Title: 13
Author: JOEG
Last saved by: Matt Lawson
Company: Auth Co

© 2003 Joe Griffin		03-07-13-B.CC02-151 /

The Duties of Kings & Joash’s Failures; Joash’s Reversionism Leads to Betrayal of Jehoiada’s Loyalty Down & the Murder of Zechariah; Matt 23:33-35
		20)	Joash, who stood by the flaming tower of Jachin, who was anointed and crowned by the approval of the God of Israel, and who was preserved by His mighty hand, could not recall the principles regarding his duty to the people of Judah.  What he forgot resulted in the demise of his regime:
Orr, James (ed.).  The International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia.  (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1956), 3:1801:
The king of Israel [or Judah] was responsible to Jehovah, who had chosen him and whose vicegerent and servant he was.  Rightly conceived, his kingship in relation to Jehovah, who was Israel’s true king, implied that he was Jehovah’s servant and His earthly substitute.
In a summary way the king was held responsible for all Israel as the Lord’s people.  His main duty was to defend it against its enemies and it was expected of him to be its leader in time of war.  In respect to the judiciary the king was a kind of supreme court.  Legislative functions he had none and was himself under the law.  His very kingship was of an entirely religious character and implied a unity of the heavenly and earthly rule over Israel through him who as Jehovah’s substitute sat “upon the throne of the kingdom of Jehovah over Israel.”  The priesthood was under the king’s supervision to such an extent that he might concern himself about its organization and duties and that he was responsible for the purity of the cult and the maintenance of the order of worship.  In general he was to watch over the religious life and conduct of his people, to eradicate the high places and every form of idolatry in the land.
		21)	Since Joash was the “court of final appeal,” he should have honored the prophet of the Lord by turning his adversaries away.  In fact, he was bound by the Law of Moses and as such he should have had Baal’s ambassadors executed for blasphemy against the God of Israel. 
		22)	Since one of his areas of supervision was the Levitical priesthood, he should have insisted that the message of Zechariah be communicated to the people throughout Judah so that a return to the biblically prescribed worship of Jehovah might resume.
		23)	Finally, he should have seized the moment to order all the high places throughout the land torn down, the idols destroyed, and the priests of Baal exported.
		24)	However, it is impossible for a reversionist to make sophisticated decisions under pressure.  The fact he is in reversionism is why he faces a crisis in the first place.  A reversionist is incapable of recalling doctrine under pressure but even if he could it would be too late.
		25)	Instead he is guided not by the Word of God but by ambassador demons who manipulate him into making bad decisions from a position of weakness.  The extent of Joash’s bad decisions indicates the extent of how weak he had become:
1.	He could not remember the kindness of Jehoiada toward him.  Jehoiada was not only Joash’s friend and confidant he was also his uncle, married to his Aunt Jehosheba.  The word “kindness” in 2 Chronicles 24:22 is:
	 ds#j# cheseth -	“kindness, loyalty, unfailing love”	
	When God is the subject it makes reference to His unfailing, undiminished love for us.  When it is used to describe a relationship between two individuals it makes reference to the subject’s expression of unconditional love toward another.

	In the case of Jehoiada toward Joash it was also an expression of loyalty up.
2.	Joash’s Aunt Jehosheba and Uncle Jehoiada had saved his life.  Jehoiada had put his own life on the line to hide Joash for six years in the Temple.
3.	Jehoiada also put his and others’ lives on the line when he organized the coup d’état against Athaliah.
4.	It was Jehoiada who orchestrated the coronation, crowning, and anointing of Joash as king of Judah.
5.	It was Jehoiada who ordered the immediate destruction of the temples of Baal and the execution of its high priest.
6.	Jehoiada was Joash’s closest advisor, counselor, and mentor during the first 23 years of his reign.
7.	And finally, Zechariah was not only a prophet of the Lord (2 Chronicles 24:20) but was also the grandson of his Aunt Jehosheba and Uncle Jehoiada and therefore he was Joash’s second cousin.
		26)	Joash is said to have forgotten these things and as a result he ordered Zechariah murdered because the followers of Baal didn’t like his message.
		27)	But the ambassador demons assigned to Jerusalem were the first to oppose the message.  They influenced those loyal to Baal to secure an audience with Joash in order to manipulate the absent-minded king into silencing the prophet of Jehovah.
		28)	How far Joash had fallen from the standards recognized by Jehoiada is indicated by the lack of respect for the Lord he imposed on the execution of Zechariah.  Jehoiada would not allow even the vile usurper Athaliah to be dispatched in the Inner Court.  But this is exactly were the assassins chose to do in Zechariah.
		29)	“They stoned him to death in the court of the house of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 24:21b).  As Zechariah was dying from his wounds he looked up at his cousin Joash and prayed a prophetic prayer, “May the Lord see and avenge!”
		30)	This murder is referenced by our Lord in a spirited exchange with the Pharisees in which he proclaimed seven woes on them.  In His scathing denouncement the Lord referred to these officious legalists as hypocrites, blind guides, fools, whitewashed tombs, and a brood of vipers.  To all these he added one more; the Lord assigned the same guilt possessed by those who killed all the Old Testament prophets to the Pharisees who would do the very same thing to the apostles and disciples of the Lord.  The Pharisees claimed they would never have done such a thing but their behavior proves they lied.  
Matthew 23:33 - “You serpents, you brood of vipers, how shall you escape the judgment, conviction, and sentence [ kr…sij, krisis ] of Gehenna [ Gšenna, Geenna: the Lake of Fire ]?
v. 34 -	“For this reason I sent in the past and I will keep on sending to you prophets [ Church-Age gift of prophet ], and wise men [ gift of pastor-teacher ], and scribes and experts in the law  [ gift of apostle ], some of whom you will kill [ James ] and crucify [ Messiah ], and some you will flog [ Paul on three occasions ] in your synagogues and persecute and pursue from town to town [ Paul ],
v. 35 -	so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel [ 1st martyr in Old Testament ] to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah [ the last martyr in the Old Testament ], whom you murdered between the temple and the altar."
		31)	It can be said that the Lord looked the Pharisees in the eye and literally raked them over the coals.  They asserted in verse 30 that “If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.”

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