Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest.

2 Chronicles 24:2

For Meditation

It was the quickest regression of character that has never ceased to amaze me. After all the good old priest Jehoiada had done for him, how could King Joash turn away from the Lord so quickly to serve those lifeless idols? How could he repay Jehoiada by assassinating Zechariah, Jehoiada’s son?

Joash should not have lived beyond the carnage perpetrated by his grandmother, wicked queen Athaliah, on the royal family, but for the timely intervention of Jehosheba, his auntie, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (2 Chron. 22:10-12).  When Joash was at the tender age of seven, Jehoiada moved to install him as king and pushed Athaliah out by assassinating her (23:1-15). Through a series of reforms, the old priest guided the young king to purge the nation of Baal worship and restored the temple worship of the Lord (24:4-14).

Young King Joash followed the Lord all the years of Jehoiada, his mentor. But when he died, Joash turned to idolatry, following the advice of his elders (17-18). Isn’t it so sad?

The issue for personal inquiry and reflection is the faith of King Joash under the mentorship of Jehoiada. Did he take time to personally know the Lord under the godly mentorship of the old priest? What was all the posturing about when the Levites delayed in the repairing project of the temple (6)?

It is so easy to take a free ride on the faith of one’s parents or a mentor while they are around. The real test comes when your faith gets challenged on the college campus, in the fast lanes of city life, or the oppressive demands of corporate corridors. When the officials come to pay you homage and shower praises on you as they did to King Joash, can you stand against their subtle prodding to embrace their wicked ideas against what you have learned about Christ from infancy (18)? Or will you embrace the juvenile advocacy of your friends and reject the wise counsel of the mature as King Rehoboam did and brought about the schism of the Jewish kingdom (10:1-19)?

That is the deceptiveness of the “I was born into a Christian family” syndrome and the casual “I have accepted Jesus as my Lord and personal Savior” profession these days. It is the reason why Paul’s call for self-examination is so urgent.

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Cor. 13:5).