Joash and Jehoiada - The Dynamic Duo

So who is the biggest influence in your life?
We reckoned it was our parents, maybe siblings, and Uncle Norman's said his was his wife =).

So what was the point in asking that?
Well it says that
'Jehoash did what was right in the sight of the LORD all the days in which Jehoiada the priest instructed him.' [2Kings 12:2]
So obviously Jehoiada's influence in Joash's life was pretty huge.
Just a little recap - Joash was the grandson of Athaliah, the horrible granny who killed her 70 grandchildren, APART from Joash, who was hidden by Jehoiada in the house of the LORD. She clearly wasnt a very good granny, because a)she killed them all and b)she didn't even notice she'd missed Joash out!

So Jehoiada was good for Joash, he influenced him in the right way. BUT he was an old guy, and he died...
'Now after the death of Jehoiada the leaders of Judah came and bowed down to the king. And the king listened to them' [2Chronicles 24:17]
Now these guys weren't so good, and Joash definitely didn't benefit from listening to their advice...
'Therefore they left the house of the LORD God of their fathers, and served wooden images and idols; and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem because of their trespass' [2 Chronicles 24:18]
So that wasn't so good...
We were reminded of Rehoboam, that guy with the fat pinky, who listened to the advice of his peers rather than those that served with King Solomon, who had been good at least SOME of his life. And the advice of the young men, who'd always been used to prosperity on their part, and not really bothered thinking about how life was for everyone else, was that King Rehoboam should be really harsh on the people. Which ended in the people rebelling against Rehoboam. That was when the Northern Kingdom was formed, wasn't it? ... *checks* yeah, it was, they all rebelled against the house of David, and then when Jeroboam came out of hiding they crowned him their king instead of Rehoboam. So there you go, listening to his buddies rather than the older men didn't help him any.
NOT that all young people are just layabouts, we know that Timothy, for example, was a good guy. And actually thinking about it, I'm sure that was because of his mum's and grandma's influence, yeah?
'when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.' [2Tim 1:5]
Timothy had listened to the right influences, and because of this he could be a good influence for the people in the ecclesia.

So, lesson for us?

• We should listen to the right influences
• We should then use that influence to change our lives
• ...and the lives of those around us, our peers...
• ...so that if our original Jehoiada dies or goes out of our lives somehow, we still have good influences to rely on in our peers, who learned from the same Jehoiada.
• And we can ALL help each other in this =)

So what about Joash, he was good until Jehoiada died, was he a good king overall? Well we reckoned he was sort of middling possibly - he's influenced greatly by the people around him, so perhaps we didn't really take time to form proper opinions of his own? Maybe he did though, we can't read people's characters.

But it was what he did last that mattered, just like in our lives. In the New Testament somewhere that I can't find right now, it talks about how even if we've been good all our lives and then turn our backs on God and do evil, our goodness is no longer of any importance. If we die with our backs on God, we can't rely on His mercy.

And that works two ways - if we've been evil all our lives and then repent and get baptised and try to do good, our evilness is forgotten. Jesus' sacrifice has washed those sins away, and we concentrate on being the best we can for God. And because of this, we CAN rely on God's mercy.

This doesn't mean that it just doesn't matter if we sin or not, of course it does! It's our attitude that's the important thing - if we THINK we can sin without it mattering then that's like turning our backs on God. It's getting that balance between recognising God's mercy and realising that no sin of ours can EVER bigger than His mercy in forgiving us. BUT we are horrible people, we need to recognise that too, and try even harder to be better for Him because of this. It's also incredibly hard to explain, and I'm not managing too well...

ANYWAY we've found out that its what we're doing NOW and what we WILL do in the FUTURE that are the important things.

So. We're in the last days. What are you doing NOW?

PS that last days bit? WELL.. the EU is now a legal entity, as of the 1st December, so it is now classed as a nation. By some definition somewhere.

[Rev 17:16,17]

'16 And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled'

The beast, that was Rome, right? So the 10 horns were those 10 nations that originally came out of Rome and formed Europe (the Vandals, the Goths, and those other ones). Well now they're being 'of one mind', yeah? The harlot, I can't remember what we said about her, Uncle Norman knows.. but that's being fulfilled just now too. Bits of Revelation and other prophecies are coming true all the time, we really are in the last days.... so what are we doing about it?