THE KING WHO WOULD NOT DIE
THE
KING WHO WOULD NOT DIE
By
Robert Allen
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
When Haggith asked for her own
banquet Joash sighed. It had been this
way ever since he had married Haggith.
She was so beautiful, but she was never satisfied. If he gave a maid to Jehoaddan, Haggith
wanted two. When Jehoaddan gave birth to Amaziah, Haggith insisted that
she wanted two boys, as if he could do anything about that.
“All right,” he agreed. “Plan a banquet if you must. But only one night and not all week. And just a few guests.”
“Of course, Joash. I will invite Elizabeth from here in
Jerusalem and Esther and Ziba and Abishag from Ramah and Beni-baali from
Samaria.”
“Samaria? How do you know anyone from Samaria?”
“Why shouldn’t I know people from
Samaria. They are Jews aren’t they? Just because they live in the northern
kingdom doesn’t make them bad, does it?
I have lots of good friends in Samaria if you must know.”
“This Beni-baali you wish to invite
to your banquet? Is she someone who
would know how to behave herself in a palace?”
“I should hope so. She lives in one.”
“You mean Beni-baali is…?
“Yes. Beni-baali is a princess, the daughter of Jehu and the sister of his oldest son Jehoahaz who will one day be the king of Israel.”
“Yes. Beni-baali is a princess, the daughter of Jehu and the sister of his oldest son Jehoahaz who will one day be the king of Israel.”
“You know the princess of Israel?”
“Certainly, and her brother and the
rest of the family. They are very nice
you know, regardless of all the stories you hear about the people Jehu killed
before he became king.”
“But how?”
Haggith shrugged. “They have been friends of our family for
years. We always spent at least a month
each summer in Samaria. Not at the palace,
but my relatives in Samaria live right near there. I’ve known Beni-baali since before I can
remember. She’s one of my sweetest
friends and I must have her at my banquet.”
Joash recognized that “must have”
tone of voice and he braced himself for yet another struggle.
“Haggith. Be reasonable. How can we invite a princess of Israel to a
banquet honoring the restoration of God’s holy temple? The Israelites have worshipped in their own
land since the days of Jeroboam. They
refuse to acknowledge the temple as the right place to worship Jehovah. They refuse to come to Jerusalem to worship.”
Haggith’s pouty face appeared. “Maybe it’s because no one has invited
them. I just wanted to send her an
invitation. Maybe she would come here to
worship if she felt welcome.”
“But how could she travel all that
way by herself?”
“I don’t know. But I must have Beni-baali at my
banquet. Maybe you could invite all of
them.”
“All of them? Are you out of your mind? King Jehu and Prince Jehoahaz and all of the
royal family? Are you crazy?”
“Crazy? You think I’m crazy? How can you talk to me like that. Don’t you love me?”
“All right. All right.
Don’t cry. I’ll try to figure out
some way to convince Jehoiada that we should invite King Jehu and his family
down for the celebration. Please don’t
cry.”
The next day Joash had a meeting
with his counselors. Sleep had escaped
him most of the night as he thought about ways to convince the council that
Jehu and his family should be invited to the celebration. Just before sunrise a plan emerged which he
hoped would work. The men had been
discussing details of the celebration for over an hour before he made his
suggestion.
“Wouldn’t it be great to have one of
God’s prophets here for the celebration?” he asked the men.
Almost every head nodded immediate
agreement, but Jehoaddan’s grandfather still didn’t trust any suggestion made
by the king. “God’s prophet, you say? Just who did you have in mind? There aren’t a lot of prophets available here
in Judah as you know.”
“Exactly,” agreed Jehoiada. “Since we have the priests of God to lead us
He has not given us prophets like He has done to the northern kingdom. Who did
you have in mind?”
“Well, actually I was thinking about
someone from the northern kingdom. You
have all heard about this man named Elisha.
Remember the story about how they were building the college of the
prophets down by the Jordan River when one of the men lost his axe head? It flew off his axe handle right into the
river and fell down to the bottom. He
was really upset because he had borrowed the axe and knew that if he didn’t
return it he would have to pay for it.
There was no way he could afford that as a student. Just then Elisha came along and heard what
had happened. He asked the student where
the axe had fallen and when they went to the spot he threw a stick out into the
river and the iron axe head floated right up to the top. The student simply reached out a hand and
picked it up and then all went back to work.”
“Amazing,” one of the men muttered.
“Powerful, “said another.
Even Jehoaddan’s grandfather was
impressed. “Awesome,” he said.
“Wouldn’t it be great to have Elisha
come to our celebration? Maybe we could
even get him to perform a miracle for us?”
All the men smiled and nodded
agreement. Joash figured he had won the
day when Jehoiada rose to his feet. “I
know Elisha. He would never do a miracle
just for the entertainment of a crowd of people. Besides, God called him to preach to the
kingdom of Israel, not to Judah. I don’t
think he would ever agree to such a visit.”
“No doubt you are right,” said
Joash, happy to see the priest play right into his hands. “Maybe what we need
to do is to give him a chance to prophesy to the northern king down here at our
celebration. He loves the temple doesn’t
he?”
“Of course,” Jehoiada
responded. “He is a prophet of God.”
“Then he would have two reasons to
come if we would invite King Jehu and his family to the celebration. It would give him an opportunity to show them
how wonderful the temple is, and also to preach to them about how they should
be worshipping God. I think Jehovah
would be very pleased if the king and others from Israel returned to Jerusalem
to worship.”
The high priest and Jehoaddan’s
grandfather still remained skeptical of the plan but everyone else saw the
wisdom of the idea. The council decided
to send a formal invitation to the temple re-dedication to the royal family of
the nation of Israel.
After the men left and he reported
his success to Haggith she had another suggestion.
“Why don’t you deliver the
invitation yourself and I could go along since I already know them.”
One week later a retinue of 1000
footmen and 300 horsemen rode north out of Jerusalem toward Samaria. They provided military escort for the chariot
of King Joash and the moving tent of Queen Haggith. The king didn’t even bother to inform
Jehoiada or the council of his journey.
Haggith’s moving tent consisted of a
large wagon on which a bright yellow tent had been erected. The corners of the tent had been firmly
nailed to the sides of the wagon to keep the sun off the queen as she traveled. Although her complexion had been very dark
and suntanned when Joash first caught a glimpse of her in the temple, she now
wanted to be white and pale. Avoiding
the sun had become the fashion in Egypt and she loved all things Egyptian.
Five messengers rode ahead of the
entourage to inform King Jehu of Joash’s visit and to make certain he would be
welcomed. They rode hard and fast as
they traveled to Samaria to complete their mission. Arriving within sight of the city gates they
called our their greeting.
“Halloo! We bring greetings from the king of Judah,
King Joash. Open the gates. We bear a message for your king.”
Almost immediately the gates began
to swing open and the five rode through, expecting to be ushered directly to
the palace for an audience with the king.
Instead a large contingent of soldiers just inside the gates pulled them
from their horses, grabbed their swords and locked their arms behind their
backs.
“Spies,” one of the soldiers
shouted. “They have come as spies to
discover the extent of our defenses.”
“No,” the messengers protested. “We have come to invite your king and his
family to a great celebration in Jerusalem.
King Joash rides this way in his chariot to deliver the message
himself.”
The soldiers refused to listen. All they heard the men say was that King
Joash was coming. “Invasion!” they
shouted. “Prepare for an invasion from
the south. King Joash comes against us
with a mighty army.”
“No,” the messengers tried again,
but their voices were lost in the noise.
Soldiers from all over the city began to gather, climbing the walls and
preparing for a full-scale attack on Joash and his men as they came into sight.
“There they are. Archers prepare your bows. Aim for the king and wipe out the first line
of soldiers as well. Ready…Aim…”
“Halt!” thundered a command from the
top of the wall. “Put down your weapons
and open your eyes. What army goes into
battle with a bright yellow tent on wheels?
The men have told you the truth.
The king of Judah brings his queen with him. He has come in peace.”
Some of the soldiers grumbled but
they knew better than to argue with Othrah, the captain of the guard. The gatekeepers prepared once again to swing
open the heavy city gates. The men who
just moments before had prepared to decimate the approaching entourage now
began to cheer as Joash, Haggith and their men rode through the gates and up
through the center of town to the palace.
Word of their arrival preceded them and the king of Israel alerted his
bodyguards to usher them into the throne room.
Trumpets blared and heralds shouted as Joash and Haggith entered the
presence of the king of Israel.
“King Joash of Judah and Queen
Haggith of Jerusalem in Judea,” yelled the heralds.
To the amazement of Joash the man
sitting on the throne looked like he was not much older than him. Iddo had told them stories about Jehu when
they were still little boys. How could
Jehu be so young? He had no idea what to
say, but Haggith had no such problem.
She ran across the room and threw her arms around a girl just about her
age. “Beni-baali. You didn’t tell me your brother had become
king. What happened to Jehu?”
The princess of Israel returned the
hug and the two of them jumped and danced around the room. The two kings looked at the girls like they
were crazy, until finally King Jehoahaz smiled and beckoned for Joash to come
closer.
“Jehu died less than one month ago,”
he told them. “This is just my fourth
week as the new king which perhaps will help explain the confusion at the gates
today.”
Joash knew better than to ask why no
one from other countries had been invited to the coronation. Judah had acted the same way when he was
crowned. No country wanted news of a new
young king to be carried to the great power of the day, Syria.
“Congratulations,” he said to
Jehoahaz. “How pleased we are to hear
that a son of the illustrious Jehu has succeeded to the throne of his father in
the nation of Israel.” He knew those
were the right words to use although in his heart he was disappointed at not
being able to meet the Jehu who had figured in so many of his childhood
adventure stories. “We have come to
invite you to a celebration. The temple
in Jerusalem has been completely refurbished and in honor of the workmen who have
done such a wonderful job we are declaring any entire week of festivities It would be our greatest pleasure to have you
and your lovely sister visit us during that week.”
Actually the celebration would give
honor to Jehovah-God and not the workmen, but Joash wasn’t sure the king of
Israel would come if they invited him to an event honoring a God he refused to
worship.
“We will consider your invitation
carefully,” the king replied. “In the
meantime please accept our hospitality at the palace here in Samaria and enjoy
the bounty of our beautiful land.”
For the next several days
Beni-baali, Haggith and the two kings feasted and visited all of the famous
sites in Samaria. On the morning of the
third day King Jehoahaz and Beni-baali invited them to join in a worship
service they were planning to attend.
Joash knew he should refuse, but Haggith convinced him it would be rude
to refuse after all the royal couple had done for them. She also reminded him that it was Jehu, the
father of Jehoahaz, who had eliminated Baal worship in Israel.
The temple in Samaria stood at the
crest of the highest hill in town. In
many ways it resembled the temple in Jerusalem although only half as
large. Inside, white-robed priests
busied themselves with sacrifices and Joash almost felt like he was back home,
except for one thing. Haggith and
Beni-baali entered right into the temple with them instead of staying out in
the court of the women. He hadn’t really
noticed, but this temple did not have a court of the women.
Once inside the temple, Joash
noticed another tremendous
difference. Dominating the entire room
where the sacrificial altar fires burned sat a large statue. It appeared to be made of solid gold and was
fashioned in the shape of a calf.
Jehoahaz could see the hesitation on
Joash’s face and hurried to explain. “Joash, allow me to remind you of our
common history and ancestry. Many years
ago when Jeroboam became king over Israel, the king of Judah, Rehoboam, refused
to allow him to travel to Jerusalem to worship at the temple. Jeroboam still desired to worship Jehovah and
he wanted the people to worship God as well, so he made two images like the one
you see here. The golden calf, you will
remember, is the very image of God which our people followed out of Egypt under
Moses and Aaron. Aaron himself fashioned
the first golden calf. King Jeroboam and
his priests realized that returning to the religious practices of Moses and
Aaron would be good for the nation. Our
people still worship Jehovah by bowing down to the golden calf and you can do
the same even though you are not in your Jerusalem temple. Having a visual image of God’s greatness
provides a focal point for our prayers and aids us tremendously in our
worship.”
Joash knew full well that Moses had
destroyed the golden calf fashioned by Aaron rather than worshipping it. He knew that Moses had written, “thou shalt
not make unto thee any graven image.”
But he didn’t want to offend Jehoahaz.
He didn’t want to do anything which might cause them to refuse making
the trip to Jerusalem. He knew the heart
of Haggith was set on that visit. So on
that day in Samaria Joash bowed the knee to the golden calf.
As they emerged from the temple in
order to climb into their chariots for the return to the palace an old
gray-haired man with part of his hand missing and exposed dead white flesh all
over his face, stepped from the crowd and grabbed the reins of King Joash’s
chariot with his good hand.
“Have nothing to do with the king of
Israel,” he yelled. “He has done evil in
refusing to depart from the sins of Jeroboam who made all Israel to sin. He will be delivered into the hands of Hazael
of Syria. Have no part with him.”
Joash shrank back as the old man
stuck the stub of his arm toward the king’s face. He immediately recognized the signs of
leprosy and wanted no contact with the diseased.
“See what happens when you disobey
God,” the old man shrieked. “Leave
Israel. Return to the temple of your
God. Have nothing to do with the son of
Jehu.”
Several soldiers stepped forward,
but as quickly as he had appeared the old man disappeared into the crowd.
“What was that?” Joash asked when he
could regain his composure.
“Oh, his name is Gehazi. He works
for the prophet Elisha. Claims to have
gotten leprosy from a fellow by the name of Naaman who Elisha claims to have
cured. Gehazi says he disobeyed God and Naaman’s
leprosy came on him instead. Bunch of
fairy tales if you ask me.”
Before King Joash could ask any more
questions, a horseman charged up the hill in the direction of the temple. The messenger from Jerusalem rode right up
next to the king’s chariot.
“King Joash. You must return to Jerusalem at once. Something terrible has happened to Jehoiada
the high priest.”
No comments:
Post a Comment