Joash (of Judah)
Judah · 835 – 796 BC · 40 years · 2 Kings 11:21 – 12:21; 2 Chronicles 23 – 24
His Story
The hidden child made king at seven, crowned by Jehoiada the priest amid trumpets and covenant. Grown, he repaired the Temple his grandmother’s family had broken up, gathering the money in a chest at the altar until the house of God shone again and the vessels were restored.
His Sin — How He Displeased the LORD
His verdict carries its tragedy in a subordinate clause: he did right “all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.” When Jehoiada died at 130, Joash listened to the princes, forsook the house of the LORD, and served groves and idols; and when Zechariah, Jehoiada’s son, stood and rebuked the people, Joash commanded him stoned to death in the court of the Temple — the boy he owed his life to, murdered at his word.
The Good He Did
The Temple restoration was his own zeal — he rebuked the priests for delay and devised the chest that filled with willing gifts. For decades, under godly instruction, Judah worshipped rightly and the king led it.
The LORD’s verdict
“And Jehoash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all his days wherein Jehoiada the priest instructed him.”2 Kings 12:2 (KJV)
How His Reign Ended
Within a year of Zechariah’s murder, a small Syrian army defeated his forces and wounded him grievously; his own servants conspired and killed him in his bed at Millo. He was buried in the city of David — but not in the sepulchres of the kings.
Lessons for Believers Today
- Borrowed godliness expires with the lender: Joash is the patron king of secondhand faith. Get your own Jehoiada-proof walk with God.
- The saddest slide in Scripture is one word long — “wherein.” Right while instructed is not yet right.