2 Chronicles 24:1-27
1 Joash was seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Zibiah of Beersheba.
2 And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the LORD all the days of Jehoiada the priest.
3 And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters.
4 And it came to pass after this, that Joash was minded to repaira the house of the LORD.
5 And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened it not.
6 And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection, according to the commandment of Moses the servant of the LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?
7 For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the LORD did they bestow upon Baalim.
8 And at the king's commandment they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the LORD.
9 And they made a proclamationb through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the LORD the collection that Moses the servant of God laid upon Israel in the wilderness.
10 And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.
11 Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king's office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that there was much money, the king's scribe and the high priest's officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.
12 And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the LORD.
13 So the workmen wrought, and the workc was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.
14 And when they had finished it, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the LORD, even vessels to minister, and to offerd withal, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the LORD continually all the days of Jehoiada.
15 But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old was he when he died.
16 And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.
17 Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.
18 And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.
19 Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.
20 And the Spirit of God camee upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the LORD, he hath also forsaken you.
21 And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD.
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.
23 And it came to pass at the end of the year, that the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.
24 For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the LORD delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.
25 And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.
26 And these are they that conspired against him; Zabadf the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.
27 Now concerning his sons, and the greatness of the burdens laid upon him, and the repairingg of the house of God, behold, they are written in the story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.
In verse 2 Chronicles 24:15 of chapter 24, find Jehoiada, the priest that exercised such a good influence, died in a ripe old age of a hundred and thirty years.
And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done so much good in Israel. But at his death the princes of Judah made obeisance to the king. And the king began to hearken unto them. And they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and they began to worship the pagan gods in the groves and the idols: and the wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this trespass. And yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear (2 Chronicles 24:16-19).
So God was angry. He sent His prophets, but they wouldn't listen to the prophets.
And so the Spirit of God came upon [this prophet, his name was] Zechariah and he stood above people, and he said unto them, Thus saith God, Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD, that you cannot prosper? because you have forsaken the LORD, he also has forsaken you. And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the LORD. And thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but he slew his son (2 Chronicles 24:20-22).
Now this Zechariah was the son of the priest. Actually, he probably grew up with Joash. But Joash is turning against God, against the early roots.
And when he died, he said, The LORD look upon it, and require it (2 Chronicles 24:22).
Now it is interesting that the Jews later on began to always almost worship their fathers. "Our fathers. Our fathers." I mean, that was always their cry, "Our fathers," in almost an ancestral worship that developed by the Jews in later years. And it was a thing that when Jesus was talking with them, it was a thing of debate almost as they would say, "But our fathers," you know, as though their fathers were so righteous and so holy. And Jesus one day got after them and said, "Which of the prophets did your fathers not kill?" Their fathers that they always revered in such righteousness and all killed the prophets that God sent to them.
Of course, Stephen points out the same thing in when he stood before the Sanhedrin. He tore down this concept of, "Our fathers were so righteous." And he tore down that concept, and he really laid it out on them. And they got so angry they began to gnash their teeth and they dragged him out and stoned him.
So Jesus gave the parable of how that this lord had gone away and he left his goods, the vineyard and all in the hands of his servants. And so the time came for harvest and he sent a servant to them that he might gather the fruit or the money from the sale of the fruit and all and bring it to him. But they mistreated and killed the servants. And finally he said, "I will send my own son. Surely they will respect him." But when the son came, they said, "Hey, this is the heir. Let's destroy him and then it will be ours." And Jesus actually was speaking a parable concerning Himself and how the Father had sent the prophets and how they had actually killed the prophets. But then when He sent His own Son, they even sought to kill Him. And He said, "What will the father do? He will take the vineyard from those or the goods from those evil servants and he will give it unto others," as Jesus was then prophesying the gospel, God's grace coming to the Gentiles and God's Spirit being poured out upon us.
So here is another account, the prophet of God, Zechariah, son of Jehoiada the priest, the faithful priest who was put to death by Joash in the later years as he turned, really. And so as the result of this, God allowed the Syrians to come to pass at the end of the year and He delivered Judah and Jerusalem to the hands of the Syrians. Now the Syrians didn't have a big army at all when they came down in this invasion. There were just a few of them. But God delivered a whole host of Judah into the hands of just a few Syrians because of their sin against the Lord.
The death of Joash is then recorded beginning with verse 2 Chronicles 24:25.
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