'And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the
days of Jehoiada the priest.... 17. Now after the death of Jehoiada
came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the
king hearkened unto them.'--2 CHRON. xxiv. 2, 17.
Here we have the tragedy of a soul. Joash begins life well and for the
greater part of it remains faithful to his conscience and to his duty,
and then, when outward circumstances change, he casts all behind him,
forgets the past and commits moral suicide. It is the sad old story, a
bright commencement, an early promise all scattered to the winds. It
is a strange story, too. This seven-year-old king had been saved when
his father had been killed, and that true daughter of Jezebel, as well
by nature as by blood, Athaliah, had murdered all his brothers and
sisters, and made herself queen. He had been saved by the courage of a
woman who might worthily stand by the side of Deborah and other Jewish
heroines. By this woman, who was his aunt, he was hidden and brought
up in the Temple until, whilst yet a mere boy, he came to the throne,
the High Priest Jehoiada, the husband of his aunt, being his guardian
during his nonage. He reigns well till the lad of seven becomes a
mature man of thirty or thereabouts, and then Jehoiada dies, full of
years and honours, and they fitly lay him among the kings of Judah, a
worthy resting-place for one who had 'done good in Israel.' And now
the weakling on the throne is left alone without the strong arm to
guide him and keep him right, and we read that 'the princes of Judah
came and made obeisance to him.' They take him on his weak side, and I
dare say Jehoiada had been too true and too noble to do that, and
though we are not told what means they took to flatter and coax him,
we see very plainly what they were conspiring to do, for we read that
'they left the house of the Lord their God, the God of their fathers,
and served groves and idols,' the groves here mentioned being symbols
of Ashtaroth the goddess of the Sidonians. And so all the past is
wiped out and Joash takes his place amongst the apostates. The story
has solemn lessons.