2 Chronicles 23:12-18. After much intrigue, death, and machinations (the Old Testament is so much like Game of Thrones!), the rightful heir, the king's young son, is crowned king by the high priest in the House of the Lord surrounded by armed men for protection. When the mother of the wrongful king, who was herself guilty of much of the murder and wrongdoing, hears and sees this, she cries "Treason." The priest sends armed men to arrest her. He gives orders that she is not to be slain in the House of the Lord, so they take her out to the horse gate and kill her there. Then the people, having had their proper relationship with God reestablished by the high priest, go to the house of Ba'al and tear it down, destroying its altars, its images, and slaying Mattan, the priest of Ba'al, before the altars. Finally, Levitical priests are reestablished in the House of the Lord "to offer burnt offerings to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, according to the order of David."

Two things strike me when reading this today. First - Athaliah, the evil queen mother of the wrongful king - is not to be killed in the House of the Lord. She is taken out to the horse gate. Our God is a loving God, he loves even Athaliah, he takes no pleasure in her death, although it is necessary for justice's sake. So it is wrong to kill anyone in the House of the Lord, even if it is just, and even if they have betrayed God himself. This is a good sign that our God is the true God, the creator of all. Compare that to the slaying of Mattan - the priest of Ba'al. He is killed right before the altar, as the entire building is being torn down around him. His death matters to God too - God loves Mattan - but his death does not matter to Ba'al, because Ba'al is not anything, he is not a god, even though Mattan was serving him. So it would have been wrong to kill Mattan in the House of the Lord, but the house of Ba'al is nothing - there is no real god there - and its destruction is a good sign of that.

Secondly, I like how Moses' law was to make the sacrifices, and David's order was to do so with rejoicing and singing. Moses was starting from ground zero, he had to establish the basics, but David, coming along so much later, was able to build on the basics with more. And the "more" that David added was the joy - which it is so obvious he had when you read the Psalms! This sacrificing with joy is essentially the same thing I was blogging about yesterday.