Article is from the book ‘King of The Ark’ by R.Tourniaire

Joash was one of the kings of Judah. He descended from a line of idolatrous kings who ruled in both Judah and Israel. When the kingdom was divided between Judah in the south and the ten tribes of Israel in the north, Ahab, the king of Israel, married “Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.” (1 Kings 16:31). The first to marry an influential woman of the Zidonians (who were descendants of Canaan and Tyre,
see Genesis 10:15) was Solomon. Solomon’s pagan wives were largely responsible for the spread of Ba’al worship in Israel, a sin that led to the tribes of Israel going their separate ways. So it seems that at times, Israel was strongly influenced by the Zidonians.
In 1855 a sarcophagus of Eshmanezer was discovered, probably dated to the third century B.C.E. It contained an inscription describing how the king’s mother was a priestess of the goddess Ashtoreth and that Ba’al was the chief god. This confirms the Bible’s description of their religion. Jezebel had an enormous influence over king Ahab, and the Zidonian religion became the predominant religion of Israel and Judah at this time. Although the king of Judah, Jehoshaphat, was loyal to God, his son Jehoram was not. After taking the crown, Jehoram married the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel named Athaliah and became a Ba’al worshipper. It seemed for a moment that the worship of idol gods which once separated the two kingdoms was now uniting them. Not only did they now share the same form of idolatrous worship, but with a common religion they could now intermarry, thus forming closer bond
God had to intervene in order to save the future of Judah and protect her destiny. At this time Elijah was the prophet and this is the setting for the famous biblical story of Elijah challenging the priests of Ba’al atop mount Carmel to determine who was the true God. All the people gather by the mountain and two altars are built, one for Ba’al and one for I AM. The priests of Ba’al shout and scream, and jump about, crying out to their god asking him to send fire from heaven – but all in vain. Elijah patiently waits for the appointed time of the evening sacrifice and offers one short prayer to the God of heaven. “And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word. Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people
saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.” (1 Kings 18:36-39).   Although God gave Elijah such a
dramatic victory and the priests of Ba’al were subsequently killed, Jezebel remained unmoved and unchanged. Even after God clearly displayed who is the true God and who is the false god, idol worship continued in Israel.
Subsequently, Ahab’s son inherits the throne but dies shortly after, so Ahab’s other son then takes the throne. His name is Jehoram, just like the king in Judah who is married to his sister Athaliah. When the king of Judah dies, his son by Athaliah becomes king and his name is Ahaziah. So now Ahaziah king of Judah is the nephew of Jehoram king of Israel – and they are very close. However God appoints a different king in Jehoram’s stead, as God had said He would take the kingdom from the seed of Ahab. Thus all of Ahab’s sons were killed by this new king appointed by God. He also killed Jezebel and Ahaziah king of Judah. In a strange sequence of events Ahaziah’s mother, learning of the death of her mother (Jezebel), and son (king of Judah) and brother (king of Israel) decides to kill “all the seed royal of the house of Judah” (2 Chronicles 22:10). This would even include her own grandchildren!
She took the throne herself and ruled from the king’s house. For the first time it would appear to Judah that there was no longer a son of David sitting on the throne, as God had promised there would be. But what they and Athaliah didn’t know was that one child, a baby boy, had been hidden away when the others were slain. Before the king’s daughter was slain, she and her husband (the high priest Jehoiada) took Ahaziah’s baby boy and “he was with them hid in the house of God six years: and Athaliah reigned over the land.” (2 Chronicles 22:12). For six years it would have seemed that the promise to Judah had been overridden by Jezebel’s daughter. “And in the seventh year Jehoiada strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds, Azariah the son of Jeroham, and Ishmael the son of Jehohanan, and Azariah the son of Obed, and Maaseiah the son of Adaiah, and Elishaphat the son of Zichri, into covenant with him. And they went about in Judah, and gathered the Levites out of all the cities of Judah, and the chief of the fathers of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. And all the congregation made a covenant with the king in the house of God. And he said unto them, Behold, the king’s son shall reign, as the LORD hath said of the sons of David.” (2 Chronicles 23:1-3). While it is the high priest who devises a plan to restore the throne to the house of David, the events which follow  clearly show that Someone divine had instructed him. Learning that a son of David still lived, the people unite with the high priest in his plan. When they were all strategically situated
and instructed to guard both the Lord’s house and the king’s house, the plan is executed, “Then they brought out the king’s son, and put upon him the crown, and gave him the testimony, and made him king. And Jehoiada and his sons anointed him, and said, God save the king.
Now when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of the LORD: And she looked, and, behold, the king stood at his pillar at the entering in, and the princes and the trumpets by the king: and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments of music, and such as taught to sing praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said, Treason, Treason.” (2 Chronicles 23:11-13). Queen Athaliah was taken out of the courtyard of the Lord’s house and taken away and executed. King Joash was only eight years old at this time. In the Bible we learn how the Ark is used outside the sanctuary service as a throne. It went before the children of Israel in the wilderness to lead them. It went into the Jordan river to open it up so Israel could cross over. It went both before them and after them. It led them into the war at Jericho, and was included in the ceremony at Mount Ebal (Joshua 8:30-35), but most importantly, the Testimony was never taken out of the Ark after it had been placed into “the Ark of the Testimony” below the Mercy Seat. Whenever the Ark was used outside of the sanctuary service we see many  prophetic messages relating to the end times, but also to Christ’s work as King and High Priest. While the Ark inside the sanctuary shows Christ’s work for His people as a High Priest, the Ark outside the sanctuary shows more of His work as King. Now although Jehoiada was the high priest, he could not take out the tables of the law (also known as the testimony, see Exodus 25:16) without risking his life. No one was allowed to touch the Ark. If the testimony was taken out of the Ark it was by God’s instruction and by God’s plan alone. So the very fact that the testimony was placed into the young boy’s hand is evidence itself that God was behind everything that happened. Was this event prophetic of a future event and recorded in order to prepare people in our day to receive someone holding the testimony? To many such an event seems impossible – but the Bible shows it is possible. So let’s look at what was actually taking place. Jezebel’s daughter, an idol worshipper, had tried to take over God’s house and kingdom slaying those who were actually the rightful successors to the throne. In order to re-establish and to leave no room for doubt who the rightful king of Judah was, the testimony was brought out, leaving no doubt to the audience standing in the courtyard of the Lord’s house, who God had appointed and anointed. The victory was certain, the whole congregation accepted Joash as the true king immediately and without protest. Of course Judah’s true King was the God of Israel, and His testimony proved just that. By giving the tables of stone into Joash’s hands, God showed clearly who was to represent Him and His kingdom as king of Judah, and who was speaking on His behalf, “…and all the people of the land rejoiced, and sounded with trumpets, also the singers with instruments
of music, and such as taught to sing praise.” (2 Chronicles 23:13). The event that followed was a reformation in Judah and the restoration of God’s temple. Notice how Jezebel’s daughter ruled 6 years before God intervened, and in the 7th year He took His kingdom back. In the book of Revelation the number 6 is linked to a deceptive power ruling during the end times. (Rev. 13:18). The Bible tells us that something similar will occur in the last days. God’s first church is described as a pure woman, but later a harlot appears on the scene, and just like Jezebel, this harlot has daughters who take part in her spiritual fornication. Jezebel was a daughter from the pagan nation of Zidon, but married into Israel.236 King Of The Ark Before these scenes in Revelation 17 and 18, we see the spirit of Jezebel enters Christ’s churches. Christ says to the church of Thyatira, “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.” (Revelation 2:20-23).
We know from studying the development of Christianity how it turned from it’s Judaic roots to a pagan form of worship. Pagansim was the way of the world before and so it represented the religion of the world. Trying to fit in the christians started using idols of the Divinity, making Mary a goddess and praying to and adoring saints, all in harmony with the Ba’al religion. Just as Israel fell away  (1 Kings 12:33), the Christians did too, fabricating their own feast days and festivals to replace God’s. The mixing of the ancient pagan religions with Christianity had a similar effect on the movement as did the intermarrying of the kings of Israel and Judah with pagan wives. When the Roman rulers blended their Roman religion with Christianity, the falling away of Christ’s church became a sad fact. They were tempted to mix the religions in the same way as ancient Israel, and in Solomon’s case it was probably done to ‘make everyone happy’, but the consequences were terrible. In the message to the church of Thyatira this had already started to occur. While Revelation 2 it is not talking about Jezebel herself, Christ here uses her name as a symbol so we are led to the story of her corrupting influence in Kings and Chronicles,  and the marriage between the mentality and practises of the world and Israel. Thus we are to understand how a modern-day church can partake of Jezebel’s sins. In the church of Thyatira we see how God’s servants are walking in two different directions from this time on. One group has been seduced into taking part in Jezebel’s fornication, and will not turn from their path but will perish with her. The other group continue in God’s pure way (see Revelation 2:24-28). The woman who deceives God’s people is seen in Revelation 17:3-5, “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH”. Just as Jezebel spilled the blood of God’s people, so has this harlot, “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.” (v6). This woman will unite with the ‘beast’ and the rulers of the world, and just like Jezebel and her daughter it says they will challenge the right of the Kingship, “These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King
of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.” (Revelation 17:14). The daughters of the harlot in Revelation 17:5 can only mean that christianity have not completly reformed as they ought to have after leaving the pagan-christian metality. That the christians are still fornicating with the mentality and pagan practises of the world. In Judah, it was during the reign of Jezebel’s daughter that the high priest gave the ten commandments to Joash, in order to determine who was rightfully king. So again we are linked to the daughter’s , unreformed chruches or currupted churces, attempt to rule over God’s people at a time when the tables of stone are to be shown to the world.
Just like the message to Thyatira, there is a warning that those who are deceived by her false teachings will share her punishment if they do not turn. Whether it be Babylon, or her daughters or the kings she has committed fornicaton with, the warning is clear, “For all nations have drunk of  the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of  her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:3-4). The only way for God to end the powerful alliance between a corrupt Israel and Judah, which had been concocted by Jezebel and Ahab, was to first show them who was really God and how He was to be faithfully worshipped through the events that took place on mount Carmel. Yet this only reached some of Israel as many still continued in the mixture of truth and error. Then God fights against Ahab, Jezebel and their grandson, the king of Judah, who had taken part in their spiritual fornication. But when Jezebel’s daughter attempted to usurp the kingship of David, God brings out His chosen king with the testimony in his hands, and ends the controversy right there and then as to who is to lead the country. Just as Jezebel’s daughter is slain, so we see in Revelation that the harlot and her daughters who deceived the nations are also slain (Rev. 18:21). So just as it was then, the battle as to who is king will also exist at the end, “For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 17:17-18). What is God trying to tell us by taking the names from the history of ancient Israel and placing them in the book of Revelation? He gives us these clues so we interpret the prophecy correctly and gain an insight into the actions of those who oppose God. God isn’t warning us about idol worshippers in the world, but of a deceiver inside His church. Someone who deceives His people and tries to lead His flock into spiritual fornication. In the history of King Joash we see a young boy holding the evidence of God’s Kingship – His testimony – and on the opposing side is the woman, the daughter of the harlot, who had unlawfully made herself ruler over God’s people, and “the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow upon Baalim.” (2 Chronicles 24:7).
God reveals, through the story of Joash, that He can, has, and will bring the tables of stone out at a time when it needs to be clearly understood who is the real King and to confirm who are His true servants; at a time when the harlot’s daughters have placed themselves among God’s people to  rule and deceive. Many impose limitations upon the Ark and the law inside, that God does not. It is His law and He uses it as He sees fit, and it is for God alone to decide when and how, and not man. So it seems clear that this story is included in the Bible to show the world what God can do in a similar situation. The tables of stone did not prove that Joash was king, they showed God was King, but by letting the boy hold them God showed who was the legitimate ruler and what law was to be valid there, and so the harlot daughter was exposed. Also David’s kings-line were to continue until Messiah took over David’s throne. The throne of David therefore also represented the throne of the Messiah. And it was this throne the corrupted queen had tried to steel by ruling over the people. The act of bringing the kingship back to David’s sons illustrates perfectly how a corrupt church has taken a rule over God’s church that belongs to Christ only. The discovery of The Ark of the Covenant show who the king and real High Priest is and who’s rule we ought to follow and it exposes false religious rulers who present a competing law or has, like Athaliah, mixed the dedicated things belonging to God with the religion and practices of the world.