But they conspired against Zechariah, and by order of the king, they stoned him in the courtyard of the house of the LORD. Sermons
I. DEPARTURE FROM THE LIVING GOD. Not being "rooted and grounded" in reverence and in attachment to Jehovah, as soon as the directing and sustaining hand of Jehoiada was missed, Joash gave heed to the evil counsel of the reactionary "princes of Judah" and "left the house of the Lord." The young may be habituated to sacred services, and they may be brought up in the practice of good behaviour, but if they have not fully and firmly attached themselves to the Divine Lord whose praises they have been singing and whose will they have been respecting, their piety will not endure. "Being let go," being released, as they must be in time, from the human restraints that hold them to the right course, they follow the bent of worldly inclination; it may be that they yield to the solicitation of unholy passion; but they decline from the path of Christian worship and godly service. It is a melancholy sight for the angels of God, and for all earnest human souls, to witness - that of a man who knows what is best, who has stood face to face with Christ, who has often worshipped in his house, and perhaps sat at his table, declining to lower paths, "going after Baal," letting another power than that of his gracious Lord rule his heart and occupy his life. II. RESENTMENT AT THE DIVINE REBUKE. The true and honoured servant of the Lord, Jehoiada, was well succeeded by a faithful son, Zechariah. He did his work right nobly, and testified against the apostasy of the king and court. But the monarch, in the haughtiness of his heart, resented the rebuke of the Lord's prophet, and only aggravated his offence by persecution and even murder (vers. 20, 21). Thus sin slopes down, and at some points with sad and startling rapidity. When God's rebuke is heard, coming through the voice of one of his ministers, or coming in his Divine providence; and when that rebuke, instead of being heeded and obeyed, is resented by the rebellious spirit, then there ensues a very rapid spiritual decline. Men go "from bad to worse," from indifference or forgetfulness to hostility, from doubt to disbelief, from laxity to licentiousness, from wrongness of attitude to iniquity in action. To resent the rebuke of the Lord is to inflict upon ourselves the most serious, and too often a mortal, injury. III. THE PENALTY OF DISOBEDIENCE. In the case of Joash, it was: 1. Humiliating defeat in battle (vers. 23, 24). 2. Bodily sufferings (ver. 25). 3. A violent and miserable death (ver. 25). 4. Dishonour after death (ver. 25). In the case of the spiritual transgressor now, the penalty that has to be feared is: 1. Grave and grievous spiritual decline. 2. The serious displeasure of the Divine Master. 3. The loss of the esteem of the truest and best human friends. 4. Condemnation in the day of judgment. - C.
And Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord an the days of Jehoiada the priest. There are certain characters that are great curiosities. There are also other characters that are great monstrosities. The ease of Joash is s very extraordinary one. From his history learn —I. THAT IT IS A GREAT BLESSING WHEN PEOPLE YIELD TO GODLY INFLUENCES. 1. The first six years of Joash's life were spent in the temple. 2. He was started in life's business in a very admirable way. 3. He was outwardly obedient to the law of the Lord in the days of Jehoiada. 4. He was zealous for the externals of religion. 5. He influenced others for good. II. GOOD AS ALL THIS IS, IT IS NOT ALL THAT IS NEEDED. 1. This is not yielding the heart to God. 2. All this yielding to godly influences may exist without any personal, vital godliness whatever. 3. An externally pious character may even prevent men from being saved at all. It may lead a man to take for granted that he is saved. 4. To be under godly influences year after year, without any great trial or temptation, may leave the personal character altogether undeveloped.We must have some kind of test, or else we cannot be sure of the character. You cannot be sure about principle being in any young man if he has been kept under a glass case, and if his principles have never been tried. The real character of Joash had never come out at all, because Jehoiada, as it were, covered him. His own disposition was only waiting the opportunity of developing itself. I have heard of an officer in India who had brought up a young leopard. It was apparently as tame as a cat. One afternoon, while asleep in his chair, the leopard licked his hand in all tenderness as a cat might have done; but after licking awhile it licked too hard and a little blood began to flow. It no sooner tasted blood than the old leopard spirit was up, and his master was his master no more. So does it happen to many that being shut in, and tamed, as it were, but not changed, subdued but not renewed, kept in check but not converted, there has come a time afterwards when the taste of blood has called out the old nature, and away the man has gone. III. THIS YIELDING CHARACTER MAY EVEN PROVE A SOURCE OF MISCHIEF. The princes of Judah came and "made obeisance to the king." What followed? 1. Joash went off to sin. 2. He refused reproof. 3. He slew his friend's son. 4. Having no faith in God, he robbed the temple, and gave all the gold and treasures unto Hazael the Syrian. ( C. H. Spurgeon.) 2. Not that we should make small account of the counsel of wise and religious friends. The perfect use of a wise adviser is not to determine for us what we shall do in every particular case that day by day arises; but to help us to store our minds with sound principles, such as we may call up for our own direction when any emergency requires them. 3. There is a great difference in the natural constitution of men's minds. Some are like the creeping plant that grows up rapidly, but must always hang for support upon some external prop. Others are like the oak, slowly developing itself from among the meaner underwood, until it rears its head alone above the trees of the forest. When the trellis or pole decays, the creeper must fall to the ground; the oak abides seemingly unmovable in its own strength. All the culture that man could bestow would never give to the creeper the sturdiness of the oak. 4. But though man cannot change nature God can. He can impart strength to the weakest character. Therefore the way to be firm in what is good, is to take God for your guide and support, and not man (Galatians 6:4, 5; Philippians 2:12, 13). 5. There is no contradiction between the duty of seeking and in due measure following the counsel of our good instructors and the duty of standing fast for ourselves in the counsel of God. Just as the office of the moon is to transmit the reflected light of the sun to the dark side of the earth; but if the moon comes between the earth and the sun, it does but darken the earth, by intercepting from it the rays that beam from that great light which is the source of light and heat to both; so the parent, the teacher, or the priest, is to stand for God towards the child, the pupil, or the private Christian, so far as their imperfect knowledge or their spiritual needs require; but not so as to eclipse God, or to make them forget that to God and not to man they are answerable in the last resort for their deeds. (James Randall, M.A.) I. JEHOIADA, AS AN EXAMPLE OF INFLUENCE EXERTED FOR GOOD. 1. He had three elements of success with which to work. (1) (2) (3) 2. Note here the relative influence of personal piety. "Joash did that which is right." The nation prospered in every sense through the faithfulness of one man. Clear and consistent personal piety is always a persuasive thing. No treatises upon religion can rival for persuasive power the "living epistles known and read of all men." Our calling as Christians is to win others, as Jehoiada did, to do that which is right in the sight of the Lord. We have received light that our faces may shine before men. The design of God in our salvation is not only our happiness but our usefulness. II. JOASH AS AN EXAMPLE FOR OUR WARNING. The religion which had its life and influence only from a man was soon forgotten when the source of that influence had passed away. There is a vital difference between the godliness which is the result of external circumstances and that which is the product of internal principle. It is the difference between the galvanised corpse and the living man; the star and the meteor; the flash of the lightning and the action of the sunbeam. There is a false godliness current among men. 1. With some piety is dependent upon policy. 2. With others it is a matter of periods. 3. With others it is a religion of place. 4. With others it is dependent upon the personal influence of some minister, or upon the advice and counsel of a friend. (C. J. Phipps Eyre, M.A.) 1. He was zealous for God under restraint. 2. He degenerated when that restraint was taken away. II. THE HONOUR AND THE DISGRACE OF HIS REIGN. 1. Honourable reforms. 2. Disgraceful crimes. Like Nero after the death of his teacher Seneca, the philosopher, he was stained with crimes. III. THE DISASTROUS END OF HIS LIFE. Conclusion: Learn — 1. The responsibility of those to whom the care of young persons is entrusted. 2. Caution those yet under guardianship and tutors and friends. 3. The awful end of those who turn aside from hopeful beginnings. (J. Wolfendale.) (J. Parker, D.D.) 5271 courtyard 5557 stoning Joash Glad Givers and Faithful Workers The Channel of Power. The Prophet Joel. Conclusion The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close. Chronicles |
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