Joash’s Story
The story of King Joash (also known as Jehoash) in 2 Kings 11-12 begins with a miraculous escape from Queen Athaliah when he was a baby. He grew to be a good king and ruled for 40 years in Judah as part of a pattern that resembles the life of Jesus.
The birth story of Joash resembles the birth of Jesus, and his escape from King Herod. The story is consistent with other typological pictures of Jesus, and is ultimately believed to reveal the birth of the final generation.
Queen Athaliah of Judah was an evil queen. She was daughter of King Ahab of Israel who was also an evil king, and she had married Jehoram, king of Judah. When her son, Ahaziah was killed by Jehu, she tried to kill all the royal princes to secure the throne for herself.
Joash, her grandson was hidden in the temple for six years by his sister who was married to Jehoiada, the priest. In the seventh year he was revealed to the people and crowned king of Judah. Queen Athaliah cried “Treason! Treason!” and was killed.
Joash was born during a time of great slaughter when Jehu was rising to power in Israel. Jehu was anointed by God to destroy the house of Ahab. Jehu was not a good king, but was zealously killing many people in obedience to the mission he was given.
It is believed the final generation will also be born during a time of great conflict.
Miracle Birth Foreshadowed
The miracle birth and escape of Joash was foreshadowed in a parallel story that took place a little before Jehu’s time of great slaughter. Shadows and echos are common at prophetic times of birth.
Elisha promised a childless Shunammite woman a son ‘by about this time next year.’ Her husband was old and she had given up on children, but the miracle birth took place, (2 Kings 4v14-17).
This resembles the miracle births of Jesus and John the baptist. But then they encountered the dragon as Jesus did in the form of King Herod:
The child got a headache and died. The Shunammite woman pretended to others that nothing was wrong, but hurried back to Elisha, and Elisha hurried to the boy and raised him back to life (2 Kings 4v18-37).
The miraculous escape from calamity is confirmed as having prophetic importance when another miraculous escape takes place in 2 Kings 8. There was a seven year famine.
Seven Year Escape
Elisha foretold of a seven year famine in the land. He told the woman who’s son he had restored to life to go away for a while.
Like Jesus escaping King Herod to Egypt, the Shunammite and her family stayed in the land of the Philistines for seven years, (2 Kings 8v1-2).
After the famine king gave the woman her land and everything that she had previously owned, including the income that had been lost during the seven year famine (v3-6).
The reoccurring escape from a seven year period of difficulty is believed to be an important prophetic pattern ultimately for the final generation.
Other examples of the seven year period at the time of birth or beginning of the prophetic journey include:
Joseph and the seven year famine when Israel were ‘born’ into Egypt
Immanuel was approaching the age of reason, approximately 7 years old when the King of Assyria came and destroyed the land (Isaiah 7v15-16).
Daniel’s prophecy of the 70 weeks may also relate to seventy Pentecost as Pentecost took place during the feast of weeks. Pentecost was the birth of the church, so consider 70 birthdays, or 70 years for the final generation.
The first seven years of the prophecy are for rebuilding after the destruction of war (Dan 9v25).
(We usually consider a 490 year period for Daniel’s 70 weeks, but prophecy has multiple layers of fulfilment. The 70 year pattern of 7, 62 and the abomination is expected to be the pattern of the final generation.)
Joash hid from Athaliah until the seventh year when he was revealed and crowned king at the age of seven (2 Kings 11v4, 21).
Journey to the Fourth Generation
The special births and narrow escapes of the Shuammite’s boy and Joash begin a journey that parallels the life and ministry of Jesus.
The next four kings of Judah mostly did what was right in God’s eyes: Joash, Amaziah, Uzziah and Jotham (2 Kings 12-15).
God delivered them from their enemies and their reigns were mostly successful. Amaziah’s great success lead to some arrogant behaviour that provoked Israel to attack Judah. But both Israel and Judah enjoyed victories and various achievements.
This continued until in the fourth generation, during the reign of Jotham, things began to change. “(In those days the LORD began to send Resin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah against Judah.)” — 2 Kings 15v37.
Israel also had a judgement prophesied for the fourth generation after these miracle births. In Israel judgement was specifically prophesied to come in the fourth generation of the house of Jehu.
Jehu’s rise came in the same year that Joash was born (2 Kings 11v21 - 12v1) Joash escaped from Athaliah as Jesus escaped King Herod. Jehu was also God’s agent of great slaughter that began the time of prophecy (2 Kings 9-10).
The Lord said to Jehu, “Because you have done well in accomplishing what is right in my eyes and have done to the house of Ahab all I had in mind to do, your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” — 2 Kings 10v30.
The fulfilment of this prophecy is mentioned in 2 Kings 15 after Shallum assassinated King Zechariah.
So the word of the LORD spoken to Jehu was fulfilled: “Your descendants will sit on the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.” — 2 Kings 15v12
The fourth generation was part of the promise in the covenant that God made with Abram in Genesis 15, looking ahead to the time of the exodus.
“In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here…” — Genesis 15v16.
The house of Ahab which Jehu destroyed was also a dynasty of four generations of Kings in Israel. (Omri, Ahab, Ahaziah and Joram). This appears as an echo within the same period of the divided kingdom.
The previous period, the united Kingdom of Israel was divided in the fourth generation of kings. The first three kings were Saul, David and Solomon. The fourth was Rehoboam, who was king of Judah when Jeroboam broke away with the 10 northern tribes.
We find confirmation of this as a major divisions of time in Isaiah 7:
“The Lord will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your father a time unlike any since Ephraim broke away from Judah — he will bring the king of Assyria.” — Isaiah 7v17.
Noah’s flood occurred four generations after Enoch was caught up into heaven. Enoch was seventh from Adam, and Noah was tenth placing him fourth generation after Enoch. Again, the nations were scattered from the Tower of Babel in the time of Peleg, the fourth generation after the flood.
In some cases a generational lifespan is used to define prophetic segments in time, much like these patterns of four generations. Today we observe that a generation often lives long enough to see the fourth generation — the great grandchildren.
The 40 year wilderness wondering of Israel and the 70 year exile of Israel in Babylon are two examples that occurred within the lifespan of a living generation. This is also the way Jesus describes the time of prophecy:
”I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened.”. — Matthew 24v34.
The early church fulfilled the same pattern of events where both the 40 and 70 year periods are evident: The Church had about 40 years of ministry in Israel from Pentecost until the end of Israel in 70AD. This can also be seen as a 70 year period when measured from the slaughter of the infants.
The Judgement
The final event in the journey of salvation is death and resurrection. The crisis of the cross is always at the end of the pattern where a greater battle takes place, and often a greater victory is revealed.
King Ahaz became King of Judah, and he was a bad king. Resin King of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah king of Israel marched up to fight against Jerusalem and besieged Ahaz but they could not overpower him.
King Ahaz reached out to Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria for help, but when he got help he then set up an alter in the temple that was modeled on one he saw in Damascus while meeting the Assyrian king. His rearrangement of the temple foreshadowed the abomination that causes desolation (2 Kings 16v5-18).
The Assyrians invaded the whole land. Having deported some from the more northern regions (2 Kings 15v29) they invaded to whole land and laid siege to Samaria for three years (2 Kings 17v5). The Northern 10 tribes of Israel were deported.
Only Judah was left (2 Kings 17v18). Sennacherib king of Assyria came to lay siege to Jerusalem (2 Kings 18), and Hezekiah king of Judah prayed for help (2 Kings 19v19). God sent the angel of the LORD who put to death 185000 Assyrian men, and they withdrew (2 Kings 19v35-36).
