The story of godly King Joash is a fascinating one and can be found in greater detail in 2 Kings 11 and 12. After a steady decline in the kingdom from the time of David, a bloody coup took place. When King Ahaziah died, Athaliah (his mother and Joash\u2019s grandmother) killed the entire royal family and set herself upon the throne. But Joash\u2019s great aunt snuck him out and hid him for 6 years in a secret place within the temple of God.<\/p>\n
For 6 years, Jehoida the High Priest waited as Athaliah usurped the throne and led the nation into idolatry. For 6 years, the priests of Baal prospered. But at the right time, God’s time, when Joash was 7 years old, Jehoida staged an uprising against the idolatrous Athaliah and put Joash on his rightful throne. The temple of Baal in the city was destroyed, and proper temple worship was re-established.<\/p>\n
God’s timing is critical; it\u2019s important that we wait on Him. And then when the time is right, we need to be ready to move. As the old saying goes, \u201cStrike while the iron is hot.\u201d Before a blacksmith can work his iron, he must heat it in a fiery furnace until it is red hot. It takes time to heat the iron; but if he holds it there too long, it goes molten and can be lost. And if he doesn’t wait long enough, taking it out too soon, it isn’t soft enough to be molded. However, at just the right moment, when the metal is the right temperature, he takes it out and places it on the anvil. Using a hammer, he strikes it into the desired shape. \u201cStriking while the iron is hot,” means that when an opportunity comes, we act immediately. Opportunities are fleeting; sometimes we only have a few brief moments to effect changes in others that could last for eternity.<\/p>\n
“LORD, don’t let us miss an opportunity to bring words of life to someone this day.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n =============================================================<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 Chronicles 24 KJV<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1<\/sup>\u00a0Joash\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>seven years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. His mother\u2019s name also\u00a0was\u00a0<\/em>Zibiah of Beer-sheba.\u00a02<\/sup>\u00a0And Joash did\u00a0that which was<\/em>right in the sight of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0all the days of Jehoiada the priest.\u00a03<\/sup>\u00a0And Jehoiada took for him two wives; and he begat sons and daughters. 4<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass after this,\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>Joash was minded to repair the house of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a0\u00a05<\/sup>\u00a0And he gathered together the priests and the Levites, and said to them, Go out unto the cities of Judah, and gather of all Israel money to repair the house of your God from year to year, and see that ye hasten the matter. Howbeit the Levites hastened\u00a0it<\/em>not.\u00a06<\/sup>\u00a0And the king called for Jehoiada the chief, and said unto him, Why hast thou not required of the Levites to bring in out of Judah and out of Jerusalem the collection,\u00a0according to the commandment\u00a0<\/em>of Moses the servant of the\u00a0LORD, and of the congregation of Israel, for the tabernacle of witness?\u00a07<\/sup>\u00a0For the sons of Athaliah, that wicked woman, had broken up the house of God; and also all the dedicated things of the house of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0did they bestow upon Baalim.\u00a08<\/sup>\u00a0And at the king\u2019s commandment they made a chest, and set it without at the gate of the house of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a09<\/sup>\u00a0And they made a proclamation through Judah and Jerusalem, to bring in to the\u00a0LORD\u00a0the collection\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>Moses the servant of God\u00a0laid\u00a0<\/em>upon Israel in the wilderness.\u00a0\u00a010<\/sup>And all the princes and all the people rejoiced, and brought in, and cast into the chest, until they had made an end.\u00a011<\/sup>Now it came to pass, that at what time the chest was brought unto the king\u2019s office by the hand of the Levites, and when they saw that\u00a0there was\u00a0<\/em>much money, the king\u2019s scribe and the high priest\u2019s officer came and emptied the chest, and took it, and carried it to his place again. Thus they did day by day, and gathered money in abundance.\u00a012<\/sup>And the king and Jehoiada gave it to such as did the work of the service of the house of the\u00a0LORD, and hired masons and carpenters to repair the house of the\u00a0LORD, and also such as wrought iron and brass to mend the house of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a013<\/sup>\u00a0So the workmen wrought, and the work was perfected by them, and they set the house of God in his state, and strengthened it.\u00a0\u00a014<\/sup>\u00a0And when they had finished\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Jehoiada, whereof were made vessels for the house of the\u00a0LORD,\u00a0even\u00a0<\/em>vessels to minister, and to offer\u00a0withal\u00a0<\/em>, and spoons, and vessels of gold and silver. And they offered burnt offerings in the house of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0continually all the days of Jehoiada.\u00a015<\/sup>\u00a0But Jehoiada waxed old, and was full of days when he died; an hundred and thirty years old\u00a0was he\u00a0<\/em>when he died.\u00a016<\/sup>\u00a0And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good in Israel, both toward God, and toward his house.\u00a017<\/sup>\u00a0Now after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them.\u00a018<\/sup>\u00a0And they left the house of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0God of their fathers, and served groves and idols: and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass.\u00a019<\/sup>\u00a0Yet he sent prophets to them, to bring them again unto the\u00a0LORD; and they testified against them: but they would not give ear.\u00a020<\/sup>\u00a0And the Spirit of God came upon Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest, which stood above the people, and said unto them, Thus saith God, Why transgress ye the commandments of the\u00a0LORD, that ye cannot prosper? because ye have forsaken the\u00a0LORD, he hath also forsaken you.\u00a0\u00a021<\/sup>\u00a0And they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones at the commandment of the king in the court of the house of the\u00a0LORD.\u00a022<\/sup>\u00a0Thus Joash the king remembered not the kindness which Jehoiada his father had done to him, but slew his son. And when he died, he said, The\u00a0LORD\u00a0look upon\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>, and require\u00a0it\u00a0<\/em>. 23<\/sup>\u00a0And it came to pass at the end of the year,\u00a0that\u00a0<\/em>the host of Syria came up against him: and they came to Judah and Jerusalem, and destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people, and sent all the spoil of them unto the king of Damascus.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a024<\/sup>\u00a0For the army of the Syrians came with a small company of men, and the\u00a0LORD\u00a0delivered a very great host into their hand, because they had forsaken the\u00a0LORD\u00a0God of their fathers. So they executed judgment against Joash.\u00a025<\/sup>\u00a0And when they were departed from him, (for they left him in great diseases,) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings.\u00a026<\/sup>\u00a0And these are they that conspired against him; Zabad the son of Shimeath an Ammonitess, and Jehozabad the son of Shimrith a Moabitess.\u00a0\u00a027<\/sup> Now\u00a0concerning\u00a0<\/em>his sons, and the greatness of the burdens\u00a0laid\u00a0<\/em>upon him, and the repairing of the house of God, behold, they\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>written in the story of the book of the kings. And Amaziah his son reigned in his stead.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The story of godly King Joash is a fascinating one and can be found in greater detail in 2 Kings 11 and 12. After a steady decline in the kingdom from the time of David, a bloody coup took place. When King Ahaziah died, Athaliah (his mother and Joash\u2019s grandmother) killed the entire royal family […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7239"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7239"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7239\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16377,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7239\/revisions\/16377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7239"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7239"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/packinghouseredlands.org\/devotional\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7239"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}