Jehoash Turns Away From God

II Chronicles 24:2 tells us. “And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.”  As long as Jehoida was there to guide him, Joash or Jehoash served the Lord.  Unfortunately, like everyone else, Jehoiada died, as II Chronicles 25:15-16 tells us.  “But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.  And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.”

When Jehoiada died, the people that had not turned to God during his life approached Jehoash about making some changes II Chronicles 24:17-19 describes this.  “Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.  And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.  Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.” 

Like many people who have attended Christian schools or churches where there was a stron personality to lead, Jehoash did the right things as long as Jehoiada was there.  As soon as Jehoiada was gone, however, he began following the advice of others who were less dedicated to God, and doing things that were contrary to God’s word.  They ignored the warnings of God’s prophets.  Finally God sent Jehoiada’s son to warn them, in II Chronicles 24:20-22.

“And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.  And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.  Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.

When Jehoiada’s son warned them that God was not pleased with what Judah and Jehoash were doing, they killed him, completely ignoring what Jehoiada had done for Jehoash, in preserving his life from his grandmother, and in teaching him how to serve God.    Judah and Jehoash were like a lot of people in modern churches.  They were following God’s man, rather than God.   Because their focus is not on God, when the man dies, they follow somebody else, instead of the Lord, even turning against the doctrines they originally believed.  As a result, churches that once stood strongly for scriptural principles may turn completely against them, a few years after the founders die.  They frequently try to destroy any reminders of the founder’s beliefs and work, even rebuilding buildings and

Their rejection of God cost Judah dearly.  II Chronicles 24:23-24 describes the results.  “And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.  For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.” Just a small Syrian army was able to defeat all the army of Judah.  They executed most of the Jewish leaders, and took all the people’s personal property to Damascus. 

Jehoash himself was seriously wounded during the fighting, and his own servants turned on him, murdering him in his own bed for his part in killing Jehoiada’s son.  They had lost so much respect for him they wouldn’t even allow him to be buried with the other kings, according to II Chronicles 24:25.  “And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.”

It is troubling to watch various churches and religious organizations turning away from what they once stood for to go along with what is popular, or is considered politically correct, rather than what God’s word says.