Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zibiah of Beersheba. And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest… (2 Chron. 24:1-2).
Now after the death of Jehoiada the princes of Judah came and paid homage to the king. Then the king listened to them. And they abandoned the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols. And wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt of theirs. Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. These testified against them, but they would not pay attention (2 Chron. 24:17-19).
Godly friendships are essential for everyone. Joash was seven years old when he became king. Obviously this follows passing on the right to rule to their progeny. But a seven-year-old is in no position to rule a nation. The key was that he had Godly men to advise and direct him. Johoiada was the priest and there were counselors that surrounded him to always keep directing him to do what God revealed. These Godly men directed Joash in such a manner that he “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Johoiada the priest”. Clearly, Jehoiada had the greatest spiritual impact on Joash over these forty years of rule. It may not seem dramatic enough or spectacular enough for our taste, but this was a vital part of the ministry of the priesthood – to keep God’s leaders focused on obedience to God and living faithfully according to His Word.
The lack of Godly friendships makes us vulnerable. After Johoiada dies, things start slipping. The remaining “princes” or leaders of the different tribal groups came to Joash and gave him advice on how to move the nation forward and it was not good advice. Joash listened to them and “they abandoned the house of the Lord and served the Asherim and the idols.” Despite Jehoiada’s investment to guide and speak into Joash’s life, we discover, unfortunately, it does not stick. There was too much pressure from the collective leaders for him to hold true to faithfulness to the Lord. The result is that they gradually slip under God’s wrath for abandoning Him and His Word.
God desires faithfulness to Him above all else. In spite of these ongoing bad decisions by Joash, God keeps on appealing to him to bring the leaders and the people back to repentance and to return to the Lord. But their reaction was typical once anyone gets a few degrees off center – they would not pay any attention to the prophets who were calling them back to the Lord. I remember the words of the Lord in Luke 9:23-26 where he announced that a person can gain the whole world and forfeit his own soul. It is an unnerving thing to be very successful from an earthly framework but fail spiritually.
Be careful who you choose as friends. The struggle here is that Joash probably needed to surround himself with people who could speak truth more directly into his life. It appears that Jehoiada was the one person who kept him on track and once he was taken out of the way, he crumbled under the pressure of ungodly leaders.
Be careful to choose some convictions. Truth from God needs to be embraced in such a way that a person willingly develops convictions that “no matter what,” this is what will direct my life. In our culture we are very fickle (double-minded) and we seem afraid to develop values, convictions, or principles that are unshakable pillars for how we make our decisions. We live in a world where we are so uncertain if we are valuing the right thing that we value nothing. We do not embrace even a small handful of “non-negotiable” guiding truths that we will not violate for anything. Being faithful to the Lord and obeying His word may seem like common sense except that many people never resolve in their mind that “this truth is going to shape how I make decisions”… no matter what.
In His grace, Pastor Brad
