I know people don’t like long posts and some of you will undoubtedly stop reading here. It’s just that I haven’t written for a while so there’s a lot piled up. This is what I’ve been meditating on during Lent so far. Hope it can encourage/challenge.

An Account of a Boy King

2 Chronicles 24¹ Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. ²Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.

At the tender age of seven, Joash became the king of Israel. What were you doing when you were seven? Unless you had some despotic aspirations, I doubt “ruling a nation” was an item on your list of “things to do before I turn eight”. My second child is seven and the extent of his ambition is making the perfect paper airplane.

To understand what catapulted this boy to kingship, we need to look at the previous chapters which were filled with heaping amounts of intrigue and bloodshed. Men, and in this case, a very powerful woman, were jockeying for power since the throne was vacant. King Ahaziah (2 Chronicles 22) was slaughtered by Jehu, which grandma Athaliah took as her cue to make a grand move. She wipes out the royal family with a steel cold heart so she could rule with an firm iron hand. Incredibly, Joash survives the bloodbath because Jehosheba rescues him.

2 Chronicles 22¹⁰ When Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she proceeded to destroy the whole royal family of the house of Judah. ¹¹But Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram, took Joash son of Ahaziah and stole him away from among the royal princes who were about to be murdered and put him and his nurse in a bedroom. Because Jehosheba, the daughter of King Jehoram and wife of the priest Jehoiada, was Ahaziah’s sister, she hid the child from Athaliah so she could not kill him. ¹²He remained hidden with them at the temple of God for six years while Athaliah ruled the land.

Side note: You just can’t beat the Bible for drama. TNT has nothing on the OTNT. Get it? OT/NT (Edit: Old Testament/New Testament. Seems some were confused.)? I should patent that and make it a cable channel! Wait, look at that circle around the TNT logo. That could pass for an “O”.

The point is that Joash is a miracle child who survived against all odds. Eventually, Athaliah is overthrown and young Joash becomes the king. Contrary to his wicked predecessors, the Bible evaluates Joash’s reign favorably: “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.” So far so good! But we see hints of gloomier things to come in the same verse: “Joash did right… all the years of Jehoiada the priest. Further reading of 2 Chronicles reveals that post-Jehoiada, Joash’s life goes dirrrty south.

The king goes mad.

I don’t mean mad like King George above, but what I mean is Joash’s God-compass went haywire. His ship of discernment vanished into a spiritual Bermuda triangle. While Jehoiada was alive, Joash did right by God. When Jehoiada died, everything unraveled. He made some terrible choices, even killing Jehoiada’s son.

¹⁷ After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. ¹⁸ They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹ Although the LORD sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen.

Thinking about Joash, there are some questions I’ve been asking:

1. Is my faith really mine? Is your faith yours? Not your mom’s or dad’s or grandparents and your older siblings, but is it yours? Joash did well to listen to Jehoiada’s instructions, but he would’ve done even better to internalize Jehoiada’s heart. All of us must keep testing, checking, and pushing ourselves and making sure that it is in us too, not just before and around us. The turnover rate at our church is incredible as people graduate, find new jobs, etc. Every time someone gives a farewell speech, I’m praying that all their convictions will stay in them, that their faith will be theirs.

2. Whose ‘voice’ am I listening to? When Jehoiada was the main voice in his life, Joash initiated and oversaw the restoration of God’s temple. (vv.4-14) Conversely, when Joash listened to the evil officials, they “abandoned the temple of the Lord” (18) and “would not listen” (19). When we give a willing ear to ungodly counsel, we close our ears to good ones. Who we listen to makes a world of difference! What we take into our hearts serves as the impetus to abandon all to seek the Lord or abandon the Lord to seek all else.

3. Am I a person of gratitude? Or have I become an ingrate? Joash ordered the death of Zechariah. who was Jehoiada’s son. That means Zechariah’s mother rescued Josiah. I don’t know their age difference but how could Joash not see Zechariah as a brother!? The same women raised them both! He must have swallowed long and hard before he issued his almost-brother’s death sentence. And for what? Because he spoke the truth. Hunted and persecuted as a boy, Joash now bore the shame of  persecuting an innocent and godly man.

²⁰ Then the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the LORD’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’ ”  ²¹ But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the LORD’s temple.

We should never forget the kindness of God… no matter how old we get.

4. Do I see my madness? It wasn’t just the madness of king Joash. It is my madness as well. This is just another way of saying, “Do I see my sins?” Does Joash’s story sound similar to another? Father rescues and raises a child. The child forgets his kindness and love and murders the son sent by God to speak truth to him.

²² King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son.

Yes, it’s the gospel. Father God made us and redeemed us in love. He sent his Son to speak to us. We rejected him and his words. We killed him.

I am Joash and so are you. We are the blind-eyed and deaf-eared murderers of God’s Son. We have rejected his words over and over again. But forgiveness is offered to us by the same Son we killed. We need to repent and receive Christ and keep growing in love with him and never forget His hesed kindness to us.

5. How can I be a man of influence? Jehoiada had such influence that Joash’s kingship was right by God when he was around. Are people better when I am around? Do I lead them to Christ? Because Jehoiada influenced the king, the restoration of the temple happened. What was his secret?

“As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the LORD.” (14)

Jehoiada repented and worshiped.

He was continually in the temple of the Lord, in the presence of the Lord, offering sacrifices for his sins as well as the sins of the nation. He repented and worshiped. This was his power, his strength, his salt, his light. It was worship coming out of a forgiven heart. He influenced others because God left a mark on him through repentance and worship. The stronger our worship, the stronger our influence.

“As long as [insert your name here] lived, his/her life was constantly offered as a living sacrifice to the LORD.”

May this be true of us.

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