Filling a godly and fatherly influence that was lacking...

At the church where I serve we are spending our time looking at the lives of kings who were placed in a position of leadership over the Jewish people. And as we look at the lives of these kings, we are going to discover several timeless truths that have the potential to powerfully impact how we live our lives today.  Last week, we looked a man named Jehoshaphat.  And it was in the life of King Jehoshaphat that we discovered the timeless truth that the commitments we make with those who hate Jesus will influence us to make decisions that Jesus hates.

Just as it was for King Jehoshaphat, when we make commitments with those who hate Jesus, those commitments place us in a position where we must honor our commitments.  Because we are influenced by what influences us, just as it was for King Jehoshaphat, when we make commitments with those who hate Jesus, those commitments will influence the decisions that we make as a result of those commitments. And just like King Jehoshaphat, when we make commitments with those who hate Jesus, we will often be influenced to make decisions that go against the message and teachings of Jesus. We will be influenced to make decisions that oppose Jesus, decisions that Jesus hates. 

Now this week I would like for us to spend our time together picking up where we left off last week. After King Jehoshaphat’s death in 848 B.C., his son Jehoram became King over the Southern Kingdom of the Jewish people, where he ruled for eight years. However, during his eight year, King Jehoram led the Southern Kingdom of Judea to trust and follow the false gods of the Northern Kingdom of Israel instead of the one true god.

As a result of his corrupt leadership, the prophet Elijah proclaimed to King Jehoram that he and the Jewish people would be punished for their idolatry and that the king would be was struck with a sever disease that caused his bowels to come out of his body. Now who says the Bible is boring. Two years later, Elijah’s prediction came to pass and King Jehoram was dead.

As a result of King Jehoram’s death, in 841 B.C., the Jewish people made his youngest son Ahaziah King. However, King Ahaziah also followed in the footsteps of his father and led the Jewish people to not only worship the false gods of the Northern Kingdom of Israel, but to go to war with the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

King Ahaziah was wounded in battle and was killed with the King of the Northern Kingdom of Israel by a man named Jehu, who was executing the Lord’s right and just response against the selfishness and rebellion of the Northern Kingdom. And it is in this context that we jump back into a historical account of the Jewish people that is recorded for us in the Old Testament of the Bible called the book of 2 Chronicles, beginning in 2 Chronicles 22:10:

Now when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw that her son was dead, she rose and destroyed all the royal offspring of the house of Judah. But Jehoshabeath the king's daughter took Joash the son of Ahaziah, and stole him from among the king's sons who were being put to death, and placed him and his nurse in the bedroom. So Jehoshabeath, the daughter of King Jehoram, the wife of Jehoiada the priest (for she was the sister of Ahaziah), hid him from Athaliah so that she would not put him to death. He was hidden with them in the house of God six years while Athaliah reigned over the land.

Ezra brings us into this account of the history of the Jewish people by describing how Athaliah, the mother of Ahaziah, seized control of the Southern Kingdom of Judea. Athaliah responded to her son’s death by destroying every possible heir to the throne so that she could rule as queen. However, unknown to Athaliah, one of the sons of Ahaziah was rescued from certain death by a woman named Jehoshabeath, who was the wife of the High Priest of the Jewish people named Johoiada.

And for six years, Jehoiada hid the young child Joash from the evil queen in the Temple. For six years, Jehoiada watched and waited as Queen Athaliah continued to lead the Southern Kingdom to trust and follow false gods instead of the One True God. For six years, Jehoiada watched and waited as Queen Athaliah and her rule lost the support of the religious and military leaders of the Southern Kingdom. For six years Jehoiada watched and waited for the right time to act as young Joash grew up in the safety of the Temple.

Then, in 835 B.C., at the right time, Jehoiada the High Priest led the Temple guard to overthrow Queen Athaliah, who did not have either the military or religious leadership’s backing to remain in power.  And as the evil Queen Athaliah was overthrown, the Jewish people responded with joy and a desire to recommit their lives to following the Lord. The Jewish people destroyed the house of Baal and the false priests who had led the worship of false gods. Jehoiada the High Priest also restored the regular worship in the Temple that had been halted by the evil queen. And it is in this context that we are introduced to the new king in 2 Chronicles 24:1:

Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Zibiah from Beersheba. Joash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest. Jehoiada took two wives for him, and he became the father of sons and daughters.

Here we see Ezra provide a summary statement of King Joash’s rule. Now a natural question that arises here is “how could any nation make anyone a king when they were only seven years old?” That’s a great question. You see, while King Joash was the rightful heir to be king, he was not in a place of maturity where he could be an effective king.

And because of the reality, Jehoiada, the High priest became the fatherly influence that was lacking in King Joash’s life. Jehoiada raised Joash in the ways of the Lord while providing leadership for the Jewish nation until Joash would be mature enough to rule as king. Jehoiada provided guidance and direction for Joash as he grew and matured. Jehoiada also provided for the security of the Jewish people by helping Joash find women who loved the Lord and who would rebuild the family tree of King David that had been decimated by the actions of Queen Athaliah.

Jehoiada basically adopted King Joash and provided, protected, and guided King Joash. And as a result of the selfless action of Jehoiada the High Priest, Ezra tells us that King Joash did right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada’s life. King Joash trusted and followed the Lord while under the godly guidance and influence of Jehoiada.

After providing us a summary statement of the early days of King Joash’s rule, we see King Joash’s actions once he was old enough to take full control of the leadership of the southern kingdom.

Tomorrow, we will examine King Joash’s actions as an adult king…