II Chronicles 24:22 Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it
Yesterday I read a story of treason and of loyalty. A wicked queen named Athaliah accused those who tried to depose her of treason. The fact is, those people, including a priest named Jehoiada, were being loyal to Jehovah God while Athaliah had betrayed God, the Davidic line, and her country.
In being loyal to Jehovah, Jehoiada had spared, protected, nourished, and guided the young, future king, a boy named Joash. Ironically, in the next chapter, II Chronicles 24, you find a complete repeat of the same story except the characters are changed. II Chronicles 24:1 says, “Joash was seven years old when he began to reign.” Verse 2 says something very instructive. God is setting you up with a clue of what is to come when He says, “And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.”
What follows is half the chapter of this king doing great things. He was minded to repair the house of the Lord. He even gently chided Jehoiada, who had spared his life and guided him, about speeding up the work that needed to be done to the house of the Lord.
Then you get to verse 14 where the Bible says that they “offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada. But Jehoiada waxed old and…he died.” Verse 17 says, “Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king.” They flattered him. It continues, “Then the king hearkened unto them. And they left the house of the LORD God.”
So, this young king, who had so much for which to be thankful and so many people who had invested in him, who stuck their necks out for him, guided him, nourished him, and trained him, lost all resolve and conviction as soon as Jehoiada died. Apparently, he was leaning so heavily on Jehoiada that when Jehoiada wasn’t there, he no longer did the right thing.
The interesting thing is that God sent prophets, yet Joash would not turn back to God. The Bible says, “The Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest.” Zechariah confronted Joash and told him to turn back to God. When that happened, they stoned Zechariah. Zechariah was killed at Joash’s command. Joash murdered the son of the man who had spared him from being murdered years before.
Verse 22 says, “Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it.” Joash forgot the kindness. What was the kindness? It was the kindness Jehoiada had shown by sparing him, by nourishing him spiritually and physically, and by giving him guidance. Joash was ungrateful and forgetful.
There is an important truth here, and that is that all of us have people to whom we owe a debt of gratitude, people who have guided us and put us on the right way. Sometimes I have heard people who appear to be full of themselves and seem to have an attitude of “my family was nobody and has done nothing. They weren’t smart or godly, but look at me. I am amazing.” We all need to watch out for pride, but pride is exactly what we have when we think we are self-made men and don’t recognize all the resources and people God has placed in our lives. We may not be what we wish, but none of us are good because we are innately good or great. We all are debtors to the truth. No one is sovereign. No one is an island to himself. The Bible says to whom much is given, much shall be required.
I listened to a former member of Parliament in the UK just recently talking about Prince George of the royal family who recently started attending Eton. Eton has trained many an aristocrat, lord, duke, etc. He was talking about that in many ways Prince George will be treated just as everyone else will be treated. On the other hand, there will be some deference shown, not to him personally so much, but because of his position.
The gist of what this member of Parliament was saying was that when that happens, it is the way it ought to be because they are not showing kindness or deference to this young man, but to what he represents, hundreds of years of monarchy. My point is that Prince George is not where he is because of some innate greatness. He is there because of centuries of accomplishment, bravery, and even heroism. He is a debtor to all those who come before him. When people are interacting with him, they are interacting with all those who come before him. He is not an island to himself. He owes a debt to those who came before.
All of us have that debt. It may be a mom, dad, grandparent, teacher, pastor, friend. No one is an island to himself. We are all debtors to the truth. You are going to pass on something. Someone came before you and invested in you. There will be someone who comes after you. You are either going to pass on Athaliah, this wicked queen who tried to kill Joash, or you will pass on Jehoiada, the priest who nourished, protected, and guided Joash. In Joash’s case, instead of copying Jehoiada, the man who spared him, he copied Athaliah the woman who tried to kill him. Don’t forget what God has done through the people who came before you.
The irony of this whole story is in verse 25 where the Bible says of Joash, who betrayed those who helped him and was not loyal to God, that “his own servants conspired against him… and slew him.” Today, think about all that God has invested in you and pass it on. We are all debtors to the truth. No one is an island to himself. We are going to pass on something. Let’s make it something worth passing on.