The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Repair” it comes from the Hebrew Word “chazaq” which means “to strengthen, to repair.”
A promising young king’s reign takes a tragic turn once his faithful mentor passes away. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is 2 Chronicles 24.
Joash becomes king at seven years old and does what is right in the Lord’s sight throughout the days of Jehoiada the priest, who arranges two wives for him. Joash decides to repair the Lord’s house, instructing the Levites to collect money throughout Judah annually, and eventually establishes a chest for collecting funds directly, which the priests and Levites bring to skilled workmen who “repair,” “chazaq” in Hebrew, the temple thoroughly and restore it to solid condition, even making additional vessels of gold and silver from the surplus.
However, after Jehoiada dies at the remarkable age of 130, having done good in Israel, both toward God and His house, the princes of Judah come and bow before Joash, persuading him to abandon the Lord’s house and serve groves and idols instead, bringing wrath upon Judah and Jerusalem for this guilt. God sends prophets to bring them back, but they refuse to listen, until the Spirit of God comes upon Zechariah, Jehoiada’s own son, who confronts the people directly, asking why they transgress God’s commandments when it cannot possibly prosper them.
Tragically, Joash, the very king Zechariah’s father had once risked everything to protect and crown, commands that Zechariah be stoned to death in the temple court, and as he dies, Zechariah cries out, “The LORD look upon it, and require it.” Within the year, a much smaller Syrian army defeats Judah’s much larger forces, executing judgment on Joash’s princes, and Joash himself, severely wounded, is eventually killed in his own bed by his own servants, avenging Jehoiada’s son, closing out a reign that began with such promise but ended in devastating spiritual and personal betrayal.
Joash’s shocking betrayal, murdering the son of the very man who rescued and protected him as a child, reveals how quickly genuine faithfulness can collapse without consistent, ongoing godly influence and personal conviction. This tragic reversal shows that following someone else’s faith, however genuinely it was modeled, is never a substitute for one’s own settled, personal devotion to God.
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