…no fairy-tale ending.
God promised a ‘Son of David’- an anointed King who would bring salvation to the Jews.
in 837 BC….
…Joash, the child-King, a descendant of David, has been placed on the throne.
…The wicked Queen Athaliah has been defeated.
…The pagan temple of Baal has been torn down.
Who could blame the Judeans if they had wondered whether Joash was the promised Saviour of the Jewish nation? Indeed, it would appear that ‘The Day of the Lord’ and the ‘Kingdom of God’ had come! Can you imagine how many hopes were pinned on the young King?!
Lets see how Joash got on as Monarch…
Can you remember what life was like at 7 years old? Mine was fairly simple: School, play, dinner, bed. Joash, however, had control over an entire Kingdom at the age of seven! Thankfully- and in God’s grace- he had a brilliant advisor. Jehoida was Joash’s uncle, and also served as Priest.
Under the wise guidance of his uncle, Joash succeeded in repairing the Temple in Jerusalem. He sent news across Judah, asking everyone to donate towards the temple-fund. Surprisingly perhaps, the leaders and the people responded really generously- they were thankful to see a King taking his God-given responsibilities seriously. Day after day, new funds came pouring in. Masons, carpenters and metal-workers were hired. After the work was finished there was still money left over!
The Temple sacrifices continued without fail until the death of Jehoida, aged 130. Because of the great respect and admiration Jehoida had achieved, the people decided to bury their priest in the tombs of the Kings in Jerusalem- this was a great honour.
For the first time in his life, Joash was independent. His friends and princes moved in ‘for the kill’; they started to flatter him and stroke his ego. It didn’t take long before he was eating out of their hands. They advised that he stop worshiping God and start worshiping the Asherim (a false god made of wood and stone). He agreed and quickly abandoned the Lord, taking the rest of the Judeans with him.
The Lord sent prophets to the King, trying to show him his stupidity and sin and convince him to repent. Joash- and the rest of Judah- ignored these messengers.
Jehoida had had a son. His name was Zechariah. Zechariah was a prophet. He went to a busy place in Jerusalem and shouted to all the people,
“Thus says God, ‘Why do you break the commandments of the Lord, so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you."’”
By this point, King Joash’s head couldn’t of gotten any bigger. Remember how Zechariah’s dad, Jehoida, had rescued Joash from Athaliah’s murderous hands? Remember how Jehoida had hidden Joash and been a father to him for all those countless years? Well Joash apparently had forgotten all of this:
While Zechariah was in the Temple, a mob formed and stoned him to death….they were acting under orders from the King.
The Lord saw all of this.
At the end of that very year, the Syrians attacked Judah. Although the invaders were much less powerful than Joash’s army, they gave the Judeans a thrashing. They killed all the princes and looted the Kingdom. Joash was left alive, but wounded. Two of the King’s servants- once loyal and loving towards him- wanted vengeance for the blood of Jehoida’s son. While he was lying in bed, Zabad and Jehozabad crept in and killed the injured monarch.
After a 40 year rule, King Joash was buried- but not in the honourable tomb of the Kings.
Unlike a Disney film, this King didn’t end happily ever after. Why?
Because he wasn’t the promised Saviour-King.
As the Lord had warned the Israelites years before, human Kings would always fail. They would rebel against God. They would covet, steal and murder.
Why did God give the Israelites and Judeans so many many different Kings? Why didn’t he simply send his son, Jesus, so much earlier? I think the reason is simple: we can’t appreciate the solution until we see the problem clearly. It wasn’t until we saw how badly and how wickedly we rule ourselves that we would understand how perfect our true King needs to be.
God’s anointed Saviour could never have been Joash: he was fallible; Jesus is perfect.
When we read about the Jewish Kings, we learn something about Jesus:
- Joash cleaned up the Temple (although he eventually abandoned it again).
- He was really enthusiastic about worshiping God properly (albeit, only for a while).
- He destroyed the power of the Baals (false gods) over the Kingdom (until he decided to start worshiping other false gods instead).
- He made the people happy and satisfied (until he disobeyed God).
When we look at Jesus, we learn how much better than human Kings he is:
- Jesus cleaned up the Temple… in fact, because of Jesus, God came to live inside every Christian: thus fulfilling the very purpose of the temple!
- Jesus is ‘the way, the truth and the life’. Without Jesus, there is NO way of properly worshiping God!
- By rising from the dead, Jesus destroyed the power that death has over our souls. Through Jesus Christ we can have eternal life and freedom from fear and threats!
- Jesus’ disciples and followers rejoiced to be persecuted! Why? Because they had such a wonderful King and Saviour, who promised them a home in Heaven!
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