In The Word
Read: 2 Chronicles 24
24 Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned for forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name wasZibiah from Beersheba. 2 Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest. 3 Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he fathered sons and daughters.
Faithless Priests
4 Now it came about after this that Joash decided to restore the house of the Lord. 5 He gathered the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from all Israel to repair the house of your God annually, and you shall do the work quickly.” But the Levites did not act quickly. 6 So the king summoned Jehoiada, the chief priest, and said to him, “Why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and from Jerusalem the contribution of Moses, the servant of the Lord, and the congregation of Israel, for the tent of the testimony?” 7 For the sons of the wicked Athaliah had broken into the house of God, and even used the holy things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.
Temple Repaired
8 So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside by the gate of the house of the Lord. 9 And they made a proclamation in Judah and Jerusalem to bring to the Lord the contribution commanded by Moses the servant of God on Israel in the wilderness. 10 All the officers and all the people rejoiced, and they brought in their contribution and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. 11 It happened that whenever the chest was brought to the king’s officer by the Levites, and they saw that the money was substantial, the king’s scribe and the chief priest’s officer would come and empty the chest, and pick it up and return it to its place. They did this daily and collected a large amount of money. 12 The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who did the work of the service of the house of the Lord; and they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. 13 So the workmen labored, and the repair work progressed in their hands, and they restored the house of God according to its specifications and strengthened it. 14 When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and it was made into utensils for the house of the Lord, utensils for the service and the burnt offerings, and pans and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually, all the days of Jehoiada.
15 Now Jehoiada reached a good old age and he died; he was 130 years old at his death. 16 And they buried him in the city of David with the kings, because he had done well in Israel and for God and His house.
17 But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them. 18 And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. 19 Yet He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord; and they testified against them, but they would not listen.
Joash Murders Son of Jehoiada
20 Then the Spirit of God covered Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest like clothing; and he stood above the people and said to them, “This is what God has said, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord and do not prosper? Because you have abandoned the Lord, He has also abandoned you.’” 21 So they conspired against him, and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the house of the Lord.22 So Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as Zechariah died he said, “May the Lord see and avenge!”
Aram Invades and Defeats Judah
23 Now it happened at the turn of the year that the army of the Arameans came up against Joash; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed all the officials of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoils to the king of Damascus.24 Indeed, the army of the Arameans came with a small number of men; yet the Lord handed a very great army over to them, because Judah and Joash had abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment on Joash.
25 When they left him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they murdered him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. 26 Now these are the men who conspired against him: Zabad the son of Shimeath the Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. 27 As to his sons and the many pronouncements against him and the rebuilding of the house of God, behold, they are written in the treatise of the Book of the Kings. Then his son Amaziah became king in his place.
New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation
Walking In The Word
Joash was seven years old when he became king. He did what was right as long as his mentor, Jehoiada the priest, was alive. He restored the house of the Lord. He told the priests and Levites to collect money from the people to repair the house of the Lord. The people rejoiced and willingly gave. The king and the people served the Lord all the days of Jehoiada. However, after his death, the king listened to ungodly counsel, abandoned the house of the Lord, and served idols. The Lord sent prophets to tell the king and the people to repent, but they would not listen. Then the son of Jehoiada, Zechariah, told them that, because they had forsaken the Lord, the Lord would forsake them. The king commanded that Zechariah, the son of his mentor, be killed. Later, a small army came against Judah and was victorious. God’s judgment was executed on Judah. Then, Joash became very sick and his servants murdered him.
Do you have your own personal relationship with Christ? You can’t know God through someone else. Even though Joash was rescued by a godly woman, raised in a godly home, and instructed in the ways of the Lord, it seems that he relied on his mentor’s relationship with the Lord. Joash did well as long as he was under his mentor’s influence. However, when that influence was gone, instead of having his own relationship with the Lord and seeking His counsel, he listened to ungodly counsel and served idols. Your relationship with Christ must be personal.