Who was Joash in the Bible?
Everyone wants their children to make the right decisions. But to to do this, children must first learn to make their own decisions. Making bad decisions helps them to learn to make good ones. If parents make all the decisions for their children, they leave them without the skills for wise decision making when they are on their own. This was a problem that seriously effected Joash. He became so dependent on what he was told that his effectiveness was limited to the quality of his advisers.
When Joash was one year old, his grandmother Athaliah decided to slaughter all her descendents in a desperate bid for power. Joash was the only survivor, rescued and hidden by his aunt and uncle, Jehosheba and Jehoiada. Jehoiada’s work as a priest made it possible to keep Joash hidden in the temple for six years. At that point Jehoiada arranged for the overthrow of Athaliah and the crowning of Joash.
But after Jehoiada’s death, Joash didn’t know what to do. He listened to council that led him into evil. Within a short time he even ordered the death of Jehoiada’s son Zechariah. After a few months, Joash’s army had been soundly defeated by the Arameans. Jerusalem was saved only because Joash stripped the temple of its treasures as a bribe. Finally the kings own officials assassinated him. In contrast to Jehoiada, Joash was not buried among the kings; he is not even listed in Jesus’ genealogy in the New Testament.
As dependent as Joash was on Jehoiada, there is little evidence that he ever established a real dependence on the God Jehoiada obeyed. Like many children, Joash’s knowledge of God was secondhand. It was a start, but the king needed to establish his own relationship with God that would outlast and overrule the changes in the advise he received.
It would be very easy to criticize Joash’s failure were it not for the fact that we often fall into the same traps.
How often have we acted on poor advice without considering God’s Word?
Everyone wants their children to make the right decisions. But to to do this, children must first learn to make their own decisions. Making bad decisions helps them to learn to make good ones. If parents make all the decisions for their children, they leave them without the skills for wise decision making when they are on their own. This was a problem that seriously effected Joash. He became so dependent on what he was told that his effectiveness was limited to the quality of his advisers.
When Joash was one year old, his grandmother Athaliah decided to slaughter all her descendents in a desperate bid for power. Joash was the only survivor, rescued and hidden by his aunt and uncle, Jehosheba and Jehoiada. Jehoiada’s work as a priest made it possible to keep Joash hidden in the temple for six years. At that point Jehoiada arranged for the overthrow of Athaliah and the crowning of Joash.
But after Jehoiada’s death, Joash didn’t know what to do. He listened to council that led him into evil. Within a short time he even ordered the death of Jehoiada’s son Zechariah. After a few months, Joash’s army had been soundly defeated by the Arameans. Jerusalem was saved only because Joash stripped the temple of its treasures as a bribe. Finally the kings own officials assassinated him. In contrast to Jehoiada, Joash was not buried among the kings; he is not even listed in Jesus’ genealogy in the New Testament.
As dependent as Joash was on Jehoiada, there is little evidence that he ever established a real dependence on the God Jehoiada obeyed. Like many children, Joash’s knowledge of God was secondhand. It was a start, but the king needed to establish his own relationship with God that would outlast and overrule the changes in the advise he received.
It would be very easy to criticize Joash’s failure were it not for the fact that we often fall into the same traps.
How often have we acted on poor advice without considering God’s Word? Do you know God? Do you know Jesus?
Are you certain that you are going to heaven? If the answer is no or your not really sure and there is something stirring inside you at this very moment to do this, then all you have to do is say a small prayer and you can be assured of your name being added to the Book of Life. Go to the prayer of salvation and pray the words out loud and believe in your heart and you will be saved.
Joash’s story is told in 2 Kings 1:11 – 14:23 and 2 Chronicles 22:11 – 24:27
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