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For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.

² Chronicles ²Chronicles ²⁴Joash Repairs the Temple ¹Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. ²Joash did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest. ³Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters. ⁴Some time later Joash decided to restore the temple of the LORD. ⁵He called together the priests and Levites and said to them, “Go to the towns of Judah and collect the money due annually from all Israel, to repair the temple of your God. Do it now.” But the Levites did not act at once. ⁶Therefore the king summoned Jehoiada the chief priest and said to him, “Why haven’t you required the Levites to bring in from Judah and Jerusalem the tax imposed by Moses the servant of the LORD and by the assembly of Israel for the tent of the covenant law?” ⁷Now the sons of that wicked woman Athaliah had broken into the temple of God and had used even its sacred objects for the Baals. ⁸At the king’s command, a chest was made and placed outside, at the gate of the temple of the LORD. ⁹A proclamation was then issued in Judah and Jerusalem that they should bring to the LORD the tax that Moses the servant of God had required of Israel in the wilderness. ¹⁰All the officials and all the people brought their contributions gladly, dropping them into the chest until it was full. ¹¹Whenever the chest was brought in by the Levites to the king’s officials and they saw that there was a large amount of money, the royal secretary and the officer of the chief priest would come and empty the chest and carry it back to its place. They did this regularly and collected a great amount of money. ¹²The king and Jehoiada gave it to those who carried out the work required for the temple of the LORD. They hired masons and carpenters to restore the LORD’s temple, and also workers in iron and bronze to repair the temple. ¹³The men in charge of the work were diligent, and the repairs progressed under them. They rebuilt the temple of God according to its original design and reinforced it. ¹⁴When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king and Jehoiada, and with it were made articles for the LORD’s temple: articles for the service and for the burnt offerings, and also dishes and other objects of gold and silver. As long as Jehoiada lived, burnt offerings were presented continually in the temple of the LORD. ¹⁵Now Jehoiada was old and full of years, and he died at the age of a hundred and thirty. ¹⁶He was buried with the kings in the City of David, because of the good he had done in Israel for God and his temple. The Wickedness of Joash ¹⁷After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. ¹⁸They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem. ¹⁹Although the LORD sent prophets to the people to bring them back to him, and though they testified against them, they would not listen. ²⁰Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the LORD’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the LORD, he has forsaken you.’” ²¹But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the LORD’s temple. ²²King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, “May the LORD see this and call you to account.” ²³At the turn of the year, the army of Aram marched against Joash; it invaded Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders of the people. They sent all the plunder to their king in Damascus. ²⁴Although the Aramean army had come with only a few men, the LORD delivered into their hands a much larger army. Because Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their ancestors, judgment was executed on Joash. ²⁵When the Arameans withdrew, they left Joash severely wounded. His officials conspired against him for murdering the son of Jehoiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. So he died and was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings. ²⁶Those who conspired against him were Zabad, son of Shimeath an Ammonite woman, and Jehozabad, son of Shimrith a Moabite woman. ²⁷The account of his sons, the many prophecies about him, and the record of the restoration of the temple of God are written in the annotations on the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son succeeded him as king.

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The chronicler’s interest in influencers comes out again here. The significant part Jehoiada played in Joash’s life is stressed in both Kings and Chronicles: ‘Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoida the priest’ (v. 2).2 The story seems straightforward. Under Jehoiada’s influence, Joash did well. He followed the covenant and encouraged his people to do so. He was not completely dominated by Jehoida. He used his own initiative to organize a major restoration of the temple which had been plundered by relatives of Athaliah (we don’t know who these ‘sons’ were, v. 7). He was even strong enough to rebuke Jehoiada when he thought that was necessary (v. 6)! His organizational skills mirror those of Jehoshaphat, in trusting, consulting, and providing good working conditions for the workforce.3 As long as Jehoiada was there in the background, everything went well.

However, on Jehoiada’s death, everything changed. Joash was approached by officials paying compliments and was easily swayed. He changed his influencers and set aside even the reforms he had initiated himself. When prophets challenged him, his actions mirrored those of Asa4 and ‘by order of the king’ (v. 21), all who opposed him, even Jehoiada’s son, were killed. He had started so well, but finished so badly that even his own officials, presumably not those who had been influencing him, turned against him.

One can’t help wondering whether the chronicler is prompting readers to ask if Jehoiada’s mentoring, good as it was, had not equipped Joash to avoid influencers who would lead him astray. It is a warning to those of us who exercise influence to encourage those we mentor to identify and listen to others who can offer good advice.

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