Bandages cannot cover a divided heart

2Kings 12-13, 2Chron 24 The question before us is, where is God in this story? Do you ask, like me, how/why one can turn away from God after years of a righteous lifestyle under pure teaching? Why does that happen?

Just as then, so today, men begin to trivialize God’s Word and listen instead to the voices of those whose lips speak disdainfully of God. The heart is revealed as deceitful and desperately wicked   [Jer 17:9]. The truth is one can wear the mask of righteousness, but as Jesus said, inwardly, one is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. [Matt 7:15]

So it was with Joash. He was righteous as long as his mentor, the high priest Jehoiada, was alive. But, just as it is said, out of sight, out of mind. After his death, Joash listened to the advice of his officials, not to the words of Jehoiada’s son Zechariah. Little by little, his faith was tested and found wanting. How about us? Is our faith strong enough to stand against those who falsely say they are of God but whose works prove otherwise?

Where is God in this chapter? He is where He has always been – in the heavens. He watches over men and tests their hearts to see if they will follow Him.