The Price of Truth: When Gratitude Dies Text: 2 Chronicles 24:20-22
Introduction: The High Cost of a Low King
There are certain stories in Scripture that serve as permanent warning signs, erected by God on the highways of history. They are like those stark, black-and-white signs that show a car plunging off a cliff. The story of King Joash is one of those signs. Here was a man who began his reign as a great reformer, a boy king saved from a murderous grandmother, raised in the house of God by a faithful priest, and set on the throne to restore the worship of Yahweh. For a time, it seemed like a golden age. The temple was repaired, the law was followed, and the nation prospered under the godly counsel of Jehoiada the priest.
But a man's character is not truly revealed when he is propped up by others. It is revealed when the props are kicked out. As long as Jehoiada lived, Joash walked a straight line. But the moment his godly mentor died, the king's spine turned to jelly. The flattering princes of Judah gained his ear, and the king who had once restored true worship led the nation headlong into idolatry. It is a nauseatingly common story: a man who inherits a godly legacy, enjoys its blessings, and then, out of weakness, ingratitude, and a desire for the approval of wicked men, throws it all away.
Our text this morning picks up at the tragic climax of this apostasy. God, in His mercy, does not abandon His people without a word. He sends a prophet. But this is not just any prophet. It is Zechariah, the son of the very man who had saved Joash's life, secured his throne, and guided his kingdom for decades. God's choice of a messenger is itself a sermon. It is a pointed reminder of the king's deep ingratitude. And the response of the king and the people to this message is one of the most shocking and revealing episodes in all the Old Testament. It shows us that apostasy is never just a private matter of personal devotion. It inevitably hardens the heart, sears the conscience, and leads to murderous rage against the truth. This is not just ancient history; it is a spiritual diagnostic for our own time, for our own churches, and for our own hearts.
The Text
Now the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, “Thus says God, ‘Why do you trespass against the commandments of Yahweh and do not succeed? Because you have forsaken Yahweh, He has also forsaken you.’ ”
So they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of Yahweh.
Thus Joash the king did not remember the lovingkindness which his father Jehoiada had shown him, but he killed his son. And as he died he said, “May Yahweh see and avenge!”
(2 Chronicles 24:20-22 LSB)
The Spirit-Clothed Confrontation (v. 20)
We begin with the divine initiative. God does not wait for Judah to hit rock bottom. He intervenes with a word of prophetic confrontation.
"Now the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, 'Thus says God, ‘Why do you trespass against the commandments of Yahweh and do not succeed? Because you have forsaken Yahweh, He has also forsaken you.’'" (2 Chronicles 24:20)
The first thing to notice is the striking phrase, "the Spirit of God clothed Zechariah." This is not the same as the permanent indwelling of the Spirit that all believers enjoy under the New Covenant. This is an Old Testament anointing for a specific, hazardous task. The Hebrew verb suggests that the Spirit "put on" Zechariah like a garment. God was wearing Zechariah. This means that the words to follow are not Zechariah's hot take on the political situation. He is not offering his opinion. He is a mouthpiece, a herald, fully enveloped by and subordinate to the Spirit of God. When he speaks, God speaks. This is the essence of prophetic authority. It is not personal charisma or clever insight; it is divine commission.
And what is the message? It is a sharp, twofold diagnosis of Judah's condition. First, a practical question: "Why do you trespass against the commandments of Yahweh and do not succeed?" This is covenantal logic 101. God had laid out the terms in Deuteronomy. Obedience brings blessing and success. Disobedience brings curses and failure. Zechariah is essentially saying, "Look around you! Your national projects are failing. Your policies are not working. Do you not see the correlation? You are trying to build a kingdom on a foundation of rebellion, and it is crumbling." This is a profoundly practical argument. Sin is stupid. It doesn't work. It is self-sabotage on a national scale.
The second part of the message gives the theological foundation for their failure: "Because you have forsaken Yahweh, He has also forsaken you." This is the law of spiritual reciprocity. This is not God being petty. It is God being just. He is the source of life, blessing, and stability. To forsake Him is to forsake the very definition of success. When a nation unplug's itself from the power source, it is no surprise when the lights go out. This "forsaking" by God is not a loss of His essential control, but a governmental withdrawal of His favor and protection. He hands them over to the consequences of their own choices. He gives them what they have asked for: a world without Him. And it is a world that does not work.
The Treason of Ungrateful Men (v. 21)
The response to this clear, logical, and gracious warning is not repentance. It is a murderous conspiracy, sanctioned at the highest level.
"So they conspired against him and at the command of the king they stoned him to death in the court of the house of Yahweh." (2 Chronicles 24:21 LSB)
Notice the progression. The truth of God is spoken, and the immediate reaction of fallen men is to plot. "They conspired against him." Truth creates a crisis. It forces a decision. You either bow to it or you seek to silence it. There is no neutral ground. The king and his cronies could not refute the message, so they decided to eliminate the messenger. This is the coward's way out, and it is the default setting of all tyrants, whether they sit on a throne or in a corporate boardroom.
The conspiracy is given royal approval: "at the command of the king." Joash, the man who owed his life and crown to the house of Jehoiada, now signs the death warrant for Jehoiada's son. This is a black hole of ingratitude. It is a betrayal so profound that it is almost unbelievable. But we must believe it, because it shows us what sin does to the soul. It erases all memory of past kindnesses. It severs all bonds of loyalty. Ingratitude is the gateway drug to apostasy and murder.
And where does this horrific act take place? "In the court of the house of Yahweh." They murder God's prophet in God's own front yard. This is not just murder; it is sacrilege. It is a defiant act of rebellion, committed on holy ground. They are not just killing a man; they are making a statement to his God. They are saying, "We will not have this God rule over us, and we will even defile His own sanctuary to prove it." This is what Jesus referred to when He condemned the Pharisees for the blood of all the prophets, from Abel to this very Zechariah, whom they "murdered between the sanctuary and the altar" (Matthew 23:35).
A Legacy of Betrayal and a Cry for Justice (v. 22)
The Chronicler drives the point home with a final, devastating summary and the prophet's dying words.
"Thus Joash the king did not remember the lovingkindness which his father Jehoiada had shown him, but he killed his son. And as he died he said, 'May Yahweh see and avenge!'" (2 Chronicles 24:22 LSB)
Here is the epitaph for King Joash: "He did not remember." Spiritual amnesia. He forgot the "lovingkindness," the hesed, the covenant loyalty that Jehoiada had shown him. Jehoiada had acted as a father to him, and in return, Joash murdered his son. This is a complete inversion of covenant obligation. It is the sin of anti-gratitude, a malignant thanklessness that actively repays good with evil. This is the heart of rebellion against God. God has shown us ultimate lovingkindness in Christ, and every sin is an act of forgetting, an act of cosmic ingratitude.
Zechariah's final words are not a plea for personal revenge. They are a formal, legal appeal to the high court of heaven. "May Yahweh see and avenge!" This is an imprecatory prayer. It is not a sinful curse born of personal bitterness. It is a righteous prophet, speaking for God, calling upon God to uphold His own justice and vindicate His own name. Zechariah is handing the case over to the only righteous Judge. He is saying, "I have delivered the message. They have rejected it and me. The matter is now in Your hands. Uphold the honor of Your court." This is a terrifying prayer, because God always answers such prayers. The blood of the martyrs does not cry out in vain. The end of this chapter tells us that within a year, the small army of Aram came and routed the great army of Judah, and Joash himself was assassinated in his bed by his own servants. Yahweh saw, and Yahweh avenged.
The Blood That Speaks a Better Word
This entire, sordid affair is a dark foreshadowing of a greater betrayal and a greater martyrdom. The story of Joash and Zechariah is a black-velvet backdrop against which the glory of the gospel shines all the more brightly.
Like Joash, we were rescued from certain death. We were under the sentence of condemnation, ruled by a murderous tyrant, Satan. And God, through a greater Priest than Jehoiada, rescued us. The Lord Jesus Christ saved us, not just from a wicked grandmother, but from the wrath of God. He placed us in His Father's house, the church, and set a crown of righteousness on our heads.
And how have we repaid this lovingkindness? Too often, like Joash, we have forgotten. We have listened to the flattering voices of the world. We have turned aside to the idols of comfort, approval, and self-sufficiency. We have shown a staggering ingratitude for the grace that saved us. Every one of our sins is a small echo of Joash's great betrayal.
And God, in His mercy, sends us messengers. He sends His Word, His preachers, His Spirit, to confront us. "Why do you trespass and do not succeed? Because you have forsaken Me, I have forsaken you to your own devices." And when we hear that word, our sinful hearts, like the men of Judah, often conspire against it. We seek to silence the messenger, to rationalize the sin, to kill the conviction in our hearts.
Ultimately, the world's hatred for God's truth culminated in the murder of God's own Son. Jesus Christ, the ultimate prophet, priest, and king, stood in the court of God's house, Jerusalem, and spoke the unvarnished truth. And for it, at the command of wicked rulers and the roar of a fickle crowd, He was executed. They conspired against Him and killed Him.
But here is the glorious difference. As Zechariah died, he cried out for vengeance: "May Yahweh see and avenge!" But as Jesus died, He cried out for pardon: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). Zechariah's blood cried out for justice, and it fell on that generation. But the book of Hebrews tells us that the blood of Jesus "speaks a better word than the blood of Abel" (Hebrews 12:24), and we can add, a better word than the blood of Zechariah. His blood does not cry out for our condemnation, but for our forgiveness. His death satisfied the justice that Zechariah's death demanded. The vengeance of God against our treacherous, ungrateful, idolatrous sin was fully poured out upon His own Son.
Therefore, we are not like Joash, left to face the consequences of our apostasy. We can turn back. The way of repentance is wide open, because the blood of Christ has paid for our every betrayal. Let us then remember His lovingkindness, and let that gratitude banish every idol, silence every flattering lie, and fuel a lifetime of faithful obedience in the courts of His house.