2 Kings 12:1 - Meaning and Application

The account of Joash here tells us three main things. He reigned for forty years. Since he became king while still very young, he could have lived and ruled much longer by ordinary human standards, but he died when he was only forty-seven years old (2 Kings 12:1).

It also says that he did what was right as long as Jehoiada, the priest who guided him, was alive to teach him (2 Kings 12:2). Many young men come into wealth, power, and freedom too early, before they know how to handle them, and that often ends badly. Joash was spared that danger because he had such a wise, experienced, and faithful guide in Jehoiada, and because he was willing to listen even after he was grown.

This is a great mercy for young people, especially for young rulers and other young men of influence, to be under good guidance. It is a blessing to have people around them who will teach them to do what is right in the Lord’s sight. They do well for themselves when they are willing to be counseled and directed by such people. A child left to himself brings shame to his mother, but a child under good training may bring honor and comfort.

The high places were not removed (2 Kings 12:3). These were local altars around the land, used for sacrifices and incense to the God of Israel alone, but they still stood in rivalry with, and at least in quiet disrespect for, the altar at Jerusalem. These private altars may have been used more in the bad years before, because it had not been safe to go up to Jerusalem, and the temple worship was not being carried out as it should have been.

Jehoiada may have allowed them for a time, because some sincere people were glad to have them when they could not get anything better. He may have hoped that once the temple was repaired and the worship there was set in order, people would gradually leave the high places and they would fade away on their own. Or it may be that neither the king nor the priest had enough zeal to push the reform that far, or the strength and courage to break such a long-standing custom.