
Mick Jagger noticed the problem in 1965, but seems to have left it unresolved to this day. Blaise Pascal noticed it well before that.

Jerusalem was destroyed. The exiles who returned now had to rebuild the city beginning with the Temple. We might compare this to rebuilding after 9/11 or any of the personal “Ground Zeroes” that tragically upend our lives.
Ezra 1-6.mp3
(Sorry about the bit of silence at around the 38 minute mark. Not sure what happened there. If you keep listening, the sound comes back.)

The faith of Joash was, alas, merely a recycled faith. It was not so much connected to God as it was to Jehoiada.

The Bible is very realistic about its heroes and villains. The human characters are very human – people we can usually identify with. King Jehoshaphat is one of those.