2 Kings 12 Joash

Joash was crowned king of Israel at the age of seven. He is on fire for the Lord, as long as Jehoiada lives. Afterwards he forsakes the Lord.

Bad company corrupts good people. Joash’s reign is another example of that. As long as Joash was listening to Jehoiada, things were going good. Nobody lives forever though. Once Joash lost his ‘anchor’ he drifted into ‘another harbor’ where the advice he received was NOT godly.

This makes me wonder about Joash. Was he always a ‘parrot’ of others or did he have his own core? Those who have no self-confidence can be easily manipulated by those around them. Let’s rejoin our story and see where the Spirit takes us.

♥ ♦ ♥

Joash sits on a throne where his feet barely hang over the front. This is what he has trained for his whole life; all seven years of it. As he listens to the petitioners each day, he does his best to judge rightly. Many of their concerns have confusion and deception at their centers. In the House of the Lord, where he was hidden for six years, there was little to no experience in such matters. Joash HAS to rely on Jehoiada to help him in making the right decision.

Jehoiada knows the struggle of Joash. He has all the training Jehoiada could provide, but no firsthand experience in dealing with people’s conflicts. Jehoiada tries his best to be supportive of Joash, while also allowing him room to grow. “It is going to take some time before he is ready to make these decisions on his own” thinks Jehoiada.

Joash and Jehoiada have developed a rhythm. Petitioners are not allowed to bring their concerns to Joash until after the morning chores in the Temple are completed. Jehoiada stays near Joash while he is listening to petitioners. Once all the petitions are heard, the two discuss them privately and then Joash issues rulings in the evening while Jehoiada is busy in the Temple. Joash does NOT deviate from the decisions arrived at earlier. IF the petitioner is not satisfied with their answer, they may appear again the next day. Joash rules on NOTHING without taking it to Jehoiada first.

The Lord protects Joash and Judah during the early years of his reign. Attacking a child king just seemed wrong to the nations around him. Joash was able to focus on the people.

Jehoiada, determined that the line of David continue, finds two wives for Joash. He is barely 18 when he marries his first wife and 20 when he married the second. He began having children soon after. Jehoiada was satisfied that the kingdom would continue.

Joash has been attending ceremonies in the Temple since coming out of hiding. As the years pass, he begins to notice the need for repairs. Cracks in the cornices, discoloration of the paneling, broken stairs, and many other defects. When he was a child, these seemed unimportant and just part of how things were. But now, he knows it is a shameful state of disrepair. Joash also knows that money flows into the temple in large enough quantities that these repairs should have been tended to. Failure to do so is shameful!

One day, as Joash stands before the king’s gate and looks down on the crumbling stairs, he has had enough. “I have waited long enough on the Levites to do the right thing. It is time I ‘encourage’ them along” thinks Joash. He returns to the throne room.

“Summon all the Levites and the priests” Joash tells his messenger.

Those from the Temple of the Lord came right away and appeared before Joash as a group.

“Go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that you act quickly” (2  Chronicles 24:5) “All the money of the holy things that is brought into the house of the Lord, the money for which each man is assessed—the money from the assessment of persons—and the money that a man’s heart prompts him to bring into the house of the Lord, let the priests take, each from his donor, and let them repair the house wherever any need of repairs is discovered” (2 Kings 12:4-5).

The business of the kingdom takes Joash’s attention away from this project that he had put in the Levite’s hands. He trusts them to do the work. Three years later, Joash is walking in the Temple of the Lord and a stone falls from one of the cornices, landing mere feet from him. Joash is grateful that no one was injured, including himself, but then he takes a good look around the Temple. NOTHING has been fixed! He is determined to find out why.

Joash returns to his throne room and summons Jehoiada. When Jehoiada appears before him, Joash doesn’t know whether to be angry or sad. Here is the man who has taught him all his life to honor the Lord, and yet he is allowing the House of the Lord to crumble around him.

“Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the congregation of Israel for the tent of testimony?” (2 Chronicles 24:6) “Now therefore take no more money from your donors, but hand it over for the repair of the house” (2 Kings 12:7).

Jehoiada’s head hangs in shame. “I am sorry my king. I should have attended to this from the beginning. I will do so now with great urgency.”

Joash can clearly see the repentance in his teacher. He nods and says; “See that you do.” He need say no more. He trusts Jehoiada with his life.

Jehoiada goes into the store room and finds a large chest. “This will do” he says to himself. He takes it and cleans it inside and out, places a new lock on it, and makes a hole in the top of it. Then he takes the chest to the throne room to show to Joash.

“My king, this chest will stand at the entrance of the Temple. The money brought into the House of the Lord will be deposited here. I propose that, each time it becomes full, that two officials count it together and deliver it to the workmen. They will then be responsible for performing the work on the Temple of the Lord.”

“I will send a proclamation throughout the land for the people to bring ‘for the Lord the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness’ (2 Chronicles 24:9).”

The whole land was moved to do this, from the nobles to the poorest. The Temple guard who had charge over the threshold guarded the chest. Each time it was filled, the king’s secretary and the officer of the chief priest would take it and count it out. The chest is returned for use again for the people, and the money gathered given to the workmen.

This arrangement works very well and repairs on the Temple begin right away. It takes time, but the Temple is completely restored and even strengthened. When all the work is done, there is still a large supply of money; gold and silver. The workmen bring the excess and present it to Joash and Jehoiada.

Jehoiada knows exactly what to do with the excess. “My king while the evil woman Athaliah ruled, she allowed her sons to take the plates, bowls, and cups from the Temple and use then in worship of the Baals. These items were never allowed in the House of the Lord again. This excess could be melted down and fashioned into new plates, cups pitchers and bowls for the Lord.”

“This is an excellent idea. Find a smith in the kingdom who can do exactly as have said.”

Within a month, all the bowls, plates, cups, and pitchers are replaced in the House of the Lord. Everything was as it was in the beginning.

Jehoiada was showing his age by the time the Temple was fully restored. He was grateful to the Lord for allowing him to see it completed. He knew his days were short and he trusted that he had trained Joash well enough to continue walking with the Lord after he departed this world. At 130 years of age, Jehoiada slept with his fathers.

Joash is devastated by the loss of his teacher. He was more than a teacher to him. He was as close to an abba as Joash has ever had.

“Jehoiada must have a place among the kings, for he was as instrumental in ruling Judah as any king ever was” insists Joash.

Jehoiada is buried with full honor and Judah mourns him for a month. When that time is over, Joash feels like a ship without a sail. He has no one to turn to for direction. Jehoiada had steered him through life so effortlessly that Joash didn’t even recognize his hand, until it was removed. He never had a need for any other advisors, until now.

Nature abhors a vacuum. The hole in Joash’s life was quickly filled by the princes of Judah. These are not necessarily actual princes, but leading men in their tribes and clans. And these men were not followers of the Lord. Their advice went against everything Joash had been taught, but it ‘felt good’, so Joash followed it.

In no time at all, the influence of these men becomes evident in the rulings of Joash and his direction for the kingdom. No longer does he concern himself with the Temple or even consult the Law of the Lord when making decisions. He even stops attending the annual feasts.

Worst of all, Joash goes with his new advisors to worship their gods! He likes the freedom that worshiping Baal offers. He sees no reason to be bound by the commandments of the Lord. And he encourages the people to do so turn away from them as well. “They are too restrictive” he reasons.

The Lord is NOT happy with this change in Joash. He sends His ambassadors to call him back, but Joash refuses to listen. “It’s time to confront the people” the Lord says. He calls Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada. If Joash will listen to anyone, it will be him; or so someone would believe.

Zechariah is clothed by the Spirit of the Lord and he stands before the people. “Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you’” (2 Chronicles 24:20).

The people refuse to listen to him, even though he calls out to them daily. Joash goes one step farther. He commands the people to stone Zechariah where he stands. The people gladly comply.

One of the Levites comes to Zechariah early in the morning, before he goes to stand and call out to the people. “You cannot go out there today. The king has ordered the people to stone you.”

“I have to go. I am compelled to try and reach the people AND the king. If I don’t go, how will they know?”

As Zechariah walks into the courtyard, the priest watches him. “They know alright. They just don’t care” he thinks to himself.

A crow gathers at the entrance to the Temple. Zechariah takes his place; the same one he has been calling from for the past week. As he is about to open his mouth, the first rock hits him in the chest. He is startled and looks up. He sees an angry mob before him. He refuses to run.

Emboldened by the first stone being thrown, the rest of the mob unleash their stones. When their hands are empty, they search out more.

Bleeding from wounds all over his whole body, Zechariah cries out against them. “May the Lord see and avenge!” (2 Chronicles 24:22).

This fuels their rage and they don’t stop until Zechariah lies dead, battered and bloody on the steps of the Temple. When Zechariah breathes no more, a cheer goes up from the mob and they turn as one and leave the Temple.

After they leave, three Levites come out of hiding and retrieve the body of Zechariah. They bury him with the priests and Levites.

God saw and He heard. He heard Joash’s decree to stone Zechariah, and he heard Zechariah’s cry against the people. “I will avenge” promises the Lord.

A year later, God raises up King Hazael of Syria. He brings him against Judah. Hazael makes it all the way to Jerusalem. Joash’s armies are no challenge to him. Hazael’s armies, though much smaller, easily crush Judah’s forces. Hazael is threatening to tear down the walls of Jerusalem. He has already killed all those who were Joash’s advisors.

Joash goes to the treasuries and empties them; the Lord’s and his own. He takes things that his father and his father’s father had dedicated to the Lord, along with ALL the gold and silver he could lay his hands on. He puts them together and goes out to see Hazael, king of Syria.

While Joash and Hazael were approaching one another, an archer shot and wounded Joash. Joash determined to complete this act of attrition to turn Hazael away from his people. “Please take this and leave my people in peace” Joash pleads.

Hazael nods. He takes what is offered and leaves the city. Joash slumps to the ground in relief. Two of his generals come forward and lift him bodily. They carry him to his chambers, where his servants will minister to him.

Two of the servants on duty that day are Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonite, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabite. They remember clearly the deeds of the king against Zechariah. When they are alone with the king, they finish the job of the arrow. Zabad holds a pillow over the king’s face while Jehozabad keeps him from pulling it away. Joash’s death is not as gruesome or as painful as that of Zechariah but, Joash breathes no more.

This was the judgment of the Lord for the sin Joash committed against Zechariah. Joash is buried in the City of David, but not in the tomb of the kings. Joash’s son, Amaziah rules in his place.

(to be continued)

There are people in this world who HAVE to have someone around them at all times, telling them what to think. I wonder if Joash was one of those people. I am just the opposite. Ask my mom if you don’t believe me. When I was growing up, if I was ‘told’ to do something, I would fight against it. If I was ‘asked’ to do a ‘favor’, I would move heaven and earth to help out. If I was assigned to read a book in school, it didn’t get read. When I found a book I liked, I read it like it was water to a soul in the desert. Seldom did I let others dictate my thoughts or actions.

I got into trouble being ‘strong willed’, probably as much as Joash did for being a follower. I guarantee that not all my decisions and directions were good ones. I suppose the moral of our story today is to pick your friends carefully. Bad company corrupts good morals. There is nothing wrong with listening to the advice of others, but KNOW their ‘source’ before jumping in with them. Who knows where Joash would have ended up if he had picked his advisors more carefully.

Father God, thank You for the friends You have brought into my life over the years. Those that built me up. Those that gave godly advice. Those that challenged me to ‘check my behavior’ before I got into deep trouble. Even those that taught me to be more careful in picking my friends.

Thank You for giving me a determined heart. It has blessed my path MANY times, but it has also gotten me into TOO much trouble. THANK YOU for tempering that spirit in me! Help me hold fast when it matters and to let YOU lead the way at all times.