So punishment was meted out to Joash. After the Arameans had departed from him, leaving him in grievous suffering, his servants conspired against him because of the murder of the son of Jehoiada the priest. He was buried in the City of David, but not in the tombs of the kings.
King Joash, the only legitimate heir of King David, surviving many murderous conspiracies against him, inherited the throne as a seven-year-old child. Guided by the wise and faithful Jehoiada he did well and was favored by God. Unfortunately, after Jehoida died, Joash fell under the influence of less worthy friends. Not only did he condone the killing of his only critic, Jehoida's son, he supported the worship of idols in Jerusalem and elsewhere. It was good for business but unworthy of a holy nation; and Joash was not even accorded a burial place with the rest of David's line.
His story doesn't rate an entry in Wikipedia or the online Catholic Encyclopedia. It has no heroes; the politics is complicated; the accounts in 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles differ; the whole affair is not inspiring. God appears only as a punishing God but he doesn't set things right by his punishment. History will march on at its weary pace from day to day; and Joash's son Amaziah will not fare much better. If we don't know exactly what happened or why, we can say nonetheless, that King Joash lived and died and took his place in the history of God's people.
Adults would rather know history for what happened than seek heroes in every chapter. Our inspiration comes from God, sometimes despite the truths we unearth. If we cannot detect the hand of God in our present political dilemma we can nonetheless ask for Inspired Guidance as we discover a possible trajectory from the past into the future.
Almost fifty years ago, the Supreme Court of the United States committed a horrible blunder in the case of Roe v Wade. The Court's disregard for the sanctity of innate human life cleared the way for today's epidemics of drug abuse, suicide, and mass killings. There is no undoing what happened since that fatal day but we can hope to move forward toward a national consensus that all human life is sacred, whether born or unborn, healthy or sick, wealthy or poor, handsome or hideous.
We can pray for mercy for our misguided opponents and practice mercy in dealing with them. They are not the enemy; but they may be in the grip of an enemy spirit. And we pray that we do not become the enemy, as happens when adversaries agree to make war with one another. Those who fail to love their enemies become diabolical.
We still believe in Emmanuel, the LORD who remains to guide us out of our pact with death.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.