After Jehu killed Ahaziah, his mother (who was Ahab's daughter) seized the throne for herself and had all of her grandchildren killed to secure her position. Her daughter was able to hide the youngest of her nephews and he was raised by she and her husband Jehoiada the high priest. At the age of seven, he was proclaimed king and was a godly king as long as he was under the influence of Jehoiada. 2 Chronicles 24:2 says that "Joash did what was pleasing in the Lord's sight throughout the lifetime of Jehoiada the priest". One facet of this that I can't reconcile, is that Jehoiada gave Joash two wives. He was the high priest, which certainly does not mean that he was infallible. He was human after all, and in the end, that's the only explanation for it. Polygamy, particularly among royalty, was so rampant in that culture that it must have seemed very conservative to allow just two wives. Jehoiada was about 100 years old at this time, and had certainly been alive long enough to see the downside of having multiple wives. .It's a shame that monogamy was not the idea that replaced polygamy in his mind. He 'downgraded" the sin to bigamy, but we know that sin is sin, whether it's a little or a lot.
That issue aside, Jehoiada must have had a powerful influence over Joash because after his death, Joash was quickly persuaded to undo Jehoiada's work toward eliminating pagan worship. Furthermore, he was convinced to kill Jehoiada's son! Joash was an example of borrowed faith. He had been riding the coat-tails of Jehoiada's faith, and when he no longer had those coat-tails to ride, he completely fell away from God. It's like a vacuum was created when Jehoiada died and took his faith with him. And in the absence of a faith of his own, Joash was susceptible to any ideology that would fill the void. Same phenomenon as college students abandoning the faith of their parents as soon as they are on their own. Tragic consequences in either case.
Tomorrow's reading: 2 Kings 13:1-25, 12:17-21; 2 Chron. 24:23-27
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I am having a very hard time keeping track of particular kings and who was following God, who is not, and who changes. And part of me is wondering "what is the point of all this?" God provided some of this answer in a daily devotional I received yesterday from Os Goodman regarding Asa specifically, but can be applied to several of the kings of which we are reading, and of course, us.
ReplyDelete"Asa was the king of Judah from 912-872 B.C. He reigned for 41 years and was known as a good king who served the Lord with great zeal. He reformed many things. He broke down idol worship to foreign gods; he put away male prostitutes and even removed his own mother from being queen because she worshiped an idol. The Scriptures say that as long as he sought the Lord, the Lord prospered his reign.
However, Asa was not totally faithful in his calling. There came a time in his life when he made a decision to no longer trust in the God of Israel. He lost his confidence in God as his deliverer. The prophet Hanani came to Asa to inform him that God's blessing was no longer on his life because of an ungodly alliance he had made.
There are no guarantees that if we began well we will finish well. The life of Asa tells us this. It is only through God's grace that we can be faithful to our calling. Each of us is capable of falling away from God. Pray that God will keep you faithful to the purposes He has for your life. He strengthens those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. "