GOD’S JUDGEMENT UPON THE KING AND NATION (2 CHRONICLES 24:22-26)

Dear Members in Christ,

God’s judgement upon the king and nation (2 Chronicles 24:22-26)

Readers, beware! The judgement of God upon those who disobey Him can be swift and deadly. In the foregoing series of articles about King Joash, we read about how he was elevated to the throne at an early age. We read of how the zealous priest Jehoiada deposed the wicked queen Athaliah who had corrupted God’s people by bringing idolatry to the nation. Finally, we read about how quickly one can forget about the kindness that has been shown to them. King Joash apostasized immediately after the priest Jehoiada passed away. The ungrateful king succumbed to the murmuring of the princes and allowed idolatry to gain a foothold once again in the nation.

In this article, we examine the way in which God dealt with the errant king. Firstly, God is always true to His attributes. God showed mercy and grace to the nation by giving them repeated warnings.

“Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.” 2 Chronicles 24:19

Sadly, as the Scriptures record for us, “they would not give ear.” The nation as a whole was so hardened by the years of corruption brought about by Athaliah, that the reforms of Jehoiada and Joash could not take root. In an instant, the people backslided into the filth of idolatry. What was worst, the King Joash shows himself as an ungrateful brat. He allowed the prophet Zechariah to be persecuted and slain. Beware! God’s judgement was about to descend upon the nation and the ungrateful King.

A. God’s hand of judgement upon the nation 

The Spirit of God came upon Zechariah, and this prophet rebuked the nation. We read in 2 Chronicles 24:20 that, “the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.” This was a turning point for the nation. They could have repented and turn to God almighty. Instead, they conspired against Zechariah and stoned him in the court of the temple. By allowing this evil conspiracy to kill Zechariah, King Joash was complicit to the evil deed. The Bible records his guilt thus, 

“Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it. And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.” 2 Chronicles 24:22,23

Judgement time has come! We read in 2 Chronicles 24:24, that “the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.” God judged the nation by allowing it to fall into the hands of the enemies, even when they were numerically superior in military force. What a humiliation for the disobedient nation.

Dearly beloved, let us never forget that we serve a sovereign and omnipotent God. He wills victory or defeat according to His pleasure. The key tenet is that our duty is to obey and submit to Him, an important tenet which King Joash seems to have forgotten.

B. God’s hand of Judgement upon King Joash 

Finally, besides judgement upon the nation in a humiliating defeat, God punished King Joash with the abandonment of his courtiers and with diseases.

“And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings. And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.” 2 Chronicles 24:25,26

The summary is this, God caused the Syrians to attack Judah and Jerusalem and king Joash was plagued with diseases. Finally, his servants conspired against him and killed him.

God judged Joash with an ignominious end for he disobeyed God. We must be mindful to start well and end well in our service. It is easy to start doing good, but end badly because of lack of zeal and love for God. We must be steadfast to the very end. Joash served for the time when his mentor Jehoiada was alive, after that, he fumbled and fell.

Therefore, we learn that love for God and reverence for Him should be our motivation for service. We must serve only for God’s sake and not for man. And we must be mindful to regard highly obedience to God’s Word. May God help us, Amen.

In His Service,
Rev. Lim Seh Beng, Pastor