“Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years
Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” -2 Kings 12:2

This verse stands as a summary of what I find to be one of the saddest
accounts in Scripture. Last month, we saw how the Lord had been
faithful to His promise to David despite the best efforts of the evil queen
of Judah, Athaliah, to wipe out the line of David. For the faithful priest
of the Lord, Jehoiada, and his sister, Jehosheba, had hidden away
Joash, the infant son of Ahaziah, the deceased King of Judah.

When Joash was seven, Jehoiada organized a revolt against Athaliah
and had Joash rightfully restored to the throne of Judah. At first, this
seems like a great, feel-good, redemption story. For Joash did many
great things as king while he was advised by Jehoiada. He even raised
money to do extensive repairs to the temple of the Lord. However, as
the verse above alludes, when Jehoiada died, the legacy of Joash
would take a dramatic and dark turn.

2 Chronicles 24:17 says, “After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of
Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them.”
Joash followed their advice and abandoned the restoration of the
temple and resumed idol worship. Verse 19 says, when the Lord sent
prophets to warn Joash and the people, they “would not listen.”

In verses 20-22, we see the final step of Joash’s fall. Not only did Joash
forget Jehoiada’s advice and counsel, he had Jehoiada’s son, the
prophet Zechariah, stoned to death right in the courts of the temple of
the Lord. Because of this, the Lord sent the king of Aram against
Judah. Joash was wounded in the fighting, and he was forced to give
Hazael, the king of Aram, the entire treasury of the temple and the
palace in tribute to have him withdraw. As Joash was recovering from
his wounds, his own officials would murder him and have his son,
Amaziah, succeed him as king (2 Kings 12:17-21).

The account of Joash is a strong reminder that we need to ensure that
we are receiving and following the right guidance in our lives. When
Joash was surrounded by godly advisors such as Jehoiada, he stayed
on the right path, but when he surrounded himself with wicked men, he
quickly went astray. In all things, we need to make sure that we seek
guidance from those who are, themselves, following the Lord. We need
to allow people in our lives that are willing to correct and even rebuke
us from time to time. And, of course, our greatest advisor must be the
Word of God itself. We should never accept advice from those who
would encourage us to disobey God’s Word.

Blessings, Pastor Barry