Read: 2 Chronicles 24:1-25:28; Romans 12:1-21; Psalm 22:19-31; Proverbs 20:8-10
Joash who came to power at the age of seven was a good king until the priest, Jehoiada died. Jehoiada and his wife had raised Joash and found him two wives with which he had sons and daughters.
He decided to restore the house of the Lord because Athalia had used the holy things of the Lord in the temple of Baal. Joash put a box outside the Temple and had the people bring the tax Moses had commanded. The people were happy to bring their tax to the Lord and with it they were able to repair the Temple and get it back in working order.
Jehoiada died and the princes of Judah came to Joash and encouraged him to worship the idols and the Asherim. God sent prophets to try to get him to turn back to the Lord, but he wouldn’t listen. Jehoiada’s son Zechariah spoke to the people and asked them why they would want to stop prospering and forsake the Lord. The king had him stoned in the court of the house of the Lord. Joash showed no respect for Jehoiada by killing his son. As Zechariah was dying he prayed that the Lord would avenge his death.
God did, by sending the Syrian army against Judah. They destroyed all the princes of the people - the ones who enticed the king to worship idols - and took much spoil. A very few Syrians did much damage to Judah because they had forsaken the Lord. They left Joash severely wounded and his own servants conspired against him and killed him on his bed. He was not buried with the tombs of the kings. Amaziah his son reigned in his place.
Amaziah was 25 years old and he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, but not with his whole heart. He had the ones who killed his father killed but let their children live according to God’s law. He set up new commanders since all the princes had been killed. He formed an army of 300,000 men and then hired 100,000 men from Israel for 100 talents of gold. But a man of God came and told him not to take the men from Israel with him because God was not with Israel now. When he asked him what he would do about the gold he had paid them, he answered that God was able to give him much more than this. So, Amaziah sent the army of Israel home. They were so humiliated and angry that they looted and killed 3,000 in the cities of Judah on their way home.
Amaziah led his army against the Edomites and killed 20,000. Amaziah brought home the gods of the Edomites and set them up and worshiped them. God sent a prophet to ask him why he would worship gods who could’t save their people and abandon the God who defeated them. When the king was disrespectful to the prophet, the prophet told him that God was determined to destroy him because he didn’t listen to what he said.
Amaziah picked a fight with Israel since he was feeling so strong and invincible. Joash, the king of Israel tried to stop him but Amaziah wouldn’t listen, so they met at Beth-shemesh to fight. Judah was defeated by Israel and fled. Joash of Israel went to Jerusalem and broke down 400 cubits of the wall and seized all the silver and gold from the Temple. He took hostages back to Samaria. There had been a conspiracy planned from the time Amaziah turned away from the Lord and he fled to Lachish. They found him and put him to death in Lachish. He was brought back to Jerusalem and buried with his fathers in the city of David.
In Romans, Paul appeals to us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice to the Lord as our act of worship to him. Instead of conforming to the world, we are to let God renew our mind so that what we go through will teach us to discern what is God’s will and what is good and what is evil.
We are not to think more highly about ourselves than God wants us to, but to grow in faith. We all need each other and benefit by others gifts. Some have been gifted with the ability to prophecy, some to teach, some to serve, some to exhort, some to give and some to do acts of mercy.
We are to do everything with sincerity of heart and hate what is evil and love what is good. We are to be diligent and passionate in our service to the Lord. We are to be hopeful, patient and constantly in prayer. We are to be generous to the needy and hospitable.
We are to bless those who persecute us, rejoice with those who are rejoicing and weep with those who are weeping. We are to live peacefully with those around us and not ever think we are better than anyone. We are to let God avenge us against our enemies and be kind to them instead because our kindness might cause them to repent.
Lord, may all we do bring glory to your name. May we be your witnesses of righteousness in the world.
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