A godly upbringing does not guarantee a godly life...

This week we have been looking at the life of a former king of the Jewish people named Joash. Wednesday we looked on at the influence that a man named Jehoida had on the life of King Joash and the Jewish people. Jehoiada influenced the Jewish people to overthrow the evil Queen Athaliah. Jehoiada influenced the Jewish people to repent from the worship of false gods to return to the worship of the one true God.

And Jehoiada had incredible influence and impact on the life of King Joash. Jehoiada protected and provided for King Joash at a time when he was most vulnerable. Jehoiada guided King Joash in the ways of God and prepared King Joash for the role and responsibility he would have as king. Jehoiada was a Godly man who provided a godly and fatherly influence to King Joash.

And because of the godly life of influence and impact of Jehoiada, Jehoiada was given a rare honor upon his death. Ezra tells us that upon his death Jehoiada was buried in the city of David among the kings. Jehoiada was buried among the tombs of the Kings of the Jewish people as a sign of the amazing godly influence that he had on the nation and its king, King Joash.

By all accounts, Jehoiada was a godly, husband, father, pastor, and leader of the Jewish people who had prepared King Joash to be a great king. And if King Joash’s story had ended there, King Joash’s story would have been a great story. However, King Joash’s story did not end there. Instead, something happened in the life of King Joash that would result in his story taking a turn for the worse. Something that Ezra records for us in 2 Chronicles 24:17. Let’s look at that together:

 But after the death of Jehoiada the officials of Judah came and bowed down to the king, and the king listened to them. They abandoned the house of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and served the Asherim and the idols; so wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. Yet He sent prophets to them to bring them back to the LORD; though they testified against them, they would not listen.

After the death of Jehoiada the High Priest, King Joash was visited by the political leadership of the Southern Kingdom. The political leadership, whose influence had decreased after the evil Queen Athaliah was overthrown, saw an opportunity to regain influence after the death of Jehoiada. Upon bowing down as an expression of their service to King Joash, Ezra explains that the king listened to these political leaders and their advice. Under the influence of these political leaders, King Joash led the Jewish people to abandon the worship of the one true God to instead turn back to the worship of false gods.

Even though God exercised His right and just response to the selfishness and rebellion of King Joash and the Southern Kingdom; even though God sent a series of His spokesman, called prophets, to call King Joash and the Southern Kingdom to turn from their rebellion and back to the relationship with God that they had been created for; King Joash continued to turn his heart, and the heart of the Southern Kingdom, away from trusting and following God to instead follow the false gods of the previous kings. God, however, continued to pursue King Joash by sending a person who had perhaps the closest family relationship to the King. Let’s meet this man together in verse 20:

Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus God has said, 'Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has also forsaken you.'"

The Lord responded to the rebellion of King Joash by sending Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest. You see, the Lord did not send some stranger as a messenger. Instead, the Lord sent the man who basically was King Joash’s adopted brother. This was a man that Joash had spent his life growing up with. This was a man who was the son of the man who had incredible influence and impact on the life of King Joash. This was the son of the man who had protected and provided for King Joash at a time when he was most vulnerable. This was the son of the man who guided King Joash in the ways of God and prepared King Joash for the role and responsibility he would have as king. 

The message that Zechariah delivered to his adopted brother, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this “Why are you rebelling against God’s commands to worship something other than Him as God? Do you wonder why you are not prospering anymore? Since you have left and abandoned the Lord, He has left and abandoned you”.

Now I want us to imagine ourselves in this event from history as King Joash. Place yourself in his shoes. The son of the man who was an amazing Godly influence in your life and on the nation comes to visit you to urge you to turn from your rebellion and turn back to the relationship with God that you seemed to have before. What would you be thinking? What would you be feeling? How would you respond? We see how King Joash responded in verse 21:

 So they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of the LORD. Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which his father Jehoiada had shown him, but he murdered his son. And as he died he said, "May the LORD see and avenge!"

Joash responded to his adopted brother’s message from the Lord by ordering the people to stone his adopted brother to death in the courtyard of the Temple. Joash did not remember the faithful devotion that Jehoiada had demonstrated to him throughout his life. Instead Joash repaid the faithful devotion and godly example of his adopted father by murdering his son. And as Zechariah was being murdered he cried out to God to see the injustice of King Joash and avenge his death. We see how God responded to the murder of Zechariah as this event from history concludes in verse 23:

 Now it happened at the turn of the year that the army of the Arameans came up against him; and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, destroyed all the officials of the people from among the people, and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. Indeed the army of the Arameans came with a small number of men; yet the LORD delivered a very great army into their hands, because they had forsaken the LORD, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash. When they had departed from him (for they left him very sick), his own servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and murdered him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings.

Within a year of King Joash murdering Zechariah, Ezra tells us that the Aramean army, which was located in what is now modern day Syria, invaded the Southern Kingdom. And even though the Aramena army seemed outmatched, God delivered the Southern Kingdom into their hands because they had forsaken the Lord. Just as Zechariah had said, the Lord had left and abandoned King Joash as a result of Joash leaving and abandoning the Lord. Along with plundering the city of Jerusalem, the Aramean army destroyed all the political leaders that had influenced King Joash and left King Joash badly wounded.

And as King Joash attempted to recover from his wounds, his own servants murdered the king. You see the servants of King Joash recognized the evil that the king had committed against the son of Jehoiada, who was a godly man who raised King Joash in the ways of God. Ezra tells us that, unlike Jehoiada, who was buried among the tombs of the Kings of the Jewish people as a sign of the amazing Godly influence that he had on the nation and its king, King Joash was buried apart from the tomb of the kings. Unlike Jehoiada, who was buried in honor upon his death, King Joash was buried in dishonor.

Now a natural question that arises here is this: “What happened? How could King Joash, who had a godly father, pastor, and leader of the Jewish people to prepare him to be a great king, turn out to be such a bad king? How could King Joash, who was raised in such a godly environment, turn out to leave god out of his life? You see, it is in the life of King Joash that we see God reveal for us a timeless truth that has the potential to powerfully impact how we live our lives today. And that timeless truth is that a godly upbringing does not guarantee a godly life. Just as it was for King Joash; just as it has been for humanity throughout history; a godly upbringing does not guarantee a godly life.

And while we may not like this timeless truth, intuitively we know this to be true, don’t we? We can all probably think of examples where this timeless truth has played out, can’t we? Just as it was for King Joash, being raised in a home with godly parents who follow Jesus and provide a godly influence does not guarantee a godly life. Just because parents follow Jesus and attend church, that does not guarantee a godly life for the children.

Parents, while we are to follow Jesus with integrity and raise our children according to the message and teachings of Jesus, there is no guarantee that our children will embrace and follow Jesus.  At some point, children need to make the decision to own their own faith in a way that believes trusts, and follows Jesus as Lord and leader.

So here is a question to consider: Children, students, how would you describe your relationship with Jesus? Is your relationship with Jesus based on your parent’s faith? Or is your relationship with Jesus based on the fact that you own your own faith by believing, trusting and following Jesus as Lord and Leader? Parents, are you following Jesus with integrity and providing a godly influence for your children?