2 Chronicles 24:15 - Meaning and Application

Here we have a sad account of Joash’s decline and turning away from God. God had done great things for him, and Joash had also done something for God, but now he proved ungrateful and broke the promises he had made. It is a sorrowful thing to see great promise fade like this.

The first cause of his falling away was that his good counselor was removed from him by death. Jehoiada had lived a long life, 130 years (2 Chronicles 24:15), which means he was born in Solomon’s time and had lived through six whole reigns before this one. It was a mercy to Joash and to the kingdom that Jehoiada lived so long, because he had trained the king in the right way. At his death, Jehoiada was honored by being buried among the kings, and the tribute to him was that he had done good in Israel. Judah is called Israel here because the other tribes had rebelled from God, so Judah alone remained truly Israelite. It is a great honor to do good in one’s own generation, and those who do good will be spoken well of for it.

Jehoiada had done good toward God’s house by restoring the temple service (2 Chronicles 23:8). Of course, no person can truly add to God’s greatness, but he can do good to God’s work among people. Those who spend themselves to promote religion do the greatest good for their country. Yet when Jehoiada died, the little religion Joash had was buried with him, and both king and kingdom quickly declined. This shows how much one faithful leader can support, and how great a loss it is when godly, useful people are taken away. It also shows how necessary it is to have inward faith, a real principle in the heart, so that we keep going through every change. Then the death of a parent, minister, or friend will not mean the death of our religion.

Bad advisers then came around Joash. They worked their way into his affections, flattered him, bowed to him, and congratulated him on being free from Jehoiada’s discipline. They told him he would not be priest-ridden anymore, and that he could now do whatever he pleased. The sad part is that the princes of Judah were the ones who pushed him into evil (2 Chronicles 24:17). His father and grandfather had been corrupted by the house of Ahab, and that was bad enough. But for the princes of Judah to become seducers of their king was deeply wicked. Those who listen to ungodly advice will not lack ungodly advisers. They flattered the king into thinking he had absolute power and could make his own will into law, no matter what God had commanded. Joash listened to them because their words pleased him more than Jehoiada’s teaching had done. Many princes and ordinary people have been led into ruin this way, lured by promises of liberty and honor that ended in shame and slavery.

The apostasy itself was this, they left the house of God and served groves and idols (2 Chronicles 24:18). The princes likely asked the king for permission to restore the pagan worship, but only after Jehoiada was dead, when they thought no one would object. They were tired of the plain old worship of the temple and wanted their idols back. Joash did not only allow it, he joined them in it. The king and princes, who had recently been repairing the temple, now abandoned it. Those who had once torn down the groves and idols were now serving them. This shows how unstable human nature is, and how little trust should be placed in it.

This sin became even worse because God sent prophets to warn them and call them back to himself (2 Chronicles 24:19). That is the task of ministers, not to draw people to themselves, but to bring them back to God. Even in the most corrupt times, God did not leave himself without witness. Though these people had dealt falsely with him, he still sent prophets to show them their sin and tell them what would happen if they kept going. God would rather sinners turn and live than keep going and die, and those who perish will have no excuse.

The prophets did their duty, but almost no one received their message. They ignored all the prophets and would not listen. They were so attached to their idols that no warning, rebuke, threat, or other effort could win them back. Few would hear them, fewer would pay attention, and fewer still would believe or obey them. Worse still, they killed one of the most notable prophets, Zechariah the son of Jehoiada, and perhaps others as well. Before this, Zechariah stood in the temple court, likely during a solemn feast, and spoke plainly under the Spirit of prophecy. He did not attack particular people or announce special judgments. Instead, he gently reminded them of what was already written in the law.

He told them, in effect, that they were breaking the Lord’s commandments by serving groves and idols, and that they were wronging both God and themselves. He also warned them that if God’s word was true, they could not expect to prosper while living this way. A person cannot do evil and still expect things to go well. In fact, they had already seen that because they had forsaken the Lord, he had forsaken them, just as he had warned them he would (Deuteronomy 29:25; 31:16, 17). This is the work of ministers, using God’s word as a lamp and light, to uncover human sin and explain God’s providences.

The murder of Zechariah was especially cruel because it was done in response to his faithful warning. By the plot of the princes, or some who supported them, and by the king’s order, they stoned him to death at once. They did not even pretend to act under the law by calling him a blasphemer, traitor, or false prophet. Instead, they killed him in a public riot in the court of the house of the Lord, one of the most wicked acts recorded in the history of the kings.

Every part of the sin made it worse. The man was holy, a priest. The place was holy, the inner court of the temple, between the porch and the altar. The message was even more holy, and they likely knew it came by the Spirit of prophecy. His rebuke was fair, his warning was gentle, and both were supported by Scripture. Yet they were so bold in defying God himself that nothing less than the prophet’s blood seemed to satisfy them. This was shocking wickedness, done by Israelites against what was just, honorable, and sacred. A king in covenant with God should have protected such a man, not ordered his death.

The sin was made worse because Zechariah was the son of Jehoiada, who had done much good in Israel and had been like a father to Joash. The deepest insult was not only against God and religion, but against Jehoiada’s memory. Joash forgot the kindness of the father and killed the son for doing his duty, the same duty Jehoiada would have done if he had been there. You can hardly say worse of a person than that he is ungrateful.

Zechariah’s dying words were a plea for God’s justice: “The Lord look upon it, and require it.” This was not revengeful bitterness, but a prophetic word. He was saying that God would call for account the blood that had been shed, just as Abel’s blood cried out against Cain. The Lord who has the right to avenge will surely do so, because he is righteous.

That blood was soon counted against Joash. It also stood in the judgment that later came on Jerusalem through the Chaldeans, because their abuse of the prophets brought ruin that could not be healed (2 Chronicles 36:16). Even more, Jesus said that the persecutors of him and his gospel would be held responsible for the blood of this Zechariah (Matthew 23:35). The blood of martyrs cries out for a long time, and it will not always go unanswered. This is like the cry of the souls under the altar, “How long before you avenge our blood?” (Revelation 6:10).

God’s judgments then came on Joash for this great guilt. First, a small Syrian army took Jerusalem, killed the princes, plundered the city, and carried the spoil to Damascus. When God’s people kept close to him, they often won even against larger armies. Now it was the opposite. A tiny force of Syrians defeated a much larger force of Israelites because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. God had not only left them, he had turned against them. The Syrians were only tools in God’s hand to carry out judgment against Joash, even though they did not understand that themselves (Isaiah 10:6-7; Deuteronomy 32:30).

Second, God struck Joash with severe diseases, affecting his body, his mind, or both. He may have thought that once the Syrians were gone, he would recover. But before they left, God had already struck him down. When God’s judgment follows a man, one trouble only leads to another.

Third, his own servants made a plot against him. He may have hoped his illness would get better, since he was still a middle-aged man. But the one who comes up out of the pit can still fall into the snare. When he thought he would escape death by sickness, he met death by the sword. They killed him in his bed because of the blood of the sons of Jehoiada, which suggests that he had not only killed Zechariah, but others from Jehoiada’s family as well. Even if those who killed Joash meant to avenge that blood, God was still carrying out his own purpose through them. Those who drink the blood of the saints will have their own blood given back to them, because they are worthy. The killers are named in the account, and it is worth noticing that both of their mothers were foreigners, one an Ammonite woman and the other a Moabite woman.

Fourth, his people did not bury him among the kings, because he had disgraced his honor by bad rule. Let him not be listed with the righteous (Psalm 69:28). These punishments are called the burdens laid on him, because God’s wrath is a heavy load, too heavy for any man to bear. The word may also refer to the warnings spoken against him by the prophets, since such warnings are also called burdens. God often places special marks of displeasure on apostates in this life, as a warning to all, so they will remember Lot’s wife.