Day 170: Joash's Downfall (2024)

This episode of "The Bible in a Year" podcast explores the biblical narratives of King Joash's reign and downfall, along with the prophetic actions of Elijah in the context of the books of Second Kings and Second Chronicles.

1. Leadership is profoundly influenced by mentorship, as seen in Joash's reliance on Jehoiada.
2. Apostasy can lead to personal and communal downfall, as Joash’s end illustrates.
3. Divine justice is inevitable and often dramatic, exemplified by Elijah's confrontations.
4. Spiritual restoration requires commitment and often, communal effort, as shown in Joash's initial reforms.
5. The need for continuous guidance in one’s faith journey to avoid pitfalls.

1: Introduction to Joash and Elijah

Father Mike sets the stage by introducing King Joash and Prophet Elijah, outlining their roles in the biblical narrative. He touches on the themes of leadership, faith, and divine justice.

• Father Mike Schmitz: "Today we delve into the contrasting lives of Joash and Elijah, examining their impact and the lessons we can learn."

2: Elijah's Confrontations

Discusses Elijah's prophetic acts against King Ahaziah, highlighting the themes of idolatry and divine retribution.

• Father Mike Schmitz: "Elijah's boldness in confronting idolatry shows God's immediate justice through fiery demonstrations."

3: Joash's Reforms

Covers the period of religious reforms initiated by Joash under Jehoiada's guidance, emphasizing the restoration of temple worship.

• Father Mike Schmitz: "Joash's initial years were marked by godly reforms and a restoration that brought the community together in worship."

4: The Apostasy of Joash

Describes the decline in Joash's faithfulness after Jehoiada's death, leading to his ultimate downfall and the societal impact of his apostasy.

• Father Mike Schmitz: "After Jehoiada's death, Joash's turn to idolatry and his tragic end underline the dangers of forsaking divine guidance."

1. Seek and maintain strong mentorship in your spiritual journey.
2. Regularly assess and align your actions with your faith values.
3. Engage in community worship and spiritual restoration activities.
4. Be vigilant against influences that may lead you away from your faith.
5. Reflect on the consequences of your actions not just for yourself, but for your community.

Fr. Mike looks at Joash's downfall and disobedience after the death of Jehoida. We learn how important it is to have good mentors in our lives who keep us grounded in the faith. Fr. Mike also emphasizes the significance of Psalm 69 and how to properly interpret it. Today's readings are 2 Kings 1, 2 Chronicles 24, and Psalm 69.

People

Elijah, Joash, Jehoiada, Ahaziah

Content Warnings:

None

Father Mike Schmitz
Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to the Bible in a year podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a year podcast is brought to you by ascension using the great adventure Bible timeline. We'll read all the way from Genesis to revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story. Today it is day 170, and we are reading three chapters, first from Second Kings. How's that?

First from Second Kings, Second Kings, chapter 1, Second Chronicles, chapter 24. And we are praying psalm 69 tonight or today, whenever you're, whenever you're going through this podcast. If you want to know the Bible translation that I'm using, it is the revised Standard Version, second catholic edition. I'm using the great Adventure Bible from Ascension. And if you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com bibleina year.

You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe or you might be listening in the halo app. And someone told me that you can actually have different features and functions, and you can like have the rain playing in the background as we're reading this, maybe like bullfrogs croaking. Who knows? Maybe you have a whole bunch of things you could do. As I said, today is day 172 kings, chapter one.

We're reading two chronicles, chapter 24, and we are praying psalm 69, the beginning of the second book of kings, chapter one Elijah denounces Ahaziah after the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria and lay sick. So he sent messengers telling them, go enquire of Bealzebub, the God of Ekron, whether I shall recover from this sickness. But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah the arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and say to them, is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire about the God of Ekron? Now therefore, thus says the Lord, you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die.

So Elijah went, the messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, why have you returned? And they said to him, there came a man to meet us, and said to us, go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, thus says the Lord, is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal Zebub, the God of Ekron, therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but shall surely die. He said to them, what kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things? They answered him, he wore a garment of hair cloth with a belt of leather about his loins. And he said, it is Elijah the tishbite.

Then the king sent to him a captain of 50 men with his 50. He went up to Elijah who was sitting on the top of a hill and said to him, o man of God. The king says, come down. But Elijah answered the captain of 50, if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50.

Again the king sent to him another captain of 50 men with his 50. And he went up and said to him, o man of God, this is the king's order. Come down quickly. But Elijah answered them, if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your 50. Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his 50.

Again the king sent the captain of a third 50 with his 50. And the third captain of 50 went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him. O man of God, I beg you, let my life and the life of these 50 servants of yours be precious in your sight. Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of 50 men with their fifties. But now let my life be precious in your sight.

Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, go down with him. Do not be afraid of him. So he arose and went down with him to the king and said to him, thus says the Lord, because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal Zebub, the God of Ekron. Is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone, but you shall surely die death of Ahaziah.

So he died according to the word of the Lord which Elijah had spoken. Jehoram, his brother, became king in his stead in the second year of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son. Now the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, which he did, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Israel?

The second book of Chronicles, chapter 24, Joash restores the temple. Joash was seven years old when he began to reign and he reigned 40 years in Jerusalem. His mothers name was Zibiah of Beersheba. And Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada. The priest Jehoiada got for him two wives and he had sons and daughters.

After this, Joash decided to restore the house of the Lord. And he gathered the priests and the Levites and said to them, go out to the cities of Judah and gather from all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year and see that you hasten the matter. But the Levites did not hasten it. So the king summoned Jehoiada the chief and said to him, why have you not required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax levied by Moses, the servant of the Lord on the congregation of Israel for the tent of covenant for the sons of Athaliah? That wicked woman had broken into the house of God and had also used all the dedicated things of the house of the Lord for the Baals.

So the king commanded, and they made a chest and set it outside the gate of the house of the Lord. A proclamation was made throughout Judah and Jerusalem to bring in for the Lord the tax that Moses, the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness. And all the princes and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished. And whenever the chest was brought to the king's officers by the Levites, when they saw that there was much money in it, the king's secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and take it and return it to its place. Thus they did day after day and collected money in abundance.

And the king and Jehoiada gave it to those who had charge of the work of the house of the Lord. And they hired masons and carpenters to restore the house of the Lord, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the house of the Lord. So those who were engaged in the work labored and the repairing went forward in their hands. And they restored the house of God to its proper condition and strengthened it. And when they had finished, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada.

And with it were made utensils for the house of the Lord, both for the service and for the burnt offerings and dishes for incense and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Jehoiada. But Jehoiada grew old and full of days and died. He was 130 years old at his death, and they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel and toward God and his house. Apostasy of Joash now, after the death of Jehoiada, the princes of Judah came and did obeisance to the king.

Then the king listened to them, and they forsook the house of the Lord, the God of their fathers, and served the asherim. And the idols and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their guilt. Yet he sent prophets among them to bring them back to the Lord. These testified against them, but they would not give heed. Then the spirit of God took possession of Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest.

And he stood above the people and said to them, thus says God, why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord so that you cannot prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord. He has forsaken you. But they conspired against him, and by command of the king, they stoned him with stones in the court of the house of the Lord. Thus Joash the king did not remember the kindness which Jehoiada, Zechariah's father, had shown him, but killed his son.

And when he was dying, he said, may the lord see and avenge death of Joash. At the end of the year, the army of the Syrians came up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus. Though the army of the Syrians had come with few men, the lord delivered into their hand a very great army, because they had forsaken the lord, the God of their fathers. Thus they executed judgment on Joash when they had departed from him, leaving him severely wounded.

His servants conspired against him because of the blood of the son of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed. So he died, and they buried him in the city of David, but they did not bury him in the tombs of the kings. Those who conspired against him were Zabad the son of Shimeoth the ammonitess and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith the Moabitess. Accounts of his sons and of the many oracles against him and of the rebuilding of the house of God are written in the commentary on the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.

Psalm 69 prayer for deliverance from persecution to the choir master, according to lilies, a psalm of David. Save me, o God, for the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, and the flood sweeps over me. I am weary with my crying.

My throat is parched, my eyes grow dim with waiting for my God. More in number than the hairs of my head are those who hate me without cause. Mighty are those who would destroy me, those who attack me with lies. What I did not steal must I now restore. O God, you know my folly.

The wrongs I have done are not hidden from you. Let not those who hope in you be put to shame through me. O Lord God of hosts, let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, o God of Israel, for it is for your sake that I have borne reproach, that shame has covered my face. I have become a stranger to my brethren, an alien to my mother's sons. For zeal, for your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.

When I humbled my soul with fasting, it became a reproach. When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them. I am the talk of those who sit in the gate, and the drunkards make songs about me. But as for me, my prayer is to you, O Lord, at an acceptable time. O God, in the abundance of your mercy, answer me with your faithful help.

Rescue me from sinking in the mire. Let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters. Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me. Answer me, O Lord, for your merciful love is good according to your abundant compassion. Turn to me.

Hide not your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Make haste to answer me. Draw near to me, redeem me, set me free. Because of my enemies you know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor. My foes are all known to you.

Insults have broken my heart. So that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters but I found none. They gave me gall for food and for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. Let their own table before them become a snare.

Let their sacrificial feasts be a trap. Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see and make their loins tremble continually. Pour out your indignation over them, and let your burning anger overtake them. May their camp be a desolation. Let no one dwell in their tents, for they persecute him whom you have struck down and him whom you have wounded.

They afflict still more. Add to them punishment upon punishment. May they have no acquittal from you. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living. Let them not be enrolled among the righteous.

But I am afflicted and in pain. Let your salvation, O God, set me on high. I will praise the name of God with a song. I will magnify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull with horns and hoofs.

Let the humble see it and be glad. You who seek God, let your hearts revive. For the Lord hears the needy and does not despise his own that are in bonds. Let heaven and earth praise him, the seas and everything that moves therein. For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah, and his servants shall dwell there and possess it.

The children of his servants shall inherit it, and those who love his name shall dwell in it.

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. And 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 again. Gosh, Lord, even when we cannot see you or feel you, we declare with faith that you are still there. Even when you're hidden, you are active.

Even when we can't see you, you are still present. And so we praise your name, we glorify you, and 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. In the name of the father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen. So there's two things, actually, I want to highlight quickly about psalm 69 is just this great prayer for deliverance of David, deliverance from persecution. And it's just there's a depth there, and there's also, if you might have seen it, a foreshadowing of Jesus. Where we see this, we read in verse 21, they gave me gall for food, and for my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink, which is quoted in the gospels when Jesus was on the cross. That's what happened.

But also, Cs Lewis had written this book called reflection on the psalms. And it's just. It's great. It's one of my favorite. Well, all Cs Lewis books are pretty much my favorite.

But in the reflection on the psalms, he talks about this and he asks the question, how do we understand the psalmist who says, hey, the best thing I want is I want to see my enemies suffer in front of me. Where the psalmist says, okay, this is God's word. I want to. And the prayer is, I want to see my enemies suffer. And let me see them suffer, because I don't just want to know that they suffer.

I want to be able to, like, essentially take comfort in that. And he asked the question, how do, how are we supposed to understand that? And there's a number of ways we can understand this. One is from a spiritual sense. And that spiritual sense is we're talking about the actual enemies of our souls, not any one person.

But as St. Paul says, our battle is not with flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers. And so we recognize that there is a clear way of understanding scripture, a specific way of understanding scripture. That is the spiritual sense. And in that spiritual sense, we recognize that, yeah, the enemies don't have to necessarily be the enemies of David or the enemies of any particular country or person, but the enemy kind of capital e enemy in meaning the principalities and powers, the dark forces that come against us, Satan and other demons.

So we can recognize that. That sense of, I pray for deliverance so fully that I am so fully fought for, that I can see justice happening. I can see them being punished for all that they put me through. But there's also another element where we recognize that this is simply the honest prayer of a person who comes before God. And we might not like his honest prayer.

We might think he should be more patient or more merciful and more loving, more caring with his enemies. And yet it's an honest prayer. And one of the things that that teaches us is that our prayer must not only can be, but must be honest as well. That's something about psalm 69. If we want to go back to second book of kings, though, and second chronicles, chapter 24.

Couple things to highlight. In second book of kings, we have Elijah. And Elijah is the prophet. Remember, he's prophet to the north. And so here's Ahaziah, who's the king after Ahab.

And he falls through the lattice and upper chamber like he basically falls out a window, maybe. And he inquires of Baal Zebub, the God of Ekron. So this false God that Ahaziah turns to, and we think, wait, Baal Zebub. That sounds relatively familiar. And it should, because in the New Testament, there are some comparisons that some enemies of Jesus say that, oh, by the prince of demons, he drives out demons by Beelzebub.

And you think, oh, maybe this is the same. So it's kind of a similar name, similar reference. And so here is Elijah basically saying, I know that you're turning to this particular false God to know your future and because of that you are going to die in this unfaithfulness. Now, a couple things to note is one is Ahaziah does die, in fact. And his successor, since he doesn't have any children, is Jehoram, his brother.

His brother becomes the king of Israel in the north after that. Now, the reason why this is confusing, I want to highlight this is because it says Jehoram, his brother became king in his stead in the second year of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son. And so you have. Wait a second, there's Jehoram. His brother became king in the second year of Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat king of Judah.

So the confusing part is at this moment there are two kings named Jehoram, one in Israel and one in Judah. So just, hey, FYI, little thing there. But then if we go to second chronicles, we can kind of zip down to the kingdom of Judah and. Right, this is the 24th chapter of two chronicles. Remember Joash?

Joash was that son who was spirited away when he was simply a babe, a baby, because Athaliah, his grandmother, was killing everybody. And Joash was rescued and he was made the king when he was seven years old. And he had this priest named Jehoiada. And Jehoiada was a good priest. He was a good leader.

And as long as Jehoiada was around, things were good. Joash was good. And it just. It's so good. There's something really, really beautiful about this because here is Joash and he says, we're taking up a collection.

Remember, under Moses, Moses said there would be this levitical tax, essentially, basically for the temple to keep honoring and worshiping the Lord God in the temple. And that had fallen by the wayside. And so Joash reinstates temple worship and he reinstates this tax that gets levied in order to have worship happening in the temple. And it's really, really good because people are resistant to this. And Joash says, no, we're going to make this happen.

And he makes it happen. But then when his mentor, Jehoiada dies, Joash turns into a bad king. It's remarkable how important having those mentors in our lives is, because when Jehoiada was around, Joash was strong. He was a strong and good king. But the moment that Jehoiada, his mentor, that priest who was a guidance, his conscience, who could direct him and instruct him and be that those kind of, those guardrails for him when he was gone, Joash, I don't know if he didn't know how to be a good king.

I don't know if he didn't know how to be a faithful follower of the Lord God, but he isn't a faithful follower of the Lord God. And he dies an evil king. He actually dies a king who is murdered by his own subjects because of the fact that when Jehoiada died, Jehoiada's son, Zechariah, came up and tried to call Joash back to faithfulness, back to righteousness. And so as a result of that, Joash had him killed by stoned in the temple area, which is just remarkable. So you have again this pattern, once again of, gosh, these people who are put in a place of leadership, who are put in a place where they are called upon to lead people to the Lord, and they do it, and then for whatever reason, they stop doing it and they lead people astray.

And that's just a reminder once again for us, that Joash could have died as a hero. He could have died as one of those kings that went down in history as one who was faithful, who led the people into righteousness, who led the people into success and to holiness and to blessing. And yet he isn't. He dies a scoundrel. He dies a villain in his own story.

And we realize that could be any one of us. That could be every one of us. We all have the potential in our lives if we're without a jiffy, right, without that, that guidance, without that mentor, that person who can speak truth into our lives, we. We can go off the rails. Without those guardrails.

We can go off the cliff. And so just we ask, lord, who is that Jehoiada in my life? Who can speak truth to me? Who's that Jehoiada? Who can say, hey, you're going the wrong way.

Come back to faithfulness. Come back to the lord. And if you don't have one, if you don't have one, pray for one, because it could be any one of us. So we need not only a Jehoiada in our life, someone who can call us back when we are unfaithful. Call us back to righteousness.

Call us back to God's mercy into truth, but also 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 convert our minds, we can harden those hearts and we can harden those minds. And so we just pray. And I pray for you that those people who speak truth into your life speak a lively word.

A word that actually changes hearts. And please pray for me that the people who speak truth into my life encounter a heart that's ready to be converted, a heart that's ready to be surrendered to the Lord. Once again, we keep praying for each other. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me.

My name is Fr. Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.