2 Kings 12:1-21

Joash was a good king in Judah especially when we compare him to his father and grandfather.  However, 2 Kings does not tell us the entire story of his life and we will see that at the end of his reign he was evil and very ungrateful.  Joash is an all too common example of a king who started well but did not finish well.  Unfortunately this is also very common in the lives of many believers and Christian leaders today.  Pride seems to seep into the hearts of men who start well and they often end up finishing very poorly.  God does not want this to be true of our lives.  Perhaps there are some indicators in the life of Joash that point to the problem.

JOASH PRACTICED PARTIAL OBEDIENCE: In the very beginning of his reign Joash did a great fob of doing away with the worship of Baal.  The worship of Baal was blatant idolatry that was a direct affront to God.  However, Joash did not do away with the “high places.”  This was another form of idolatry that was not as open as the worship of Baal.  These were simply unauthorized places of worship that may have originally been established to promote the worship of God outside of the synagogue.  God had given strict instructions as to how and where He wanted the people to worship.  The high places were direct disobedience to those instructions and eventually became a hotbed for idolatry.  We must never become tolerant of any sin in our lives as it will eventually drag us down into additional sin.   

JOASH PRIORITIZED BUILDING REPAIRS: The Temple had fallen into disrepair so he commanded the priests to collect money from the people and use them to make repairs.  This was a decentralized effort that did not work.  After two decades the repairs had not been made so Joash called for a centralized system where all funds were given in one place and distributed directly to the workmen.  The repairs were made to the structure, but new basins and other objects that were used in sacrifice or worship were not made.  Perhaps this indicates a greater concern over the physical structure of the temple than the actual worship and sacrifice that were the true heart and soul of the temple.  Building projects are necessary in churches today but they can be dangerous as they can distract us from the clear purpose of our ministries which must be to promote the worship of God in the world.

JOASH PACIFIED THE ENEMY WITH GIFTS: When Joash was threatened by the attack of an enemy king the first thing that he did was to gather most all of the items from the temple and pay the warring king off.  I believe that this demonstrates a lack of confidence and trust in the Lord for protection.  Joash takes matters into his own hands and pays off the king instead of praying to the Lord for help and seeking God’s solution to the problem.  We must be careful not to trust in our own means and methods when struggles come.  We must learn to seek the Lord and allow Him to be the source of our strength and our refuge.