Today in God’s Word

Today in God's Word—March 2023

East Tallassee Church of Christ

March 6, 2 Chronicles 24

And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoida the priest.... Now after the death of Jehoida the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. And they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. - 2 Chronicles 24:2, 17-18

It's not always easy to understand why other people do the things they do. We may even look back on our own lives and wonder why we chose to do some things we wish we hadn't done. But it’s especially difficult to understand why a man with such a good background and mentor would so soon after his mentor's death abandon all that he had learned and done previously in his life.

Joash was an orphan by the time he was a year old. But he was raised and trained by two godly people who rescued him from the killers who destroyed the rest of his family. His aunt Jehoshabeath and her husband Jehoida the priest protected the little boy and groomed him for his destiny. Jehoida initiated and carried out the plan to give Joash his rightful place as king of Judah. He then mentored the young king, guiding his protégé and teaching him God's way.

Joash was receptive to his mentor's teaching and did the will of God until Jehoida died. He restored the temple from the damage that Baal worshipers had done to it, and replaced the sacred vessels they had stolen or defiled.

After his old master died, Joash was soon swayed by the flattery of the princes of the people. They persuaded the king to abandon the house of God he had been so careful to restore. He forsook God and followed the Baals, the Asherim and their idols. He ignored the prophets God sent to warn him and the people.

Zechariah was the son of Joash's old mentor, Jehoida. God sent Zechariah to tell the king,

"Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you." Joash ordered Zechariah’s execution, and the king’s servants stoned him to death in the court of the temple. As Zechariah lay dying, he prayed, "May the LORD see and avenge!"

God heard his prayer and answered quickly. The princes of the land who had turned Joash away from God died in the Syrian invasion. The small Syrian force easily defeated the much larger army of Judah because God was with the Syrians against his own people. (It's sad to see that Judah lost this fight for the same reason Israel and Judah had won so many battles before.) But this time God fought against his people instead of for them.

Joash went home from the battle wounded. His own servants conspired against him and assassinated the king in his bed. The servant assassins killed Joash to avenge the murder of of Zechariah.

Joash’s great start and tragic finish reminds us that a good start is important and a blessing, but a good finish is even more important. If we have been blessed by godly mentors who trained and taught us in our youth, it is doubly wicked to turn away from the good instruction we were given. And while we all will stumble and sin along the way, we multiply our guilt when we refuse warnings and abandon our faith. And may God restrain us so we never repay with murderous hatred the kindness and good instruction we received from godly mentors.

It seems that Joash, deep down in his heart, must have been more like his pagan ancestors than his loving adopted family and mentor. Let's pause for a minute of sad reflection on this king's failure, and resolve to never follow his terrible example.

Copyright © 2023 by Michael B. McElroy. Used by permission. All rights reserved.