Day 170: Joash's Downfall
2 Kings 1-25 This book continues the chronology of the history of Judah and Israel from 1 Kings. Most of the succeeding kings struggled with idolatry and found themselves in opposition to neighboring nations and even with the fellow tribes of Israel themselves.
Ch 1:1-18 Ahaziah, King of Israel, was punished because he consulted pagan prophets instead of an authentic prophet chosen by God. The consumption of the soldiers by fire from Heaven is referred obliquely in the Gospels when James and John, the sons of Zebedee, asked Christ if they should call “fire down from heaven” to destroy the Samaritans who had refused to receive Christ and his disciples (cf. Lk 9:54).
2 Chronicles 24:1-26 When Joash began to exercise his kingly authority upon reaching adulthood, he proved to be a faithful king who undertook a major restoration of the Temple. As was common to many kings of Judah, he turned away from the Lord later in life and slipped into idolatry.
Psalm 69 Figuratively drowning and possibly nearing death, the psalmist pleaded with God for help against overwhelming opposition. He professed his innocence and wanted justice.
Zeal for your house has consumed me: The disciples of Christ brought this verse to mind and applied it to him as he drove the vendors out of the Temple courts (cf. Jn 2:17); this dramatic display revealed Christ’s deep love for the Temple as a house of prayer.
You know my reproach...to drink: Verses 19-21 were fulfilled in the Passion of Christ as he was abandoned, treated shamefully, insulted, and given bitter wine and gall to drink while on the Cross (cf. Mt 26:40-41; Jn 16:32; Mt 27:34-48). (CCC 584)
(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)
So Psalm 69 is a great PRAYER FOR DELIVERANCE FROM PERSECUTION
There is a depth there
There is also a FORESHADOWING OF JESUS
Verse 21: “They gave me gall for food, and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.”
This is quoted in the Gospels when Jesus is on the Cross
C.S. Lewis wrote a book called “Reflection on the Psalms”
It’s a great book
All C.S. Lewis’ books are Fr. Mike’s favorite
He asks the question, “How do we understand the Psalmist who says, ‘The best thing I want is I want to see my enemies suffer in front of me?’”
“Let me see them suffer”
“I just don’t want to know that they suffer”
“I want to be able to take comfort in that”
So how are we supposed to understand this?
One is from the SPIRITUAL SENSE when we talk about all the enemies of our SOUL
Not just ANY ONE PERSON
But as St. Paul says, “Our battle is not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers.”
We recognize there is a specific way of understanding Scripture and that is the SPIRITUAL SENSE
In that SPIRITUAL SENSE we see that the ENEMIES don’t necessarily have to be the enemies of David, or the enemies of a country, or a specific person
BUT THE ENEMY
The Principalities and Powers are the DARK FORCES that come against us
Satan and other demons
In Psalm 69 we pray for deliverance so fully that we are so fully fought for, we can see justice happening, we can see them being punished for all that they put us through
There is also the element that Psalm 69 is an honest prayer of a person that comes before God
We might not like his honest prayer
We might think that he should be more PATIENT
We might think that he should be more MERCIFUL
We might think that he should be more LOVING
We might think that he should be more CARING
WITH HIS ENEMIES
AND YET…
It is an HONEST prayer
It teaches us that our prayer, not only can be, but MUST be HONEST as well
2 Kings Ch 1 and 2 Chronicles Ch 24
2 Kings we have Elijah, the prophet to the north
Ahaziah is the king after Ahab
He falls out a window and inquires of Baalzebub, a false god of Ekron
The name BAALZEBUB should sound relatively familiar
In the New Testament there are some comparisons that some enemies of Jesus say that he drives out demons by the power of the prince of demons, by BEELZEBUB
Maybe this is the same?
Similar name, similar reference
Elijah is basically saying, “I know you are turning to this particular false god to know your future. Because of that, you are going to die in this unfaithfulness.”
Ahaziah does die, in fact
His successor, since he doesn’t have any children, is JEHORAM his brother
Jehoram becomes king of Israel in the NORTHERN KINGDOM
Jehoram, Ahaziah’s BROTHER, became King of Israel when Jehoram, Jehoshaphat’s SON, was king of Judah
Two Kings named Jehoram (Oh wonderful, I was thinking this book needs to be even MORE confusing than it already is 😉)
King Jehoram of Israel (aka Ahaziah’s BROTHER)
King Jehoram of Judah (aka Jehoshaphat’s SON)
So in 2 Chronicles Ch 24 we are in Judah
We have Joash, Athaliah’s grandson, who was spirited away when he was a baby (did Father Mike make an allusion to Bebe’s Kids?? 🤔) to avoid getting murdered
Joash was made king when he was 7 years old
He had a priest named Jehoiada, who was a good priest and a good leader
As long as Jehoiada was around, things were GOOD
Joash was GOOD
It’s so GOOD
There is something really really beautiful about this
Joash says they will take up a collection
Remember under Moses, there were Levitical tax for the Temple to keep honoring and worshiping the Lord God
That tax had fallen by the wayside
So Joash reinstates Temple Worship and the tax in order to keep Worship in the Temple
People are resistant to the tax but Joash doesn’t concede
BUT…
When Jehoiada dies, Joash TURNS INTO A BAD KING
It’s REMARKABLE how important having those mentors in our lives is
When Jehoiada was around, Joash was a STRONG AND GOOD KING
But the moment Jehoiada, his mentor and priest who was his conscience who could instruct him and direct him and be the guardrails for him was gone, Joash, for whatever reason, either didn’t know how to be a good king or didn’t know how to be a faithful follower of God
He dies an EVIL KING
He dies a king who is murdered by his own subjects
When Jehoiada died, his son Zechariah tried to call Joash BACK TO FAITHFULNESS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
Because of that, Joash had Zechariah STONED TO DEATH IN THE TEMPLE AREA
These people who are placed in LEADERSHIP where they are called to LEAD PEOPLE TO THE LORD
AND THEY DO IT
But for whatever reason, they then STOP DOING IT
They lead people ASTRAY
That’s a reminder for us that Joash could have died as a hero
He could have died as one of those kings who went down in history as a king who was faithful, who led the people into righteousness, success, holiness, and blessing
BUT HE ISN’T
He dies a VILLAIN in his own story
That could be any one of us
That could be every one of us
We all have the potential in our lives that without that mentor who can speak truth into our lives, we can go off the rails
Without those guardrails, we can go off the cliff
Who is that Jehoiada in your life that can speak truth to you?
Who is that Jehoiada in your life that can say, “Hey, you’re going the wrong way. Come back to faithfulness. Come back to the Lord.”
If you don’t have one, PRAY FOR ONE
It could be ANY ONE OF US who go off the rails
We need a Jehoiada in our life
Someone who can call us back when we are UNFAITHFUL
Someone who can call us back to RIGHTEOUSNESS
Someone who can call us back to GOD’S MERCY
Someone who can call us back to TRUTH
PRAY FOR EACH OTHER
Because we NEED God’s Grace to say YES to that
We can have people speaking TRUTH into our lives all day and night
But unless God’s Grace is there to convert our hearts and minds, we can HARDEN our hearts and we can HARDEN our minds
Fr. Mike is praying for you that those people who speak TRUTH into your lives that they speak a LIVELY WORD, a word that actually CHANGES HEARTS
Pray for Fr. Mike that the people who speak TRUTH into his life encounter a heart that is READY TO BE CONVERTED, a heart that is READY TO BE SURRENDERED TO THE LORD
PRAY FOR EACH OTHER
PRAY FOR FR. MIKE
Prayer by Fr. Mike: “Father in Heaven, we give you praise and we thank you. We thank you for your faithfulness, your faithful love, and the fact that, Lord, in your compassion you do not hide your face from us. There are so many times when in the midst of distress, in the midst of our brokenness, in the midst of failure on our part, you remain present even when we cannot see you or feel you, we declare with faith that you are still there. Even when you are hidden, you are active. Even when we cannot see you, you are still present. And so we praise your name. We glorify you. We say Lord continue to be present. Continue to help us to cling to you when all else has failed and when everyone else has failed us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.”