Tag: Joash

Who Do You Listen To?

2 Chronicles 23-24

From yesterday’s reading, we learned that a baby named Joash was hidden when his grandmother attempted to wipe out the whole royal line, so she could rule unopposed.  Joash was abducted by his aunt, and her husband, Johoiada, the high priest.  (The fact that his aunt was godly, coming from such a wicked family is nothing short of miraculous.)  Joash was hidden in the temple for 7 years.  (What better place to hide someone from the wicked queen, Athaliah?  She would never go there!)

When Joash was 7, Jehoiada arranged for Joash to be crowned king, and had Athaliah killed.  We’re told in 2 Chronicles 24:3, “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest.”  Jehoiada chose two godly wives for Joash.  Joash also commanded that God’s temple be repaired.  Because of this, many people consider Joash a godly king.  

When Jehoiada died, he was buried with the kings because of all the good he had done for God and his temple.  I wish the story stopped here, but it doesn’t.  After Joash’s godly mentor died, he listened to the officials of Judah, and abandoned the God of their fathers to worship Asherah poles and idols.  God sent prophets, but the king wouldn’t listen.  Joash even killed Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada (who had raised Joash).

As punishment, God sent Aram raiders to plunder Judah.  We’re told in 2 Chronicles 24:24, “Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the Lord delivered into their hands a much larger army because Judah had forsaken the Lord …)  

Joash was wounded in the battle, and some of his own officials conspired to kill Joash for murdering the son of Jehoiada.  Joash was not buried with the kings because of the evil he had done.

In this story, we see an example of someone who started out zealously serving the Lord.  As long as his godly mentor was there to remind him to follow God, he did follow God.  Once that godly influence was dead, Joash was enticed away from God through peer pressure. His life was a downward spiral after that, then he died.

This highlights the importance of surrounding ourselves with godly mentors and godly friends.  It’s so easy to be enticed away from God.  I picture sin sort of like an addiction.  Every one of us should think of ourselves as needing to join a program so we do not relapse.  Every one of us can say, “Hi, I’m Steve (substitute your name here), and I have a problem.”  We need godly friends to hold us accountable to live for God.  And we have to be vigilant ourselves.

If we’re surrounded by worldly friends, we will almost certainly crash and burn like Joash.

I’d like to encourage you to think about each of your close friends, and think about how each of them is helping you draw closer to God or is drawing you away from God.  And while you’re at it, how are you influencing your friends?

I understand that if someone has an addiction, one important step in the recovery process is to cut ties with old friends who would cause you to relapse.  After all, if they cause you to relapse, they are helping destroy you, so are they really a friend?

I’ll close with James 4:4, which says, “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

-Steve Mattison

Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – 2 Chronicles 23-24 and Romans 11

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Following Evil

2 Chronicles 21-22

Even though King Jehoshaphat “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord.”  He was sure stupid when it came to raising his kids.  He had arranged a marriage between his son, Jehoram, and  Athaliah, Israel’s evil king Ahab’s daughter.  This was a stupid arrangement for two reasons.  First, this would virtually guarantee Jehoram would be evil and lead Judah into evil.  Second, the future of God’s plan of salvation depended on the continuation of David’s dynasty through Jehoram, and as we will see, that came into peril.

Anyway, 2 Chronicles 21 starts with Jehoshaphat’s death, and Jehoram’s ascension to the throne.  Once he established himself as king, Jehoram killed all of his brothers and some of the princes of the land – basically, anyone who may challenge his authority.  (Presumably, he wanted them out of the way so they couldn’t oppose his promoting the worship of Baal.)  Then he proceeded to follow the evil ways of the evil King Ahab, because he had married Ahab’s daughter.  

Jehoram received an astounding warning.  He received a letter from Elijah pronouncing judgment on him because of his sins.  This is astounding, because this is several years after Elijah was caught up to heaven in a whirlwind (as recorded in 2 Kings 2:11).  This passage in 2 Chronicles 21 corresponds to events recorded in 2 Kings 8.  Elijah had obviously written this prophetic letter and had directed it to be delivered at a particular future date.  Anyway, this letter declared a curse on Jehoram because of all of his sins and the sins he caused Judah to commit.  According to the letter, he was going to be inflicted with a disease of his bowels until his bowels came out.  And two years later, that’s exactly what happened, and how he died.

As the story continues, Jehoram’s son, Ahaziah, became king but only reigned one year.  After his death, Athaliah (remember her from the first paragraph?) killed all her kids and grandkids so she could rule the nation.  (Remember my comment in the first paragraph about David’s dynasty being in peril?).  Athaliah was no descendant of David!  As it turned out, her infant grandson, Joash, was whisked away while everybody else was being killed.

The main thing that jumps out at me from today’s reading is the importance of not only following the Lord ourselves wholeheartedly, but also how imperative it is to pass along a love for the Lord to our children (both physical and spiritual children).  I’m convinced Jehoram could have been a great king, who loved the Lord, and had a blessed reign, if only Jehoshaphat had stressed the importance of following the Lord, and if Jehoshaphat had chosen a godly wife for Jehoram.

The second thing that jumps out to me is the importance of choosing a godly spouse.  This is literally the second most important decision any of us can ever make (after the decision to follow the Lord).  And this will either make it easier to live for God, or will make it harder – and the implications are eternal.

The third thing that strikes me is how God alerted Elijah in advance, so he could write a letter to be delivered to Jehoram years later, declaring his downfall.  And then Elijah had to have someone deliver this letter on a specific future date, at just the right time.  God really does know everything.  (Maybe He knows a thing or two about how we should live, and maybe I should read His word to find that out, and maybe I should live for Him.)

The final thing that I see is that God saved exactly one descendant of David – and that was a baby – so he could continue David’s line, and fulfill His promise to David.  Despite everything seeming to go wrong, God was still in control.  And much later, He would ultimately fulfill His promise to David through another baby, Jesus.

I want to be on God’s side – since God can still be in control, even when everything seems to be falling apart.  How about you?


–Steve Mattison

Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to at Bible Gateway here – 2 Chronicles 21-22 and Romans 10

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What can we learn from a 7 year old king?

Evil Won’t Stop God’s Covenant

2 Kings 11-12


Have you ever thought about how absolutely insane it is that somehow, David’s lineage made it all the way to Jesus? Through 14 generations, 490 years, and an abundance of disappointingly disobedient kings, God kept his promise to David (2 Samuel 7). As we read through the Old Testament, it becomes clear that God’s people are not always godly people. We watch as countless kings mess up, disobey, lose their faith, forget God, and pass their bad habits onto the
next generation. But God’s covenant prevails. Nothing could break it, no matter the odds.


In today’s reading, Athaliah, the mother of the late King Ahaziah, sets out to end the house of David, killing Ahaziah’s entire family in a cruel effort to keep a firm grip on the throne. Miraculously, however, she fails. Ahaziah’s courageous sister, Jehosheba, safely hides away one of her brother’s sons, Joash, and keeps him hidden for six years until he can be anointed and crowned King of Judah. Athaliah is put to death, and the young Joash grows into a good and righteous king.


God didn’t let go of the promises He made to David, even when it seemed all was lost. Through both wicked kings, like Ahab and Ahaziah, and good kings, like Jehoshaphat and Joash, the royal line of David continued on, all the way to Jesus Christ. God had a plan, He made a promise, and He followed through. And this was a large-scale plan, spanning over 400 years. So we never need to doubt His plan for us. Jesus will return, he will establish God’s Kingdom, and if we
believe, we will live there forever in eternal fellowship with our Heavenly Father. No matter how lost the world may seem, no matter how hopeless we may feel, our God will carry out His promises.

-Isabella Osborn

Today’s Bible reading passages can be read or listened to at BibleGateway here – 2 Kings 11-12 and Proverbs 10

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A Good Start … (2 Kings 12-14)

Wednesday, November 8

joash

Today’s chapters can get a bit confusing with so many kings coming and going – some from Judah and some from Israel and some from the neighboring lands – most of them evil and lots of them having a name starting with J.  Confusing!  It can be helpful to look up a chart of the kings of the divided kingdom, such as:

allkingsofisrael

It also can be helpful to compare the accounts of the Kings, with those of the Chronicles as they overlap in telling  the stories of the kings of Israel and Judah.

Joash has a tough but protected start in life  The young baby is hidden away in the temple for 6 years to avoid being murdered by his own grandma, the ruling Queen Athaliah.  When Joash is 7 years old Jehoida the priest determines the time is right to bring him out of hiding, kill Athaliah and set up Joash as king.  2 Kings 12:2 says “Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years Jehoida the priest instructed him.”  Joash did a lot of good, including collecting money to repair the temple.  However, to get the total picture of Joash, (unlike the chart above) we must look ahead to 2 Chronicles 24:17-25 which shows that after the death of Jehoida Joash began listening to the officials of Judah. They stopped worshiping God and turned to the false god Asherah instead.  They ignored the prophets of God who brought warnings.   Zechariah, the son of Jehoida who had protected and mentored the young king, told the people, “Why do you disobey the Lord’s command?  You will not prosper.  Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.” (2 Chronicles 24:20)   Rather than repenting, King Joash ordered Zechariah to be stoned.  He no longer strived to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord; in fact, he appears to be working hard to do the opposite.

Perhaps you, like Joash, have had a protected start in life.  Hopefully Godly people (parents, SS teachers, youth leaders, pastors) have been there to mentor you, guide you, instruct you and protect you when dangers raged outside.  And if you are reading this there is a very good chance that like young Joash you are seeking to do what is right in the eyes of the Lord.  Well done!  That is a great start!  But as we see with Joash, a great start does not guarantee a strong finish.  Beware of who you listen to.  Beware of unGodly advice and anyone who urges you to do or believe what is not pleasing to God.  Keep Godly advisors and mentors in your life.  Studying God’s Word today is a great way to prevent the beginning of the slippery slope in your life tomorrow.

Praying for Your Strong Finish – and Mine,

Marcia Railton

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