on the ground.  Then he turned to Joash.

            “My dear friend, as one of your most loyal followers, I would be pleased to have you partake in the sealing of a covenant with the residents of Ramah.  Step between the pieces of this sacrifice and give us your pledge that you will not hinder the worship of Jehovah here in our home town grove.”

            “But I can’t do that.  Jehoiada says that the people must worship in Jerusalem.”

            “Of course he says that.  He rules the temple.  He would have it no other way.  But his desire to maintain exclusive control works against the will of the Lord.  He keeps the people of the land from worshipping Jehovah because of distance.  They cannot visit the temple daily in the manner of those who live in Jerusalem.”

            “But temple worship must be maintained.”

            “You have heard that from Jehoiada and believe him since he acted so nobly as your father for so many years.  Let me remind you of what we both learned in class there in the temple.  Remember the prophet Elijah?”

            “Of course.  The Elijah stories remain favorites of mine.”

            “Remember the contest with the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel?”

            “Sure.  Iddo loved that story.  We cheered at the victory of the Lord God over the false prophets of Baal.”

            “Right!  Now refresh my memory.  What did  Elijah do that day?”

            “You know as well as I do.  He built an altar, put a sacrifice on the altar, poured water all over the sacrifice and the wood and then prayed. Fire came down from heaven and…”

            “He built a what?” Matt interrupted.

            “He built an altar, put a sacrifice on the altar, poured water…”

            “A what?”

            “An altar.  An altar to God.  How many times do I have to tell you.”

            “Oh, so Elijah traveled from Mount Carmel back to Jerusalem and built an altar?”

            “Cut it out, Matt.  You know the story.  Right there on Mount Carmel all of the other false prophets had an altar and Elijah built his own.”

            “But Jehoiada says that Jerusalem must be the only place to sacrifice and worship Jehovah.  Elijah must have been worshipping some other God.

            Joash wrinkled his face.  “You know, I never thought about that before.  Elijah did worship Jehovah on Mount Carmel.”

            “Very smart, Joash.  You can think for yourself after all.  That’s been the trouble all along, hasn’t it.  Jehoiada doesn’t want you to think for yourself and you know it.  He wants to run the country himself instead of letting you make any decisions.”

            “That isn’t fair.  Jehoiada has been very good to me.”

            ‘Sure,” agreed Matt.  “Look at that bride he chose for you.  A real beauty she is.”

            The king knew he should defend Jehoiada, but he really didn’t want to defend Jehoaddan.  The high priests hadn’t even asked for his opinion before arranging the marriage.  And she really was ugly.  “Well,” he finally managed.  “She has a good personality.”

            “Let me tell you what I think,” said Matt.  “I think you need to go to Jehoiada and tell him you want another wife.  Tell him that since Athaliah killed all your brothers you need to sire lots of sons to re-establish the royal line.  But tell him that this time you want some choice in the matter.  You need a queen with beauty as well as brains.”

            “Do you really think I could do that?”

            “Who is the king around here anyway?” answered Matt.  “Of course you can.  It’s high time you asserted some independence from the high priest.  He may be the spiritual leader, but you are the king.  And while you are at it, why don’t you start by making that covenant with the people of Ramah.  They will follow you forever if you just allow them to worship here in their own grove.”

            So King Joash walked between the pieces of the sacrifice Matt had killed and made a covenant with him on behalf of the people of Ramah.  Of course, he didn’t know that as soon as he left Matt planned to move the golden calf back into the grove from its hiding place.

            “There’s just one thing that still bothers me,” said the king as they walked back down the hill to Matt’s house.  “If I let people worship in their own villages, how will we ever collect the money we need to repair the temple?”

            “No problem,” said Matt.  Send the Levites out to every village to collect the money and return it to Jerusalem.  They will do well and the people will give abundantly once you relieve them of the onerous duty of frequent trips to Jerusalem.”

            The sun had been up for almost an hour when they arrived back at Matt’s house.  The guards had woken from sleep and been served a large breakfast after being assured of the safety of their king.  The servants told them Joash and Matt had simply taken a morning stroll.

            After breakfast the retinue rode off once again in the direction of Jerusalem.  King Joash thought about how pleased he felt to have met his old friend Matt once again.  He had not realized how much he had missed his company.