Joash was seven years old when he began to reign; and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Zibiah of Beer-sheba.
A boy of seven takes the throne of Judah, and the verse gives him forty years and his mother's name. Both details look plain until you learn how the boy survived, and how those forty years ended.
The reign begins with a promise God had made to David, not with anything in the boy.
The royal house of Israel is destroyed without leaving a single man... But it is not so with the house of Judah. The faithful God keeps His word, for He had said that He would give David "a lamp to him and to his sons forever" (2 Kings 8:19). In the person of Joash He keeps for Himself a feeble candle stub which He does not put out, and through him a time of blessing and of the fear of the Lord would begin for the kingdom of Judah.
Everything about the seven-year-old was fragile. His grandmother Athaliah held the throne, and the child had no power of his own.
There cannot be a clearer proof of how completely we may trust Him, for no one ever seemed more helpless than this young king Joash before Athaliah. The fortunes of a king of Judah had never been lower, but men have said, and said truly, that "man's extremity is God's opportunity." This only gives the occasion to show the supremacy of God. Nothing can hinder His purpose... He has a purpose for us, and He Himself has love for our souls. Why should we not always trust Him?
For six years the rightful king was alive but unseen. Some writers read that hiding as a picture of Christ.
So when Athaliah saw that her son was dead, she "arose and destroyed all the royal family of the house of Judah." But God watched her, and led Jehoshabeath, the king's daughter, to take the child Joash from among the king's sons who were killed, and bring him up secretly. "And he remained with them six years, hidden in the house of God," just as the Lord Jesus is now taken away from the wicked people who killed Him... and now He is hidden in the house of God; but He will just as surely come out from that hiding place as Joash did.
The verse names the king's mother. One writer pauses on what her name means, and adds a word about his uncle, the priest Jehoiada.
"His mother's name was Zibiah (doe, or gazelle) of Beersheba." ... His uncle appears to have had a good influence over him.
The naming matters because the opposite case appears so often in these books.
The mother of Joash of Judah was Zibiah of Beersheba. The mother of Amaziah the son of Joash was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. On the other hand, the influence of idolatrous mothers or wives was destructive for the kings... This should make Christian mothers aware of their responsibility, and should stir them up to bring up their children in the fear of the Lord.
The next verse ties Joash's obedience to the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest.
"And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest" (2 Chronicles 24:2). Yes, but it was more the influence of Jehoiada than faith in the living God. An influence, sooner or later, must fail. The influence of man is not the faith of God's elect.
One writer applies this to children raised in Christian homes.
Their parents' faith guides their first steps, and that is right and approved by God... Knowledge and real godliness do not make up for the lack of a direct relationship of the soul with the Lord. The Christian must seek this above everything else. Thousands of godly souls stay in a state of childhood. They lean first on their parents, and later on their spiritual leaders, instead of leaning on God and the Word. Let the leader disappear, and their godliness disappears with him.
Forty years is a long reign. One writer follows the number to its end.
Being only seven years old at his coronation, Joash reigned 40 years, so he was only 47 when his own servants killed him (v. 25).
- Kept. God preserved one child so David's lamp would not go out, keeping a promise no one could cancel.
- Crowned. The weakest possible claimant, a boy of seven, shows that nothing can hinder God's purpose.
- Hidden. Six years hidden in the house of God, then brought out to reign. Writers see here a picture of Christ, hidden now and certain to appear.
- Shaped. The record names his mother, Zibiah of Beersheba. A godly mother shapes a reign one way; an idolatrous one shapes it the other.
- Borrowed. Joash started well on Jehoiada's faith, not his own. Human influence always fails in the end, and his forty years closed with his own servants killing him.
And Joash did what was right in the sight of Jehovah all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
Joash's reign began well. He escaped death as a baby, became king as a boy, and the priest Jehoiada set him on the throne after Queen Athaliah fell. But the record of his goodness comes with a limit: "all the days of Jehoiada the priest."
That good is real, yet it lasts only as long as one man's life. One writer notes that everything looked bright and hopeful, then draws the line the verse draws:
Yes, but it was more the influence of Jehoiada than faith in the living God. An influence, sooner or later, must fail. The influence of man is not the faith of God's elect.
Joash was not passive in those years. He led the repair of the temple Athaliah had damaged. But activity is not a changed heart:
But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. The heart is like a bent bow. It springs back to its normal shape the moment the pressure stops. How often this solemn fact is seen in Christian families! How often a son leaves the godly restraints of his father's house, and then plunges with greater eagerness into the sinful pleasures of the world!
The verse also records a kindness. Joash had years of steady spiritual company. Comparing him with a later king who had no such helper, one writer gives the credit elsewhere:
There is no mention of any spiritual helper for Josiah as there was for Joash more than a century earlier. Joash was favoured to have his devoted uncle Jehoiada about him for many years. With Josiah there were probably more direct dealings with God. This would explain his sturdy faith and his amazing energy in service for God. But whether it be Joash or Josiah, or the present writer and his readers, all is grace. Every scrap of good that has ever been seen in any of us is the work of the Holy Spirit.
Joash was not the only one. Israel served the Lord as long as Joshua and the elders lived, and then stopped. One writer names the danger:
Second-hand faith will never do. There must be a living link connecting the soul with God. We must have to do with God for ourselves, individually, or else we shall give way when the testing time comes. Human example and human influence may be all very good in their place... But if this is all; if there is not the deep spring of personal faith and personal knowledge... then, when the human props are removed, when the tide of human influence ebbs, when general decline sets in, we shall be like Israel. They followed the Lord all the days of Joshua and the elders, and then gave up the confession of His name.
One writer looks at how Joash grew up. He was trained well and he obeyed, yet something was missing:
Joash was brought up in the law of the Lord from his most tender years. Jehoiada and Jehosheba guarded him with careful devotion from all outward temptation. He had a flexible character, marked more by his submission than by his energy. He submitted to good influences as long as they prevailed. But through lack of "virtue" he was in danger of yielding to evil influences. From childhood Joash was used to enjoying a relationship with God through a go-between. He did not feel the need for direct communion with the Lord.
He applies this to homes where faith is passed down:
Thousands of godly souls remain in a condition of childhood. They depend first on their parents and later on their spiritual leaders, instead of depending on God and the Word. Let the leader disappear, and their godliness disappears with him; let him turn aside, and their soul turns aside after him.
The next verse says Jehoiada chose two wives for the king. That raises a question about the guide, not just the pupil:
He leaned too heavily on the godly priest and did not learn to depend truly on the Lord... Why did he not simply instruct Joash to be careful to choose the wife that God wanted him to have? Of course the leader is to blame if he encourages such dependence.
So how do you tell real faith from a burst of zeal? One writer points to time:
Flesh may be even more zealous than faith, but there is this difference: faith continues; the effort of the flesh is short-lived. It may begin well, but the question is whether it continues. Its continuance is always the great proof of what is divine.
- Gift. Jehoiada was a genuine mercy to Joash — a spiritual helper for many years — and every scrap of good in anyone is the work of the Spirit.
- Prop. But a gift can become a prop: Joash's obedience ran on Jehoiada's influence, and influence must eventually fail.
- Pressure. Outward influence never changes the heart; remove the pressure and the heart springs back to its own shape.
- Personal. What was missing was direct dealing with God — a living link of the soul with the Lord, not religion through a go-between.
- Proof. Continuance is the test: the flesh may start zealously, but only faith lasts past the funeral of the man who kept us upright.
And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begot sons and daughters.
Joash came to the throne at seven, the only survivor of a massacre that almost destroyed David's family. This short verse records two things: the royal line was running again, and the priest who raised him arranged it.
One writer sets this family notice against God's promise to David:
The faithful God keeps His word, for He had promised David "a lamp to him and to his sons forever" (2 Kings 8:19). In the person of Joash He sustains for Himself a feeble candle stub which He does not put out. Through Joash an era of blessing and of the fear of the Lord would begin for the kingdom of Judah. God's patience still delayed the moment when He would reject His guilty people.
C. Knapp credits Jehoiada, Joash's uncle, with a good influence, and reads the two marriages as care for David's line:
His uncle appears to have exercised a wholesome influence over him. The mention of his taking two wives for him is surely meant to show his godly concern for the succession.
Another writer is less positive. He grants what Joash owed Jehoiada, then asks why the king was never taught to seek God's mind for himself:
He had much for which to thank God under the care of Jehoiada and Joshabeath, who had saved him from death and made it possible for him to become king. But he leaned too heavily upon the godly priest and did not learn to depend truly on the Lord. In fact, the record tells us that Jehoiada took two wives for Joash (v. 3). Why did he not simply instruct Joash to be careful to choose the wife that God desired him to have? But how often it is true that people so depend on a godly leader that they never learn to stand on their own feet! Of course the leader is to blame if he encourages this.
Joash did right "all the days of Jehoiada the priest" (v. 2). One writer traces that time limit back to his upbringing:
Joash was brought up in the law of the Lord from his earliest years. Jehoiada and Jehosheba guarded him with careful devotion from every outward temptation. He had a pliable character, marked more by his submission than by his energy. He submitted to good influences as long as they prevailed, but for lack of moral strength he was in danger of yielding to evil ones. From childhood he was used to enjoying a relationship with God through a go-between, and he never felt the need for direct communion with the Lord.
Another writer names the difference between influence and faith:
Yes, but it was more the influence of Jehoiada than faith in the living God. An influence, sooner or later, must fail. The influence of man is not the faith of God's elect.
One writer applies the same lesson to ordinary homes:
But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. Like a bow that has been bent and let go, the heart springs back to its natural bent the moment the pressure stops. How often we see this solemn fact in Christian families! How often a son leaving the godly restraints of his father's house plunges with greater eagerness into the sinful pleasures of the world!
One writer points past every human leader to the one who never changes:
Leaders may change or fail; Christ alone does not change: He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is "the great shepherd of the sheep." It is to Him that we must cling. This is one of the solemn instructions that the character and career of Joash offers us.
- Preserved — God promised David a lamp that would never go out. In Joash, that promise survived the slaughter as "a feeble candle stub" God kept burning.
- Provided — Jehoiada arranged the two marriages out of godly concern for the succession, and sons and daughters followed.
- Propped — commentators differ here. One sees a wholesome influence. Another asks why Jehoiada never taught Joash to seek God's choice himself.
- Borrowed — Joash knew God through a go-between. He never sought direct dealings with the Lord, and influence, however holy, is not faith. Influence must fail in the end.
- Released — a heart bent by outside pressure springs back the moment the pressure stops. Only clinging to Christ, the great Shepherd who never changes, outlasts the leader who fails.
And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to renew the house of Jehovah.
Joash was rescued as an infant and crowned king, and his first public project is the house of God that Athaliah's family had broken up. The verse raises the question the rest of the chapter answers: was this zeal his own, and would it last?
One writer links this decision to a revival of godliness.
Joash's first concern was the temple of the Lord, the place of God's presence among His people. When there is a revival of godliness, this neglected object calls for a completely new value. God's children feel the need to gather where the Lord has been pleased to make His name dwell. They feel the need to honour His presence among His own by their activity, their devotion, and all their conduct.
The house had not simply worn out with age.
The main work of Jehoash's reign was the repairing of the temple. This had become necessary because the family of Athaliah had broken it up and used the dedicated things in the worship of Baal (2 Chron. 24:7). The king took the initiative, but the neglect of the priests made the work almost impossible.
Commentators differ on how much of this decision belonged to Joash himself. One sees a king who stood on Scripture, ready to correct even the man who had saved his life:
He was true to what he had learned in the word of God. He did not hesitate to correct even the high priest if he was negligent in carrying it out, for that Word is above all. He owed his uncle a lasting debt of gratitude for saving his life as an infant. Even so, when the occasion required, he could ask him to do his duty as God's high priest and see to the necessary repairs of that house. God had set him over it. Would to God he had kept that mind to the end of his reign.
Another writer credits Jehoiada the high priest more than Joash himself.
How often the energy of faith may, so to speak, establish a kingdom! Yet at the same time it may fail to keep up the ordinary duty of those who have to do with the service of God. Joash was faithful at the start of his reign. Still, he walks more by Jehoiada's faith than by his own. After the death of the high priest he leans on the princes of Judah, and serves idols.
The decision was right, but the work did not move.
It is commendable, however, that Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord (v. 4). He gathered the priests and Levites. He ordered them to go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from the people to cover the cost of the repairs. He told them to do this quickly (v. 5). However, this was not done quickly. It may be that they had no heart for demanding money from the people, because people generally resist such demands. It is the principle of law-keeping, which always stirs up resistance in people's minds.
Joash was restoring what God had already given, not inventing something new. One writer brings this straight to God's people today.
To Joash the important thing was to go back to "the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness" (2 Chr. 24:9), and not to turn aside from the word of the law when it was a matter of honouring the house of God and everything connected with it. It is the same in our day. For us, as for Joash, it is not a question of beginning to build the house, or of setting up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. And for that God does not leave us to our own initiative, which would only add new breaches to the old evils.
Joash did right while Jehoiada lived. One writer shows the limit of outside influence.
Outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. Like a bow bent by force, the heart springs back to its normal bent the moment the pressure stops. How often this solemn fact is seen in Christian families! How often a son leaving the godly restraints of his father's house plunges with greater appetite into the sinful pleasures of the world!
- Revival first. Once godliness revived, the temple became Joash's first concern.
- Ruin named. Repairs were needed because Athaliah's family had broken the house up and spent its dedicated things on Baal.
- Resolve tested. Setting his heart on the work was commendable, but demanding money met resistance, and the work went slowly.
- Repair, not replace. The task was not to build a new house. It was to mend the breaches, following the word already given, not our own initiative.
- Reliance exposed. Outside influence, however holy, never changes the heart. Joash leaned on Jehoiada's faith; when that support went, he served idols.
And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out to the cities of Judah and collect of all Israel money for the repair of the house of your God from year to year, and ye shall hasten the matter. But the Levites hastened it not.
Joash sets his heart on repairing the temple and tells the priests and Levites to collect the money for it, quickly. But the men charged with the work drag their feet — and the rest of the chapter grows out of that delay.
The order itself is right. The weakness is in the man who gave it.
The energy of faith may even set up a kingdom, and yet fail at the same time to keep up the ordinary duty of those who serve God. How often this happens! Joash was faithful at the start of his reign, but he still walks more by Jehoiada's faith than by his own.
The money was not for something new. Damage had come first, and one writer names its source.
The main work of Jehoash's reign was repairing the temple. This had become necessary because the family of Athaliah had broken it up and used the dedicated things in the worship of Baal (2 Chron. 24:7). The king took the initiative, but the neglect of the priests made the work practically impossible.
The Levites were to collect from the whole people — and the whole people were not with them.
Nothing was done at the time. The spiritual state of the people made it hard to do anything. They were still sacrificing and burning incense at the high places. So they would feel little responsibility toward the temple at Jerusalem.
One writer looks at what the priests did with the gifts that came to them. The question is what came first in their hearts.
The priests were using for themselves the gifts they received from their acquaintances. They did have the right to live from the things offered at the altar. But in their hearts their own interests came before those of the Lord and of His house. Their conduct showed it. They lived from their gifts, and the house of God kept its breaches. Jehoiada himself let them do so without protesting. Further on (v. 15) we see people with no official standing at all, from those set over the work down to the carpenters and masons. They dealt faithfully, much more so than the priests themselves.
Commentators differ on the reason for the delay. One points to the job itself: asking people for money under an obligation.
It is commendable, however, that Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord (v. 4). He gathered the priests and Levites and ordered them to collect money from the people for the cost of the repairs. He told them to do this quickly (v. 5). However, this was not done quickly. It may be that they had no heart for demanding money from the people, because people generally resist such demands. It is the principle of law-keeping, which always awakens resistance in people's minds.
The same writer points to what did work: giving that nobody forced.
This method proved effective. People came and gave freely, with no one pressuring them. This is the principle of grace shown us in the New Testament. Believers are not required to give. They are told of definite needs, and then told, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). A demand is not made, but encouragement is given.
Joash's measure was not his own good idea. He went back to what Moses had laid down — and that, one writer argues, is still the shape of recovery work.
To Joash the important thing was to go back to the tribute Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. He would not turn aside from the word of the law when it was a matter of honouring the house of God. It is the same in our day. For us, as for Joash, the question is not about starting to build the house, or putting up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. And for that God does not leave us to our own ideas, which would only add new breaches to the old evils.
- Borrowed heart. Joash's zeal was real but rested on Jehoiada's faith rather than his own — the first crack in the chapter.
- Broken house. Athaliah's family had broken up the temple and used its dedicated things for Baal. That is why repairs were needed.
- Slack hands. The Levites did not hurry. The people still worshipped at the high places, and the priests fed on the gifts while the breaches stayed open.
- Wrong lever. A demand for money awakens resistance. Giving that is invited, not demanded, is what worked.
- Right measure. Joash went back to what Moses had laid down. Recovery work is repairing breaches by God's word, not inventing something new.
And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said to him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the tribute of Moses the servant of Jehovah [laid upon] the congregation of Israel, for the tent of the testimony?
Joash was hidden as a baby, crowned as a boy, and set his heart on repairing a temple that Athaliah's family had stripped and wrecked. Twenty-three years later the work still was not done, and the king's question here rebukes the high priest himself — the man closest to God's house.
The order itself was clear. One writer notes that the response was not:
It is commendable that Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord (v. 4). He gathered the priests and Levites and ordered them to go out to the cities of Judah. They were to gather money from the people to pay for the repairs, and to do it quickly (v. 5). However, this was not done quickly. It may have been that they did not have a heart for demanding money from the people, because people generally resist such demands. It is the principle of law-keeping, which always awakens resistance in people's minds.
The striking thing here is who gets corrected. Joash owed his life to Jehoiada, and he still calls him to account. One writer traces the king's boldness back to what he had read at his coronation:
This neglect continued until the twenty-third year of Joash. It seems he had not neglected to read the "testimony" given to him at his coronation. True to what he had learned in the word of God, he did not hesitate to correct even the high priest if he was negligent in carrying it out, for that Word is above all. He owed his uncle a lasting debt of gratitude, since Jehoiada had saved his life as an infant. Even so, when the occasion required, he could ask him, as God's high priest, to do his duty and repair that house God had set him over. I wish he had kept this mind to the end of his reign.
One writer looks at where the offerings were going:
They did have the right to live from the things offered at the altar. But in their hearts their own interests came before those of the Lord and of His house, and their conduct showed it. They lived from their gifts, and the house of God kept its breaches. Jehoiada himself let them do so without protesting. Further down (v. 15) we see people with no official standing, from those set over the work down to the carpenters and masons. They "dealt faithfully," much more so than the priests themselves.
Joash does not invent a new scheme. He points back to a command written in the wilderness:
To Joash the important thing was to go back to "the tribute of Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness" (2 Chr. 24:9). He would not turn aside from the word of the law when it came to honouring the house of God and all that belonged to it. It is the same in our day. Like Joash, we are not asked to begin building the house, or to set up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. And for that God does not leave us to our own ideas, which would only add new breaches to the old evils.
Joash's zeal here is real, but it did not survive the man who shaped it.
All the days of Jehoiada the priest, Joash did right in the sight of the Lord. He even seems to take the lead, giving the command to repair the damage Athaliah had done (2 Chron. 24:6-11). But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. The heart is like a bow held bent: it springs back to its normal shape the moment the pressure stops.
Another writer points to the gap between great achievement and daily duty:
The energy of faith may, so to speak, establish a kingdom. Yet at the same time it may fail to keep up the ordinary duty of those who serve God. How often this happens! Joash was faithful at the start of his reign, but he still walks more by Jehoiada's faith than by his own. After the high priest died, he leaned on the princes of Judah, served idols, and even put to death the son of Jehoiada, through whom the Holy Spirit had testified against him.
- Command. Joash gave a clear order to collect and repair quickly, and no one carried it out. Good instructions are not finished work.
- Correction. The king's question reaches past rank and past personal debt. The Word he had learned stood above both.
- Cause. The men nearest the altar lived off the gifts while the breaches stayed open. Their own interests had moved ahead of God's house.
- Standard. The remedy was not a new plan but the old written one: the tribute Moses laid on Israel. Our own ideas only add fresh damage.
- Collapse. Joash's obedience leaned on Jehoiada, not on his own faith. Remove that support and the bent heart springs back.
For the wicked Athaliah [and] her sons had devastated the house of God; and also all the hallowed things of the house of Jehovah had they employed for the Baals.
Young King Joash pressed the priests to collect money for the temple. This verse breaks in to explain why the building was in such a state. Athaliah's sons had wrecked God's house, and gifts set apart for the Lord had gone to Baal. Two questions follow: how did God's own house come to this, and what does a person do who inherits a ruin he did not cause?
The verse explains the size of the job facing Joash.
Joash confronted Jehoiada: the priests and Levites had not done as they were told, and the need was plain. Athaliah and her sons had stolen the dedicated things of the temple to use them in the worship of Baal (v. 7), and restoring the temple was bound to be expensive.
The verse does not only name Athaliah; it labels her. One writer traces that label back to the home she came from.
answer:
"That wicked woman" is the character given to this Athaliah by the Holy Spirit in 2 Chronicles 24:7. She was just such a daughter as her infamous mother, "that woman Jezebel," was likely to produce. Her father was himself a murderer, and she carried the family character in full. She heartlessly slaughtered her own grandchildren in her lust for power. She would be ruler of the kingdom herself, even at the cost of the lives of helpless and innocent children.
Athaliah did not appear from nowhere. One writer traces her family line, her marriage, and how she came to rule.
Daughter of Jezebel and Ahab, and granddaughter of Omri, wife of Jehoram king of Judah. You could say she brought the worship of Baal into Judah, and she raised her son to follow her evil ways. Jehu killed that son while executing judgment on the house of Ahab. Athaliah then seized the throne and tried to destroy the whole royal line. One child, Joash, was hidden in the temple. After Athaliah had reigned six years, they crowned him king... The history is a solemn instance of the danger of an unholy alliance.
The family that stripped God's house did not keep what they took. One writer sees no puzzle in their end.
Is it any wonder that God allowed Jehu to wipe them out?... God's judgment passed like a violent wind, sweeping everything away in Israel and Judah. The instruments of this judgment were the fleshly zeal of Jehu and the wickedness of Athaliah's idolatrous heart. Both produced the same result — massacre and murder. These instruments, especially Athaliah, imagined that they were carrying out their own plans. In the end they were only the sword of the Lord, vindicating the holiness of His character by this destruction. And God will break the sword when it has finished its work. In breaking it He shows that He is a righteous God who does not leave crime unpunished.
Twenty-three years passed before the repairs began. Joash then put the question to Jehoiada, the high priest who had saved his life as a baby, and gratitude did not silence him.
It seems that what little was given was misused for the support of the priests and Levites. This neglect went on until the twenty-third year of Joash... Joash was true to what he had learned in the word of God. He did not hesitate to correct even the high priest if the priest was careless in carrying it out. That Word is above all. He owed his uncle a lasting debt of gratitude for saving his life as an infant. Even so, when the occasion required, he could ask him, as God's high priest, to do his duty about the needed repairs of that house over which God had set him. Would God that he had continued in that mind to the end of his reign.
The damage in this verse was not the end of the story.
The leading work of Jehoash's reign was the repairing of the temple. This had become necessary because the family of Athaliah had broken it up and used the dedicated things in the worship of Baal (2 Chron. 24:7). The king made the first move, but the priests' neglect made the work almost impossible. Then Jehoiada took up the work in earnest, and the people gave freely. They collected a large sum and used it only to repair the temple. When the repairs were finished, they used what was left to buy the sacred vessels (2 Chron. 24:14).
- Alliance. The wreckage of God's house traces back to a marriage. Athaliah came into Judah's royal family from Ahab and Jezebel. Baal worship came with her — "a solemn instance of the danger of an unholy alliance."
- Ruin. Her sons broke into God's house and stripped it, so the building itself needed costly repair.
- Robbery. The theft was bad; the destination was worse. They gave what was set apart for the Lord to Baal.
- Reproof. Joash quotes this history to the very priest who had saved his life. Gratitude did not excuse a man from his duty. The written Word stands above all.
- Repair. The story does not stop at loss. A willing people gave, the house was mended, and the money left over bought new vessels for God's service.
And the king commanded, and they made a chest, and set it at the gate of the house of Jehovah without,
Joash's temple repairs had stalled: the money he ordered collected never came in, and the wrecked house of God stayed wrecked. So the king changed the method. A chest at the gate replaced the collectors sent out to the towns.
One writer traces the stall to what happens in people when money is required of them:
He gathered the priests and Levites. He ordered them to go out to the cities of Judah and collect money from the people to pay for the repairs. He told them to do this quickly. However, this was not done quickly. Perhaps they had no heart for demanding money from the people, because people generally resist such demands. It is the principle of law-keeping, which always awakens resistance in people's minds.
Another writer points to a second drain on the work, and to how long it dragged on:
What little was given seems to have been misused to support the priests and Levites. This neglect continued until the twenty-third year of Joash.
The order came from Joash, and it came out of what he had been taught. He was ready to press even the high priest — his uncle, who had saved his life as a baby — to do his duty:
He stayed true to what he had learned in the word of God. So he did not hesitate to correct even the high priest, if the high priest was slow to carry it out. That Word is above all. He owed his uncle a lasting debt of gratitude for saving his life as a baby. Yet when the occasion required it, he could ask him to do his duty as God's high priest. That meant making the needed repairs to the house God had set him over. If only he had stayed in that frame of mind to the end of his reign.
The chest stood outside, at the gate, where anyone could give. Nobody was forced. One writer sees here the pattern the New Testament sets for giving:
This method proved effective. People came and gave freely, with no pressure on them. This is the principle of grace shown us in the New Testament. Believers are not required to give. They hear of definite needs, and they are told, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). There is no demand, only encouragement.
The chest was no new invention of Joash. What it received was the collection Moses had laid on Israel in the wilderness:
To Joash the important thing was to go back to "the tribute of Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness" (2 Chr. 24:9). He would not turn aside from the word of the law when it came to honouring the house of God and everything connected with it. It is the same in our day. For us, as for Joash, it is not a question of beginning to build the house, or of putting up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. For that work God does not leave us to our own ideas, which would only add new breaches to the old evils.
The giving was glad, and nobody watched the money with suspicion:
It commended itself to the people's conscience, as what is of God usually does. They gave as the Lord loves to see His people give — cheerfully… No one kept strict accounts. There was no suspicion of dishonesty or misuse. The most beautiful confidence prevailed, showing the work of God. When it is the work of God, the heart is engaged. Selfish ends are absent. There is one common object, and all this produces confidence.
This was Joash at his best. His good ran only as far as the influence of Jehoiada the priest:
All the days of Jehoiada the priest, Joash did right in the sight of the Lord. He even seems to take the lead, giving the command to repair the damage Athaliah had done (2 Chron. 24:6-11). But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. Like a bow held bent by force, the heart springs back to its natural bent the moment the pressure stops.
- Demand stalls. The order to go out and collect produced nothing. A requirement awakens resistance in people.
- Invitation flows. A chest at the gate left people free, and they gave cheerfully.
- The Word ruled. Joash acted on what he had learned from Scripture. He pressed even the high priest with it, because that Word stands above all.
- Repair, not reinvent. The chest received the collection Moses had already laid down — God does not leave us to our own ideas when breaches need mending.
- The heart decides. The work went well while Jehoiada lived, but outside influence, however holy, never changes a heart.
and they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring to Jehovah the tribute of Moses the servant of God [laid upon] Israel in the wilderness.
Joash is repairing the temple, and a chest now stands at its gate. Why reach back centuries for an old law? And why did this work where the king's earlier orders failed?
The tax in this verse was not invented for the repair fund. It comes from an old census law.
When the children of Israel were numbered in a census, each individual was required to pay to the Lord half a shekel as a ransom for himself. It is called "atonement money." We may wonder about this. Atonement was made by the blood of the sacrifice offered, and yet this atonement money was required too. This individual requirement was to press home on every person that atonement costs something. Of course half a shekel is nothing compared with the price the Lord Jesus paid in giving Himself. But the rich were not to give more, nor the poor less, than half a shekel. All stand on exactly the same basis in the matter of atonement.
Joash did not invent a new way to fund the work. He went back to the command already written in the law, and that choice still speaks today.
To Joash the important thing was to go back to "the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness." He would not turn aside from the word of the law when it came to honouring the house of God and everything connected with it. It is the same in our day. For us, as for Joash, it is not a question of beginning to build the house, of putting up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. And for that God does not leave us to our own ideas, which would only add new breaches to the old evils. In the Word of God we too have our tribute of Moses, showing what God expects of us.
Earlier the king had told the priests and Levites to collect money from the towns. Nothing happened.
It may have been that they did not have a heart for demanding money from the people, because people generally resist such demands. It is the principle of law-keeping, which always awakens resistance in people's minds.
The chest at the gate changed everything. Now the people knew the need, and each giver chose his own answer.
This method proved effective, for people came to give voluntarily without pressure being put on them. This is the principle of grace shown us in the New Testament. There believers are not required to give. They learn of definite needs, and then they are told, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). A demand is not made, but encouragement is given.
The response was not only large. The way the people gave mattered too.
It commended itself to the people's conscience, as what is of God usually does, and they gave as the Lord loves to see His people give — cheerfully. … No one demanded strict accounts. No one suspected dishonesty or misuse of the money. The most beautiful trust prevailed, and it showed the work of God. When it is the work of God, the heart is engaged; selfish ends are absent.
Not everyone shared the king's zeal. The men nearest the sanctuary cared least for it.
The priests were using for their own benefit the gifts they received from their acquaintances. They did have the right to live from the things offered at the altar. But in their hearts their own interests came before those of the Lord and of His house. Their conduct showed this. They lived from their gifts, and the house of God kept its breaches.
While Jehoiada the priest lived, Joash did right and even led the repairs. But the reform rested on another man's faith.
External influence, however holy, can never change the heart. The heart is like a bow held bent: it springs back to its normal shape the moment the pressure stops. How often this solemn fact is seen in Christian families! How often a son leaving the godly restraints of his father's house plunges with greater eagerness into the sinful pleasures of the world!
- Ransom. The collection Joash revived was atonement money. Rich and poor paid the same half shekel, each a ransom for himself.
- Repair. Joash did not invent a funding plan. He returned to what was written, and repaired breaches instead of building anew.
- Request. Demanding money bred resistance. A chest at the gate and an open call brought plenty — God loves a cheerful giver, not a forced one.
- Rejoicing. What is of God commends itself to the conscience. The people gave cheerfully, trusting one another so fully that no one checked the accounts.
- Root. The priests served their own interests, and the house kept its breaches. Joash himself gave way once Jehoiada was gone. Outside pressure can repair a building; only a changed heart lasts.
And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in and cast into the chest, until they had finished.
A chest is set out, word of the need goes out, and the whole nation answers. This is the turning point of the chapter: the earlier effort to repair the temple had gone nowhere, and the new way of asking changed the people.
Joash had already sent the priests and Levites to collect money from the towns of Judah. Nothing happened. One writer explains why.
It is commendable that Joash set his heart on repairing the house of the Lord. He gathered the priests and Levites and ordered them to go out to the cities of Judah and gather money from the people to pay for the repairs. He told them to do this quickly. However, this was not done quickly. Perhaps they had no heart for demanding money from the people. People generally resist such demands. It is the principle of law-keeping, which always awakens resistance in people's minds.
This time the king demanded nothing. He set a chest where all could reach it, made the need known, and left the people free.
This method worked, for people came and gave freely, with no one pressuring them. This is the principle of grace shown us in the New Testament. There believers are not required to give. They are told about definite needs, and then told, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). A demand is not made, but encouragement is given. The leaders rejoiced in this, and so did all the people. They gladly brought their gifts and put them into the chest.
The gift asked for was not the king's own idea. It was the tax Moses had laid on Israel in the wilderness.
It commended itself to the people's conscience, as what is of God usually does, and they gave as the Lord loves to see His people give — cheerfully.
One writer sees a pattern here for our own day:
For Joash the important thing was to go back to the tax Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness. He would not turn aside from the word of the law when it came to honouring the house of God and all that was connected with it. It is the same in our day. For us, as for Joash, the question is not about beginning to build the house, or putting up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. For that God does not leave us to our own ideas, which would only add new breaches to the old evils. In the Word of God we too have our tribute of Moses — the sign of what God expects of us. If our hearts are willing, they will seek only one thing: the interests of Christ and of the house of God on earth.
The people gave until they had finished, and the supply outran the need. The extra money went into furnishing the house.
The willing-hearted people gave more than enough. "And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made utensils for the house of the LORD, both for the service and for the burnt offerings."
The same spirit marked the men who spent what the chest held.
No strict accounts were kept. There was no suspicion of dishonesty or misuse. The most beautiful confidence prevailed, showing the work of God. When it is the work of God, the heart is engaged. Selfish ends are absent. There is one common object. All this produces confidence.
This bright day belongs to the years while Jehoiada the priest lived. Athaliah, named below, was the usurper who had seized the throne before Joash and was put to death. One writer marks the limit of what even a holy influence can do.
All the days of Jehoiada the priest, Joash did right in the sight of the Lord. He even seems to take the lead, giving orders to repair the damage that Athaliah had done. But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. Like a bow released, the heart springs back to its normal bent the moment the pressure stops.
- Demand stalls. The order to collect money from the towns went nowhere. A demand awakens resistance.
- Freedom flows. A chest and a plain word about the need released what pressure could not. God loves a cheerful giver.
- The word directs. Joash went back to what Moses had laid down. The aim was repairing breaches, not building something new.
- Grace overflows. Willing hearts gave more than the repairs needed. The extra became vessels for the house.
- Hearts remain. Joy in giving did not change Joash himself. When Jehoiada's influence ended, the old bent returned.
And it came to pass at the time the chest was brought for the king's control by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king's scribe and high priest's officer came, and they emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to its place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.
The chest outside the temple gate has done its work, and the money is coming in faster than one emptying can hold. The daily routine around that chest raises two questions: how does God's work get funded, and who handles the money?
The first plan had failed, and not because the people were stingy. Writers note that the money already flowing in was being absorbed by those who collected it.
The priests were using for their own benefit the gifts they received from their acquaintances. They did have the right to live from the things offered at the altar. But in their hearts their own interests came before those of the Lord and of His house, and their conduct showed it. They lived off their gifts, and the house of God kept its broken walls. Jehoiada himself let them do it without protesting.
The chest changed how the money came in.
This method proved effective. People came to give voluntarily, and no one put pressure on them. This is the principle of grace shown us in the New Testament. Believers are not required to give. They learn of definite needs, and Scripture tells them, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). There is no demand, only encouragement.
"Much money" in the chest is treated as evidence about the givers, not just about the size of Judah's economy. The proclamation had reached their consciences.
It commended itself to the people's conscience, as what is of God usually does, and they gave as the Lord loves to see His people give — cheerfully.
The verse names two officials at the chest, one from the palace and one from the priesthood. They counted the money together.
It filled up more than once. The king's scribe and the high priest put the money into bags and counted it. They were a necessary witness to the amount gathered.
Yet the careful counting at the chest did not become suspicion toward the builders who received the money.
They kept no exacting accounts. No one suspected dishonesty or misuse of the money. The most beautiful confidence prevailed, and it showed the work of God. When it is the work of God, the work engages the heart. Selfish ends are absent. There is one common object. All this produces confidence: "And they did not ask for an accounting from the men into whose hand they delivered the money to pay out to the workmen, for they dealt honestly."
Each day the officials emptied the chest and put it back, so the work never waited for money. One writer traces that smooth progress to a single cause.
Those who held the money to hand out to the workers did not distrust them. Their whole conduct had brought their unselfishness to light. So a happy fellowship reigned among them all, and nothing came in to hinder the steady progress of the work. That result always follows when people put the interests of the house of God first instead of pushing them into the background.
This is Joash at his best, and the chapter does not let that impression stand alone. His energy lasted exactly as long as the man beside him.
As long as Jehoiada the priest lived, Joash did right in the sight of the Lord. He even seems to take the lead, and he gives the command to repair the damage Athaliah had done (2 Chron. 24:6-11). But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. The heart is like a bow held under strain: it springs back to its normal bent the moment the pressure stops. How often this solemn fact is seen in Christian families!
- Blocked — the first plan failed. Those who handled the gifts put their own interests ahead of the Lord's house, and the broken walls stayed broken.
- Opened — a chest and a public announcement replaced a demand. People gave freely, because God loves a cheerful giver.
- Filled — the abundance in the chest says something about the givers. What is of God reached their conscience, and they gave cheerfully.
- Guarded — two officials counted every emptying, a necessary witness to the amount. Yet no one asked the builders for accounts, for they dealt honestly.
- Finished — then forfeited — the work moves where God's house comes first. But Joash's zeal leaned on Jehoiada, and outside influence never changes a heart.
And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of Jehovah, and they hired masons and carpenters to renew the house of Jehovah, and also such as wrought in iron and bronze, to repair the house of Jehovah.
Joash had ordered the temple repaired, and here the money turns into work. The verse raises the questions every repair raises: who holds the money, who does the work, and how far each side can trust the other.
These were not routine repairs. The rulers before Joash had stripped the temple, so the bill was large.
Joash told Jehoiada plainly that the priests and Levites had not done what they were told, for the need was obvious. Athaliah and her sons had stolen the dedicated things of the temple to use in the worship of Baal (v. 7). So repairing the temple was bound to be expensive.
Each day's check of the chest turned up plenty, and the repairs did not drag on.
Checking the chest each day, the king's officers found plenty of money. Where there was a mind to do the work, the restoration of the temple was soon finished (v. 13).
The masons hired here were skilled tradesmen. One reference work points to the evidence still standing in Jerusalem:
Some of these stones are still in place. They are finely shaped and squared, and they fit so closely that you cannot slide a pen-knife between them, though there is no mortar. This is the work of the "stone-squarers," and in stones so large it shows great skill in the masons.
The men holding the tools come out better here than the religious leaders do. Money had been reaching the priests while the building stayed broken.
The priests were using for themselves the gifts they received from their acquaintances (vv. 7-8). They did have the right to live from the things offered at the altar. But in their hearts their own interests came before those of the Lord and of His house, and their conduct showed it. They lived on their gifts, and the house of God kept its breaches. Jehoiada himself let them do so without protesting. Further on (v. 15) we see people with no official position — from those set over the work down to the carpenters and masons — who "dealt faithfully," much more so than the priests themselves.
The result reached further than clean accounts.
On the other hand, those who had the money in hand to distribute to the workers did not distrust them, for they recognised the unselfishness brought to light by their whole conduct. So a happy fellowship reigned among all, and nothing came in to hinder the orderly progress of the work. This is always the result when the interests of the house of God come first instead of being pushed into the background.
One writer warns against making that trust a rule for handling money today:
The question will arise: "Should the example of these people of long ago be the pattern for us to follow today?" The answer is "No." The times of Joash and of Josiah were exceptional. In each reign a great spiritual revival was going on. The people — or at least a remnant of them — were turning back to their God after many years of grave wrongdoing. Hearts and consciences were awake to His holy will. Since this was so, precautions against fraud were hardly needed.
The verse names the king and the priest together. The drive behind the work may have come from Jehoiada.
In this project it must have been Jehoiada's influence that moved Joash, since Jehoiada was in charge of the service of the temple.
That is why the good start did not last. A borrowed faith collapses when the person it leans on dies.
Joash was faithful at the beginning of his reign. Still, he walks more by Jehoiada's faith than by his own. After the high priest's death he leans on the princes of Judah, serves idols, and even puts to death the son of Jehoiada, through whom the Holy Spirit had testified against him.
Joash was not founding something new. One writer draws the line straight to God's people now:
For us, just as for Joash, it is not a question of beginning to build the house, of setting up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. And for that God does not abandon us to our own initiative, which would only add new breaches to the old evils.
- Ruin — the temple's dedicated things had been stolen for idol worship, so the repairs cost a great deal.
- Repair — the task was never to build something new, only to mend the breaches. God does not abandon us to our own initiative there.
- Hands — the money hired masons, carpenters and metalworkers. Where there was a mind to do the work, it was soon finished.
- Trust — workmen with no official standing proved more faithful than the priests, and the men handing out the funds had no cause to suspect them. One writer adds that such freedom from precautions suited a time of revival, not every time.
- Warning — Joash leaned on Jehoiada's faith. When the priest died, the king turned to idols and killed Jehoiada's son. Repairing God's house is no substitute for faith of your own.
So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in its state, and strengthened it.
Here the money in the chest turns into work. Masons, carpenters and metalworkers are paid, and the long-neglected house of God is made sound again. Two questions follow. Why did a work delayed so long suddenly move? And why did the king who started it not finish well?
The method of collecting mattered. One writer explains why the money came in:
This method proved effective. People came and gave willingly, and no one pressured them. This is the principle of grace shown us in the New Testament. There believers are not required to give. They are told of definite needs, and the word to them is, "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver" (2 Cor. 9:7). That is not a demand but an encouragement. The leaders rejoiced in this, and so did all the people. They gladly brought their gifts and put them into the chest.
The delay had a cause. One writer contrasts the priests, who had a lawful income but the wrong priorities, with the men who did the work:
The priests were using for themselves the gifts they received from their acquaintances. They did have the right to live from the things offered at the altar. But in their hearts their own interests came before those of the Lord and of His house, and their conduct showed it. They lived from their gifts, and the house of God kept its breaches. Jehoiada himself let them do so without protesting. Later we see that people with no official position, from those set over the work down to the carpenters and masons, "dealt faithfully," much more so than the priests themselves.
The record says nothing about checking the men who handled the money. One writer reads that silence as evidence:
They kept no strict accounts. No one suspected dishonesty, or money going astray. The most beautiful confidence prevailed, and that showed the work of God. When it is the work of God, the heart is engaged. Selfish ends are absent. There is one common object, and all this produces confidence.
The workmen restored the existing house and strengthened it. They did not start a new one. One writer carries that distinction into the present:
It is the same in our day. Our task, like Joash's, is not to begin building the house or to put up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. For that God does not leave us to our own ideas, which would only add new breaches to the old evils.
The work went quickly once it began. One writer gives the reason:
The king and Jehoiada gave the money to those in charge of the service of the house of the Lord, and they hired masons, carpenters and iron and brass workers. When there was a mind to do the work, the restoration of the temple was soon accomplished.
The house was repaired, but the king who repaired it did not hold his course. One writer names the test of a work that is truly of God:
Flesh may be even more zealous than faith. But there is this difference: faith continues, while the effort of flesh is short-lived. It may begin well, but the question is whether it continues. Its continuance is always the great proof of what is divine. Joash did not continue as he began. We are told that after his good effort on the neglected repairs of the house of Jehovah, he relaxed.
- Willing gives. The repairs moved when giving became a free offering instead of a demand. That is the pattern of grace: each gives as he has decided in his heart.
- Self-interest stalls. The priests lived off the gifts while the house kept its breaches, and even Jehoiada let it pass. Wrong priorities, not empty pockets, caused the delay.
- Trust builds. They kept no strict accounts, and no one suspected theft. In God's work the heart is engaged and there is one common object, and that produces confidence.
- Repair, don't replace. The task is not to start a new house but to mend the breaches of the old one. And God does not leave us to our own ideas.
- Finish inwardly. Zeal in the flesh can begin well and still collapse. Continuing is the proof that a work is divine, and Joash did not continue.
And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada; and they made of it vessels for the house of Jehovah, utensils to minister, and with which to offer up, and cups, and utensils of gold and silver. And they offered up burnt-offerings in the house of Jehovah continually all the days of Jehoiada.
A whole chapter of collecting, hiring and building ends here with money left over, a set of new vessels, and an altar back in use. Then comes a quiet clause that ties the whole revival to one man's lifetime.
The verse opens with money left over. One writer credits the givers, and adds that the priests had their own portion.
The willing-hearted people gave more than enough. And the priests were not left without provision: "The money from the guilt offerings and the money from the sin offerings was not brought into the house of the LORD; it belonged to the priests" (2 Kings 12:16).
The same writer looks at how they handled the money once it came in.
They kept no exacting accounts. No one suspected dishonesty or misuse of money. The most beautiful confidence prevailed, and that showed the work of God. When it is the work of God, the heart is engaged; selfish ends are absent.
The new vessels were made of gold and silver. One writer explains what each metal stands for in worship.
Articles of gold speak of that which is strictly for God's glory, and articles of silver speak of the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. These ought to be most prominent in worship.
The verse ends not with a finished building but with a restarted service. The repairs were the means; the burnt offerings were the point.
When the repair work was done, money still remained. With it they added articles of gold and silver for serving in the temple. The temple now had its true place, and so burnt offerings went up there continually all the days of Jehoiada.
King Joash did not invent his plan. He went back to what Moses had laid down, and one writer applies that pattern to Christians today.
For Joash the important thing was to go back to "the tax that Moses the servant of God laid on Israel in the wilderness." He would not turn aside from the word of the law when it came to honouring the house of God and everything connected with it. It is the same in our day. Like Joash, we are not asked to start building the house, or to set up a new Church. It is only a matter of repairing the breaches. For that God does not leave us to our own ideas, which would only add new breaches to the old evils.
The offerings lasted as long as Jehoiada lived. One writer reads that limit as a warning about zeal that starts well.
Flesh may be even more zealous than faith, but then there is this difference: faith continues; the effort of flesh is short-lived. It may begin well, but the question is whether it continues. Its continuance is always the great proof of what is divine.
Knowledge and godly habits are not the whole story. One writer names what can still be missing.
Knowledge and real piety do not make up for the lack of a direct relationship of the soul with the Lord. The Christian must seek this before all else. Thousands of godly souls stay in a childlike state. They lean first on their parents, and later on their spiritual leaders, instead of leaning on God and the Word. If the leader disappears, their godliness disappears with him. If he turns aside, their soul turns aside after him.
- Heart first. Willing hearts gave more than enough. Where the heart is engaged in God's work, selfish ends drop away and trust replaces suspicion.
- Surplus turned to service. The money left over became vessels of gold and silver. Gold speaks of what is strictly for God's glory; silver speaks of redemption in Christ.
- The altar was the goal. Repairing the house was never the finish line. Once the house had its true place, burnt offerings went up continually.
- Repair, don't reinvent. Joash went back to what Moses laid down. The pattern for God's people is never to build something new but to mend the breaches by the Word.
- Borrowed faith has an expiry date. Everything here lasted "all the days of Jehoiada." Flesh can be more zealous than faith, yet only faith continues. So lean on God Himself, not on the godly person beside you.
And Jehoiada grew old and was full of days, and he died; he was a hundred and thirty years old when he died.
Jehoiada the priest put the rightful heir on Judah's throne and protected him for a lifetime. Here he dies at 130, and the rest of the chapter asks what becomes of a king once his guide is gone.
The verse measures Jehoiada twice — by age, and by what filled those years. One commentator links the honour of his burial to the record of his service. Only faith, he adds, could move a man of that age to act.
"And they buried him in the city of David among the kings (as well they might), because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward His house" — He had remembered the claims of the Holy One of Israel, and he attended to them with energy and faithfulness. Only the energy of faith could explain a man nearly a hundred years old setting himself to overthrow such an enemy of God as Athaliah.
Athaliah was the ruler Jehoiada removed so that the rightful heir could reign. Taking her on was not the work of a man winding down.
Jehoiada was a priest, not a king. Yet they buried him among the kings, and one writer finds the reason in the way he used his power.
At his death he was buried among the kings, because he had truly acted as a good king (v. 16). He never took the place of king himself. He gave that place to the rightful heir to the throne, while guiding him well all the days of his life.
The same writer sets Jehoiada beside two high priests we meet much later, in the New Testament:
What a contrast between him and those other two high priests, Annas and Caiaphas! He worked to keep the royal line alive; they worked to destroy the final Heir — "great David's greater Son." And when the time of rewards comes, what will be the unspeakable differences!
You would expect such a loss to make Joash more loyal, not less. One writer says as much:
We should expect that Joash would keenly feel the loss of the man through whom he had been so greatly blessed. In mourning his death, he would surely mean to go on following his example.
The opposite happened. The good in the young king's reign had been resting on another man's faith.
Joash was faithful at the start of his reign. Still, he walks more by Jehoiada's faith than by his own. After the death of the high priest, he leans on the princes of Judah, and he serves idols. He even puts to death the son of Jehoiada, through whom the Holy Spirit had testified against him.
Jehoiada's oversight had shaped Joash's public conduct without reaching his heart. One writer explains why with a picture, then brings it home to families today.
But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. The heart is like a bent bow: it springs back to its normal shape the moment the pressure stops. How often we see this solemn fact in Christian families! How often a son leaves the godly restraints of his father's house! He then plunges into the sinful pleasures of the world with all the more enthusiasm!
Jehoiada's death raised one question: whose faith had been holding Joash up? One writer states the principle plainly — good examples help, but they cannot carry you.
Second-hand faith will never do. There must be a living link connecting the soul with God. Each of us must deal with God for ourselves, or we shall give way when the testing time comes. Human example and human influence may be all very good in their place… But suppose that is all. Suppose there is no deep spring of personal faith and personal knowledge. Suppose there is no link of personal relationship and communion, formed and sustained by God. Then, when the human props go, when the tide of human influence ebbs, when general decline sets in, we shall give up the confession of His name.
The story ends by setting Jehoiada's burial beside that of the king he saved.
Jehoiada, the protector of Joash, had been buried with the kings (v. 16). Joash was king, yet he was not buried with the kings. The people saw that he did not deserve the burial Jehoiada had — even though they themselves had followed Joash into idolatry. How sad was the end of the man who wanted to please the people rather than to please God!
- Propped — Joash did right, but he leaned on Jehoiada's faith instead of his own.
- Removed — Once the prop was gone, the king leaned on the princes of Judah, then served idols, then killed Jehoiada's son.
- Unchanged — Outside influence never changes a heart. Like a bent bow, the heart springs back the moment the pressure stops.
- Personal — Second-hand faith gives way when testing comes. The remedy is a living link with God of your own.
- Weighed — Jehoiada never claimed a crown, yet he lies among the kings for the good he did toward God and His house. Joash wore the crown, and the people judged him unworthy of that grave.
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.
Jehoiada the priest hid the baby Joash from Athaliah, crowned him, and guided his early reign. He died at a hundred and thirty, and the nation buried a priest among its kings — so why this honour for a man who never wore a crown?
One writer looks back over Jehoiada's long life and finds both faithfulness and courage in it.
He had remembered the claims of the Holy One of Israel, and attended to them with vigour and faithfulness. It could be nothing other than the energy of faith for a man nearly a hundred years old to set himself to overthrow such an enemy of God as Athaliah.
Jehoiada held real power for years while the king was a child. What he did with that power explains his grave.
At his death they buried him among the kings, because he had really acted as a good king (v. 16). He did not take the place of king himself. He gave that place to the rightful heir to the throne, yet he influenced him for good all the days of his life.
The same writer weighs what Jehoiada had restored before he died.
He re-established the kingdom, and the cause of the Lord revived during his last days on earth. He was a true king in heart and mind. It was fitting that the old priest's head, with its priestly turban, should rest among those who had worn the crown.
The verse names two directions for his good: toward God, and toward His house. One writer gives two grounds for the burial — family ties and the work itself — and notes what surfaced once Jehoiada was gone.
He was connected by marriage with the royal house. They also valued the great work he had done, "because he had done good in Israel, and toward God and His house." So they buried him among the kings. After his death it became clear that the revival had rested on the good priest. Joash's convictions and faithfulness to the Lord were only skin-deep.
Joash did right "all the days of Jehoiada" — and that time limit is the whole story. One writer names what was really holding the king up.
Yes, but it was more the influence of Jehoiada than faith in the living God. An influence, sooner or later, must fail. The influence of man is not the faith of God's elect.
Another writer gives the reason influence cannot hold, and turns it on the home.
But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. The heart is like a bent bow. It springs back to its normal shape the moment the pressure stops. How often we see this solemn fact in Christian families! How often a son leaves the godly restraints of his father's house and plunges with greater eagerness into the sinful pleasures of the world!
Jehoiada's death exposed Joash. The same warning reaches anyone who leans on a person to keep their spiritual life standing.
Thousands of godly souls stay in a state of childhood. They depend first on their parents, and later on their spiritual leaders, instead of depending on God and the Word. If the leader disappears, their godliness disappears with him. If he turns aside, their soul turns aside after him.
The remedy is not a better leader, but a person who never changes.
Leaders may change or fail; Christ alone does not change: He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is "the great shepherd of the sheep." He is the one we must hold on to.
The chapter ends with a second burial, and with the king shut out of the royal graves.
The people had buried Jehoiada, the protector of Joash, with the kings (v. 16). But Joash was king, and they did not bury him with the kings. They saw that he did not deserve the burial Jehoiada had, even though they had followed Joash in his idolatry.
- Good — The verse gives one reason for the honour: he had done good in Israel, toward God and toward His house. He kept God's claims in view and met them with vigour.
- Grave — They laid a priest among kings because he had acted as a good king. He held the power and handed it to the rightful heir.
- Gone — The revival had rested on him. Once he died, Joash's faithfulness proved only skin-deep.
- Grip — Outside influence never changes the heart. A bent bow springs back the moment the pressure stops.
- Guide — Leaders change or fail; Christ does not. Hold on to Him, not to the person who first taught you about Him.
And after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and made obeisance to the king; then the king hearkened to them.
For as long as Jehoiada the priest lived, Joash did what was right. Now Jehoiada is dead, and the princes of Judah are at the king's side, bowing low. The rest of the chapter answers one question: whose faith had Joash been living on?
Joash's good years rested on one man. When that man was gone, his life changed direction. One writer traces the collapse to the person the king had been leaning on.
Joash was faithful at the start of his reign. Even so, he walks more by Jehoiada's faith than by his own. After the death of the high priest, he leans on the princes of Judah, and serves idols. He even puts to death the son of Jehoiada, through whom the Holy Spirit had testified against him.
The princes did not argue with the king or threaten him. They bowed. One writer reads that bow as flattery, and shows where listening to it led.
While Jehoiada, his uncle, lived, Joash did what was right. But Jehoiada dies. After that, "the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king" — that is, they flattered him — "then the king listened to them." Their evil influence led Joash to his ruin, as princes had before led Rehoboam. Joash gave in to their flattery, and no doubt to their requests as well. So "they abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols." How short the step from what looks like outward godliness to open evil!
Joash's earlier obedience was real. But pressure from outside held it in place, and the same writer says why that could not last.
But external influence, however holy, can never change the heart. The heart is like a bent bow: it springs back to its normal shape the moment the pressure stops. How often we see this solemn fact in Christian families! How often a son leaves the godly restraints of his father's house, and plunges with greater eagerness into the sinful pleasures of the world!
Joash began well, and for a while he was zealous. One commentator names the test that shows whether such zeal comes from God.
The flesh may be even more zealous than faith, but there is this difference: faith continues; the effort of the flesh is short-lived. It may begin well, but the question is whether it continues. Its continuance is always the great proof of what is divine. Joash did not continue as he began… But here, even, we find the influences, the destructive influences, of the princes of Judah. "The king listened to them," it says, after the death of Jehoiada. They turned from the house of the LORD to idols, and "wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs."
One writer names the habit behind the king's fall, and then turns to families today.
From childhood on, Joash was used to a relationship with God through someone in between. He never felt the need for direct communion with the Lord… Children of Christians often show this same picture. Their parents' faith guides their first steps, which is right and approved by God. Later they show a genuine faith, but it still carries its early habits. They look to people rather than to God Himself… Knowledge and real godliness are no substitute for a direct relationship between the soul and the Lord. The Christian must seek this above everything else. Thousands of godly souls stay in a condition of childhood. They depend first on their parents and later on their spiritual leaders, instead of depending on God and the Word. Let the leader disappear, and their godliness disappears with him; let him turn aside, and their soul turns aside after him… Joash obeyed leaders without discernment, whether Jehoiada or the princes — and that was his ruin.
The same writer points to the alternative that does not fail.
Leaders may change or fail; Christ alone does not change: He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is "the great shepherd of the sheep." It is to Him that we must cling.
- Leaning wrongly. Joash leaned on Jehoiada's faith, not his own. When the priest died, he shifted his weight to the princes of Judah.
- Leaning on flattery. Their bow before the throne was flattery. The king listened, and it led him to ruin, as princes had earlier led Rehoboam.
- Leaning exposed. Outside influence, however holy, never changes a heart. Remove the pressure and the bent bow springs back.
- Leaning proved. The flesh can out-zeal faith for a while, but only faith continues — and continuing is the proof that a work is from God.
- Leaning rightly. Leaders change or fail. Christ does not, and clinging to Him is what no funeral can take away.
And they forsook the house of Jehovah the God of their fathers, and served the Asherahs and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
And he sent prophets among them to bring them again to Jehovah, and they testified against them; but they would not give ear.
Judah had abandoned the temple they had only just repaired, and God's wrath came on them for it. Then He sent prophets — so what does God do with people He has already sentenced, and why would they not listen?
The order matters. Wrath comes first, and the messengers come after.
This is what man is like in his corrupt nature! But the gracious Lord did not give them up. His righteousness demanded judgment, yet in infinite mercy He sent prophets to bring them back. These unnamed prophets testified against them, but they would not pay attention. They hardened their hearts against the Lord and His prophets.
There is a reason He keeps sending, and it is not that the judgment has been called off.
The nation follows the king. But God is still patient with Joash and with his people. He sends prophets to them. The judgment is very near, and as certain as their sin, yet He remembers His covenant with them.
Joash was faithful while Jehoiada the priest was alive. So what was that faithfulness resting on?
As long as Jehoiada the priest lived, Joash did what was right in the Lord's sight. But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. The heart is like a bow held bent: it springs back to its own shape the moment the pressure stops. How often we see this solemn fact in Christian families! How often a son leaves the godly restraints of his father's house and plunges into the sinful pleasures of the world with even greater eagerness!
They would not hear the prophets. But the king had already been listening to someone else.
Sadly, Joash had only formally accepted Jehoiada's leadership. He did not follow the faith and example of Jehoiada. Instead of standing firm for God, he listened to the leaders of Judah. They came and bowed down to him, meaning to draw him back into the worship of idols. How many since him have been more swayed by a desire to please men and therefore forget to please God!
The unnamed prophets of this verse were not God's last word to Joash. He also sent a messenger the king had every natural reason to hear.
His mercy and patience are clearest toward Joash. God sends him a special messenger. This man has a strong natural claim on him, and Joash would listen to him more closely than to anyone else. The All-wise God knows how to use natural feelings for His purposes of mercy. When those feelings are trampled on, it shows all the more how much power Satan has over man. Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada and a cousin of the king, carries God's message and rebuke.
Judah's refusal did not begin with these prophets.
We must catch the least warning. We must listen to the smallest whisper of God's voice and obey it quickly. There are always warnings that we have neglected before chastisement comes.
Judah's refusal ended with Zechariah murdered in the temple. Centuries later, Jesus laid that blood at the feet of men who were not yet born.
The Lord Jesus spoke of this solemn event to the scribes and Pharisees. He spoke of "the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar" (Matt. 23:35). Barachiah may have been Zechariah's grandfather, but we have no record of Jehoiada's father. Why did the Lord Jesus accuse the scribes and Pharisees of murdering Zechariah, when this had happened years before? Because they were showing the same cruel, unbelieving attitude toward God. They opposed Christ, an infinitely greater Messenger than Zechariah was. By their attitude they were identifying themselves with those who hated God.
- Wrath. Judah had earned judgment, and God had already announced it. The verse begins after the sentence, not before.
- Yet. His righteousness demanded judgment. In mercy He still sent prophets to bring them back, because He remembered His covenant.
- Reach. When Judah ignored the unnamed prophets, God sent the king's own cousin, Zechariah. He uses natural ties for His purposes of mercy.
- Refusal. A heart held straight only by someone else's influence springs back when the pressure lifts. Joash chose to please men, and would not pay attention to God.
- Result. The same refusal turned up in the men who opposed Christ. Rejecting the messenger put them among those who hated God.
And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood up above the people and said unto them, Thus saith God Wherefore do ye transgress the commandments of Jehovah? And ye cannot prosper; for ye have forsaken Jehovah, and he hath forsaken you.
After Jehoiada the priest died, the king he had raised turned away, and Judah went back to idols. Here God makes His last appeal before judgment: the Spirit takes hold of a priest's son, who stands above the crowd and asks why.
The verse does not say Zechariah decided to speak. It says the Spirit of God clothed him. Other men were lifted out of ordinary life the same way, for one moment of testimony.
There were others like Gideon, Amasai, and Zechariah. The Spirit clothed Himself with them for the time being, so that He might witness through them… But in all these cases the Spirit acted on men from the outside. He used them for His purpose without regard to their inner moral character.
The words are not a fresh sentence God invented for Joash. They repeat terms Judah already knew. The covenant had two sides. God's part never fails, and Israel's does.
Both sides had to keep this covenant. The LORD always keeps His side, for He is faithful. But if Israel were unfaithful, they would certainly fall under the judgment of God, who must forsake them.
That is why the warning is framed as a cause, not a mood: they cannot prosper because they have left Him.
Since this was spoken by a priest of God who was Jehoiada's son, we should expect Joash at least to pay serious attention, but instead Joash issued the command to stone Zechariah to death in the court of the house of the LORD!
God did not pick a stranger to carry this warning.
God is still patient with Joash and with his people. He sends prophets to them, for though the judgment is so near, and as certain as their sin, He remembers His covenant with them. He sends a special messenger to Joash — one who has a strong natural claim on him, and who would be listened to more closely than anyone else. The All-wise God knows how to use natural feelings for His purposes of mercy. When those feelings are trampled, that is even greater evidence of Satan's power over man. Zechariah, son of Jehoiada and a cousin of the king, carries God's message and rebuke. Humanly speaking, the king owes his life to Jehoshabeath, and he will listen to her son, if only out of gratitude, even though he pays no attention to the One who sent the words.
The messenger's standing should have guaranteed a hearing.
A priest of God, Jehoiada's own son, spoke these words. We should expect Joash at least to pay serious attention. Instead he gave the command to stone Zechariah to death in the court of the house of the LORD! So Joash was guilty of despising the blessing he had received through Jehoiada, and of coldly rejecting the God of Israel.
Joash had done right for years. But what held him up was not his own trust in God. It was a good man standing beside him.
Yes, but it was more the influence of Jehoiada than faith in the living God. An influence, sooner or later, must fail. The influence of man is not the faith of God's elect.
The pattern did not end with Joash.
The case of King Joash shows this. A faith based only on training vanishes once the influences holding it up are gone.
Jesus spoke of "the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar." Did He mean this Zechariah, or a later prophet with the same name? Commentators differ. One line of reading points to the place of Chronicles in the Hebrew Bible:
This probably refers to Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, whom the king ordered killed. In one of the places "son" may mean "grandson." Chronicles closes the Hebrew Bible, so this murder of a righteous man may well count as the last, just as Abel's was the first.
Others hold that the father's name points elsewhere:
It seems clear that this refers to Zechariah the prophet, son of Berechiah. Another Zechariah, son of Jehoiada, died as a martyr in the court of the temple. But the son of Berechiah prophesied much later, to the remnant that had returned.
- Sent — Judah ran after idols. God sent prophets before He sent judgment, and this man came last.
- Spirit — Zechariah did not volunteer. The Spirit clothed Himself with him for that moment and bore witness through him.
- Cause — the warning names a reason, not a fate. They could not prosper because they had left the LORD. The covenant had two sides to keep.
- Mercy — God picked the speaker with the strongest claim on the king's heart. Trampling that tie showed how far Joash had fallen.
- Collapse — Joash ran on Jehoiada's faith, not his own. Borrowed faith fails when the person holding it up is gone.
And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the command of the king in the court of the house of Jehovah.
Joash owed his throne and his life to Jehoiada the priest, who guarded him as a child and made him king. Now that same king orders the stoning of Jehoiada's son in the temple courtyard. Two questions follow. How did a reign that began so well end in murder? And why did the Lord Jesus later lay this death at the feet of people born centuries afterwards?
Joash began well. One writer contrasts faith with mere human energy, which he calls the flesh:
Flesh may be even more zealous than faith. But there is this difference: faith continues, while the effort of flesh is short-lived. It may begin well, but the question is whether it continues. Its continuance is always the great proof of what is divine. Joash did not continue as he had begun.
Before judgment fell, God sent prophets. The last one had a claim on the king that no other messenger had. Zechariah was the king's cousin, and the son of the man who saved his life.
His mercy and patience are clearest toward Joash, for He sends him a special messenger. This man has a strong natural claim on the king, who would hear him and listen to him closely beyond all others. The all-wise God knows how to use natural feelings for His purposes of mercy. When those feelings are trampled on, that is so much greater evidence of Satan's power over man.
The warning came through a man the king had every reason to hear. His answer shows how far he had already gone.
A priest of God spoke this, and he was Jehoiada's son. So we would expect Joash at least to pay serious attention. Instead Joash issued the command to stone Zechariah to death in the court of the house of the Lord! So Joash was guilty of despising the blessing he had received through Jehoiada and coldly rejecting the God of Israel.
The verse fixes the blame exactly: the crowd threw the stones, but the order came from the king.
What ingratitude! What treachery toward the son of his own close relative, the man who had guarded his life! The Spirit of God records it in words that touch the heart: "Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness that Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son."
Zechariah died asking God to see and repay. Within a year a small Syrian force destroyed the princes who had led the king astray. Joash's own servants then killed him in his bed.
And He did, and quickly too — for He does not ignore the dying prayers of men like Zechariah.
Zechariah's last words are often set beside Stephen's.
There is a difference between the last words of this martyr-prophet and the last words of the first martyr of the church. Stephen prayed, "Lord, do not hold this sin against them." Zechariah said, "May the Lord see and avenge!"
Why the difference? One writer points to what had changed between the two deaths:
Zechariah died in a time ruled by law, where "every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution." Grace reigned in Stephen's day, as it still does in ours. That is why the two dying prayers differ. Both prayers, unlike as they are, exactly fitted the time in which each man bore witness.
Jesus charged the scribes and Pharisees with the blood of "Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar." He was reaching back to a killing long past. Matthew names the father as Barachiah, while Chronicles calls Zechariah the son of Jehoiada. One writer sets that puzzle beside the far weightier charge:
It may be that Barachiah was the grandfather of Zechariah, but we have no record of Jehoiada's father. Why did the Lord Jesus accuse the scribes and Pharisees of murdering Zechariah? It had happened years before. Because in opposing Christ they showed the same cruel, unbelieving attitude toward God. And Christ is an infinitely greater Messenger than Zechariah was. By their attitude they were identifying themselves with those who hated God.
- Zeal fades. Joash began well but did not continue. Human zeal can burn hotter than faith for a while. Only what lasts proves to be from God.
- Mercy sent. God chose the one messenger the king could least ignore. He used family ties to call Joash back before judgment fell.
- Mercy refused. The king answered the warning with stones, in the temple court, by his own command. He despised the blessing he had received and rejected the God of Israel.
- Mercy repaid. Zechariah asked God to see and repay. The answer came fast: a small Syrian force, a wasting disease, and murder by his own servants.
- Mercy refused again. Centuries later, men who opposed a far greater Messenger took the guilt of that old blood as their own.
And king Joash remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, Jehovah see and require [it]!
Joash owed his life and his crown to Jehoiada the priest. This verse records how he paid that debt — with the blood of Jehoiada's own son, killed in the temple court. Two hard questions follow: how did a reign that began well end in murder, and what do we make of a dying man's cry for God to avenge him?
The order came from the throne, and it fell on a man tied to Joash by blood and upbringing.
"At the commandment of the king"! How sad — Joash was unfaithful to God, and shamefully ungrateful to the man who had done so much for him! Zechariah was his cousin, and his foster-brother too!
God chose the one messenger the king had every human reason to hear.
God is still patient with Joash and with his people. He sends prophets to them, for He remembers His covenant with them — even though the judgment is so near, and as certain as their wickedness. His mercy and patience show most clearly toward Joash. He sends him a special messenger: a man with a strong natural claim on him, a man Joash would hear and take seriously beyond all others… The all-wise God knows how to use natural feelings for His purposes of mercy. To trample on those feelings is so much greater evidence of Satan's power over man.
Joash did right while Jehoiada lived. One writer explains why that kind of goodness never holds.
But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. Like a bow held under strain, the heart springs back to its normal bent the moment the pressure stops. How often we see this solemn fact in Christian families! How often a son leaves the godly restraints of his father's house! He then dives all the harder into the sinful pleasures of the world.
Zechariah dies asking God to see and avenge. One writer sets that prayer beside two later deaths.
As Zechariah died, he said, "May the LORD see and avenge!" (v. 22). This was consistent with his being under law. How different were the words of the Lord Jesus at His death: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). How different, too, were the words of Stephen as they stoned him: "Lord, do not hold this sin against them" (Acts 7:60). But God answered Zechariah's prayer, and serious consequences fell on Joash and his kingdom.
Another writer reads the same cry forward rather than backward, as the voice of a coming generation of martyrs.
Zechariah said, "May the LORD see and avenge!" In type he stands for the tribulation martyrs of the Jewish remnant. They will bear the testimony about righteousness and the coming King at the end of the present age, and their blood will cry to heaven for vengeance (Rev. 6:9-11).
The prayer was not left hanging. The answer came fast, and from more than one direction.
"May the LORD see and avenge!" And He did, and very quickly too. He does not ignore the dying prayers of men like Zechariah. "… For the army of the Syrians came with few men, and the LORD delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash… his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest."
Jesus brought this murder up again centuries later.
The Lord Jesus referred to this when He spoke to the scribes and Pharisees: "the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar" (Matthew 23:35). Barachiah may have been Zechariah's grandfather, but we have no record of Jehoiada's father. Why did the Lord Jesus accuse the scribes and Pharisees of murdering Zechariah, when this had happened years before? They were showing the same cruel, unbelieving attitude toward God. They opposed Christ, a messenger infinitely greater than Zechariah. By their attitude they were identifying themselves with those who hated God.
Judgment fell. But this chapter is about more than a score settled.
Retribution is an essential part of God's government, and we can see it in 2 Chronicles 24:25. But something matters even more than repayment. The line of kings, the sons of David, was wicked at the time, and their position only increased their guilt. Yet that line had to be kept until He comes — the great Son who will reign in righteousness.
- Owed — Joash owed his life and crown to Jehoiada. That is the kindness the verse says he did not remember.
- Forgotten — outside influence never changes a heart. With Jehoiada gone, Joash sprang back to his real bent.
- Rejected — in mercy God sent the messenger with the strongest natural claim on the king. Joash killed him anyway.
- Avenged — God answered the dying prayer fast: a small Syrian force, then murder by his own servants.
- Preserved — repayment is real. The bigger story is the royal line God kept until the Son who will reign in righteousness.
And it came to pass at the end of the year [that] the army of Syria came up against him; and they entered into Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them to the king at Damascus.
A year after the murder of the prophet Zechariah, a Syrian army marched on Judah. It killed the leading men and sent the plunder north to Damascus. Two questions follow. Why did God wait a year? And why did the princes fall first, before the king himself?
The year's gap was not God overlooking the crime. One writer reads it as a pause in which Joash could have changed course. He also places "the end of the year" in the spring.
The Lord gave Joash at least a short time to rethink the folly of his evil course. But there was no change in the unhappy king. In the spring of the year the army of Syria came against him. So Joash had a little time to consider that God's judgment was upon him because of his idolatry and his cruelty to the son of Jehoiada.
Zechariah died asking the Lord to see the crime and to call it to account. Commentators link the Syrian invasion to that dying prayer, and mark how fast the answer came.
"The Lord require it." And He did, and that very quickly — for He does not ignore the dying prayers of men like Zechariah.
Why the leading men first? One writer points back to two things the princes had already done.
All the princes of the people had pushed the king into evil and had plotted against Zechariah. Now they are put to death. So the word that dying prophet spoke came true: "The Lord see and require it."
Joash collapsed fast once Jehoiada the priest was gone. One writer turns that into a warning for ordinary homes.
As long as Jehoiada the priest lived, Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord. He even seems to take the lead, giving orders to repair the damage done to the house of the Lord. But outside influence, however holy, can never change the heart. The heart is like a bow forced into a bend. It springs back to its natural position the moment the pressure stops. How often we see this solemn fact in Christian families!
Syria did not stumble into Judah by accident. One writer explains why so few men were needed.
2 Kings 12:17-18 records an earlier invasion by the Syrians under Hazael. Joash bought him off with gold and other treasures taken from the temple and the king's palace. That was when they found out how weak Joash's army really was, despite its being "a very great host." So they sent only "a small company of men" on the second expedition against him.
The wealth of God's house had already gone out once, as a ransom. It bought Joash nothing.
To pay his ransom to Hazael, Joash sent him all the holy things of the house of God. What had become of his wonderful zeal for everything that belonged to the Lord? Even this did not stop Hazael from showing up at Jerusalem with a small number of men, to the shame and disgrace of Joash's great army. That army now had no strength, because Joash had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.
Why did judgment come so fast? One writer points to the relationship between God and the people He was judging here.
In this whole history we must notice one thing. A God of judgment is governing here directly, because those He judges stood in close connection with Himself.
Commentators call this God's government, and they keep it apart from His grace.
"Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." The sin of sowing weeds may be forgiven, but the reaping must match the sowing. The first is grace, the second is government. Each acts in its own sphere, and neither interferes with the other.
- Required. Zechariah died asking the Lord to see and require it. Within a year the Syrian army came, for God does not ignore such dying prayers.
- Delayed. The year's delay gave Joash time to turn back. It was not proof that God had forgotten. He used none of it.
- Deserved. The princes who pushed Joash into idolatry and plotted Zechariah's death fell first.
- Drained. The king who once repaired God's house saw its treasure go to Damascus. The zeal was gone, and his great army had no strength left.
- Reaped. Judgment moved fast because those judged stood closest to God. Grace can forgive the sin; the harvest still matches the sowing.
Truly with a small company of men came the army of the Syrians, but Jehovah delivered a very great army into their hand, because they had forsaken Jehovah the God of their fathers; and they executed judgment upon Joash.
Joash's reign ends with a defeat that makes no sense on paper. A small Syrian force crushes Judah's far larger army, and the verse says why: the nation had let go of its only real strength.
The verse makes a point of the numbers. Syria's force was small, so no one can put the victory down to human strength.
So it was not might or power; it was God... What was a host against the Lord guiding His people? But now even a small company overwhelms the great host of Judah.
What happens to Judah is the exact reverse of an earlier promise to Israel.
God told Israel that one of them would chase a thousand (Josh. 23:10). This came through faith in the living God, who fought their battles. But by turning away from God they would find themselves much weaker than their enemies. One enemy would chase a thousand of them, and two would put ten thousand to flight (Deut. 32:30).
Judah's collapse was not the first sign of trouble. Joash had already bought off the same enemy once, and it cost him the treasures of God's house.
Hazael, the king of Syria, was God's rod. He came up against Jerusalem after seizing Gath... To pay his ransom to Hazael, Joash sent him all the holy things of the house of God. What had become of his wonderful zeal for all that belonged to the Lord? According to 2 Chronicles 24:23-27, this did not stop Hazael from coming to Jerusalem with a small number of men. It was the shame and disgrace of Joash's great army, now without strength because he had forsaken the Lord, the God of his fathers.
The verse says the Syrians executed judgment. The order matters: God dealt first with the men who had steered the king away from Him.
"May the LORD see and avenge!" And He did, and quickly — He does not ignore the dying prayers of men like Zechariah... The Syrians "came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people." God judged them first, because they were mainly guilty of persuading the king to forsake the Lord... "The king is not saved by his great army," wrote the king (Ps. 33:16) whose throne Joash was so unworthy to fill.
Joash had a good start. But commentators say the start was never his own. He leaned on the faith of Jehoiada, the high priest.
Joash was faithful at the beginning of his reign. Still, he walked more by Jehoiada's faith than by his own. After the death of the high priest, he leaned on the princes of Judah and served idols. He even put to death the son of Jehoiada, through whom the Holy Spirit had testified against him. God forsook Joash, and the Syrians defeated him.
Zeal, then, is not the test. Duration is.
Flesh may be even more zealous than faith, but then there is this difference: faith continues; the effort of flesh is short-lived. It may begin well, but the question is whether it continues. Its continuance is always the great proof of what is divine.
The judgment came fast. That speed fits the way God dealt with a people He had drawn close to Himself.
In this whole history we must notice that a God of judgment is governing directly. He does so because those He judges were in close connection with Himself.
- Forsaking — The verse names one cause of the defeat. It is not Syria's strength. It is Judah leaving the God of their fathers.
- Weakness — Once God is let go, numbers mean nothing. A small company scatters a great host, and the promise that one man would chase a thousand runs in reverse.
- Exposure — Joash had already handed over the temple treasure as ransom. His great army was hollow long before it broke.
- Order — Judgment fell on the princes who had misled the king before it fell on the king himself.
- Continuance — Joash's early zeal ran on Jehoiada's faith, not his own. Lasting faith, not a strong start, is the proof that a work is of God.
And when they had 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 did not bury him in the sepulchres of the kings.
Jehoiada the priest guided Joash for years, and Joash ended his reign by killing Jehoiada's son Zechariah. This verse settles that account: the Syrians wound him, his own servants kill him in bed, and no king's tomb receives him.
Zechariah died asking God to see and repay. One writer traces the whole closing scene back to that prayer.
All the princes of the people who had urged the king into evil and had conspired against Zechariah are put to death. So the word of that dying prophet came true: "May the LORD see and avenge!" The enemy leaves Joash severely wounded, and his own servants kill him — an Ammonite and a Moabite, unknowing instruments of divine justice. This too avenges the blood of the son of Jehoiada upon the king, just as the prophet had said.
Joash had thrown off the authority of the One he owed everything to. What came back to him matched what he had done.
It is little wonder that the death of Jehoash was so tragic. When he rebelled against serving the Lord, his own servants rebelled against him, and as a result of a conspiracy, two of them killed Jehoash. So a reign that began well ended in disgrace and shame.
The invading army wounded Joash and withdrew. One writer reads that restraint as deliberate, and sees the gap before his murder as time to think.
They did not kill him, for God had decided that the poor king's own servants would kill him. They took advantage of his wounds and killed him in bed. So Joash had a little time to consider that God's judgment was upon him because of his idolatry and his cruelty to the son of Jehoiada.
The wound behind this judgment was ingratitude as much as murder.
Was there no conscience in Joash? No feeling of gratitude toward Jehoiada or his family? He did not remember the kindness of the father, but killed the son.
Scripture names the two servants who killed him, and it names their mothers.
If God gives the names of the conspirators, it was not that He took any pleasure in them, though their act may still have carried righteous judgment. He lets us know that they were men who had no feeling for Israel. They had the heart of an enemy under an Israelite name. Zabad was the son of Shimeath, an Ammonitess, and Jozabad the son of Shimrith, a Moabitess. On the mother's side the stock was evil, and a mother has enormous influence for good or evil.
Another writer points at how such men came to be in the palace at all.
Note that Joash's own servants killed him. One was the son of an Ammonitess, the other the son of a Moabitess. Scripture makes a solemn, silent comment here. The same disobedience that could allow such marriages, which the Scriptures strictly forbid, could even bring their children to serve at court.
Kings elsewhere sinned and were spared for decades. Joash is dealt with within a year, and one writer explains the difference by who Joash was.
In this whole history we must notice something. A God of judgment is governing directly here, and that is because those whom He judges were in close connection with Himself.
The chapter ends in blood, yet the royal line does not end.
Retribution is an essential part of God's government, and it stands in plain sight in 2 Chronicles 24:25. But there is something more important still than any such repayment. The line of kings, the sons of David, was wicked at the time, and their position made their guilt greater. Yet that line had to survive until the great Son comes, who will reign in righteousness.
- Cause — Joash forgot the kindness of the father and killed the son. The verse names that blood as the reason he died and lost a king's grave.
- Cry — God heard Zechariah's dying words. The two servants became unknowing instruments of divine justice.
- Closeness — Judgment came fast because Joash stood in close connection with God, not despite it.
- Company — Men with loyalties outside Israel served in his palace. The household he allowed became the hand that killed him.
- Continuity — Retribution is real, yet David's line survived it. That line waits for the great Son who will reign in righteousness.
And these are they that conspired against him Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.
The chapter ends by recording the names of two assassins and their mothers — one mother an Ammonite, one a Moabite. Why does Scripture name the men who killed a king of David's line, and why name their mothers?
The list is not a compliment to the killers. One writer sees in this detail what the two men really were: Israelites by name, enemies at heart.
If God gives the names of the conspirators, it was not that He took any pleasure in them, though their act might not be without righteous judgment. He lets us know that they were men who had none of the feeling of Israel. They had the heart of an enemy under an Israelite name. Zabad was the son of Shimeath, an Ammonite woman, and Jozabad was the son of Shimrith, a Moabite woman. On the mother's side the stock was evil, and a mother has enormous influence for good or evil.
Scripture names the mothers for a reason. God had forbidden those marriages. And the sons of those marriages should never have served the king.
Notice that Joash's own servants killed him. One was the son of an Ammonite woman, and the other the son of a Moabite woman. This is a solemn, silent comment of Scripture on the disobedience behind it. That disobedience could allow such marriages, which Scripture strictly forbids. It could even bring their children into service at the king's court.
The law Willis points back to named these two nations:
The Ammonite and the Moabite were forbidden ever to come into the congregation of Jehovah, and there were a few other restrictions. Deut. 23:1-4.
The same writer turns the naming of these mothers into a word for mothers now:
Notice through these chapters how often Scripture records the name of the mother. Dear mothers, what a weight of responsibility rests on your shoulders. You may not hand it over to anyone else — not even if you were a queen. It is still your own special task to train those precious children, while their hearts are young and tender, in the way the Lord wants them to go.
Joash had put Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada, to death. Zechariah died asking God to see and repay it. These two servants became the answer without knowing it.
All the princes of the people who had urged the king into evil and conspired against Zechariah were put to death. So the word of that dying prophet came true: "Jehovah see and require it." The enemy left Joash himself "in great diseases," and his own servants killed him — an Ammonite and a Moabite. They were unwitting instruments of divine justice. In this way too, God avenged the blood of the son of Jehoiada on the king, just as the prophet had said.
The killing looks like palace politics. One writer sees two things in it at once: man's responsibility, and God's hand over every event.
The Lord rightly repaid Joash for the killing of Zechariah; He required it of him. So each man is responsible for himself and is judged justly. At the same time, every event, even the smallest, is in His hand to control and direct as He pleases. How can man dare to pass judgment on such wisdom as this? Rather let us bow our heads and adore.
2 Kings tells of the same killing, but gives one of the men a different name:
Son of Shimeath, an Ammonite woman: he assisted in slaying Joash, king of Judah. 2 Chr. 24:26. He is called JOZACHAR in 2 Kings 12:21.
The verse belongs to a chapter of payback. But one writer looks past it to what God was protecting.
While retribution is an essential element in the government of God, and plainly appears in 2 Chron. 24:25, there is something more important still than any such repayment. The line of kings, the sons of David, had to continue. They were wicked at that time, and their position made their guilt greater. Yet that line had to stand until He comes — the great Son Who will reign in righteousness.
- Required. Zechariah died asking God to see and repay the wrong. These two names are His answer.
- Requited. God repaid Joash for the blood he shed. Scripture holds him responsible, and every detail stayed in His hand.
- Recorded. God names the conspirators without approving of them — men with an Israelite name and an enemy's heart.
- Rooted. The evil traces back through the mothers: marriages God forbade, and their sons serving at court.
- Reserved. Payback is not the last word. God kept David's line for the great Son Who will reign in righteousness.