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When Jehu died, his son Jehoahaz
reigned over Israel. Jehu loved the world; and God gave him, and his
sons after him, worldly honors and worldly possessions. But Jehu and
his children did not care for heavenly things; and, therefore, they had no
possessions in that world which will last for ever. Joash
was still king of Judah; but his kind friend, the good priest Jehoiada,
was dead. He lived to be a very old man, 130 years old. He had
served God many years, and done much good in Israel, and all the people
loved and honored him. Jehoiada was glad to go to his rest in
Heaven, where he could praise and serve God better than he could on
earth. His death was a happy thing for him, but it was a sad thing
for Joash and his people. They had lost the kind friend who used to
teach them what was right, and to warn them when they did wrong; and when
Jehoiada was dead, they soon forgot the holy things he had taught
them. They grew tired of serving God, and went to their foolish
idols again, and worshiped them. Did Joash let his people do these
wicked things? Yes; Joash encouraged them in their sin; for he also
had forgotten God, and all his early wishes to love and serve Him.
When Jehoiada died, all the goodness of Joash died too. Jehoiada's
son, Zechariah, was still living, and he was grieved to see the king and
his people doing so wickedly; and God was angry; and He sent holy
prophets, to tell them so; but the people would not attend. At last
Zechariah himself went to speak to the king and the people. He was a
good man; God's Spirit was upon him, and he felt that he ought to be bold,
and to speak the truth to his king. So Zechariah went to Joash, and
spoke very solemnly to him and to the people. Zechariah said,
"Why do you disobey God's holy commands? You cannot prosper
now. When you were obedient to God, you had His blessing, but now
you have forsaken Him, and He has forsaken you." Was Joash
willing to attend to Zechariah? Did he repent, and turn to God, and
tell his people to throw away their foolish idols? No; Joash had
become hardened in sin; he no longer cared for God, nor for Jehoiada, nor
for Zechariah. He was angry with that bold and faithful man, and
encouraged the people to conspire against him; and the good priest was
slain in the temple of the Lord. Zechariah did not try to defend
himself, when he saw his murderers coming to kill him. He submitted
quietly to the cruel command of Joash; but as he lay wounded and dying, he
said, "God sees, and He will punish;" and then he closed his
eyes, and died. And God did see this wicked, ungrateful act; and he
did punish Joash for it. The Syrians came, and destroyed many of the
princes of Judah, and took away their riches. God first sent the
Syrians to punish Joash; and then he smote him with dreadful
diseases. Joash had enemies without; and, in himself, he was sick,
and in pain, and in trouble. He had no friends. God was not
his friend; for Joash had forsaken God, and therefore God forsook
him. His servants and his people were not his friends; they could
not love him, because he was so cruel and so ungrateful. The priests
and prophets were not his friends; for he had driven them all away, and
they could not come to see him now. Joash lay upon his bed alone,
without a friend to comfort him. His body was in pain, and his mind
too. When he thought of his sins,—his ingratitude, his cruelty,
his forgetfulness of God, he must have felt miserable indeed. Once
he had been happy; he had friends to love him, and God to bless him, and
all was well then. But now he had lost all. Why? Because
he had forsaken God. And then came the end of Joash. A very
dreadful end it was. His own servants conspired against him and
killed him in his bed! God had seen Zechariah's death, and now He
was avenging it. Joash was justly punished for his murder; though
his servants were very wicked to kill their king. We
may learn something from this story. There are many people now, we
may fear, very much like Joash. Children are often brought up, as he
was, in the fear and love of God. Kind parents and friends teach
them what is right, as Jehoiada taught Joash; and, perhaps, the children
attend, and are pleased with what is taught them; and their teachers hope
that they are really beginning to love and serve the Lord. But,
after a time, these kind friends die, perhaps, or are taken away.
The young people are sorry to lose them, as sorry as Joash was when old
Jehoiada died; and they think, "We will never, never forget what our
kind friends taught us, but always remember them and love
them." And perhaps they do remember them for a little time; but
soon they begin to trust in their own power and goodness, forgetting how
weak and sinful they are; they neglect to pray to God, and to ask Him for
help and strength; Satan tempts them to be careless about holy things, and
they do not resist him. They love the world more and more, and God
less and less, every day. And, at last, they forget all that their
kind friends taught them; they do not like to remember it, and they are
angry with those who kindly warn them, as Zechariah warned Joash.
What must be the end of these young people? If God in mercy does not
make them repent and turn to Him, their end must be as sad as the end of
Joash. They may not be killed in their beds, as he was; but they
will die, as he died, without comfort, without hope. Pray to God to
keep you. Say to Him, "My father, Thou art the guide of my
youth." Jeremiah 3:4.
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